Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. U.S. senator asks J&J for documents on talc, baby powder safety

U.S. Democratic Senator Patty Murray sent a letter to Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday seeking information related to allegations in a Reuters Special Report that the healthcare company knew about the presence of asbestos in its talc-based baby powder. The letter addressed to J&J Chief Executive Alex Gorsky asks for documents and information related to testing of its talc products for the presence of carcinogens and "how it presented that information to regulators and consumers." Swine flu outbreak kills 76 in India's desert state of Rajasthan

A swine flu outbreak in one of India's biggest tourist hubs, Rajasthan state in the west of the country, has killed 76 people this year, government officials said on Wednesday. Colder weather has worsened the seasonal outbreak of the H1N1 virus, with Rajasthan recording more than a third of all swine flu deaths in India, officials said. Exclusive: Juul plans India e-cigarette entry with new hires, subsidiary

U.S.-based electronic cigarette company Juul Labs Inc is hoping to launch its products in India by late 2019, a person familiar with the strategy told Reuters, marking one of its boldest bets to expand away from its home turf. After recruiting Uber India executive Rachit Ranjan as a senior public policy strategist, Juul this month hired India-based Mastercard executive Rohan Mishra as head of government relations. Roche drops Alzheimer drug trials after setback

Roche Holding will halt two late-stage clinical trials of its crenezumab drug for early Alzheimer's disease after an interim analysis indicated it was unlikely to hit its primary goal, the Swiss drugmaker said on Wednesday. The announcement by Roche, which has been working on the product with Swiss-based partner AC Immune, marks the latest high-profile failure of Alzheimer's disease drugs following the 2016 flop of an experimental medicine from Eli Lilly, among others. Congress holds first hearings on insulin, high drug prices

Powerful committees in the U.S. Congress held hearings on Tuesday on insulin affordability and high prescription drug prices, an issue both chambers have said is a top priority for the year. The House Oversight Committee, chaired by Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings, and the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, brought in patient advocates and health policy experts to discuss the burden of high drug costs on consumers and sky-rocketing prices. Workplace foods a source of unhealthy calories

Foods eaten in U.S. workplaces - whether purchased in cafeterias, or available to employees for free - are usually unhealthy, researchers say. A survey of what working adults ate over the course of a week found that one in four people got food at work one or more times, and that it was generally high in empty calories, salt, fat and sugar. South Korea raises foot-and-mouth alert as second case found

South Korea raised the country's foot-and-mouth alert by one notch to curb wider spread of the contagious virus ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, its agriculture ministry said on Wednesday. The heightened alert comes as a second case of foot-and-mouth disease was detected on Tuesday at a cattle farm in Anseong city, southeast of the capital Seoul, where the first case in nearly a year was reported at a dairy cow farm on Monday. Insys executive gave doctor lap dance while promoting drug, witness says

An ex-stripper who became a regional sales director at Insys Therapeutics Inc gave a doctor a lap dance at a Chicago club as the drugmaker pushed the doctor to prescribe its addictive fentanyl spray, a former Insys employee testified on Tuesday. The testimony in federal court in Boston came in the first criminal trial of painkiller manufacturer executives over conduct that authorities say contributed to a U.S. opioid abuse epidemic that has killed tens of thousands of people a year. U.S. lawmaker Yarmuth says Democrats to begin Medicare for All hearings

Democrats in control of the U.S. House of Representatives will begin holding hearings on expanding Medicare this spring and will aim to pass a bill by the end of next year, a senior Democratic lawmaker said on Tuesday. John Yarmuth, chairman of the House Budget Committee, said in an interview with Reuters that the most feasible option might be passing legislation that offers Medicare, which currently starts at 65 years of age, to all those above 50 or 55. Undeterred by Sanofi's stumble, Takeda takes similar path with dengue shot

A new vaccine for the dengue virus is taking a potentially risky road to prevent the mosquito-borne disease that infects nearly 400 million people each year. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd plans to seek approval for the experimental vaccine first in countries where the virus is endemic, rather than starting with the United States or Europe, whose rigorous reviews are often used as a benchmark worldwide, company executives told Reuters.