US Authorities Seek 4 Pakistanis in $703M Medicare Fraud Case By Arshad Mehmood / The Media Line Staff US federal authorities are hunting four Pakistani nationals accused of operating a call center inside Pakistan to steal Medicare data and generate $703 million in fraudulent claims against the US h
DANVILLE, Ky. (AP) — When a friend approached Brent Williams four years ago with a business proposition to start an ostrich farm, he was more than intrigued — he had a personal motivation as someone who developed a life-threatening allergy to red meat, triggered by tick bites. The problem, known as
LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Spire Healthcare Group said on Saturday it had agreed to be taken over by consortium comprising funds managed by Toscafund, Three Hills and Ares, valuing its share capital at about £1,026 million ($1.39 billion). The deal, which represents a premium of 66% to the company’s
WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) — The United States will start phasing out its financial support for Namibia’s HIV response programs, the latest among southern African countries to feel the effects of the withdrawal of foreign aid by the U.S. administration. The U.S. will provide Namibia with $45 million for
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — A group of chimpanzees once used in laboratory hepatitis B vaccine experiments has received health checks at their new home in Liberia, in hopes of giving them a second chance at a normal life. The West African chimpanzees received checks ranging from teeth cleaning to X-rays a
By Dave Sherwood HAVANA, Sept 4 (Reuters) – The U.S. embassy in Havana issued a health alert for Cuba on Friday, warning travelers and residents of a spike in intestinal illnesses and diarrhea caused by failing water and electricity supply, even as the Trump administration continued to hold back fue
The trial to decide if Lindsay Clancy was criminally responsible when she strangled her three children in 2023 ended in a mistrial Friday after jurors were unable to reach a consensus after weeks of conflicting testimony about her post-pregnancy mental health and seven days of deliberations. What ha
By Christy Santhosh and Bhanvi Satija Sept 4 (Reuters) – Novartis said on Friday its experimental drug pelacarsen did not cut the risk of major heart attacks and strokes in patients with a genetic risk factor in a late-stage trial, marking a setback to the Swiss drugmaker’s efforts to revive its dru
By Tom Hals Sept 4 (Reuters) – For jurors in the six-week murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, the end of their service could be the start of the emotional fallout. The jurors listened to a gut-wrenching emergency call from Clancy’s now ex-husband, reviewed gruesome autopsy photos of the three young chil
By Rishika Sadam HYDERABAD, Sept 5 (Reuters) – India’s drug regulator has flagged a batch of widely used rabies vaccine Abhayrab as substandard and potentially spurious after it failed a potency test, a government document seen by Reuters shows. The finding marks the second time in less than two yea
Sept 4 (Reuters) – Prescriptions for GLP-1 weight-loss drugs among children under 12 in the U.S. have risen more than 300-fold since 2019 as doctors seek new, effective treatments for younger patients with obesity, according to a study published on Friday. The study, which included more than 3.5 mil
Sept 4 (Reuters) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday there were 3,134 confirmed measles cases in the country so far this year, marking the highest annual total in more than 35 years. Here are some details: • Of the total, 3,118 cases were reported across 47 U.S. juri
PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — Lindsay Clancy’s trial judge declared a mistrial Friday after an emergency defense appeal was denied. Judge William Sullivan ended the trial after jurors on Friday sent a note for a third time saying they couldn’t unanimously decide whether to hold her criminally responsible f
Sept 4 (Reuters) – A European drug safety committee on Friday launched a review of injectable iron medicines over concerns they may cause low phosphate levels and bone problems, including softening of the bones. Injectable iron-containing medicines are used to treat iron deficiency and iron-deficien
(This is an excerpt of the Health Rounds newsletter, where we present latest medical studies on Tuesdays and Thursdays.) By Nancy Lapid Sept 4 (Reuters) – Today we feature two early studies, one that points toward a possible way to prevent nerve damage from chemotherapy drugs and another that reveal
PARIS, Sept 4 (Reuters) – An outbreak of salmonella related to a batch of pumpkin seeds infected 81 people, hospitalising six, in several French regions between May and August, the Health and Agriculture ministries said on Friday. • The public health investigation points to pumpkin seeds processed b
TANA TORAJA, Indonesia, Sept 4 (Reuters) – Indonesia’s top human rights body urged the police on Friday to investigate several new outbreaks of food poisoning linked to President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship programme to provide free meals to students, which made 2,000 people sick this week. In separ
By Aditya Kalra NEW DELHI, Sept 4 (Reuters) – India on Friday ordered a Nepali billionaire’s company popular for its Wai Wai noodles to discontinue some products after an investigation found its factory used unhygienic “floor-collected, broken noodles” in making its Indian snacks. The crackdown is p
PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — Jurors in the Lindsay Clancy trial have been struggling to agree on a verdict following a trial over whether she should be held criminally responsible for killing her three young children at her Massachusetts home in 2023. Both sides agree that she did it. But her attorneys ar
By Siddhi Mahatole and Christy Santhosh Sept 4 (Reuters) – Ionis Pharmaceuticals said on Friday it would price its newly approved therapy to treat Alexander disease at $285,000 per dose, a day after the U.S. FDA cleared the injectable drug, making it the first approved treatment for the genetic diso
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Authorities in eastern Congo are shifting to a village-centered approach to fight the Ebola outbreak, Africa’s top public health agency said Thursday, as the virus continues to spread faster than efforts to track and contain it. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Preven
Sept 3 (Reuters) – India’s Cipla said on Thursday its U.S. unit entered an exclusive partnership with China’s Qilu Pharmaceutical to license a biosimilar version of Merck’s cancer drug Keytruda for the U.S. market. Here are more details: • Under the agreement, Qilu will handle development, regulator
PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — The deadlocked jury in the Lindsay Clancy trial went home without a verdict Thursday following a dramatic sixth day of deliberations. Her defense lawyer sought to remove one of the jurors after the foreperson said in a note that the juror wouldn’t follow the judge’s instructio
By Puyaan Singh Sept 3 (Reuters) – AbbVie said on Thursday its therapy for a type of blood cancer has improved patients’ response rate to treatment and reduced the risk of disease progression or death, meeting the main goals of a late-stage trial. As biosimilars chip away at sales of its arthritis t
By Richa Naidu LONDON, Sept 3 (Reuters) – Sensodyne toothpaste maker Haleon has quietly negotiated better spots on shelves at U.S. retailers including Walmart and Target, to gain more visibility at a at a time when mounting grocery bills are hitting shopper spending. The company, which was spun out
By Amina Niasse NEW YORK, Sept 3 (Reuters) – GoodRx, a prescription drug savings site, announced on Thursday a family healthcare subscription for access to common medical services and over 250 medications, and it plans to launch the program as part of employer health benefits in 2027. The program, c
By Sriparna Roy Sept 3 (Reuters) – The U.S. health regulator said on Thursday it is working with all six manufacturers to increase the supply of estradiol transdermal patches, used to treat menopause symptoms, after reports of patients having difficulty in readily accessing them. A surge in demand f
By Nqobile Dludla JOHANNESBURG, Sept 3 (Reuters) – Aspen Pharmacare expects African sales of Eli Lilly’s blockbuster weight-loss and diabetes drug Mounjaro to exceed 2 billion rand ($124 million) in its current financial year, buoyed by surging demand in South Africa and planned launches in Nigeria
By Clement Bonnerot DAKAR, Sept 3 (Reuters) – Health officials battling the Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are using anonymised mobile-phone data to map population movements and identify areas where the virus could spread next, according to the World Health Organisation and r
By Kamal Choudhury Sept 3 (Reuters) – Shares of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical plunged on Thursday after its neurodevelopmental disorder treatment failed a closely watched late-stage trial, dealing a major blow to one of its biggest growth bets. The drug, apazunersen, failed to meet both its main goal of
