Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

U.S. infant mortality high even for full-term babies

Infant mortality rates for full-term babies vary across theU.S., but all states are worse than many European countries, anew study suggests. Previous research has found babies morelikely to die in the U.S. than in other developed and affluentnations, but the current study offers fresh evidence that thisis true even for infants born at the very end of pregnancy whenthey should have excellent survival odds.

Gluten-free diet may still allow harmful levels of exposure

Carefully following a gluten-free diet might not protectpeople with celiac disease from exposure to potentially harmfulamounts of gluten, new findings suggest. “Individuals who are ona gluten free diet are consuming more gluten than we actuallyimagined. It’s not uncommon for them to be consuming on averagea couple of hundred milligrams a day,” Dr. Jack A. Syage, CEO ofImmunogenX in Newport Beach, California, and the study’s leadauthor, told Reuters Health in a telephone interview.

GlaxoSmithKline prescribes commercial reboot for pharmadivision

In January, GlaxoSmithKline's new head ofpharmaceuticals Luke Miels issued a blunt challenge to hismanagers: find budget savings of 20 percent. The plan was topool the savings and reallocate the money to priority medicinesand markets for Britain's biggest drugmaker, according to peoplefamiliar with the meeting.

Childhood `toxic stress’ leads to parenting challenges lateron

Parents who endured “toxic stress” during childhood may bemore likely to have kids with developmental delays and have aharder time coping with their children’s health issues, newresearch suggests. Adverse childhood experiences, commonlycalled ACEs, can include witnessing parents fight or go througha divorce, having a parent with a mental illness or substanceabuse problem, or suffering from sexual, physical or emotionalabuse.

Britain's use of copycat biotech drugs takes off while U.S.lags

Cut-price copies of an expensive Roche biotech drugfor blood cancer have taken 80 percent of the British marketsince launching last year, saving the healthcare system 80million pounds ($113 million) a year, experts said on Wednesday.The rapid adoption of two so-called biosimilar forms ofrituximab from Celltrion and Novartis hasbeen accompanied by discounts of 50-60 percent as the NationalHealth Service (NHS) has used tenders to bring down costs.

Shoe inserts may not help plantar heel pain

Mass-produced shoe inserts available on drugstore shelvesand customized orthotics may not work for plantar heel pain, aresearch review suggests. Plantar heel pain is one of the mostcommon foot ailments, accounting for about 15 percent of footsymptoms requiring medical attention and 10 percent of runninginjuries, researchers note in the British Journal of SportsMedicine. Many doctors recommend shoe inserts to ease this painby supporting the arches and taking pressure off the heel, butresearch to date has been inconclusive about the effectivenessof this approach.

Scientists develop brain scanner in a helmet

British scientists have developed a lightweight and highlysensitive brain imaging device that can be worn as a helmet,allowing the patient to move about naturally. Results fromtests of the scanner showed that patients were able to stretch,nod and even drink tea or play table tennis while their brainactivity was being recorded, millisecond by millisecond, by themagnetoencephalography (MEG) system.

Endo, others to pay $270.8 mln to resolve Lidoderm U.S.antitrust cases

Endo International Plc and two other companies haveagreed to pay $270.8 million to resolve class action lawsuitsalleging Endo paid a generic drug manufacturer to delaylaunching a cheaper version of its Lidoderm painkiller patch.The accords were disclosed in papers filed in federal court inSan Francisco on Tuesday and resolve claims centered on a dealEndo reached in 2012 to settle a patent infringement case itfiled against generic drugmaker Watson Pharmaceuticals.

Longtime U.S. AIDS researcher picked to run CDC

Longtime AIDS researcher Dr. Robert Redfield will be the newdirector of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention inAtlanta, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trumpannounced on Wednesday. Redfield, 66, a professor at theUniversity of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore and aco-founder of the Institute for Human Virology, succeeds Dr.Brenda Fitzgerald, a former commissioner of the GeorgiaDepartment of Public Health who resigned in January because offinancial conflicts of interest. The position does not requireCongressional approval.

Germany confirms H5N6 bird flu case on island farm

German authorities have confirmed outbreak of the highlypathogenic H5N6 bird flu type at a farm on an island off theGerman North Sea coast, the Schleswig-Holstein state agricultureministry said on Wednesday. The virus was found on a farm ofwith 57 chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese on the island ofHallig Suederoog. All the birds on the farm have been culled.