Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Few teen mothers with contraceptive implants also use condoms

Teen mothers are much less likely to use condoms when they have long-acting contraceptive implants like intrauterine devices (IUDs) than peers using other types of birth control, a U.S. study suggests. Correct and consistent condom use remains an important strategy for prevention of STIs and HIV, the researcher who led the study told Reuters Health. Polish sextuplets surprise parents and doctors expecting five

Poland's first sextuplets on record, two boys and four girls, were born in the southern city of Krakow on Monday to the surprise of parents and doctors who had expected five babies. "Imagine this: we were prepared from early in the morning to help deliver five tiny citizens. So we are in the operating room, there are five teams of doctors ready to take care of five children", Ryszard Lauterbach, head of Clinical Neonatology at the University Hospital in Krakow said. Dengue fever numbers soar on La Reunion: WHO

Tens of thousands of people are thought to have caught dengue fever in an unprecedented outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease on the French overseas territory of La Reunion, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. Authorities in the popular Indian Ocean tourist destination notified WHO of the outbreak in March 2018, since when 50,000 probable cases have been reported, including 22,000 so far this year, the global health agency said in a statement. U.S. must ensure access to safe abortions: U.N. rights office

The United Nations human rights office called on U.S. authorities on Tuesday to ensure that women have access to safe abortions, saying bans lead to risky underground abortions that can endanger a woman's life. Missouri's Republican governor, Mike Parson, could sign a bill into law as early as this week that prohibits women from seeking an abortion after the eighth week of pregnancy, days after Alabama enacted the most restrictive abortion law in the United States. Mallinckrodt sues U.S. health agencies, sees 10% hit to Acthar gel sales

Mallinckrodt Plc filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and forecast an about 10% hit to annual net sales of Acthar gel following changes to Medicaid rebate calculations, sending its shares plunging as much as 34% on Tuesday. Acthar, which is used to treat infantile spasms and multiple sclerosis, is the company's biggest revenue generator, bringing about $1.11 billion in 2018, or 35% of total revenue. U.S. abortion-rights activists rally at Supreme Court to protest new state bans

U.S. abortion-rights campaigners, including several Democrats running for president in 2020, are set to rally in front of the Supreme Court on Tuesday to protest new restrictions on abortion passed by legislatures in eight states. Many of the restrictions are intended to draw legal challenges, which religious conservatives hope will lead the nation's top court to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy. Improved air quality tied to fewer new childhood asthma cases

Childhood asthma rates appear to be dropping in many communities across southern California, and a new study suggests this may be due at least in part to improved air quality. Air pollution has long been linked to a variety of respiratory problems and an increased risk of severe asthma attacks for people who already have the breathing disorder. But research to date hasn't offered as clear a picture of how much reducing levels of toxic chemicals in the air might help stop asthma from developing at all. Array BioPharma's colorectal cancer combo treatment meets main goals

Array BioPharma Inc's cocktail of three therapies helped patients with a type of colorectal cancer live longer than those on standard treatment, according to interim results of a late-stage study on Tuesday. The combination therapy, comprising Array's Braftovi and Mektovi and Eli Lilly and Co's Erbitux, helped half the patients enrolled in the study survive nine months. U.S. states, cities sue to block Trump 'conscience' rule for healthcare workers

A coalition of 23 U.S. states and municipalities sued the Trump administration on Tuesday to stop it from enforcing a rule that would make it easier for doctors and nurses to avoid performing abortions on religious or moral grounds. The lawsuit led by New York Attorney General Letitia James said the expanded "conscience" protections could undermine the ability of states and cities to provide effective healthcare without jeopardizing billions of dollars a year in federal aid. Vaccine doubts spread like disease, must be taken offline: vaccine chief

Doubts about vaccines have spread across social media like a disease and false information that "kills people" should be taken down by the companies running digital platforms, the head of global vaccine alliance Gavi said on Tuesday. Speaking at a U.S.-sponsored event on the sidelines of the World Health Organization's annual assembly in Geneva, Gavi CEO Seth Berkley said there was a strong scientific consensus about the safety of vaccines.