Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. China's Ant Financial amasses 50 million users, mostly low-income, in new health plan

A mutual health aid plan launched by Ant Financial Services Group, the dominant fintech player in China, has amassed more than 50 million users and is aiming for 300 million within two years, the company said late on Thursday. The plan, dubbed Xiang Hu Bao or literally "mutual protection", is marketed on Ant Financial's flagship mobile payment app Alipay and provides participants a basic medical coverage with the risks and expenses distributed across all members. For frail elderly after heart attack, meds may prolong life but impact function

After a heart attack, frail older adults may live longer by taking several medications typically prescribed to prevent future heart problems, but the drugs might also contribute to increased frailty, a U.S. study suggests. Within 90 days of a heart attack, elderly nursing home residents who took three or more medications were less likely to die than those who took just one. But in some circumstances, functional decline was more common with more medications, the study found. U.S. criticizes Vietnam ban of glyphosate herbicide imports

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue on Thursday criticized Vietnam's move to ban imports of glyphosate-based herbicides, saying the decision would have "devastating impacts on global agricultural production." Vietnam's government said in a statement that the toxic level of herbicides containing glyphosate had long been of concern, in the latest display of global worries over the product's impact on human health. State media reports said the ban would take effect in June. U.S. FDA loosens alcohol restrictions for female libido pill

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday women taking Sprout Pharmaceuticals Inc's female libido pill, Addyi, need not completely avoid alcohol. The FDA ordered Sprout to make changes to the drug's label to reflect that patients should stop drinking two hours before taking Addyi at bedtime or to skip the dose that evening. French court finds Bayer's Monsanto liable for farmer's sickness

A French court has ruled that Monsanto was liable for the sickness of a farmer who inhaled one of its weedkillers, in another legal setback for the Bayer-owned business over health claims. In the latest stage of a decade-long legal tussle, the appeals court in Lyon on Thursday found in favor of farmer Paul Francois' claim that Monsanto's Lasso weedkiller had made him sick and that the product's labeling had been inadequate. Disease outbreaks feared in Libya, as supplies stretched: WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday that it feared outbreaks of infectious diseases due to dirty water and people fleeing fighting nearing Tripoli, where it has about two weeks of emergency supplies for hospitals and health facilities. After a week of fighting, 75 people have been killed and 323 wounded, including seven civilians killed and 10 wounded, Dr Syed Jaffar Hussain, WHO representative in Libya, told a Geneva news briefing by telephone from Tripoli. Bayer says to comply with court mediation order in glyphosate case

Bayer said on Friday it would comply with a U.S. federal judge's order to enter mediation with a plaintiff who claims the company failed to warn against an alleged cancer risk from its Roundup weedkiller. Bayer has seen billions wiped off its market value since August, when a first U.S. jury found Bayer liable because Monsanto, acquired by Bayer for $63 billion last year, had not warned of the alleged risk from Roundup, which is based on active ingredient glyphosate. 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. Novo Nordisk and Gilead team up to test fatty liver disease treatment

Novo Nordisk and Gilead Sciences will join forces on a clinical trial combining drugs from the two pharmaceutical firms to treat a progressive fatty liver disease known as NASH. The clinical trial will be a study combining Novo Nordisk's semaglutide drug and Gilead's cilofexor and firsocostat for treatment of patients with Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), Novo Nordisk, best known for its diabetes drugs, said on Friday. Teen cigarette smoking declining more slowly in rural U.S.

The odds of smoking for U.S. adolescents are 50 percent higher in rural areas than in urban areas, even as rates of teen smoking in both settings have fallen, a recent study found. Using data from more than 95,600 adolescents who participated in the National Survey of Drug Use and Health, researchers analyzed smoking rates over two periods: 2008-2010 and 2014-2016. Fifteen percent of the youth lived in rural counties.