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| Homemade blowguns pose choking risk in teens: report Monday, Jul 22, 2013 12:16 PM PDT By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Blowgun darts may backfire and get lodged in teenagers' throats, according to a new report from one hospital. Surgeons at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, reported on three cases of blowgun darts being lodged in the throats of teenagers, who were brought to their hospital during a span of four months. "As a surgeon who manages airway foreign bodies in children, this was an interesting series of cases," Dr. Kris Jatana, the study's lead author, said. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. pork industry increases funding to fight spreading pig virus Monday, Jul 22, 2013 11:36 AM PDT CHICAGO (Reuters) - A leading U.S. pork association said on Monday it will spend an additional $350,000 to combat a virus that kills young pigs, bringing the pork industry's total outlay this year to nearly $900,000. The National Pork Board said the $350,000 is in addition to the $527,000 provided by the Pork Board and the Iowa Pork Producers Association in early June. As of mid July, 346 farm sites in 14 states have reported cases of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV), with most in Iowa and Oklahoma, according to the National Animal Health Lab Network. "Our No. ... Full Story | Top |
| Decongestants in pregnancy linked to birth defects Monday, Jul 22, 2013 11:28 AM PDT Kathryn Doyle NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A woman's use of decongestant medications in the first trimester of pregnancy may raise her child's risk of certain rare birth defects, according to a small study. Some types of over-the-counter decongestants, including the popular phenylephrine and pseudoephedrine, were individually linked to rare, specific birth defects of the digestive tract, ear and heart. "Major birth defects of any kind affect about two to three percent of liveborn infants, so they are rare," study author Dr. Allen Mitchell said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Federal judge temporarily blocks North Dakota abortion law Monday, Jul 22, 2013 11:18 AM PDT  By Brendan O'Brien (Reuters) - A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked North Dakota's new abortion law, which bans procedures to end pregnancy once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, as early as six weeks. The law, the most restrictive in the country, was to go into effect August 1. U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Hovland granted a preliminary injunction blocking it in response to a lawsuit filed by Red River Women's Clinic, the only abortion clinic in the state. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK abandons case against iSoft directors Monday, Jul 22, 2013 10:37 AM PDT By Sebastian Salek LONDON (Reuters) - FCA said on Monday it will not pursue a second retrial of four former directors of healthcare software company iSoft, dealing a blow in its financial crime-fighting credentials. A judge threw out the case against the four men early in July following errors in the handling of a key piece of evidence. Their first trial ended in a hung jury last August. Former iSoft chairman Patrick Cryne and ex-directors Stephen Graham, Timothy Whiston and John Whelan were accused of conspiring to bury bad news and hoodwink investors between 2003 and 2006. ... Full Story | Top |
| Italian doctors strike over cuts to health service Monday, Jul 22, 2013 07:58 AM PDT  ROME (Reuters) - Thousands of doctors went on strike across Italy on Monday to protest against cuts to the country's health service, raising pressure on Prime Minister Enrico Letta's government as it seeks further ways to slash spending. About a hundred medics observing the four-hour strike gathered outside the Economy Ministry in Rome, waving banners and demanding more state resources for healthcare. ... Full Story | Top |
| China quake death toll more than doubles to 54, hundreds hurt Monday, Jul 22, 2013 07:52 AM PDT By Megha Rajagopalan BEIJING (Reuters) - The death toll from a 6.6 magnitude earthquake in China's western Gansu province on Monday more than doubled to 54 people, the municipal government said, with hundreds injured as many homes in affected areas collapsed. The quake hit Minxian and Zhangxian counties, about 170 km (105 miles) southeast of the provincial capital of Lanzhou, at 7.45 on Monday morning (7.45 p.m. ET Sunday), the official Xinhua news agency said. It put the number of people seriously injured at 296. Earlier reports by the official Xinhua news agency said 22 people had died. ... Full Story | Top |
| Glaxo says executives appear to have broken Chinese law Monday, Jul 22, 2013 07:23 AM PDT  By Ben Hirschler and Kazunori Takada LONDON/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline said on Monday some of its executives in China appeared to have broken the law in a bribery scandal, as it promised changes in its business model that would lower the cost of medicine in the country. GSK is the latest in a string of multinationals to be targeted by Chinese authorities over alleged corruption, price-fixing and quality controls. Chinese police visited the Shanghai office of another British drugmaker, AstraZeneca, a company spokeswoman said on Monday. ... Full Story | Top |
| WHO had asked India to ban toxin that killed children Monday, Jul 22, 2013 06:49 AM PDT  By Jo Winterbottom and Kate Kelland NEW DELHI/LONDON (Reuters) - The pesticide that killed 23 Indian schoolchildren last week is a nerve poison banned by many countries because of what the World Health Organization (WHO) describes as its "high acute toxicity". As early as 2009, the United Nations health agency urged India to consider a ban on the pesticide monocrotophos - the substance said by a magistrate investigating the deaths to be the cause of the poisoning. ... Full Story | Top |
| Isis Pharma drug reduces blood fat by 64 pct in mid-stage study Monday, Jul 22, 2013 05:25 AM PDT (Reuters) - Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc said its experimental drug reduced the level of triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood that increases the risk of heart diseases, by up to 64 percent in a mid-stage trial. Shares of the company rose 2.4 percent to $31.80 in light trading before the bell. Isis said the drug, codenamed ISIS-APOCIIIRx, was being tested in patients with high to severely elevated triglyceride levels, who were taking another drug to reduce blood fat. Isis's drug raised the level of 'good' cholesterol in the blood by up to 52 percent. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mandela's health showing "sustained improvement": government Monday, Jul 22, 2013 05:06 AM PDT  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Former South African President Nelson Mandela is showing "sustained improvement" in hospital although he remains in a critical condition, the government said on Monday. The government statement said President Jacob Zuma had visited the 95-year-old Mandela in the Pretoria hospital where he has been for the last seven weeks receiving treatment for a recurring lung infection. Full Story | Top |
| Australia at odds with cigarette makers over plain packaging impact Monday, Jul 22, 2013 04:49 AM PDT  SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian laws requiring cigarettes to be sold in drab olive-green packets with graphic health warnings are making smokers think more about quitting, a study has shown, but cigarette makers say they have seen little impact on sales. Australia introduced the world's toughest laws on plain packaging late last year and other countries, including New Zealand and Ireland, plan to follow. Britain said this month it was delaying plans to ban company branding on cigarette packets because it wanted to first see the impact of Australia's measures. ... Full Story | Top |
| Plane crashes offer hospitals marketing opportunities, pitfalls Monday, Jul 22, 2013 03:05 AM PDT  By Sarah McBride SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - For Bay Area hospitals, responding to the crash landing of Asiana Flight 214 could have a legacy that lasts well beyond the days they treated victims: raising their profile in the community, perhaps leading to more people thinking of their hospital when they need care. Bay Area hospitals took in more than 180 injured passengers after the plane came in too low to the airport on July 6, hitting a sea wall and losing its tail and landing gear as it skidded down the runway. ... Full Story | Top |
| Chinese police visit AstraZeneca, question one employee Monday, Jul 22, 2013 01:55 AM PDT LONDON/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese police have visited the Shanghai office of British drugmaker AstraZeneca , the latest foreign firm to be investigated following allegations against GlaxoSmithKline . An AstraZeneca spokeswoman said on Monday that police had visited on Friday and taken away one employee for questioning. China has accused GSK, Britain's biggest drugmaker, of bribing officials and doctors to boost sales and raise the price of its medicines, marking a hardening stance against malpractice by multinationals operating in the country. ... Full Story | Top |
| Trying to lose weight? Ditch calorie-rich rewards after exercise Monday, Jul 22, 2013 01:08 AM PDT  By Dorene Internicola NEW YORK (Reuters) - If you're spending more time running, walking or pumping iron in the gym and still not losing weight, fitness experts say it could be due to too big a reward for still too little exercise. Although fitness has indisputable health benefits, it takes a lot of walking or running to burn off the calories in a donut. "There's a war between exercise and nutrition in our heads," said American Council on Exercise spokesperson Jonathan Ross. "People tend to overestimate the amount of physical activity they get. ... Full Story | Top |
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