Republican lawmakers to push $1.1 billion in new Zika funds

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate agreed on Wednesday to $1.1 billion to fight the Zika virus, a House Republican lawmaker said, shortchanging President Barack Obama's funding request and angering Democrats by making other cuts to pay for it.

U.S. completes 'takedown' of Medicare fraud: officials

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. law enforcement officials have charged 301 suspects with trying to defraud Medicare and other federal insurance programs in 2016, marking the "largest takedown" involving health care fraud allegations, the Justice Department said on Wednesday.

House Speaker Ryan unveils Republican alternative to Obamacare

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan unveiled a Republican healthcare agenda on Wednesday that would repeal Obamacare but keep some of its more popular provisions.

U.S. to help fund technology to eliminate Zika in blood supply

(Reuters) - The U.S. government said on Monday it has agreed to help fund two pathogen reduction technologies to help reduce the risk of Zika virus and other infections from being transmitted through the blood supply.

Novartis aims to nearly triple biosimilar drugs on market by 2020

KUFSTEIN, Austria (Reuters) - Switzerland's Novartis pledged to nearly triple its number of biosimilar drugs on the market by 2020, raising its bet that cheaper versions of blockbuster cancer and immune system medicines will snatch billions in rivals' profits.

Hologic wins emergency U.S. authorization for Zika test

(Reuters) - Hologic Inc won emergency U.S. authorization to sell its Zika test, expanding the number of public and private labs that can test for the virus as health officials brace for a rise this summer in the number of infections.

Health agency reports U.S. babies with Zika-related birth defects

(Reuters) - Three babies have been born in the United States with birth defects linked to likely Zika virus infections in the mothers during pregnancy, along with three cases of lost pregnancies linked to Zika, federal health officials said on Thursday.

Can coffee cause cancer? Only if it's very hot, says WHO agency

LONDON (Reuters) - There is no conclusive evidence that drinking coffee causes cancer, the World Health Organization's cancer agency said on Wednesday in a reverse of its previous warning, but it also said all "very hot" drinks are probably carcinogenic.

WHO sees 'very low' risk of further Zika spread due to Olympics

GENEVA/CHICAGO (Reuters - There is a "very low risk" of further international spread of Zika virus as result of the Olympic Games to be held in Brazil, the heart of the current outbreak linked to birth defects, World Health Organization (WHO) experts said on Tuesday.

Too fat, too thin: Report finds malnutrition fuels disease worldwide

LONDON (Reuters) - A third of people worldwide are either undernourished or overweight, driving increasing rates of disease and piling pressure on health services, a global report showed on Tuesday.

Scientists use climate, population changes to predict diseases

LONDON (Reuters) - British scientists say they have developed a model that can predict outbreaks of zoonotic diseases – those such as Ebola and Zika that jump from animals to humans – based on changes in climate.

Sanofi says LixiLan diabetes drug trials meet targets

PARIS (Reuters) - France's Sanofi said on Sunday that two late-stage Phase III clinical trials of its LixiLan diabetes drug had met their targets, readying it for approval in the United States in August and Europe early next year.

Congress eyes $1 billion to aid at-risk families

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Key members of the U.S. Congress said Friday they had reached a compromise to shift more than $1 billion to try to keep struggling families together, including those with babies born dependant on opioids.