Health News Roundup: GSK's RSV vaccine shows long-term efficacy in late-stage trial; Exclusive-Gambia tightens rules for Indian drugs after cough syrup deaths - letter and more

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle declared the state's practices invalid, saying they violated the constitutional right to equal protection under the 14th amendment in addition to violating the federal Medicaid statue and the Affordable Care Act's prohibition of sex discrimination. Exclusive-Gambia tightens rules for Indian drugs after cough syrup deaths - letter Gambia will make it mandatory for all pharmaceutical products from India to be inspected and tested prior to shipment from July 1, according to Gambian government documents reviewed by Reuters, the first known restrictions on national exports following the deaths of dozens of children linked to Indian-made cough syrups.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

GSK's RSV vaccine shows long-term efficacy in late-stage trial

GSK on Wednesday said its vaccine for the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which recently won EU approval, showed strong long-term protection in older adults in a late-stage trial. The British drugmaker said a 'Phase III' trial showed vaccine efficacy against RSV-lower respiratory tract disease and severe disease over two full RSV seasons, including in participants with underlying medical conditions.

Exclusive-Gambia tightens rules for Indian drugs after cough syrup deaths - letter

Gambia will make it mandatory for all pharmaceutical products from India to be inspected and tested prior to shipment from July 1, according to Gambian government documents reviewed by Reuters, the first known restrictions on national exports following the deaths of dozens of children linked to Indian-made cough syrups. The new rule highlights how governments are reassessing their reliance on India's $42 billion pharmaceutical industry since the contamination came to light last year. India's industry supplies nearly half of the pharmaceuticals used in Africa. In April, India's government said its officials had held meetings in Africa to ensure its drug exports did not suffer after at least 70 children died in Gambia after ingesting the cough syrup last year.

Challenge to abortion clinic 'buffer zone' law rejected by US court

A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday upheld a New York county's law barring anti-abortion activists from approaching people outside abortion clinics, teeing up potential review by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Manhattan-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the law adopted last year by Westchester County, New York, was valid under a 2000 Supreme Court ruling that rejected a challenge to a similar law in Colorado.

U.S. court strikes down Florida transgender health rule

A U.S. judge on Wednesday struck down a Florida rule and a statute that banned state Medicaid payments for transgender healthcare, marking the second defeat in two weeks for anti-transgender legislation in the state. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle declared the state's practices invalid, saying they violated the constitutional right to equal protection under the 14th amendment in addition to violating the federal Medicaid statue and the Affordable Care Act's prohibition of sex discrimination.

US FDA approves Eli Lilly-Boehringer's diabetes drugs for children

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday approved Eli Lilly and partner Boehringer Ingelheim's drugs Jardiance and Synjardy to treat type 2 diabetes in children. The drugs were approved as additions to diet and exercise to improve blood sugar control in children aged 10 years and above with type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease.

Pharma lobby group warns EU could lose edge with proposed law

Europe's pharmaceutical sector could lose out to increased competition from emerging markets, China and the U.S. in terms of research and innovation if a proposed European Union health package is not amended, its key industry group said on Thursday. The EU Commission presented a proposal to overhaul a wide range of rules governing health and medicines in the 27-member bloc in April, but the move has met with backlash from the industry.

Pharmaceutical trade group sues US over Medicare drug price negotiation plans

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the leading industry lobby group, and two other organizations on Wednesday said they were suing the U.S. government to block enforcement of a program that gives Medicare the power to negotiate drug prices. In a complaint filed in a federal court in Texas, PhRMA along with the National Infusion Center Association and the Global Colon Cancer Association, which counts PhRMA and some drug companies as members, said the drug price negotiation program was unconstitutional.

US CDC advisers recommend older adults may receive Pfizer, GSK shots for RSV

A panel of advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday recommended that new vaccines from Pfizer and GSK to prevent severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections be available to older adults in the U.S. but stopped short of saying all of them should get the shots. In two separate votes, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) said that people aged 60 and older may receive the RSV shots after consulting with a health care provider.

Study reveals how immune system of astronauts breaks down

Evidence is growing about the many ways that traveling in the microgravity environment of space tampers with the human body, with new research showing how it dials down the activity of genes in white blood cells crucial to the immune system. A study involving 14 astronauts who spent 4-1/2 to 6-1/2 months aboard the International Space Station found that gene expression in these cells, also called leukocytes, quickly decreased when they reached space and then returned to normal not long after returning to Earth, researchers said on Thursday.

WHO prepares for El Nino-linked spread of viral disease

The World Health Organization is preparing for an increased spread of viral diseases like dengue, Zika and chikungunya linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon, the agency's director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday. El Nino, a warming of water surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean, has officially returned after three years of the La Nina climate pattern. This is likely to yield extreme weather later this year, from tropical cyclones spinning toward vulnerable Pacific islands to heavy rainfall in South America to drought in Australia and in some parts of Asia.