Health News Roundup: Novo Nordisk says obesity pill leads to 15% weight loss; availability "to be determined"; US activists rally one year after Supreme Court allowed abortion bans and more

Here is a snapshot of pending and passed legislation seeking to restrict or protect access in 2023. Exclusive-Indonesia police probe drug regulators over cough syrup Indonesia's police are conducting preliminary inquiries into whether any actions by officials at the country's drug regulator could amount to criminal wrongdoing, as they expand a probe into tainted cough syrups linked to the deaths of more than 200 children across the nation, two top inspectors told Reuters.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Novo Nordisk says obesity pill leads to 15% weight loss; availability "to be determined"

Novo Nordisk on Sunday said a late-stage trial found that a high-dose oral version of its drug semaglutide helped overweight or obese adults lose 15% of their body weight, which is in line with recent results for other experimental obesity pills. Novo plans to seek U.S. and European regulatory approval of the high-dose pill later this year, but timing of a market launch is "to be determined," according to Mico Guevarra, medical director at Novo Nordisk.

US activists rally one year after Supreme Court allowed abortion bans

Abortion rights supporters and opponents held dueling rallies around the U.S. on Saturday, the first anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that had legalized the procedure nationwide. In Washington, speakers from national abortion rights groups, including Women's March and NARAL Pro-Choice America, assembled in Columbus Circle to celebrate the defeat of some abortion opponents in the 2022 midterm races and to rally voters ahead of next year's congressional and presidential elections.

Factbox-U.S. state abortion legislation to watch in 2023

State legislatures are wrestling with how much to restrict or expand abortion access after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. Here is a snapshot of pending and passed legislation seeking to restrict or protect access in 2023.

Exclusive-Indonesia police probe drug regulators over cough syrup

Indonesia's police are conducting preliminary inquiries into whether any actions by officials at the country's drug regulator could amount to criminal wrongdoing, as they expand a probe into tainted cough syrups linked to the deaths of more than 200 children across the nation, two top inspectors told Reuters. The police scrutiny of Indonesia's food and drugs agency (BPOM) is the latest escalation by states seeking accountability for contaminated syrups that were linked to the deaths of dozens more children in Gambia and Uzbekistan last year. The World Health Organization is working with countries to investigate the global pharmaceutical supply chain for such syrups.

Priced out of healthcare, some Iraqis turn to natural remedies

When a pharmacist in Iraq told Umm Mohammed her prescription for a skin ailment would cost about 800,000 dinars ($611), she turned to cheaper natural remedies as some of her relatives had done. In a herbal remedy shop, the 34-year-old mother-of-two found a treatment eight times cheaper. "Pharmacies are a disaster at the moment, poor people turn to medicinal herbs because of the prices," she said. "Who can afford this? Should one die? So you turn to medicinal herbs."