U.S. warns pregnant women on travel to 11 Southeast Asia countries over Zika

(Reuters) - U.S. health officials on Thursday recommended that pregnant women postpone travel to 11 Southeast Asian countries because of the risk of Zika virus infection, which has been shown to cause severe birth defects.

Allergan buys second fatty liver-disease company

(Reuters) - Allergan Inc on Tuesday said it had paid $50 million for Akarna Therapeutics Ltd, a privately held company developing treatments for a incurable fatty liver disease called NASH.

Prostate cancer treatment 'not always needed'

Just keeping an eye on small prostate cancers results in the same 10-year survival rate as treating them, a major study suggests.

Activist Starboard demands rapid changes at Perrigo

Starboard Value LP on Monday disclosed a 4.6 percent stake in Perrigo Co Plc , and said the Dublin-based drugmaker needs to make immediate improvements to turn around its sagging stock price. Starboard delivered a scathing letter to Perrigo's chief executive John Hendrickson and its board on Monday, criticizing their performance since the company spurned a $26 billion takeover bid from generic drug maker Mylan NV late last year. "Unfortunately, since that time, results have gone decidedly in the wrong direction, and management's promises have been woefully unfulfilled," Starboard said.

Mexico joins Philippines, Brazil with dengue vaccine

While the world awaits a Zika vaccine, the first ever injection against dengue fever is spreading, with Mexico becoming next week the latest country where people can get the shot. French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi is presenting its Dengvaxia vaccine to doctors at an event in eastern Mexico on Saturday, while people aged nine to 45 will be able to get the shot from their physicians from Monday. After public programs were launched in the Philippines and Brazil's state of Parana this year, the company is rolling out the vaccine in the private sector in Mexico while health authorities prepare a public immunization plan.

Crimean dissident says psychiatric detainment a risk to his health

By Anton Zverev SIMFEROPOL, Crimea (Reuters) - A Crimean dissident undergoing enforced psychiatric testing by Russian authorities is being held in a dilapidated medical facility and says the poor conditions are a danger to his physical health. Ilmi Umerov, deputy head of the Crimean Tatars' semi-official Mejlis legislature, which was suspended by Moscow after it annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, was committed to compulsory psychiatric testing by local authorities in August. The 59-year-old, who says his mental health is fine, had previously been criminally charged over statements he made protesting what he called the "Russian occupation" of Crimea.

Clinton offers plan to curb 'unjustified' price hikes on life-saving drugs

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton said on Friday that if elected to the White House she would create an oversight panel to protect U.S. consumers from large price hikes on long-available, lifesaving drugs and to import alternative treatments if necessary, adding to her pledges to rein in overall drug prices.