Health News Roundup: Misleading health claims on social media; Varied bedtimes tied to health problems and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Facebook to tackle content with misleading health claims

Facebook Inc said on Tuesday it was taking steps to reduce the promotion of products based on misleading health-related claims. In a blog post, the social media company said it had made two updates last month to reduce posts with exaggerated or sensational health claims.

Pfizer, Sanofi, to boost South African Biovac's vaccine output

South Africa's Biovac Institute will start local production of Sanofi's Hexaxim vaccine next year and Pfizer's anti-pneumonia Prevnar 13 vaccine in 2021, boosting the supply of life-saving drugs in its main market, its CEO said. The local output of the two human vaccines is a step change for Biovac, a public-private partnership 47.5%-owned by the South African government with long-term ambitions of expanding sales into the continent.

Varied bedtimes tied to obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure

People who don't consistently get the same amount of sleep or go to bed at the same time each night may be more likely to develop health problems like obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, a recent study suggests. Lack of sleep has long been linked to a wide range of so-called metabolic abnormalities, including obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. But much of this research focused on the effect of the average amount of sleep people get, and not on how much sleep routines varied from one day to the next, said study coauthor Tianyi Huang, of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Austrian parliament backs EU's first total ban of weedkiller glyphosate

Austria's lower house of parliament passed a bill on Tuesday banning all uses of the weedkiller glyphosate, the first time a European Union country has taken such strong action against the chemical over concerns that it can cause cancer. Other EU countries have passed partial bans of glyphosate, developed by Bayer-owned Monsanto, although France has lowered its ambitions on a ban, highlighting its usefulness in agriculture. Austria has embraced organic farming more than other EU member state.

China has shown 'shortcomings' in bid to contain African swine fever: cabinet

China has shown shortcomings in some aspects of preventing African swine fever, and the situation remains complicated and severe, the country's cabinet said on Wednesday. The management of transporting live hogs is not strict enough, while there is insufficient capacity in testing for African swine fever virus in hog slaughtering, processing, and circulating procedures, China's State Council said in guidelines on prevention and control of the pig disease.

GSK's HIV drug receives EU marketing nod

GlaxoSmithKline said its specialist HIV company had received marketing authorization from the European Commission for its drug to treat advanced-stage HIV infections in adults and adolescents above the age of 12 and weighing at least 40 kg. ViiV Healthcare, which is majority-owned by GSK and with Pfizer Inc and Shionogi Ltd as shareholders, got the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for the treatment Dovato in April.

States agree to pause lawsuits against bankrupt opioid maker Insys

Five states have agreed to facilitate settlement talks by dropping objections to a bid by Insys Therapeutics Inc in bankruptcy court to put on hold their lawsuits alleging the drugmaker helped fuel the opioid epidemic. The agreement was announced on Tuesday by a lawyer for Chandler, Arizona-based Insys during a hearing before a federal bankruptcy judge in Wilmington Delaware, who was set to consider whether to block the states from moving forward with their cases.

Roche says one-dose Xofluza flu drug as good as older Tamiflu in kids

Swiss drugmaker Roche said its new one-dose flu medicine Xofluza was comparable to its 20-year-old drug Tamiflu in reducing the duration of symptoms of the viral disease, citing a study of the drug in children aged one to 12 years old. Xofluza, an oral treatment, was well tolerated in children, said Roche, whose medicine is already approved broadly in Japan and for people older than 12 in the United States. The company is seeking to establish Xofluza as a more convenient alternative to its older Tamiflu, which must be taken twice daily for five days and which is off patent, allowing cheap copies to the crowd in.

Electronic consults with allergists save time for doctors and patients

When allergy specialists advise other doctors via "e-consults," everyone - patients included - saves time, a new study suggests. In an e-consult, specialists review a patient's electronic medical record through a secure portal and answer questions from primary care doctors who seek their advice and opinion.

'Man's best friend' is a robot dog to some with dementia

A robot dog under development in California is vying to be a best friend to people with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, offering comfort by responding to human touch with life-like motions. Entrepreneur Tom Stevens recently presented a test version of the robotic yellow Labrador puppy to residents of a nursing home in Thousand Oaks, California.