Top Health Headlines: Drug Approvals, Lawsuits, and Tech Outages

This roundup includes Novartis and Abbott lifting profit forecasts, Eli Lilly's weight loss drug approval in China, Ardelyx's lawsuit against the U.S. health department, German hospitals canceling operations due to a global IT outage, and other significant health-related developments.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Swiss drugmaker Novartis raised its 2024 earnings guidance for the second time on Thursday, driven by a gain in prescriptions for heart failure treatment Entresto and arthritis drug Cosentyx. Full-year adjusted operating income is expected to grow by a 'mid- to high teens' percentage.

Abbott Laboratories raised its annual profit forecast after second-quarter earnings exceeded Wall Street estimates. This was driven by strong sales of glucose monitors and heart devices.

Eli Lilly announced its weight loss drug tirzepatide received approval from Chinese regulators, intensifying competition with Novo Nordisk.

Ardelyx filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health over the inclusion of its kidney disease drug in Medicare payment system.

Two German hospitals canceled elective operations due to a global IT outage linked to the cybersecurity company Crowdstrike, though emergency services were maintained.

England's NHS reported disruptions in booking systems from the same outage but assured emergency services remained unaffected.

Boehringer and GoodRx will offer a low-cost version of the arthritis drug Humira at a 92 percent discount.

Abbott plans to launch its glucose monitoring device, Lingo, targeting people without diabetes through an extensive marketing campaign.

An 11-year-old boy with the rare disease Xeroderma Pigmentosum lives in permanent shade to avoid dangerous sunlight.

Health experts raise concerns over the culling and disposal processes of chickens amid the bird flu outbreak, which may risk further spreading the disease.