Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Trade frictions raise questions about China's fentanyl promise

China has pledged to stem a flood of the synthetic opioid fentanyl onto America's streets, where it kills thousands of people a month, but U.S. security experts are skeptical about whether Beijing is willing, or even able, to follow through. Ten current and former U.S. officials, congressional sources and China and trade experts told Reuters in interviews that China cooperates only when it believes it will get something in return. Gallbladders may be removed too often

Many patients with gallstones and abdominal pain don't feel better after a procedure to remove their gallbladder, and a recent study suggests this surgery may not always be necessary. Treatment guidelines in many countries recommend that doctors perform a minimally invasive operation known as a laparoscopic cholecystectomy to remove the gallbladder when patients have abdominal pain associated with gallstones. But in non-emergency cases, there's no consensus on how doctors should choose which patients might be better off with nonsurgical treatments and lifestyle changes. Opioid overdose deaths decline when pharmacists can dispense naloxone

In states where pharmacists were allowed to sell the potentially lifesaving opioid antidote naloxone without a prescription, fewer people died from opioid overdoses, a new U.S. study finds. The passage of laws that let pharmacists sell naloxone directly to patients was associated with a nearly 30 percent drop in the number of opioid overdose deaths compared to states without pharmacist dispensing, researchers report in JAMA Internal Medicine. Trump calls on Congress to protect patients from surprise medical bills

U.S. President Donald Trump called on Congress on Thursday to pass legislation to protect patients from surprise medical bills from out-of-network doctors that can unnecessarily cost patients tens of thousands of dollars. In remarks at the White House, Trump unveiled principles the administration will send to congressional lawmakers to incorporate into a legislative package that would address surprise bills. Novartis buys dry eye drug from Takeda for up to $5.3 billion

Novartis is buying dry-eye drug Xiidra from Takeda Pharmaceutical Co for up to $5.3 billion as the Swiss drugmaker refreshes its ophthalmic medicines portfolio with a potential blockbuster. The deal, announced early on Thursday, calls for $3.4 billion up front and milestone payments up to $1.9 billion, Novartis said. Bristol-Myers' Opdivo fails late-stage brain cancer trial

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co said on Thursday its immunotherapy Opdivo failed to meet the main goal of a late-stage trial testing it in patients with an aggressive form of tumor that affects the brain or the spine. Opdivo, used in combination with radiation therapy, failed to extend survival in patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), when compared with the chemotherapy temozolomide and radiation therapy. Indivior signs deal to sell schizophrenia drug in Canada

British drugmaker Indivior Plc on Thursday signed a licensing agreement with HLS Therapeutics Inc for the sale of its schizophrenia drug Perseris in Canada. Perseris, launched in the United States in February, is approved by the FDA for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults. The drug delivers its active ingredient, risperidone, in an extended-release delivery system with no loading doses or oral supplementation recommended. Trump slams drugmakers, vows to let U.S. states buy cheaper medicines abroad

U.S. President Donald Trump slammed the pharmaceutical industry for high prices of prescription drugs on Thursday and vowed to allow U.S. states to buy medicines from other countries if they cost less. Trump, who campaigned on a platform to reduce drug prices for U.S. consumers, has taken few concrete steps to lower medication costs since taking office in 2017, and has so far largely relied on personal talks with company executives and industry promises to voluntarily roll back prices or limit price hikes. Online symptom checker often wrong on eye problems

People looking to a popular online symptom checker for answers about eye problems often get a wrong diagnosis, a small study suggests. Symptom checkers are all over the web, often using algorithms to deliver diagnoses even as they post disclaimers advising against using these tools for medical advice. While some studies have already documented many ways that symptom checkers can mislead patients, less is known about how well they work specifically for eye conditions, researchers note in JAMA Ophthalmology. Alabama Senate delays vote on strict anti-abortion bill

Alabama's state Senate on Thursday delayed until next week a vote on the strictest abortion bill in the United States after disagreement arose on the Senate floor about whether to allow women impregnated by rape and incest to have a legal abortion. The Alabama debate follows passage of anti-abortion laws in states that border it to the east and west, Georgia and Mississippi, creating what abortion rights advocates have warned would be a massive "abortion desert."