Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. J&J and Sientra get FDA warning letters over breast implants

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued warning letters to Sientra Inc and a Johnson & Johnson unit for failing to comply with the post-approval study requirements for their breast implants. The long-term safety of breast implants has been questioned over the years. Last month, the FDA issued a statement warning doctors about a type of lymphoma linked to breast implants after receiving reports of the disease. WHO panel calls for registry of all human gene editing research

It would be irresponsible for any scientist to conduct human gene-editing studies in people, and a central registry of research plans should be set up to ensure transparency, World Health Organization experts said on Tuesday. After its first two-day meeting in Geneva, the WHO panel of gene editing experts - which was established in December after a Chinese scientist said he had edited the genes of twin babies - said it had agreed a framework for setting future standards. Sage gets U.S. approval for first postpartum depression therapy

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved Sage Therapeutics Inc's drug for postpartum depression, marking the first approval of a treatment specifically developed for the condition that affects a new mother's ability to care for herself or her baby. The company said the list price for the treatment, to be sold under the brand name Zulresso, would be $7,450 per vial resulting in a projected average cost of $34,000 per patient before discounts. Sage shares rose more than 4 percent to $163 in extended trading. Canada to create national drug agency to help cut cost of medicines

Canada will create a national drug agency to help cut the cost of prescription medications as part of a plan to broaden the state-funded healthcare program, the finance ministry said in its budget on Tuesday. Unlike other countries with universal healthcare, Canada does not cover prescription drugs, leaving most Canadians to rely on a mixture of public and private insurance plans. Daily cannabis and skunk users run higher psychosis risk

People who use cannabis every day run a significantly higher risk of developing the serious mental illness psychosis, especially if they use more potent forms of the drug, such as skunk, scientists said. Presenting results of a large international study conducted in one in site Brazil and across 11 sites in Europe – including in Amsterdam, London and Paris – the researchers found that people who used cannabis daily were three times more likely to have an episode of psychosis than people who had never used it. Second U.S. jury finds Bayer's Roundup caused cancer

A U.S. jury on Tuesday found Bayer AG's glyphosate-based Roundup weed killer caused cancer, a blow to the company eight months after another jury issued a $289 million verdict over similar claims in a different case. Tuesday's unanimous jury decision in San Francisco federal court, which came after five days of deliberation, was not a finding of Bayer's liability for the cancer of plaintiff Edwin Hardeman. Liability and damages will be decided by the same jury in a second trial phase beginning on Wednesday. FDA puts partial hold on clinical trials of AbbVie's cancer drug

AbbVie Inc said on Tuesday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration placed a partial clinical hold on all trials of its cancer drug Venclexta for multiple myeloma, after a review of data found a higher proportion of deaths in the Venclexta arm of the late-stage study. Data review from the trial showed a higher number of deaths among patients taking Venclexta, compared to those given a placebo alongside other treatment. Younger knee replacement patients have more complications

Total knee replacement is increasingly being performed in younger people, and new research suggests younger patients have higher complication rates. "The number of knee replacements we are doing in younger and younger patients keeps increasing every year and we need to let these patients know that their failure rate is potentially higher," Dr. Mark Figgie, orthopaedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, told Reuters Health in a phone interview. Prescriptions for healthy food might save lives - and money

Healthy food prescriptions written for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries might lower the risk of costly chronic illnesses, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and at the same time lower the costs of care, a new study suggests. The prescriptions would even come with a 30 percent discount on foods, including fruits and vegetables San Francisco officials look to ban sale of e-cigarettes

San Francisco officials on Tuesday proposed legislation that would ban the sale of e-cigarettes from companies such as Juul until a review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as part of the city's efforts to tackle underage vaping. District Supervisor Shamann Walton will also introduce legislation at a meeting of the city's board of supervisors to prohibit the manufacture and distribution of all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, on city property.