Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. More youth suicides seen in states with high gun ownership rates

Youth suicides happen more often in U.S. states with high rates of household gun ownership, a recent study found. In the 10 states with the highest youth suicide rates, 53 percent of households owned guns. In the 10 states with the lowest youth suicide rates, only 20 percent of households owned guns, according to the study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. European measles cases highest in a decade as pockets refuse vaccination

Europe had a record number of measles cases last year, in part due to a growing number of pockets where parents are refusing vaccination for their children, the World Health Organization said on Thursday. At the same time, the WHO said, record numbers of children are getting the vaccine - offering hope that the rise in infections may not last. Bets off for Britain's bookies after horse flu outbreak

A shutdown in British horse racing due to an outbreak of equine influenza is costing the bookmaking industry tens of millions of pounds, Betfair said on Friday, and could get much worse if the outbreak is prolonged. Race meetings will be postponed in Britain until at least the middle of next week because of the outbreak, the British Horseracing Authority said on Thursday. Drugmakers say UK could lose out on EU anti-counterfeit drugs push

Drugmakers warned on Friday that if Britain leaves the European Union without a deal next month Britons could miss out on an EU-wide system to fight counterfeit drugs that will go live on Saturday after years of British involvement in building it. Drugmakers, wholesalers and pharmacies across Europe have worked for more than four years on a system based on a shared database and tamper-proof packages with barcodes that will go live on Saturday, to fulfill the European Union's Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD). UniQure gene therapy shows rise in blood-clotting protein in trial

UniQure NV said on Friday its gene therapy to treat patients with a blood disorder, hemophilia B, increased the levels of a protein that helps in blood clotting after 12 weeks. The updated data from a mid-stage study showed that all three patients on the therapy, AMT-061, showed increasing and sustained levels of factor IX, which helps stop bleeding through blood clots. Pfizer Japan recalls high blood pressure drug over cancer-causing impurity

The Japanese subsidiary of Pfizer Inc is recalling a drug for high blood pressure which was found to contain a carcinogenic substance in its active ingredient valsartan, the drugmaker said on Friday. More than 763,000 tablets of the drug Amvalo, manufactured from April to July in Mylan Laboratories Limited in India, are the subject of recall, Pfizer Japan Inc said in a statement, adding there were no reports of any damage to health. J&J becomes first drugmaker to add prices to television ads

Johnson & Johnson said on Thursday it will start adding the price of its medicines to television commercials by next month, becoming the first drugmaker to heed a call by U.S. President Donald Trump for price transparency of drugs advertised directly to consumers on TV. The healthcare conglomerate said it will include both the list price of a product - the price before any rebates or discounts to insurers or pharmacy benefit managers - as well as potential out-of-pocket costs that patients will pay. FDA pulls up Walgreens for violating tobacco sale laws by selling to minors

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday it was taking action against certain retailers including Walgreen Boots Alliance for repeatedly flouting tobacco sale rules, including sale of cigars and menthol cigarettes to minors. Walgreens is currently the top violator among pharmacies that sell tobacco products, with 22 percent of its inspected stores having illegally sold tobacco products to minors, the U.S. health regulator said in a statement. Optimism may protect against chronic pain in soldiers

Soldiers who displayed high optimism before deployment were less likely to develop chronic pain after being sent to Afghanistan or Iraq than those who were more pessimistic, a new study finds. U.S. Army soldiers who were the most pessimistic were 35 percent more likely to report new back pain, joint pain or frequent headaches after returning from deployment compared with those who were the most optimistic, the study team reports in JAMA Network Open. Blood sugar tied to fracture risk in type 1 diabetes

People with type 1 diabetes are more likely to break a bone when their average blood sugar levels are dangerously high, a large study suggests. Researchers examined data on more than 47,000 people with diabetes, including 3,329 with type 1, the less common form, which typically develops in childhood or young adulthood when the pancreas can't produce insulin. The rest had type 2 diabetes, which is linked to obesity and aging and happens when the body can't properly use or make enough insulin to convert blood sugar into energy.