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| Vivus says FMC rejects offer to settle proxy fight Wednesday, Jul 17, 2013 11:37 AM PDT By Bill Berkrot (Reuters) - Obesity drug maker Vivus Inc, embroiled in a bitter proxy war with its top shareholder First Manhattan Co, said on Wednesday that FMC had rejected an offer to give the sides equal representation on the board. FMC responded by saying that it remains open to a fair settlement with the Vivus board, despite filing a lawsuit this week against the biotechnology company for postponing its annual shareholder meeting by three days. FMC said at the time of Monday's originally scheduled meeting it had the votes needed to seize control of the Vivus board. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. FDA grants emergency approval for test to detect MERS Wednesday, Jul 17, 2013 11:35 AM PDT (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency authorization for a diagnostic test to detect the presence of the Middle East coronavirus at the request of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The emergency approval, issued last month and posted in the Federal Register on Tuesday, followed a determination by the Health and Human Services secretary that the virus called Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), which has killed at least 40 people, poses a potential public health threat. ... Full Story | Top |
| For some, mild slips of memory may be very early Alzheimer's Wednesday, Jul 17, 2013 11:28 AM PDT By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - For years, doctors have dismissed patients' worries about mild slips of memory as a normal part of aging. Now, as the focus in Alzheimer's research moves toward early diagnosis, researchers are looking for ways to tell whether some of these "senior moments" are an early sign of the disease. The idea is so new that scientists can't even agree on what to call these memory complaints among people who are still cognitively normal. ... Full Story | Top |
| Coronavirus is not global emergency: WHO committee Wednesday, Jul 17, 2013 11:27 AM PDT GENEVA (Reuters) - The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS) is not a "public health emergency of international concern", the emergency committee of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. Its 15 international experts issued a unanimous decision after hearing reports from authorities in Saudi Arabia and other countries affected by the deadly SARS-like virus that has infected 82 people and killed 45 of them since April 2012. ... Full Story | Top |
| 'Intelligent' surgical knife can sniff out cancer tissue Wednesday, Jul 17, 2013 11:23 AM PDT  By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have created an "intelligent" surgical knife that can detect in seconds whether tissue being cut is cancerous, promising more effective and accurate surgery in future. The device, built by researchers at London's Imperial College, could allow doctors to cut back on additional operations to remove further pieces of cancerous tumors. The technology, effectively merging an electrosurgical knife that cuts through tissue using heat with a mass spectrometer for chemical analysis, has also been shown to be able to distinguish beef from horsemeat. ... Full Story | Top |
| Watchdogs warn of U.S. healthcare insurance exchange delays Wednesday, Jul 17, 2013 10:58 AM PDT By Patrick Temple-West and Kim Dixon WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. government watchdogs warned on Wednesday of possible delays in the scheduled October 1 start of new state healthcare exchanges, raising further doubts about the implementation of President Barack Obama's signature legislation. One watchdog warned the Internal Revenue Service would have difficulty completing testing of systems required to implement the law, while another from the Government Accountability Office said he also foresaw difficulties in meeting an October 1 deadline. ... Full Story | Top |
| Noises in tourist's head were from flesh-eating maggots Wednesday, Jul 17, 2013 09:59 AM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - A British woman returned from a holiday in Peru hearing scratching noises inside her head to be told she was being attacked by flesh-eating maggots living inside her ear. Rochelle Harris, 27, said she remembered dislodging a fly from her ear while in Peru but thought nothing more of it until she started getting headaches and pains down one side of her face and woke up in Britain one morning with liquid on her pillow. ... Full Story | Top |
| Contaminated school meal kills 25 Indian children Wednesday, Jul 17, 2013 09:50 AM PDT  PATNA, India (Reuters) - At least 25 Indian children died and dozens needed hospital treatment after apparently being poisoned by a school meal, sparking violent protests and angry allegations of blame. The children aged four to 12 fell ill on Tuesday after consuming a lunch of rice, soybean and lentils in the impoverished eastern state of Bihar. The school, at Mashrakh village in the district of Chapra, provided free meals under the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, the world's largest school feeding program involving 120 million children. ... Full Story | Top |
| 'Glee' star Monteith died of heroin, alcohol overdose Wednesday, Jul 17, 2013 09:19 AM PDT  By Nicole Mordant VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Cory Monteith, the 31-year-old heartthrob of Fox Television's musical-comedy series "Glee," died of an apparently accidental overdose of heroin and alcohol, Canadian authorities said on Tuesday. The British Columbia Coroners Service said in a release that post-mortem testing on the star, who was found dead on Saturday in a downtown Vancouver hotel room, died of "mixed-drug toxicity involving heroin and alcohol." It said Monteith's death was unlikely to have been intentional. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canadian authorities to perform autopsy on 'Glee' star Monteith Wednesday, Jul 17, 2013 08:25 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Canadian authorities said on Monday they will perform an autopsy including toxicology tests to determine the cause of death of actor Cory Monteith, the 31-year-old heartthrob of Fox's musical-comedy television series "Glee" who was found dead on Saturday in a Vancouver hotel room. The British Columbia Coroners Service said the autopsy will be carried out immediately but results will not be available for several days. Toxicology tests are used to determine if drugs, alcohol or other substances were in his body at the time of death. ... Full Story | Top |
| Half of parents aware of CT scan risks Wednesday, Jul 17, 2013 07:49 AM PDT By Kerry Grens NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Just under half of parents in a recent survey understood that radiation from a computed tomography (CT) scan is tied to an increased risk of cancer for their child. There has been a growing understanding among the medical community in the past decade that children who have had a CT scan are slightly more likely to develop cancer later in life, researchers said. One recent study found that for every 10,000 children under age 10 that have a scan, one additional child will develop cancer in the next decade. ... Full Story | Top |
| Britain drops plans for minimum alcohol prices Wednesday, Jul 17, 2013 07:24 AM PDT  By Peter Griffiths LONDON (Reuters) - The British government, trying to cut the cost to society of excessive drinking, will ban the sale of drinks at a loss but has abandoned plans to introduce a minimum alcohol price, ministers said on Wednesday. Prime Minister David Cameron said in March 2012 that a minimum price was needed to tackle binge drinking, cut crime and reduce health problems. He said the government was committed to ending a situation where some beer was cheaper than water. ... Full Story | Top |
| China blocks GSK finance head from leaving country Wednesday, Jul 17, 2013 07:19 AM PDT  By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - Beijing is preventing GlaxoSmithKline's head of finance for China from leaving the country, as police accuse the British drugmaker of bribing officials and doctors, a spokesman for the drugmaker said on Wednesday. The travel restriction on Steve Nechelput was imposed at the end of June, since when he has continued to carry out his work and remains free to move around the country. He has not been questioned, arrested or detained by police, the spokesman added. ... Full Story | Top |
| Abbott profit beats forecast, nutritional products strong Wednesday, Jul 17, 2013 06:34 AM PDT (Reuters) - Abbott Laboratories reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings on Wednesday as strong demand for nutritional products offset lower sales of medical devices and generic prescription drugs. Despite the earnings beat, Abbott left its full-year profit forecast unchanged at $1.98 to $2.04 per share. Results beat expectations because of improved profit margins and cost controls, Wells Fargo analyst Larry Biegelsen said in a research note. Sales of nutritional products, including Similac infant formula and Ensure beverages for adults, rose 7.9 percent to $1. ... Full Story | Top |
| Met office issues heatwave warning as Britons bake Wednesday, Jul 17, 2013 04:58 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - The Met Office warned healthcare providers to be ready to help high-risk groups on Wednesday as Britain's heatwave looks set to intensify. Temperatures were expected to reach 32C (89.6F) in London and 31 in the southeast on Wednesday, while other areas of the country could see daytime temperatures of 28 to 30C. Forecasters say the hot and humid conditions -- Britain's first prolonged heatwave for seven years -- could continue for the rest of the month and into the early part of August. ... Full Story | Top |
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