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| Sony, Sharp in turnaround battle; Panasonic battered Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 07:53 PM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp is likely to say it returned to an operating profit for July-September after it sold a chemicals business, but investors still aren't sure a consumer electronics revamp will deliver the profit growth the group seeks. Sony shares, valued at less than $12 billion, have dropped 19 percent since end-June and its 5-year credit default swaps - the cost of insuring against debt default - have jumped by almost 60 percent. The benchmark Nikkei average is down by less than 1 percent. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sanofi draws fire over cost of MS drug Lemtrada Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 05:03 PM PDT PARIS (Reuters) - Medical journal The Lancet warned that Sanofi's experimental multiple sclerosis drug Lemtrada may be too costly for patients and health insurers once it gets approved by regulators. The journal, which published the encouraging results of two late-stage Lemtrada tests on Thursday, also criticized the drugmaker's decision to withdraw leukemia therapy Campath, the same drug given at a different dosage, depriving MS patients who had been using it off-label. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mumps outbreak traced to face-to-face schooling: study Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 04:59 PM PDT (Reuters) - A face-to-face educational method used among Orthodox Jews apparently led to a U.S. outbreak of mumps in 2009 and 2010 even though most of those infected had been properly vaccinated, according to a U.S. study. The outbreak, detailed in the New England Journal of Medicine, indicates how close, repeated contact with an infected person can overwhelm the mumps vaccine, the researchers said. "The risk of infection with mumps may be higher when the exposure dose of virus is large or intensely transmitted," wrote lead author Albert Barskey, of the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House won't oppose new challenge to 2010 healthcare law Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 04:49 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Wednesday cleared the way for the U.S. Supreme Court to revive a lawsuit that challenges the 2010 healthcare overhaul on religious grounds, including a claim that it helps fund abortions. Liberty University, a Christian college in Lynchburg, Virginia, had challenged the individual mandate, which required Americans to obtain insurance by 2014 or pay a penalty, and a mandate requiring big employers to provide coverage for workers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Melbourne Cup: the race that intoxicates a city Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 04:32 PM PDT MELBOURNE (Reuters) - A report released on Thursday came to a conclusion that will come as no surprise to anyone who has been in Australia's second most populous city on the first Tuesday in November - the Melbourne Cup is the "booziest" sporting event of the year. The richest two-mile handicap in the world, the latest version of which will be contested for a purse of A$6.2 million ($6.43 million) next week, is traditionally known as "the race that stops a nation" and the people of the state of Victoria get a public holiday to enjoy it. ... Full Story | Top |
| Horse racing-Melbourne Cup: the race that intoxicates a city Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 04:29 PM PDT MELBOURNE, Nov 1 (Reuters) - A report released on Thursday came to a conclusion that will come as no surprise to anyone who has been in Australia's second most populous city on the first Tuesday in November - the Melbourne Cup is the "booziest" sporting event of the year. The richest two-mile handicap in the world, the latest version of which will be contested for a purse of A$6.2 million ($6.43 million) next week, is traditionally known as "the race that stops a nation" and the people of the state of Victoria get a public holiday to enjoy it. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chicago's Cook County drops bullet tax, keeps gun levy Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 03:11 PM PDT CHICAGO (Reuters) - The senior executive of the county that includes Chicago dropped a proposed tax on bullets on Wednesday but kept a plan to tax firearms to help defray healthcare expenses associated with the high rate of gun. "It is very important to us to tax guns because we know that guns are the sources of the incredible violence we have in our neighborhoods," Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle told a news conference. She said 29 percent of guns used in crimes in Chicago were purchased legally in suburban Cook County. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mumps outbreak traced to face-to-face schooling Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 03:06 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A face-to-face educational technique used among Orthodox Jews apparently led to an outbreak of mumps in 2009 and 2010 even though most of those infected were properly vaccinated, according to a new study. The outbreak, detailed in the November 1 New England Journal of Medicine, illustrates how close repeated contact with an infected person can overwhelm the mumps vaccine. "The risk of infection with mumps may be higher when the exposure dose of virus is large or intensely transmitted," the researchers concluded in their report. ... Full Story | Top |
| Ivermectin hair lotion found effective against lice Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 03:05 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A single 10-minute hair application of a drug used in oral form since the 1980s to control river blindness and other parasitic diseases eliminated head lice in nearly three of four children in a new study. The lotion contains ivermectin and is sold under the brand name Sklice by Sanofi Pasteur, which paid for the study. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration used the results to approve topical ivermectin lotion in February. "The advantage of it is, it's a one-application, one-shot treatment," lead author Dr. ... Full Story | Top |
| Huge drug recall latest fallout in deadly meningitis outbreak Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 03:04 PM PDT BOSTON (Reuters) - Ameridose, a sister company of the U.S. pharmacy linked to a meningitis outbreak that has killed 29 people, announced on Wednesday a voluntary recall of all its products, a move to cooperate with regulators that could nevertheless create shortages of some drugs. In particular, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and a number of hospitals are concerned about the availability of several drugs for which Ameridose has been a major supplier, including those given as shots or intravenous drips or used during surgery. ... Full Story | Top |
| Washington pot activists push for driving curbs to help pass bill Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 02:03 PM PDT OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) - Marijuana activists in Washington state hope voters will be reassured by strict new "stoned driving" standards, despite opposition from medical cannabis users who say the limits would make it hard for them to ever drive legally. Washington is among three states voting on Tuesday on whether to allow marijuana for recreational use, even though the federal government considers it illegal, harmful and liable to be abused. Legalization measures in two other states, Colorado and Oregon, contain no new restrictions on impaired driving. ... Full Story | Top |
| Smokers miss work more often, cost UK billions Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 01:37 PM PDT  NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Smokers miss an average of two or three more days of work each year than non-smokers, according to a new analysis of 29 past studies. Based on that finding, absenteeism due to smoking cost the UK alone 1.4 billion pounds - or $2.25 billion - last year, researchers calculated. "Clearly the most important message for any individual's health is, 'Quit smoking,' but I think that message is pretty well out there," said Douglas Levy, a tobacco and public health researcher from the Harvard Medical School in Boston who wasn't involved in the new study. ... Full Story | Top |
| Madrid to apply one-euro charge on drug prescriptions Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 01:23 PM PDT MADRID (Reuters) - The region of Madrid said on Wednesday it would introduce an unpopular one-euro surcharge for medical prescriptions next year as pressure mounts on Spain's cash-strapped regions to curb deficits. The plan is part of Madrid's efforts to save some 2.7 billion euros ($3.5 billion) in next year's budget, Madrid regional president Ignacio Gonzalez told a news conference. Opponents to the surcharge say the reform will mean the most vulnerable, especially the elderly who are often dependent on several prescriptions, will avoid basic care to save costs. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sandy uproots Connecticut tree, 200-year-old human remains uncovered Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 01:14 PM PDT  (Reuters) - A Connecticut town got an unexpected history lesson after fierce winds from monster storm Sandy toppled a 103-year-old oak tree and exposed skeletal remains below it, officials said on Wednesday. The remains likely belonged to a victim of yellow fever or smallpox who might have been buried on the New Haven town green between 1799 and 1821, police spokesman David Hartman said. Headstones for those buried below the green were moved to a local cemetery in 1821, but the bodies of potentially thousands of residents were never relocated, he said. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. West Nile outbreak still spreading but pace slowing, CDC says Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 12:53 PM PDT DALLAS (Reuters) - The number of people infected with the mosquito-borne West Nile virus in the United States continues to grow, but the pace of this year's outbreak is slowing, federal health officials said on Wednesday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 4,891 people have contracted the disease, up from 4,725 a week ago. The virus killed four more people in the past week, bringing this year's death toll to 223. The outbreak appears to be slowing, with 166 new cases reported during the last week, down from 199 the week before, according to CDC data. ... Full Story | Top |
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