Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Many sleepless Americans trying meditation and yoga

Roughly half of U.S. adults suffer from sleep problems, and research suggests that many of them are practicing mind-body exercises like yoga and meditation that might help make it easier to get a good nights' rest. Mind-body medicine can include a range of health practices that combine efforts to focus the mind, control breathing and move the body in ways that promote relaxation. These practices are a key component of many forms of complementary and integrative medicine that previous studies have linked to improvements in sleep, researchers note in Sleep Medicine. Rheumatoid arthritis risk lower among smokers who quit

Adults who quit smoking decades ago may have a lower risk of rheumatoid arthritis than people who gave up cigarettes more recently, a U.S. study suggests. Smoking has long been linked to an increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis, and quitting can reduce this risk. But the new study offers fresh evidence that years of cessation can pay off more than just a brief period without cigarettes. U.S. Senator Sanders urges FDA to allow older versions of $375,000 drug

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders this week urged regulators to allow pharmacies and manufacturers to resume distributing unbranded, lower-cost versions of a drug used to treat a rare neuromuscular disorder, according to a letter provided by his office to Reuters. The drug is now sold at a list price of $375,000 a year by Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Inc under the brand name Firdapse. It is used to treat Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome (LEMS), which affects about one in 100,000 people in the United States. Pigs fly: China pork producers surge as swine disease cuts supply

Shares in China's leading pig producers have soared to record levels despite one of the worst disease outbreaks in years, as investors bet on tightening pork supplies and strong government support for leading producers. China is battling the world's fastest spreading outbreak of African swine fever, an incurable pig disease that has been confirmed in 28 of its provinces and regions. Philippines to charge officials of Sanofi, government over dengue vaccine

The Philippine Department of Justice on Friday said it had found probable cause to indict officials from French drugmaker Sanofi and former and current Philippine health officials over 10 deaths it said were linked to use of a dengue vaccine. It recommended charges be filed in court for multiple counts of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide, due to what it said were procedural lapses and irregularities in implementing a Philippine dengue immunization program using Sanofi's Dengvaxia. After attacks, MSF suspends Ebola treatment in epicenter of Congo outbreak

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has suspended medical activities at the epicenter of an Ebola epidemic in Democratic Republic of Congo after two of its facilities were torched by unidentified assailants, the French charity said on Thursday. Two MSF facilities treating Ebola patients in North Kivu province were attacked in separate incidents earlier this week. Aid workers have faced mistrust in some areas as they work to contain the Ebola outbreak, which has become the worst in Congo's history. Pfizer unit Meridian under civil investigation by U.S. Attorney

Pfizer Inc said on Thursday it received a request for documents as part of a U.S. investigation related to quality issues involving the manufacture of auto-injectors at its Meridian Medical Technologies site. Pfizer, in a regulatory filing, said it would be producing records in response to the civil investigative demand from the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York. New cancer-causing toxin found in recalled blood pressure pills

U.S. health regulators said on Friday a third cancer-causing toxin was found in some blood pressure pills recalled by India's Hetero Labs Ltd a day earlier, adding to a global recall of commonly used drugs to treat hypertension. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is also looking into whether these types of impurities could be found in other classes of drugs, a spokeswoman for the regulator said. J&J resumes production of baby talc in India after tests find no asbestos

Johnson & Johnson has resumed production of its baby powder at plants in India after government tests found no asbestos in the product, the company said on Thursday. "Johnson & Johnson has resumed production of its Johnson's Baby Powder at plants in Baddi and Mulund, India, after government sanctioned testing reaffirmed that the product does not contain asbestos," J&J said in a statement to Reuters. ImmunoGen drug fails cancer study, shares slide 40 percent

U.S. drug developer ImmunoGen Inc said on Friday its experimental ovarian cancer drug failed to meet the main goal of a late-stage study, driving its shares more than 40 percent lower on Friday. When compared with chemotherapy, ImmunoGen's mirvetuximab soravtansine did not significantly prevent the disease from worsening.