Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Most women need mammograms every other year starting at 50

Women at average risk for breast cancer can wait to start getting mammograms until age 50 and be screened every other year, according to new guidelines from the American College of Physicians. Many women worry about breast cancer, but most aren't at high risk for these tumors due to factors like a family history of breast cancer, previous cancer scares, dense breast tissue, or certain genetic mutations linked to breast malignancies. The new guidelines, published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine, are in line with longstanding recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSFT) that recognize most women aren't at high risk and don't need mammograms before 50 or annual screening. Electrical brain stimulation can boost memory function in older people

Electrical brain stimulation using a non-invasive cap can help boost older people's mental scores to those of people 20 to 30 years younger, according to a study published on Monday. The research, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, found that age-related decline in working memory can be reversed by stimulating two key brain areas at a specific rhythm. Zogenix's seizure drug filing fails to pass U.S. FDA scrutiny

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday refused to fully review the marketing application for Zogenix Inc's treatment for seizures associated with Dravet syndrome, a rare form of childhood epilepsy. Shares of the California-based drug developer plunged nearly 30 percent to $36.50 after it disclosed the FDA's "refusal to file" letter, which investors could consider as a potential delay in getting approval for the drug. Exclusive: Pain-care specialist agrees to testify against Purdue, other drug makers - court documents

A physician ally of Purdue Pharma LP whose views helped drive the explosive growth in the use of addictive pain relievers for common aches and pains in the United States has agreed to testify against the OxyContin maker and other drug companies, newly disclosed court records show. Dr. Russell Portenoy, a professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, was an early advocate for the use of opioids for chronic pain, a position he shared in medical journal articles, with regulators, at physician conferences and in other forums. He also was named as a defendant in some of the lawsuits filed by cities, counties and states seeking to hold opioid makers - including Endo and Mallinckrodt Plc - and their distributors liable for the cost of the U.S. opioid epidemic. In New York, confusion reigns in the emerging CBD edibles business

New York state officials told food growers and processors in mid-December that they had the state's blessing to produce and sell tea and chocolates laced with CBD, the cannabis derivative reputed to ease anxiety and other ills without marijuana's high. But since then, New York City health inspectors have seized thousands of dollars worth of CBD-infused food and drinks at the Fat Cat Kitchen and other local cafes and restaurants, and warned owners to stop selling them or face penalties. The crackdown came just weeks after federal law explicitly made CBD legal across the country. Crystal meth and crowded jails: problems mount in Iraqi oil city

The southern Iraqi city of Basra is struggling to cope with a growing drug problem that has overcrowded prisons and strained police resources, only months after violent protests over poor municipal services. Basra's prison system is clogged up and creaking. On a recent day in one police station, Reuters reporters saw about 150 men, their heads shaved, squatting in two small, cramped holding cells. California allows aid-in-dying drugs for terminally ill, but hospitals set barriers

(Reuters Health) - Since 2016, a California law has allowed terminally ill patients to obtain and use aid-in-dying medications from their doctors. But nearly two-thirds of California hospitals have policies against prescribing the drugs and forbid affiliated doctors from helping patients get them, a survey shows. California's End of Life Option Act (EOLOA), which became effective on June 9, 2016, allows terminally ill adults living in California to obtain and self-administer aid-in-dying drugs. The survey, which included 270 California hospitals, found that 235, or 87 percent, had a formal policy in place to address EOLOA. Overall, 106 hospitals, or 39 percent, permitted doctors to write EOLOA prescriptions, while 164, or 61 percent, forbade physicians from writing such prescriptions, researchers report in JAMA Internal Medicine. Up to 1 in 13 boys in U.S. have sex before adolescence

While it's possible that as many as one in 13 boys in the U.S. have sex before reaching their teens, the chance that they will do this varies widely depending on where they live, a study suggests. Researchers examined data from two nationwide surveys - one with almost 20,000 male high school students and another with more than 7,700 males ages 15 to 24. Overall, 7.6 percent of high school students in the first survey and 3.6 percent of participants in the second survey reported having sex for the first time before age 13. GSK wins U.S. nod for two-drug HIV combination

GlaxoSmithKline Plc's two-drug treatment for HIV infections won U.S. market approval on Monday, boosting the British drugmaker's growth prospects against competitor Gilead Sciences Inc. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the combination of dolutegravir and lamivudine, to be branded as Dovato, for use in newly diagnosed adults. Alkermes says long-acting drugs could help schizophrenics stay on medication longer

Alkermes Plc said on Tuesday its long-acting injectable therapy for schizophrenia has helped reduce symptoms and can become an effective option for ensuring patients stay on medication even after being discharged from hospital. The six-month study showed that Alkermes' Aristada, given every two months, was as effective as Johnson & Johnson's monthly injectable Invega Sustenna, with both helping to achieve statistically significant improvements in schizophrenia symptoms.