Health News Roundup: U.S health agency warns on dog in stores; Germany to ban gay 'conversion therapies' and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

That puppy in the window could make you sick as a dog, U.S. health agency warns

Beware of dog, especially the cute puppies in pet store windows, U.S. health officials warn. A bacteria resistant to common antibiotics has sickened 30 people this year, sending four of them to hospitals, and puppies are the likely culprit, according to an advisory issued late Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Germany moves to ban gay 'conversion therapies'

Germany moved a step closer to banning so-called gay "conversion therapies" on Wednesday, as the cabinet backed a law that would punish bogus practitioners with up to a year in prison. Activists hailed the move, saying Germany would become the first major European power to outlaw attempts to change a person's sexual orientation with techniques including hypnotism and electro-shock treatment.

More evidence many pregnant women don't eat well

Many women who are pregnant or trying to conceive have poor diets that could increase their risk for pregnancy complications, a research review suggests. The analysis of results from 18 previously published studies of pregnancy and preconception diet quality found that women generally didn't consume the minimum recommended amount of vegetables, grains, folate, iron or calcium. Many pregnant women also get too many calories from fat, the research showed.

Special Report: FDA targets e-cigs those hook teens but don't help smokers quit

E-cigarette makers face an existential threat. By May, they must submit applications to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration proving that their products provide a net benefit to public health. If a company fails to make its case, the FDA has the power to order its products off the market. The agency will judge that benefit with a two-part test: Are e-cigarettes effective in getting smokers to quit? And, if so, does that benefit outweigh the health damage to new e-cigarette users - including teenagers - who never smoked in the first place?

U.S. sues CVS for fraudulently billing Medicare, Medicaid for invalid prescriptions

CVS Health Corp and its Omnicare unit were sued on Tuesday by the U.S. government, which accused them of fraudulently billing Medicare and other programs for drugs for older and disabled people without valid prescriptions. The Department of Justice joined whistleblower litigation accusing Omnicare of violating the federal False Claims Act for illegally dispensing drugs to tens of thousands of patients in assisted living facilities, group homes for people with special needs, and other long-term care facilities.

UK ad watchdog bans BAT from Instagram e-cigarette promotion

British American Tobacco (BAT) must stop advertising its e-cigarettes from any public account on Instagram, including some influencers' accounts, the UK's advertising watchdog ruled on Wednesday. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) also directed the company to remove all ads related to Vype on Instagram.

More than 20% of U.S. high school seniors vaped THC in 2019: study

More than 20% of U.S. high school seniors reported vaping marijuana in 2019, the second-largest single-year increase in any substance of abuse ever recorded in the annual study of national drug use trends, researchers reported on Wednesday. Results of the study https://bit.ly/34tuccc funded by the National Institutes of Health are alarming as federal officials continue to investigate fatal lung injuries associated with vaping.

Trump proposes a rule for importing drugs from Canada; industry says it won't cut costs

The Trump administration on Wednesday said it is proposing a rule to allow states to import prescription drugs from Canada, advancing a plan announced in July that the president has said will bring cheaper prescription drugs to Americans. The importation of drugs from Canada to lower costs for U.S. consumers has been considered for years. Alex Azar, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), called the move "a historic step forward in efforts to bring down drug prices and out-of-pocket costs."

Malnutrition curses the children of Venezuela

Last August, Francys Rivero, an unemployed single mother of four, feared for her baby's life. Two months after his birth, even though she was breastfeeding him regularly, Kenai de Jesus wasn't gaining weight. "I feel like my heart is breaking," Rivero, 32, told Reuters in an interview here in the capital of the western Venezuelan state of Lara. "I don't know what's wrong with my son."

Nearly half of U.S. adults don't recognize some heart attack symptoms

Nearly half of Americans might not realize they are having a heart attack because they are not familiar with some of the symptoms, a new study suggests. In a nationally-representative survey, 47% of people didn't recognize some heart attack symptoms and nearly 6% were not familiar with any, researchers reported in JAMA Network Open.