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| House Republicans leery of 'Obamacare' defunding idea Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 12:32 PM PDT  By Richard Cowan and Caren Bohan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Tea Party-inspired plan to kill President Barack Obama's healthcare law by forcing a government shutdown unless funds to implement the law are denied has not gained traction among senior Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, lawmakers said on Wednesday. "I think leadership is giving other options that they think are more effective," said Republican Representative Pat Tiberi, a close ally of House Speaker John Boehner. ... Full Story | Top |
| Phony rum kills seven in Cuba, dozens hospitalized Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 12:28 PM PDT HAVANA (Reuters) - Seven Cubans have died and more than 40 have been hospitalized, eight in critical condition, after drinking wood alcohol, or industrial methanol, they thought was rum, the public health ministry said on Wednesday. The poisoning happened in the La Lisa municipality of Havana, beginning on Monday, and all those killed were in their 40s and 50s, according to a list provided by the ministry. Such incidents are rare, though not unheard of in Cuba. "Those affected consumed wood alcohol sold illegally ... ... Full Story | Top |
| Uruguay Congress debates bill to regulate legal marijuana use Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 12:23 PM PDT  By Felipe Llambias and Malena Castaldi MONTEVIDEO (Reuters) - Legislators in Uruguay hotly debated on Wednesday a measure backed by leftist President Jose Mujica that would create a government body to control the cultivation and sale of marijuana and allow people to grow it at home or as part of smoking clubs. The use of marijuana is already legal in the South American nation, but sale and cultivation of it is not. A vote on the bill - expected to be very close - was due later on Wednesday in the lower chamber of Congress. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexican President Pena Nieto has successful thyroid surgery Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 10:57 AM PDT  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto successfully underwent surgery on Wednesday to remove a benign nodule on his thyroid gland, his chief of staff said. "It was a success. The president is already awake," Aurelio Nuno, head of the office of the presidency, told a news conference. The surgery lasted nearly two hours and Pena Nieto will remain in hospital for two days. He will then take another couple of days rest at his home. The thyroid nodule was detected about seven years ago, but Pena Nieto had postponed treatment. ... Full Story | Top |
| Humana profit rises on growth in retail, employer units Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 09:47 AM PDT By Caroline Humer (Reuters) - Health insurer Humana Inc said on Wednesday that its second-quarter profit rose 18 percent, helped by low medical costs and growth in both its direct-to-customer division and employer-based insurance unit. Chief Executive Officer Bruce Broussard said while government cutbacks to private Medicare plans for the elderly planned for 2014 were 'onerous', he still anticipates growth in sales of these plans directly to individuals. ... Full Story | Top |
| Actelion buys U.S.-based firm with cancer drug in development Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 08:58 AM PDT  ZURICH (Reuters) - Actelion said it will acquire Ceptaris, a privately held U.S.-based specialty pharmaceutical company developing a topical drug, Valchlor, to treat a form of cancer. Allschwil-based Actelion said it already paid Ceptaris $25 million and will pay another $225 million when the deal closes. The deal is contingent on Valchlor clinching approval from the U.S. health regulator. "We expect the transaction to become cash-accretive before the end of 2014," Actelion executive Nicholas Franco said in a statement on Wednesday. (Reporting By Katharina Bart) Full Story | Top |
| HPV tied to higher esophageal cancer risk Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 07:38 AM PDT By Kerry Grens NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new review of previous research links infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) to a three-fold greater chance of esophageal cancer. "This doesn't mean it is present in all (esophageal cancers), but it may be a factor in a certain proportion of cases," said Dr. Surabhi Liyanage, the study's lead author. HPV is a very common sexually transmitted virus that is known to cause cervical cancer, anal cancer and some cancers of the reproductive organs and the upper throat. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mexican President Pena Nieto set to undergo thyroid surgery Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 06:50 AM PDT  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto arrived at a military hospital early on Wednesday morning for surgery to remove a benign nodule on his thyroid gland. The procedure is expected to last an hour and a half under general anesthesia and his recovery time is estimated at four days. Pena Nieto, 47, took office in December, returning Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, to power. ... Full Story | Top |
| KKR to buy second clinical trials firm this year Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 06:28 AM PDT By Jessica Toonkel (Reuters) - KKR & Co LP announced Wednesday that it is acquiring ReSearch Pharmaceutical Services Inc from Warburg Pincus. The deal marks the New York-based investment firm's second investment in a global contract research organization in the past few months. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. In June, KKR announced it was buying clinical research group PRA International from Genstar Capital LLC for an undisclosed amount, but a source familiar with the matter said the agreed price was around $1.3 billion. ... Full Story | Top |
| British court dismisses landmark right-to-die appeal Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 05:28 AM PDT  By Adam Jourdan LONDON (Reuters) - A British court rejected appeals for the right to die by a paralysed road accident victim and the family of a deceased locked-in syndrome sufferer on Wednesday, saying only parliament should decide on matters of life and death. The Court of Appeal said the law on assisted suicide could not be changed by the courts, quashing the appeal by paralysed man Paul Lamb and the family of Tony Nicklinson, who suffered locked-in syndrome, where someone is aware and awake but cannot move or communicate. ... Full Story | Top |
| India's Strides responds to FDA, continues shipments to U.S Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 03:44 AM PDT By Kaustubh Kulkarni MUMBAI (Reuters) - Strides Arcolab, the latest Indian drug firm to draw U.S. regulators' scrutiny over manufacturing practices, has answered June queries by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on its drug factories, the firm's chief executive said on Wednesday. India, which exports pharmaceutical products worth about $12 billion every year, is seen as a key source of generic drugs for regulated markets such as the United States, Europe and Japan. Shares in Strides Arcolab fell as much as 17.1 percent on market talk that the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| Thai king to leave hospital after four years Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 03:28 AM PDT  BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's 85-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch, is to leave the Bangkok hospital where he has been for almost four years to live at his palace by the sea, a government official said on Wednesday. "We have been told by the Royal Household Bureau that His Majesty King Bhumibol will leave Siriraj hospital on Thursday and return to Hua Hin to reside," Weera Sriwathanatrakool, governor of Prachuap Khiri Khan province, told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| For surgery, big and famous hospitals aren't always the best Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 03:02 AM PDT  By Sharon Begley NEW YORK (Reuters) - Patients going to a hospital for surgery care about many things, from how kind the nurses are to how good the food is, but Consumers Union (CU) figures what they care about most is whether they stay in the hospital longer than they should and whether they come out alive. In the first effort of its kind, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine released ratings of 2,463 U.S. hospitals in all 50 states on Wednesday, based on the quality of surgical care. ... Full Story | Top |
| Panasonic: in talks with potential partners to sell part of healthcare unit Wednesday, Jul 31, 2013 01:22 AM PDT  TOKYO (Reuters) - Panasonic Corp said on Wednesday it is in talks with various potential partners to sell a part of its healthcare unit, through which it could raise as much as $1 billion. The Japanese electronics maker, however, said it would like to keep a stake in the healthcare unit. Panasonic reported a two-third increase in its operating profit in the April-June quarter as it reaps the benefits of shifting away from consumer electronics and into products for businesses, such as automotive systems and housing fixtures. ... Full Story | Top |
| AstraZeneca buys rights to anaemia drug from FibroGen Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 11:23 PM PDT LONDON (Reuters) - AstraZeneca took a further step to bolster its new drug pipeline on Wednesday by striking a deal with private biotech firm FibroGen potentially worth more than $815 million for rights to an experimental anaemia drug. Britain's second biggest drugmaker will pay $350 million upfront and in subsequent non-contingent payments, plus future development-related milestone payments of up to $465 million, for rights to FG-4592 in the United States, China and certain other markets. There may be additional payments if use of the drug is expanded. ... Full Story | Top |
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