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| Baby circumcisions in U.S. hospitals decline over three decades Wednesday, Aug 21, 2013 09:08 PM PDT By Eric M. Johnson (Reuters) - The rate of circumcisions performed on newborn boys in U.S. hospitals dropped 6 percentage points over the last three decades, with an especially steep decline in Western states, according to U.S. government data released on Thursday. The national rate declined to 58.3 percent in 2010 from 64.5 percent in 1979, according to the report from the National Center for Health Statistics. The tally excludes many circumcisions, including those performed in other places such as religious institutions and those performed later in life. ... Full Story | Top |
| Republicans weigh using debt limit as leverage on Obamacare Wednesday, Aug 21, 2013 08:35 PM PDT  By Caren Bohan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican lawmakers, who staunchly oppose President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, are considering using a fall showdown over the country's borrowing limit as leverage to try to delay the law's implementation. The idea is gaining traction among Republican leaders in the House of Representatives, aides said on Wednesday. An aide to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said the debt limit is a "good leverage point" to try to force some action on the healthcare law known as "Obamacare. ... Full Story | Top |
| German tourist dies of wounds from shark attack in Hawaii Wednesday, Aug 21, 2013 06:09 PM PDT HONOLULU (Reuters) - A 20-year-old German tourist who lost an arm in a shark attack off the coast of Maui last week died of her wounds on Wednesday, her family said, becoming the first person to die of a shark attack in Hawaii in nearly a decade. Jana Lutteropp, 20, had been hospitalized since she was attacked while snorkeling near Maui and had been on life support prior to her death, a hospital spokeswoman said. "Jana fought hard to stay alive. ... Full Story | Top |
| Biden says son to return home after 'successful' medical procedure Wednesday, Aug 21, 2013 05:24 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that his son Beau had undergone "a successful procedure" and would return to Delaware after going to Houston on Monday for tests to probe the cause of symptoms that included weakness and disorientation. Biden provided no other details. News reports said doctors had discovered a mass in the son's brain and that he had undergone tests for cancer at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Beau Biden, 44, is the vice president's oldest son and the attorney general of the state of Delaware. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brother speaks warmly in court of American soldier in Afghan rampage Wednesday, Aug 21, 2013 04:56 PM PDT  By Jonathan Kaminsky TACOMA, Washington (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier who gunned down 16 Afghan civilians last year was an attentive father of two children and a duty-bound Army man before the attacks, his brother testified at a sentencing hearing on Wednesday. William Bales spoke warmly of his youngest brother, Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, saying the former high school football player left a carefree bachelor life behind to enlist in the military in the aftermath of al Qaeda attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Onyx provides drug trial data to potential bidders - sources Wednesday, Aug 21, 2013 04:33 PM PDT By Soyoung Kim and Deena Beasley (Reuters) - Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc has given potential buyers, including Amgen Inc, access to trial data on its new cancer drug, removing a key hurdle that was holding up deal talks, according to three people familiar with the matter. The company's attempt to sell itself for around $9.5 billion hit an impasse in recent weeks after lead bidder Amgen sought trial data about blood cancer drug Kyprolis - something that Onyx was reluctant to share, Reuters reported last week. ... Full Story | Top |
| As Obamacare rollout nears, president checks in with state officials Wednesday, Aug 21, 2013 04:22 PM PDT  By Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought a progress report from state officials on Wednesday on the rollout of his signature health care law, stepping up his profile on the issue as the launch of a key provision of the law nears on October 1. Obama spoke by videoconference with the officials responsible for setting up new online health insurance exchanges that are at the heart of the program. These markets will offer private coverage at federally subsidized rates to individuals and families with low-to-moderate incomes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Home therapy may help depressed African American adults Wednesday, Aug 21, 2013 03:18 PM PDT By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Bringing treatment and other help to depressed, middle-aged and older African Americans in their homes was modestly effective in a new study. After four months of weekly one-hour sessions with a trained social worker, participants scored lower on a scale measuring symptoms of depression, compared to those who didn't get the home visits. "Our focus was very much to help people address their immediate concerns and anxieties and become engaged in activities that are important to them," Laura Gitlin, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health. ... Full Story | Top |
| China industry body quizzes medical device makers over pricing Wednesday, Aug 21, 2013 02:06 PM PDT By Megha Rajagopalan BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese industry group is collecting information on the pricing and business practices of foreign and local makers of medical equipment for the government in a survey that sources said was unusual in the amount of detail it sought. Two industry sources who have seen the questionnaire said it was unclear if regulators were about to investigate China's $20 billion medical devices market following multiple probes into corruption and possible price fixing in the pharmaceuticals sector. ... Full Story | Top |
| CVS cuts access to opioid pain-killers for suspect doctors Wednesday, Aug 21, 2013 02:02 PM PDT By Jessica Wohl (Reuters) - CVS Caremark Corp said on Wednesday that it has taken the unusual step of cutting off access to powerful pain-killers for more than 36 doctors and other healthcare providers found to prescribe the drugs at an alarmingly high rate. The drugstore chain, which was drawn into a government crackdown on prescription painkiller abuse last year, began revoking the dispensing privileges of certain providers in late 2012, said CVS Chief Medical Officer Troyen Brennan. "This isn't a definitive solution to the problem," Brennan told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| Study gives clues on course of CTE in athletes Wednesday, Aug 21, 2013 01:10 PM PDT By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In a new study of former athletes with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), researchers have found the disease tends to show up in one of two ways: early, with depression and behavioral changes, or later, with memory loss. Researchers talked to the relatives of 36 people who had the brain condition identified on an autopsy and found all but three had shown symptom patterns that followed one of those two trajectories. ... Full Story | Top |
| Atlanta teen denied new heart gets transplant after all Wednesday, Aug 21, 2013 12:05 PM PDT By David Beasley ATLANTA (Reuters) - A 15-year-old Atlanta boy received a new heart on Tuesday evening, just 10 days after his family complained he was unfairly rejected for a transplant because of past failure to take medicine and show up for doctors' appointments, local media reported. Anthony Stokes, who has a weakened, enlarged heart that cannot pump blood efficiently, could have less than six months to live without a transplant, his family said last week. A few days later, the hospital reversed course and added him to its waiting list. ... Full Story | Top |
| Age may be a factor in melanoma treatment quality Wednesday, Aug 21, 2013 12:01 PM PDT By Kathryn Doyle NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People over age 70 diagnosed with melanoma may wait longer to have the malignant spot removed and receive less comprehensive care and monitoring than younger patients, a French study suggests. "Age-related variations are observed at every step of melanoma management," lead author Dr. Dragos Ciocan of the Unité d'Aide Méthodologique, Hôpital Robert Debré, Reims, France, and his coauthors write in JAMA Dermatology. ... Full Story | Top |
| Incyte pancreatic cancer drug improves survival in mid-stage trial Wednesday, Aug 21, 2013 10:35 AM PDT (Reuters) - Incyte Corp reported an improved survival rate in patients most likely to benefit from its experimental pancreatic cancer treatment, Jakafi, sending the company's shares up 30 percent to its highest in almost 13 years. Analysts said the data from a mid-stage trial suggested that the drug, already approved in the U.S. to treat a form of blood cancer, can work in a late-stage pancreatic cancer study, as well as on other cancerous tumors. ... Full Story | Top |
| China bird flu analysis finds more virus threats lurking Wednesday, Aug 21, 2013 10:06 AM PDT  By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - A deadly new bird flu virus in China evolved from migratory birds via waterfowl to poultry and into people, and there are other bird flu viruses circulating that could follow the same path, scientists have found. The study - an analysis of the evolutionary history of the H7N9 bird flu that has so far killed 44 people - identified several other H7 flu viruses circulating in birds that the researchers said "may pose threats beyond the current outbreak". ... Full Story | Top |
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