Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Indivior shares plummet, Reckitt hurt on U.S. charges over opioid prescriptions

British drugmaker Indivior Plc lost nearly three-quarters of its share value on Wednesday and former parent Reckitt Benckiser also fell following U.S. criminal charges accusing Indivior of illegally increasing prescriptions for its opioid addiction treatment Suboxone. In an indictment in federal court in Abingdon, Virginia, a grand jury said Indivior made billions of dollars by deceiving doctors and healthcare benefit programs into believing its Suboxone Film version was safer and less susceptible to abuse than similar drugs. WHO experts to decide whether Congo Ebola outbreak is international emergency

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday said it had reconvened an expert panel to consider whether an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. The panel, which first met on this issue in October 2018, will also give updated recommendations on how global health officials should manage the outbreak, the WHO said in a statement from its Geneva headquarters. CEO sees Bayer 'massively' affected by herbicide litigation

Bayer's chief executive on Thursday acknowledged the German maker of pharmaceuticals and crop chemicals was facing massive challenges from a wave of lawsuits over an alleged carcinogenic effect of its Roundup weedkiller. "We have lost two cases in lower courts. That is why the company is massively affected. You see it in our share price," CEO Werner Baumann said in a panel discussion at an academic business event in Cologne. South Korea court strikes down abortion law in landmark ruling

South Korea's Constitutional Court on Thursday overturned a ban on abortion that has stood for more than 65 years, saying in a landmark ruling that current law unconstitutionally curbs women's rights. In a statement, it said the ban, as well as a law making doctors liable to criminal charges for abortions done with the woman's consent, were both unconstitutional. International Red Cross says stepping up aid to Venezuela

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday it has reached agreement with the Venezuelan government of Nicolas Maduro to expand aid operations, supporting hospitals and health centers in providing vital medical care. In a statement, the independent aid agency said after a five-day visit by ICRC President Peter Maurer: "Twenty-eight hospitals and eight primary health centers in Venezuela will benefit from training, water and sanitation and medical materials supplied by the ICRC." French court finds Bayer's Monsanto liable for farmer's sickness

A French appeals court ruled on Thursday that Bayer's Monsanto business was liable for the health problems of a farmer who had inhaled a weedkiller product. The ruling in favor of farmer Paul Francois was announced in a statement by a plaintiffs group. A Bayer spokeswoman in France also confirmed the ruling. Bernie Sanders puts focus on healthcare with Medicare for All bill

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders unveiled the latest version of his ambitious "Medicare-for-All" plan on Wednesday, moving the healthcare debate among Democratic presidential contenders to center stage in the 2020 race. The Sanders plan, similar to his 2017 proposal that languished in the Senate, would largely eliminate private insurance and shift all Americans into a Medicare-based government-run healthcare plan that Republicans have criticized as too costly and radical. U.S. pork industry cancels convention over African swine fever fears

The U.S. pork industry canceled its annual convention on Wednesday over concerns that international attendees could bring in an incurable hog disease at a time when American farmers are already suffering from trade wars. The decision to scrap the World Pork Expo, held by the National Pork Producers Council in Des Moines each June, signals growing fears about the spread of African swine fever in Asia. The event usually attracts about 20,000 people over three days, including visitors from China and other countries that have experienced outbreaks of the disease, according to the group. More U.S. states push ahead with near-bans on abortion for Supreme Court challenge

North Dakota Republican Governor Doug Burgum signed legislation on Wednesday making it a crime for doctors to perform a second-trimester abortion using instruments like forceps and clamps to remove the fetus from the womb. The move came the same day that Ohio's Republican-controlled legislature passed one of the nation's most restrictive abortion bans - outlawing the procedure if a doctor can detect a heartbeat. The bill now goes to Republican Governor Mike DeWine, who is expected to sign it. Childhood HPV vaccination 'profoundly' cuts cervical disease in young women

Young women who received human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines as adolescents had significantly lower rates of a condition that's a precursor to cervical cancer, in a nationwide study in Scotland. "The magnitude of the effect is greater than expected," study author Dr. Tim Palmer from the University of Edinburgh told Reuters Health by email.