Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Korian shares slump after food poisoning deaths in French nursing home

Shares in social healthcare provider Korian tumbled on Monday after five elderly residents in a care home it owns in southwestern France died from suspected contaminated food. Korian said 22 residents fell ill after Friday's evening meal at the Cheneraie care home in Lherm, 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of Toulouse. Of those, five died and 15 were seriously ill and treated in hospital. Supreme Court rebuffs anti-abortion activists in Planned Parenthood suit

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a bid by anti-abortion activists to narrow a Planned Parenthood lawsuit accusing them of illegally recording video of abortion providers to try to falsely show the illicit sale of aborted fetal tissue for profit. The justices declined to hear an appeal by the activists of a lower court's refusal to toss out fraud, invasion of privacy and other claims under California law made in the civil lawsuit by Planned Parenthood, a women's healthcare and abortion provider. More people might survive cardiac arrest if more bystanders tried hands-only CPR

(Reuters Health) - More lives could be saved after cardiac arrest if bystanders applied cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), even if it's just the hands-only version, a new study suggests. With hands-only CPR emerging as an alternative to the traditional method - chest compressions coupled with mouth-to-mouth rescue breaths - Swedish researchers decided to investigate the impact of the simpler method. Swiss drugmaker Novartis must face doctor kickback suit, U.S. judge rules

Novartis AG must face a U.S. government lawsuit accusing it of paying millions of dollars in kickbacks to doctors so they would prescribe its drugs, after a federal judge ruled in a decision released on Monday that the government had offered evidence of a "company-wide kickback scheme." U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe in Manhattan also rejected the Swiss drugmaker's bid to keep key government evidence out of the case, and ruled that the government does not have to prove a direct "quid pro quo" agreement between Novartis and doctors for the company to be liable. U.S. government sets 2.53 percent hike in 2020 payments to Medicare insurers

The U.S. government on Monday said it would increase by 2.53 percent on average 2020 payments to the health insurers that manage Medicare Advantage insurance plans for seniors and the disabled. The rate, which affects how much insurers charge for monthly healthcare premiums, plan benefits and, ultimately, how much they profit, represents an increase over the 1.59 percent increase proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in February. Killed by cholera, Yemeni doctor knew he was fighting 'disastrous' epidemic

Yemeni doctor Mohammed Abdul-Mughni described the surge in cholera cases he was treating as "disastrous" in a country battered by years of war and short of medical staff. Two weeks later cholera killed him too. IVF tied to slight increased risk of rare childhood cancers

(Reuters Health) - Certain rare childhood cancers may be more common in children conceived via in vitro fertilization (IVF), a U.S. study suggests, but parents needn't lose sleep over this finding, according to the researchers. "For the few cancers that seemed associated with IVF the absolute risk was still extremely rare," said lead study author Logan Spector of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. China expands curbs on fentanyl, blames U.S. for its abuse

China will expand the range of fentanyl-related substances it defines as controlled narcotics, a Chinese security official said on Monday, blaming U.S. culture for abuse of the drug. U.S. President Donald Trump has criticized China for allowing fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, to be shipped from China to the United States, which faces an epidemic of opioid-related deaths. J&J baby shampoo samples fail Indian quality test; company rejects findings

Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo samples failed quality tests conducted by the northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan, according to a public notice from the state's drugs watchdog, findings that were rejected by the U.S. drugmaker. This comes just a few months after Indian authorities launched an investigation into J&J's Baby Powder to see if it contains cancer-causing asbestos. J&J said in late February it had resumed production of baby talc after government tests found no asbestos in the product. Congo Ebola outbreak spreading faster than ever: WHO

Democratic Republic of Congo's Ebola outbreak is spreading at its fastest rate yet, eight months after it was first detected, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday. Each of the past two weeks has registered a record number of new cases, marking a sharp setback for efforts to respond to the second biggest outbreak ever, as militia violence and community resistance have impeded access to affected areas.