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| Analysis: Behind China's U.S. pork deal, fears over feed additives Wednesday, May 29, 2013 07:34 PM PDT  By P.J. Huffstutter and Lisa Baertlein CHICAGO/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - When Smithfield Foods Inc. quietly weaned the first of its pigs off the controversial feed additive ractopamine last year, it may have helped open the door for a Chinese counterpart to acquire the world's largest hog producer. Used for more than a decade in the U.S. livestock industry to help pigs quickly build lean muscle instead of fat, the additive had begun to ring alarm bells among some major meat importing countries around the globe. U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Judge rejects legal challenges by accused Colorado theater gunman Wednesday, May 29, 2013 07:00 PM PDT  By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) - A Colorado judge rejected challenges on Wednesday to the state's insanity defense statute and death penalty law by accused movie theater spree gunman James Holmes, resolving a key legal hurdle in the sensational case. Lawyers for Holmes, accused of killing 12 moviegoers and wounding dozens more in a rampage last July, had argued that the state's insanity law was unconstitutional because it forces their client to cooperate with court-appointed psychiatrists. ... Full Story | Top |
| Illinois judge resigns after charges of possessing heroin Wednesday, May 29, 2013 06:53 PM PDT By Brendan O'Brien (Reuters) - An Illinois judge resigned on Wednesday, days after he was charged in federal court with possession of heroin and weeks after a fellow judge died of a cocaine overdose while the two were on a hunting trip. Michael Cook submitted his resignation as a St. Clair County Circuit Court judge and is now undergoing treatment for drug abuse, said his attorney, Thomas Keefe. Cook has been involved with two drug-related incidents in recent months. ... Full Story | Top |
| Wife of Philadelphia abortion doctor sentenced to prison Wednesday, May 29, 2013 05:30 PM PDT By Dave Warner PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The wife of a Philadelphia doctor convicted of murdering babies during late-term abortions was sentenced on Wednesday to up to 23 months in prison for helping her husband. Pearl Gosnell, 52, whose husband, Dr Kermit Gosnell, ran the now-shuttered Women's Medical Society clinic in Philadelphia, had pleaded guilty to performing an illegal abortion, being part of a corrupt organization and conspiracy. ... Full Story | Top |
| Immigrants are net contributors to U.S. Medicare program : study Wednesday, May 29, 2013 04:17 PM PDT By Susan Heavey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Immigrants for years have paid far more into Medicare's coffers than they have pulled out, effectively subsidizing rising healthcare payments to the aging U.S. population, a study released on Wednesday showed. The analysis from Harvard Medical School showed immigrants generated a $13.8 billion surplus for the U.S. government healthcare program for the elderly in 2009, the most recent figures available. ... Full Story | Top |
| High doses of common painkillers increase heart attack risks Wednesday, May 29, 2013 04:03 PM PDT By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - Long-term high-dose use of painkillers such as ibuprofen or diclofenac is "equally hazardous" in terms of heart attack risk as use of the drug Vioxx, which was withdrawn due to its potential dangers, researchers said on Thursday. Presenting the results of a large international study into a class of painkillers called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), the researchers said high doses of them increase the risk of a major vascular event - a heart attack, stroke or dying from cardiovascular disease - by around a third. ... Full Story | Top |
| NICE backs Astra, Bristol diabetes drug in some cases Wednesday, May 29, 2013 04:03 PM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's healthcare cost watchdog NICE is recommending a new diabetes drug from Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca in some circumstances, marking a change of tack following an earlier blanket rejection. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) said on Thursday that Forxiga, or dapagliflozin, was a cost-effective option for type 2 diabetes when used in combination with the older medicine metformin. ... Full Story | Top |
| Appeals court allows drug tests for some Florida state workers Wednesday, May 29, 2013 03:17 PM PDT  By Bill Cotterell TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - A federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday that Florida Governor Rick Scott cannot require all state employees to take random drug tests and told the state to identify which government workers it believes should undergo periodic testing. Scott, a Republican, issued an executive order in March 2011 ordering drug testing for all state employees, regardless of whether they were suspected of drug use, arguing the measure was similar to financial disclosures required for some workers. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. regulators issue rules on workplace wellness programs Wednesday, May 29, 2013 02:54 PM PDT By Sharon Begley NEW YORK (Reuters) - Employees will be eligible for significantly lower premiums on the health insurance they buy through their employers if they participate in "workplace wellness programs," even if they don't improve their health, U.S. regulators said on Wednesday. The Affordable Care Act, signed into law in 2010, will allow U.S. employers to increase the rewards they offer employees who participate in workplace wellness programs. The goal is to improve employees' health by helping them quit smoking or achieve a healthy weight, and thereby control medical spending. ... Full Story | Top |
| Safer mad cow rating could boost U.S. beef exports Wednesday, May 29, 2013 02:44 PM PDT By Ros Krasny WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has upgraded the United States' risk classification for mad cow disease to its safest level, which could increase U.S. beef exports, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Wednesday. The decision to rank the United States' risk as "negligible" instead of "controlled" came at the OIE's annual meeting in Paris. Its scientific arm earlier recommended the upgrade after reviewing U.S. safeguards. ... Full Story | Top |
| Airline study finds onboard illness, diversions rare Wednesday, May 29, 2013 02:39 PM PDT By Gene Emery NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Flying somewhere? A new study of more than seven million commercial aircraft fights has concluded the odds of having a medical emergency on your plane are 604 to 1 and the chances of ending up at a different airport as a result are about 8,500 to 1. The likelihood of someone dying during your flight: 240,000 to 1. "We found that it's very rare for someone to die on board an aircraft," said Dr. Christian Martin-Gill of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. ... Full Story | Top |
| ADHD medications not tied to drug, alcohol abuse Wednesday, May 29, 2013 01:23 PM PDT By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Taking Ritalin and other drugs for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) doesn't affect a child's chances of trying or abusing alcohol and drugs later in life, a new review suggests. Researchers pooled data from 15 studies that included a total of 2,600 kids and teenagers with ADHD who were or were not medicated with stimulants and were followed for anywhere from 3 to 28 years. They found no clear difference in how many participants started using or abusing alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana or cocaine, based on how their ADHD was managed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Legendary Canadian abortion campaigner Morgentaler dies aged 90 Wednesday, May 29, 2013 12:59 PM PDT  By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - Henry Morgentaler, a Holocaust survivor who became one of Canada's leading abortion campaigners and spent time in jail for terminating pregnancies, died on Wednesday at the age of 90, activists said. Morgentaler set up Canada's first independent abortion clinic in Montreal in 1969 at a time when the procedure could only be performed in hospitals and was limited to cases when doctors deemed that continuation of a pregnancy could harm a woman. ... Full Story | Top |
| FDA approves two Glaxo melanoma drugs Wednesday, May 29, 2013 12:53 PM PDT  (Reuters) - U.S. health regulators on Wednesday approved a pair of GlaxoSmithKline Plc drugs to treat advanced melanoma - the deadliest form of skin cancer - in patients with specific genetic mutations. It also approved a diagnostic test to detect the mutations. The Food and Drug Administration said it approved the drugs, Tafinlar and Mekinist, to be used as single agents and not in combination after the medicines delayed tumor growth in separate clinical trials. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bicycle helmet laws linked to fewer child deaths Wednesday, May 29, 2013 12:27 PM PDT By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - U.S. states that require children and teenagers to wear helmets report fewer deaths involving bicycles and cars, according to a new study. Researchers analyzed the number of U.S. bicycle deaths between 1999 and 2010 and found that states with bicycle helmet laws reported about 20 percent fewer bike-related fatalities among people younger than 16 years old. "The impetus is that when you make it a law, parents realize it's important and parents get their kids to do it," said Dr. ... Full Story | Top |
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