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WEDNESDAY, Nov. 3, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- A California judge has ruled against local governments that sued drug companies for billions of dollars to recover their costs of dealing with the opioid epidemic.In a tentative ruling issued Monday, Orange County Superior Court Judge Peter Wilson rejected the plaintiffs' claims the companies used deceptive marketing to increase unnecessary prescriptions of opioid painkillers, the Associated Press reported."There is simply no evidence to show that the rise in prescriptions was not the result of the medically appropriate provision of pain medications to patients in need," Wilson wrote in a ruling that entailed more than 40 pages, the AP reported.The lawsuit by Los Angeles, Orange and Santa Clara counties and the city of Oakland names Johnson &...

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 3, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- An Arizona man infected his dog and cat with the new coronavirus, according to a new case study that researchers say is the first in the United States to use genetics to document such transmission. The owner wasn't vaccinated, did little to protect his pets, and had houseguests who weren't vaccinated. The owner recovered from COVID-19 and both pets were asymptomatic. However, genetic testing showed that the owner, cat and dog all were infected with an identical strain of coronavirus, and the virus spread from the owner to either the dog or cat, or both, the researchers concluded.They explained that the pets were confined to an apartment and had little or no opportunity to be exposed to the virus independently, so it's highly unlikely that...

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 3, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Managing your diabetes can be tough, but your eyes might thank you for it.Diabetic retinopathy is a diabetes complication that damages the retina's blood vessels, often resulting in vision loss and blindness. The condition occurs in more than half of people with diabetes. It affects nearly 8 million Americans and that number is expected to double by 2050, according to an American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS) news release to mark Diabetic Eye Disease Awareness Month in November. "With new technologies that aid in early diagnosis and breakthroughs in treatment, we've entered a new era in which no one with diabetes need suffer the devastating effects of diabetic retinopathy," ASRS president Dr. Philip Ferrone said in a society news...

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 3, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- It's a finding that stands to reason: A new study shows the pandemic has triggered anxiety and depression in many doctors.Researchers used surveys to assess the mental health of more than 5,000 doctors in Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom at two points during the pandemic — June 2020 and November/December 2020. Doctors in Italy had the highest rates of anxiety (1 in 4) and of depression (1 in 5) at both points. In Spain, 16% of doctors reported anxiety and about 17% reported depression, while about 12% of U.K. doctors reported anxiety and about 14% reported depression.In all three countries, female doctors had the highest rates of anxiety and depression, the findings showed. In Italy, female doctors were 60% more likely to report anxiety....