Health News Roundup: Death of doctor who sounded coronavirus; Johnson & Johnson to pay $750 million in New Jersey talc case and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Death of doctor who sounded coronavirus alarm sparks anger at the government

A Chinese doctor who was reprimanded for warning against a "SARS-like" coronavirus before it was officially recognized died of the virus on Friday, triggering a wave of mourning in China and rare online expressions of anger towards the government. The death of Li Wenliang, 34, came as Chinese President Xi Jinping assured the United States that China was doing all it could to contain the virus.

Peak coronavirus? Epidemic forecasts are often wrong but can be useful

Predicting "peak virus" is often destined to fail. But that's not to say it is pointless. Many health, policy, and economic experts worldwide are now trying to do just this with the epidemic of coronavirus disease spreading from China. They are working together to map the curve of the outbreak, but warn there are too many holes in the data to reliably predict when it will reach its peak - when the number of new daily cases starts to decline consistently.

Jury orders Johnson & Johnson to pay $750 million in New Jersey talc case

Johnson & Johnson was ordered on Thursday by a New Jersey state jury to pay punitive damages of $750 million to four plaintiffs who allege that the company's Baby Powder caused their cancer, a ruling that will be reduced to around $185 million because of state laws, according to a lawyer for the plaintiffs and the company. During an earlier phase of the trial, a different jury held J&J liable for the plaintiffs' cancers and awarded them $37.2 million in compensation.

Regeneron likely to make coronavirus treatments available in few months

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc is ramping up efforts to develop a set of coronavirus treatments, which could be available for testing or use in some patients within a few months, the drugmaker said on Thursday. The drugmaker on Tuesday expanded its arrangement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to collaborate on developing a treatment, joining the race to develop a treatment for the virus that has killed more than 550 people. Just a few hundred prescribers responsible for half of U.S. opioid doses

The top 1% of opioid prescribers in the U.S. are responsible for 49% of all opioid doses and 27% of all prescriptions, according to a study that suggests efforts to combat the overuse of prescription painkillers should concentrate on these heavy prescribers. The study authors examined data on 8.9 million opioid prescriptions for 3.9 million patients from 2003 to 2017, based on records from an average of 669,495 providers each year.

Desperate for coronavirus solutions, the Chinese turn to HIV drugs, gray market and traditional cures

The rapidly spreading virus in China and a shortage of medical resources are prompting people to resort to unorthodox ways to obtain treatment, with some appealing to HIV patients and unauthorized importers for medicine. Chinese health authorities have said there is not yet any effective cure for the virus, which has killed more than 500 people in China. Although there is no evidence from clinical trials, China's National Health Commision said the HIV drug lopinavir/ritonavir can be used for coronavirus patients, without specifying how they might help.

WHO warns of a global shortage of coronavirus protective equipment

The world is facing a chronic shortage of gowns, masks, gloves and other protective equipment in the fight against a spreading coronavirus epidemic, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday. The U.N. agency has been sending testing kits, masks, gloves, respirators and gowns to every region, Tedros told the WHO Executive Board in Geneva.

Biotech company Novacyt seeks emergency approval for coronavirus test

Biotechnology company Novacyt has applied for an emergency approval from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) as it races to roll out a product that tests for the coronavirus, the company said on Friday. Novacyt, which is listed in Paris and London, also said it was in talks with public sector hospitals in Britain.

WHO says too early to say coronavirus peaking in China

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday it was too early to say that China's coronavirus outbreak was peaking, but noted that the country had recorded its first day of a drop in the number of new infections. The death toll from the virus in mainland China jumped by 73 to 563, with more than 28,000 confirmed infections inside the world's second-largest economy. That number had risen by nearly 4,000 from Wednesday to Thursday.

China scientists identify pangolin as possible coronavirus host

The deadly coronavirus outbreak in China could have spread from bats to humans through the illegal traffic of pangolins, the world's only scaly mammals, which are prized in Asia for food and medicine, Chinese researchers said. The pangolin is one of Asia's most trafficked mammals, although protected by international law because its meat is considered a delicacy in countries such as China and its scales are used in traditional medicine, the World Wildlife Fund says.