Health Highlights: Jan. 10, 2020

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Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

California May Start Producing Its Own Medicines

A proposal for California to contract generic drug companies to make medications would make the state the first in the country to produce its own medications.

The measure would “take the power out of the hands of greedy pharmaceutical companies,” Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said when he announced the plan on Thursday, the Associated Press reported.

Increasing competition in the generic drug market would lower drug prices for the state’s nearly 40 million residents, according to Newsom.

The proposal also includes a single market for drug pricing in the state. Companies would have to bid to sell their medicines at a set price.

“Other countries control or negotiate the price of drugs, and if there is one state that could do it, it’s California, which is the size of a country,” Larry Levitt, executive vice president of health policy for the Kaiser Family Foundation, told the AP. “A drug company could walk away from Rhode Island. It’s much harder to walk away from California.”

The proposal must be approved by lawmakers before it takes effect.

Priscilla VanderVeer, vice president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, told the AP she’s waiting for more details on the proposal before she will comment.

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Second U.S. Baby Born from Transplanted Uterus from a Deceased Donor

The second U.S. baby born from a transplanted uterus from a deceased donor was delivered by cesarean section in November, it was announced Thursday.

Benjamin Thomas Gobrecht was born to 33-year-old Jennifer Gobrecht, who was born without a uterus, and husband Drew Gobrecht, who live outside of Philadelphia, CNN reported.

Jennifer enrolled in an ongoing trial at Penn Medicine to assess uterine transplantation as a treatment option for infertile women.

The first baby in the U.S. to be born from a transplanted uterus from a deceased donor was delivered last June at the Cleveland Clinic, CNN reported.

The first baby in the world to be born from a transplanted uterus from a deceased donor was an infant girl delivered in Brazil in 2017.

To date, babies born from transplanted uteri have only been delivered by C-section, CNN reported.

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Twitter to Test New Features to Reduce Cyberbullying

New features that will enable Twitter users to control who can reply to their posts or to block replies altogether are going to be tested, the company says.

The announcement at the annual Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas comes as social media companies are under pressure to deal with cyberbullying, BBC News reported.

Twitter already has a feature that allows users to hide replies to their tweets.

“We want to help people feel safe participating in the conversation on Twitter,” the company said, BBC News reported.

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