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| FDA OKs Hyperion drug for serious genetic disorder Friday, Feb 01, 2013 11:11 AM PST (Reuters) - U.S. health regulators on Friday approved a drug from Hyperion Therapeutics Inc designed to remove ammonia buildup from the blood of patients with enzyme deficiencies known as urea cycle disorders. The drug, to be sold under the brand name Ravicti, was approved for the chronic management of the serious genetic disorder in patients 2 years of age and older, the Food and Drug Administration said. Ravicti, known chemically as glycerol phenylbutyrate, is a liquid taken three times a day with meals. ... Full Story | Top |
| White House offers compromise on birth control coverage Friday, Feb 01, 2013 10:44 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Friday offered a compromise on controversial new health care rules that would allow religious employers to exclude contraceptives from health insurance for their employees, but would still guarantee those employees access to free coverage for birth control. The proposed compromise follows months of protest and legal action by the Roman Catholic Church, Protestant evangelicals and others groups who argued that the President Barack Obama's health care reform law forced them to violate religious tenets against contraception. ... Full Story | Top |
| Alaska Airlines pilot passes out midair, co-pilot lands plane Friday, Feb 01, 2013 10:15 AM PST SEATTLE (Reuters) - A Seattle-bound Alaska Airlines flight made an emergency landing in Oregon after its veteran pilot passed out in the passenger cabin, in the second such fainting spell involving the U.S. carrier in 10 days, the airline said on Friday. Flight crew and passengers helped revive the pilot and guide him into a vacant passenger seat while the co-pilot took control of the Boeing 737-700 and safely landed in Portland late on Thursday, airline spokesman Paul McElroy said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Brazil nightclub owners, band detained 30 more days after fire Friday, Feb 01, 2013 09:16 AM PST  SAO PAULO (Reuters) - A judge in southern Brazil ordered 30 more days of detention on Friday for the owners of a nightclub and band members involved in a fire that killed 236 in the college town of Santa Maria last weekend. The order came after a 20-year-old woman succumbed to her injuries late Thursday, pushing up the death toll from the country's second most deadly fire ever. Civil defense authorities in Rio Grande do Sul, the state where Santa Maria is located, said the victim suffered a heart attack while struggling with injuries that included burns on more than half her body. ... Full Story | Top |
| Hong Kong aims at smugglers in bid to stop run on baby formula milk Friday, Feb 01, 2013 08:45 AM PST  HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong introduced measures on Friday to tackle a shortage of baby milk formula as food-safety-conscious mainland Chinese people flock to the city to stock up on supplies ahead of a Lunar New Year holiday. The Hong Kong government cut the luggage allowance on trains that connect the city to the mainland to 23 kg (50 lb) from 32 kg (70 lb) and limited the number of cans of milk powder a person can take back into the mainland to two per visit. ... Full Story | Top |
| UNHCR reaches rebel-held area of North Syria for first time Friday, Feb 01, 2013 07:02 AM PST GENEVA (Reuters) - The U.N. refugee agency said on Friday that it had reached an opposition-held area of north Syria for the first time and found about 45,000 displaced people living in appalling conditions. A senior U.N. official voiced fears that other parts of the country could contain similar untold stories of suffering and he said Syria faced systematic destruction. The Syrian government agreed to give the U.N. access to the zone of Azaz north of Aleppo near the Turkish border, enabling a convoy to deliver tents and blankets to needy people living in the open in sub-zero temperatures. ... Full Story | Top |
| Time to kidney transplant varies by race, insurance Friday, Feb 01, 2013 07:02 AM PST (NEW YORK) Reuters Health - Kidney disease patients who are black or lack private health insurance are less likely to get matched up with a donor organ before needing to go on dialysis, a new study suggests. Still, researchers said, as long as patients get a kidney transplant within a year or so of starting dialysis, any extra benefit of a pre-dialysis transplant may be low. "It's a possible benefit, but it's not entirely clear," said Dr. Morgan Grams, who led the new study at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. ... Full Story | Top |
| Diabetics can eat right after using insulin: study Friday, Feb 01, 2013 07:00 AM PST NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with type 2 diabetes are sometimes told to wait after using insulin for the drug to work its way into the body before they can begin eating, but a new study from Germany says that's not necessary. In a group of about 100 diabetics, researchers found that blood sugar levels remained steady regardless of whether or not participants left a 20 to 30-minute gap between using insulin and eating a meal. The diabetics overwhelmingly preferred being able to eat right away, too. "It's a very promising result. It will lead to better adherence and satisfaction," said Dr. ... Full Story | Top |
| Merck tumbles on worries about osteoporosis drug Friday, Feb 01, 2013 06:28 AM PST  (Reuters) - Merck & Co Inc's quarterly results beat estimates, but the company issued a cautious 2013 profit forecast and said it would delay seeking approval for a high-profile osteoporosis drug, sending its shares lower in premarket trading. Merck said it would not submit its osteoporosis treatment odanacatib to U.S. regulators until next year. Jefferies analyst Jeffrey Holford said the delay "will disappoint many investors," and hurt shares today. ... Full Story | Top |
| Death toll from Brazil nightclub fire climbs to 236 Friday, Feb 01, 2013 06:21 AM PST  SAO PAULO (Reuters) - A 20-year-old woman late Thursday succumbed to injuries from the nightclub fire in the southern Brazilian college town of Santa Maria, pushing the death toll from the disaster last weekend up to 236. Civil defense authorities in Rio Grande do Sul, the state where Santa Maria is located, said the victim suffered a heart attack while struggling with injuries that included burns on more than half her body. An additional 126 people remain hospitalized after the fire, which was caused by an outdoor flare lit by a musician performing at the Kiss nightclub. ... Full Story | Top |
| Insight: Revived search for a TB vaccine may be about to pay off Friday, Feb 01, 2013 02:32 AM PST  CHICAGO (Reuters) - After nearly 100 years, researchers could be on the verge of finding a vaccine that would eradicate tuberculosis infections, a scourge that kills 1.4 million people a year. Global health experts are eagerly awaiting clinical trial results, expected early next week, of the first new vaccine in 90 years designed to prevent tuberculosis infections. While it might not prove effective, it will bring scientists much closer to creating a new generation of TB vaccines. ... Full Story | Top |
| Less bang for Beijing New Year due to smog Friday, Feb 01, 2013 12:22 AM PST  BEIJING (Reuters) - China's notoriously smog-bound capital Beijing asked residents on Friday to set off fewer fireworks over this month's Chinese New Year period as it battles a persistent air quality crisis. Air quality in Beijing has mostly stayed above "very unhealthy" and "hazardous" levels for about two weeks, though strong winds cleared the haze away on Friday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boeing engineers' union puts strike authorization on ballot Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 06:01 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Union leaders representing about 23,000 Boeing Co engineers voted on Thursday to put a strike authorization question on a ballot that will go to members next week. Strike authorization by members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) does not by itself declare a strike, but it would give union negotiating teams power to call one at any time. An engineers' strike could cripple production of all Boeing airplanes and would complicate a wide-ranging review of the 787 Dreamliner by the Federal Aviation Administration. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK cost agency rejects drugs from AstraZeneca, Bristol and Roche Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 05:59 PM PST  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's healthcare cost watchdog NICE said on Friday it was not able to recommend a new diabetes drug from Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca, and has asked for more information from the companies. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has been considering Forxiga, or dapagliflozin, as an add-on therapy for use with other medicines, including insulin. NICE, which decides if drugs should be paid for on the state health service, also said it had issued draft guidance not recommending Roche's Avastin for ovarian cancer. ... Full Story | Top |
| House lawmakers mull path to citizenship for illegal immigrants Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 05:42 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan group in the U.S. House of Representatives is attempting to craft a bill that would give millions of illegal immigrants a way to become citizens, House aides said on Thursday, mirroring an effort in the Senate. One of the aides said the House legislation would be tougher in some ways than the plan put forward on Monday by four Democrats and four Republicans in the U.S. Senate. ... Full Story | Top |
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