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| Obamacare computers not yet equipped to fix errors: report Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 07:51 PM PST  The HealthCare.gov website is not yet equipped to handle appeals by thousands of people seeking to correct errors the system made when they were signing up for the new federal healthcare law, the Washington Post reported on Sunday. The newspaper, citing sources familiar with the situation, said appeals by about 22,000 people were sitting untouched in a government computer. "And an unknown number of consumers who are trying to get help through less formal means — by calling the health-care marketplace directly — are told that HealthCare.gov's computer system is not yet allowing federal workers to go into enrollment records and change them," according to the Post. It added that the Obama administration had not made public the problem with the appeals system. Full Story | Top |
| GSK to launch late-stage clinical trials on 10 new drugs: paper Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 04:35 PM PST  (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline is set to unveil plans to launch late-stage clinical trials on 10 new drugs over the next two years, the Telegraph reported, without citing sources. The new drugs, which have not been detailed to investors, will include cancer and respiratory disease medicines, the newspaper said on its website. (http://link.reuters.com/fup56v) Britain's biggest drugmaker is also expected to report that fourth-quarter sales in China, where it is embroiled in a major bribery probe, took a smaller hit than when the scandal first blew up during the summer quarter, the report said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obama spars with Fox News host in testy pre-Super Bowl interview Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 03:59 PM PST  President Barack Obama accused Fox News on Sunday of keeping alive controversies the White House believes have been settled in a testy interview that aired before the NFL's Super Bowl, the most-viewed sports event in the United States. Host Bill O'Reilly asked Obama why he did not fire his health and human services chief over the botched rollout of the healthcare law last year, whether there was "widespread corruption" at the Internal Revenue Service, and whether the White House had tried to play down the significance of a 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Obama said "some boneheaded decisions" were to blame for extra scrutiny the IRS had given to conservative Tea Party groups seeking tax-exempt status, and that the issue had been cleared up during "multiple hearings" in Congress. Full Story | Top |
| Study finds deregulation fuelling obesity epidemic Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 03:23 PM PST Governments could slow or even reverse the growing obesity epidemic if they introduced more regulation into the global market for fast foods such as burgers, chips and fizzy drinks, researchers said on Monday. A study published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organisation (WHO) suggested that if governments took firmer action, they could start to prevent people becoming overweight and obese - conditions with serious long-term consequences such as diabetes, heart diseases and cancer. "Unless governments take steps to regulate their economies, the invisible hand of the market will continue to promote obesity worldwide with disastrous consequences for future public health and economic productivity," said Roberto De Vogli of the University of California, Davis, in the United States, who led the study. The WHO is urging governments to do more to try to prevent obesity happening in the first place, rather than risking the high human and economic costs when it does. Full Story | Top |
| College skier dies during cross-country race in Vermont Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 02:26 PM PST A member of the ski team at a prestigious U.S. college collapsed and died over the weekend from unknown causes while competing in a cross-country ski race in Vermont, a spokesman for Dartmouth College said on Sunday. Torin Tucker, 20, a junior from Sun Valley, Idaho, was climbing an uphill stretch of a rugged 25-kilometer course in northeast Vermont on Saturday morning when he fell to the ground. He died moments later and did not respond to resuscitation efforts, said Dartmouth spokesman Justin Anderson. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. abortion rate hits lowest level since 1973: study Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 02:12 PM PST The abortion rate in the United States dipped to its lowest since 1973, coinciding with a steep decline in overall pregnancy and birth rates, a study from a nonprofit sexual health organization showed on Sunday. "With abortion rates falling in almost all states, our study did not find evidence that the national decline in abortions during this period was the result of new state abortion restrictions. We also found no evidence that the decline was linked to a drop in the number of abortion providers during this period," says Rachel Jones, lead author of the study. The decline in abortions coincided with a drop in overall pregnancy and birth rates, and contraceptive use and methods improved during the period, Jones said. Full Story | Top |
| China's unwanted babies once mostly girls, now mostly sick, disabled Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 01:03 PM PST  By Li Hui and Ben Blanchard TIANJIN, China (Reuters) - Fangfang was just a few days old when she was abandoned on a near freezing New Year's Day in north China. "They will only provide more accurate numbers." Welfare experts and officials note that China has various charity funds and government health insurance schemes to help the sick and disabled. Full Story | Top |
| Canadian miner Teck reports spill at Columbia River smelter Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 12:24 PM PST Canadian diversified miner Teck Resources Ltd is investigating another spill at its Trail smelting complex in British Columbia, but said on Sunday it does not expect the incident to have a long-term impact on fish or the environment. Up to 25 cubic meters (883 cubic feet) of a solution containing some sodium hydroxide was released into a sewer line on Tuesday, Teck said in a statement. Sodium hydroxide is a corrosive chemical that when concentrated can burn and blister skin. "Initial information indicates that the sewage treatment plant process may have diluted the high pH solution somewhat but otherwise had a limited effect," Teck spokesman Richard Deane said in an email on Sunday. Full Story | Top |
| Novartis to cut or transfer up to 4,000 pharma jobs: paper Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 09:02 AM PST  Swiss drugs group Novartis intends to cut or transfer up to 4,000 jobs, newspaper NZZ am Sonntag reported on Sunday, citing an internal email. The plan affecting up to 6 percent of its pharmaceuticals workforce comes on top of a program to reduce the number of production sites and is part of a larger drive to cut costs, the newspaper said. Company spokesman Eric Althoff did not confirm the job numbers but issued a statement saying that Novartis intends to prioritize and reallocate resources primarily in pharmaceutical operations to focus on planned product launches and other growth areas. The measures "reflect the need to respond to a dynamically changing healthcare environment", it said, adding that Novartis expects group headcount to remain largely flat in 2014. Full Story | Top |
| Indian state bars foreign supermarkets in latest blow for chains Sunday, Feb 02, 2014 02:00 AM PST  By Tony Munroe MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Indian state of Rajasthan has barred foreign direct investment in supermarkets, an ominous sign for global retailers who covet India's vast but fragmented retail sector if the country's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) comes to power nationally in upcoming elections. The BJP is considered to be more investor-friendly than India's ruling Congress party but opposes foreign direct investment in supermarkets because of its impact on small shopkeepers. Full Story | Top |
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