Health News Roundup: FDA staff supports safety data for Pfizer's RSV vaccine to protect newborns; J&J's proposed talc settlement would pay $400 million to US state AGs and more

Today, as more and more people encroach on bat habitat, bat-borne pathogens pose an epidemiological minefield in 113 countries, where risk is high that a virus will jump species and infect humans. North Carolina legislature overrides veto of 12-week abortion ban, making it law North Carolina Republican lawmakers overrode a veto by the state's Democratic governor to enact a law on Tuesday that cuts the window for most abortions in the southern state from 20 to 12 weeks.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

FDA staff supports safety data for Pfizer's RSV vaccine to protect newborns

Safety data for Pfizer Inc's experimental respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine in pregnant women was "generally favorable", the U.S. Food and Drug Administration staff reviewers said on Tuesday. The drugmaker is seeking approval for use of the shot in pregnant women to protect newborns to six-month-old babies from complications of the RSV disease. If approved, it could become the first maternal vaccine against the virus.

J&J's proposed talc settlement would pay $400 million to US state AGs

Johnson & Johnson has set aside $400 million to resolve U.S. state consumer protection actions as part of its broader $8.9 billion effort to settle claims that its Baby Powder and other talc products cause cancer. J&J subsidiary LTL Management filed a bankruptcy plan in New Jersey late on Monday that details how the company intends to pay different types of cancer victims in a bankruptcy settlement. J&J has said that its talc products are safe and do not cause cancer. It is attempting for a second time to resolve more than 38,000 lawsuits in bankruptcy and prevent new cases from coming forward in the future.

Seven things to know about bats and pandemic risk

For millennia, bat viruses lurked in forests across West Africa, India, South America and other parts of the world. But, undisturbed, they posed little threat to humanity. No longer, a new Reuters data analysis found. Today, as more and more people encroach on bat habitat, bat-borne pathogens pose an epidemiological minefield in 113 countries, where risk is high that a virus will jump species and infect humans.

North Carolina legislature overrides veto of 12-week abortion ban, making it law

North Carolina Republican lawmakers overrode a veto by the state's Democratic governor to enact a law on Tuesday that cuts the window for most abortions in the southern state from 20 to 12 weeks. The law bans elective abortions after the first trimester, except in cases of rape, incest, life-limiting fetal anomalies and medical emergencies. It will curtail access to the procedure for millions of women across the U.S. South where a number of states have greatly restricted abortions.

White House wants to improve access to opioid overdose reversal medication

President Joe Biden's administration is seeking to meet with the makers of the life-saving medication naloxone used to reverse opioid overdoses, in an effort to increase access and reduce cost, a spokesperson for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy said. ONDCP Director Dr. Rahul Gupta "plans to have conversations with manufacturers to share his key principle moving forward: the easier it is for people to access naloxone, the more lives we can save," the spokesperson said.

WHO warns against bias, misinformation in using AI in healthcare

The World Health Organization called for caution on Tuesday in using artificial intelligence for public healthcare, saying data used by AI to reach decisions could be biased or misused. The WHO said it was enthusiastic about the potential of AI but had concerns over how it will be used to improve access to health information, as a decision-support tool and to improve diagnostic care.

Lawmakers in three states consider abortion bans at 12 weeks or less

South Carolina's state House on Tuesday began a days-long debate over a bill to ban most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, while state lawmakers in North Carolina and Nebraska took up separate legislation to restrict abortion in those states. In North Carolina, the Republican-controlled state legislature voted to override Democratic Governor Roy Cooper's veto of a bill banning most abortions after 12 weeks, allowing it to become law.

US approves emergency use of bird flu vaccine to save California condors

U.S. officials on Tuesday announced the emergency use of a bird flu vaccine to protect the California condor, a critically endangered and magnificent animal that has already bounced back once from the brink of extinction. After finding a California condor dead from highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, in March, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sought help from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Since then, at least 13 condors with bird flu have died, USDA said in a press release.

AstraZeneca to leave leading U.S. drug lobby group

AstraZeneca has decided to leave the main U.S. drug lobby group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), and pursue other ways of engaging in advocacy at the state and federal level, the company said. AstraZeneca decided not to continue its membership after a recent assessment of whether it was "the most productive and effective use of (company) resources", a spokesperson for the British drugmaker said in an emailed statement.

US FTC sues to block Amgen's $27.8 billion deal for Horizon Therapeutics

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday it has filed a lawsuit to stop Amgen Inc's $27.8 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics Plc in a rare move to block a large pharmaceutical deal. The FTC said it opposed the deal because of concern that Amgen would leverage its big selling drugs to pressure insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers to give favorable terms for Horizon's two key products - the fast-growing thyroid eye disease treatment Tepezza and gout drug Krystexxa.