Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

U.S.

abortion fight in 2023 to focus on state laws, medication

Six months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, the state of abortion rights around the country remains unsettled, thanks to a patchwork of lawsuits in state courts and emergency court orders.

Experts predict that the uncertainty will continue in the coming year, as cases wend their way through courts, and state legislatures consider new restrictions, potentially drawing new battle lines in the fight over abortion rights.

AstraZeneca wins EU backing for heart drug, but suffers lung cancer setback

AstraZeneca on Monday won European endorsement for its blockbuster drug, dapagliflozin, as a treatment for all forms of heart failure, the company said.

The drug, which belongs to a class of medicines called SGLT2 inhibitors and is branded as Forxiga in the European Union, raked in about $1 billion in sales in the first three quarters of 2022.

U.S. FDA lifts hold on Bluebird's sickle cell disease therapy

Bluebird Bio Inc said on Monday that the U.S.
health regulator had lifted a partial clinical hold on studies for its gene therapy to treat blood disorder sickle cell disease. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's decision ends a year-long halt on future studies and a pause in enrollment for ongoing studies of lovo-cel after one case of persistent anemia in a patient.

The world fears a new China COVID wave, ponders how to help Xi

Officials and global health experts outside China are anxiously watching a COVID-19 surge there, worried a nation of 1.4 billion people is inadequately vaccinated and may not have the healthcare tools to treat a wave of illness expected to kill more than one million people through 2023.

Some U.S. and European officials are struggling to figure out how, or if, they can help mitigate a crisis they fear will hurt the global economy, further constrain corporate supply chains and spawn new coronavirus variants of concern.

CVS, Walgreens limit purchase of children's pain medicines

Pharmacy chains CVS Health Corp and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc limited purchase of children's pain drugs as they face supply constraints and high demand with the United States experiencing one of the worst flu season in a decade.

CVS said there is currently a two-product limit on all children's pain-relief products at all its pharmacy locations and slot online, while Walgreens said it had put a limit of six over-the-counter pediatric fever reducers per online transaction.

Hungary reports H5N1 bird flu at turkey farm

Hungary has reported an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus at a turkey farm, the National Food Chain Safety Office (Nebih) said on Tuesday.

Authorities said that they have begun the slaughter of more than 25,000 turkeys on the farm where the virus was detected. The outbreak was reported in the county of Hajdu-Bihar.

How many people might die, and why, under relaxed China COVID curbs

China's abrupt end to its zero-COVID policy has raised concerns of widespread infections among a vulnerable, undervaccinated population with little natural immunity that would overload the health system and result in up to 2 million deaths, or more, various research groups are reporting.

New analyzes by various modeling groups predict the reopening could result in as many as 2.1 million deaths.

Hong Kong to drop COVID test for bars, entertainment venues

People in Hong Kong will from Thursday no longer need to show a negative COVID-19 test to get into bars and restaurants while cinemas and performing venues will be allowed to operate at full capacity, health authorities said.

"The government is looking deeply into where we can further relax measures so we can go back to normal life," Libby Lee, the city's under secretary for health told a media briefing on Tuesday.

China races to bolster health system as COVID surge sparks global concern

Cities across China scrambled to install hospital beds and build fever screening clinics on Tuesday as authorities reported five more deaths and international concern grew about Beijing's surprise decision to let the virus run free.

China this month began dismantling its stringent "zero-COVID" regime of lockdowns and testing after protests against curbs that had kept the virus at bay for three years but at a big cost to society and the world's second-largest economy.

COVID-19 still Spain's leading cause of deaths this year

The number of deaths associated with the COVID-19 pandemic fell by almost a third in Spain in the first half of this year from a year ago, but the illness provoked by the virus remained the leading cause of fatalities, official data showed on Monday.

Spain's statistics agency INE said 20,915 people died from COVID-19 in the first half of 2022, according to provisional data, down from 29,300 during the same period in 2021.