Health News Roundup: China bans pig imports from Laos; FDA declines to approve Daiichi Sankyo's blood cancer treatment

China bans pig imports from Laos due to African swine fever

China said on Friday it has banned direct and indirect imports of pigs, wild boars and related products from Laos due to the first African swine fever outbreaks reported by the Southeast Asian nation on June 20. "Illegally imported pigs, wild boars and their products from Laos intercepted by the frontier defense departments shall be destroyed under the supervision of the customs," China's General Administration of Customs said in a statement.

Missouri faces deadline to decide if its only abortion clinic can stay open

Missouri health officials will decide on Friday whether to renew the license of the state's only abortion clinic in the latest battle between abortion-rights advocates and states restricting abortion access. If the state denies the license and a legal challenge fails, Missouri could become the only U.S. state without a legal abortion clinic. It is one of 12 states to pass laws restricting abortion access this year, some aimed at provoking a U.S. Supreme Court review of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that recognized a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy.

U.S. appeals court lets Trump abortion referral 'gag rule' go into effect

A federal appeals court on Thursday cleared the way for the Trump administration to enforce a controversial rule barring clinics that receive federal funds for family planning services from referring patients to abortion providers. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals set aside injunctions blocking nationwide enforcement of the rule, which had been scheduled to take effect on May 3, while California, Oregon and Washington pursue legal challenges in court.

FDA declines to approve Daiichi Sankyo's blood cancer treatment

Japan's Daiichi Sankyo Co said on Friday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has declined to approve its drug quizartinib as a treatment for adults with a type of blood cancer. The decision follows an advisory committee meeting, held in May, where independent advisers to the U.S. regulator voted 8-3 against the drug's approval to treat acute myeloid leukemia patients with a specific genetic mutation called FLT3.

Rising rates of marijuana use among pregnant women spark concern

Increasing numbers of pregnant women are using marijuana in the U.S. and that may result in issues for their babies, two new studies suggest. Researchers found that the proportion of U.S. women using pot during pregnancy more than doubled between 2002 and 2017, according to a report published in JAMA.

Trump to issue executive order seeking transparency on healthcare costs: Wall Street Journal

U.S. President Donald Trump plans to issue an executive order on Monday asking health insurers and doctors to disclose new details about healthcare costs, in an attempt to improve price transparency, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The order will direct federal agencies to initiate regulations and guidance that could require insurers, doctors, hospitals and others in the industry to provide information about the negotiated cost of care, according to the report.

'Brain fever' blamed for India child deaths preventable: doctors

Five-year-old Soni Khatun was playing in the midday sun last week when she began to vomit and lose feeling in her hands. Her mother, a poor laborer living in rural India, borrowed money to take her to hospital. Five hours later, Soni was dead, one of more than 100 children to die this month from Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES), or 'brain fever', in one district of eastern Bihar state.

U.S. group says Novartis MS drug price out of line with benefit

A U.S. group that reviews the value of medicines issued a critical report on Novartis's new multiple sclerosis drug Mayzent, calling its $88,561 list price "far out of line" compared with its benefits for patients. The Boston-based Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), which has been reviewing Mayzent for months, recommended that Novartis lower the drug's price.

Merck CEO sees legal challenge if U.S. adopts drug pricing based on other countries

Merck & Co Chief Executive Ken Frazier said on Thursday a rule to base the price the U.S. government pays for some prescription drugs in it Medicare program on lower prices in other countries would face legal challenges if adopted. U.S. President Donald Trump said last year that one way his administration would seek to lower drug costs to consumers could be through an international pricing index (IPI) that would determine what Medicare pays for certain medicines based on the prices set in a handful of other countries. A proposed version of the rule is expected in August.

U.S. mine regulator says no rush on silica limits, despite black lung worries

The head of the U.S. federal agency in charge of mine safety said on Thursday he has no plans to fast-track new limits for coal miner exposure to silica dust because he believes exposure rates are already falling. The comments come as the national coal miners and steelworkers unions urge the Trump administration to regulate silica on the basis of research showing it is causing a resurgence of black lung disease among coal miners in central Appalachia.