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| Woman heard 'be not afraid' before miracle that made pope a saint Friday, Jul 05, 2013 12:35 PM PDT  By Isabella Cota SAN JOSE (Reuters) - Suffering a potentially fatal swelling in the brain, Costa Rican grandmother Floribeth Mora says a voice spoke to her through a photograph of the late Pope John Paul II, miraculously curing her and sealing the late pontiff's sainthood. The Vatican said on Friday Pope Francis had approved Mora's cure as the requisite second miracle for the sainthood of John Paul II, who led the Roman Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005. ... Full Story | Top |
| Police probe California fireworks mishap that hurt 28 Friday, Jul 05, 2013 11:11 AM PDT LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Police were investigating what caused fireworks to shoot into a crowd of revelers and injure 28 people on Independence Day in Simi Valley, California, authorities said on Friday. Shortly after the start late Thursday of a Simi Valley Rotary Club fireworks show about 30 miles west of Los Angeles, fireworks landed in a crowd of 8,000 to 10,000 onlookers gathered in a park, police said. Officers in a helicopter took aerial photos of the scene of the mishap on Friday to get a better sense of what went wrong, said Simi Valley police spokesman Sergeant Tom Meyer. ... Full Story | Top |
| Herbal stroke remedy no better than dummy pill Friday, Jul 05, 2013 10:59 AM PDT By Kerry Grens NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A Chinese herbal remedy marketed to improve stroke recovery failed to exceed the benefits of a placebo in a large, three-month clinical trial. "There's no evidence of efficacy," said Dr. James Brorson, medical director of the University of Chicago Stroke Center, who was not involved in the study. Still, the researchers are not completely discouraged by the results. "Yes, we had hoped for a larger effect, but the results of the trial suggest that this may be the case for certain groups of patients," said Dr. ... Full Story | Top |
| Vivus, activist investor claim support in proxy battle Friday, Jul 05, 2013 10:47 AM PDT (Reuters) - Obesity drugmaker Vivus Inc and its top investor, which has been seeking a shakeup of the company's board, both claimed support from proxy advisory firms ahead of a shareholder vote later this month. Vivus said Glass Lewis rejected First Manhattan's slate of directors, while the investor said Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) backed three of its nine nominees. Vivus shares were down 2 percent at $12.07 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq. First Manhattan's main point of criticism has been the foundering sales of Vivus's diet drug Qsymia. ... Full Story | Top |
| Minorities, poor receive fewer strong painkillers Friday, Jul 05, 2013 10:28 AM PDT By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who are poor, African American or both are less likely to be prescribed opioids for pain than well-off white patients, according to a new study. The powerful painkillers, which include codeine and oxycodone, have been in the spotlight recently as deaths from overdoses rise and more drugs end up in the hands of people taking them for non-medical purposes. Past studies have found that blacks in pain don't receive opioids as often as whites, but the new study suggests economic differences matter in addition to racial ones. ... Full Story | Top |
| Appeals court rules California healthcare limits invalid Friday, Jul 05, 2013 10:19 AM PDT By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday ruled invalid a California law that eliminated coverage of some healthcare services for the poor, including adult dental, podiatry, optometry and chiropractic care. The ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the federal Medicaid program for the poor prohibits the changes imposed by the California law. The decision could have budgetary implications for the nation's most populous state. A spokesman for Governor Jerry Brown had no immediate comment on the ruling. ... Full Story | Top |
| WHO sets up emergency committee on MERS virus Friday, Jul 05, 2013 05:18 AM PDT GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization is forming an emergency committee of international experts to prepare for a possible worsening of the Middle East coronavirus (MERS), which has killed 40 people, WHO flu expert Keiji Fukuda said on Friday. Fukuda said there was currently no emergency or pandemic but the experts would advise on how to tackle the disease if the number of cases suddenly grows. Most of the cases of MERS so far have been in Saudi Arabia, which hosts millions of Muslim visitors every year for the annual haj pilgrimage. ... Full Story | Top |
| Top Vivus shareholder says proxy firm ISS backs three of nine board nominees Friday, Jul 05, 2013 04:16 AM PDT (Reuters) - Vivus Inc's largest shareholder, First Manhattan Co, said on Friday proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services recommended three of the nine directors the shareholder had proposed for nomination to the drugmaker's board. Another advisory firm, Egan Jones, has backed all the nominees, while a third one, Glass Lewis, called Vivus's plan to launch diet drug Qsymia without a commercial partner "ill-advised", First Manhattan said in a statement. Qsymia's lackluster sales have been the main point of criticism by First Manhattan, which owns about 9.9 percent of the Vivus. ... Full Story | Top |
| Authors of "false news" may face jail under new Gambian law Friday, Jul 05, 2013 12:42 AM PDT  BANJUL (Reuters) - Gambia's parliament has made sweeping changes to the country's information law, introducing new legislation that threatens those who spread "false news" with 15 years in prison and $100,000 in fines. The government said the changes were needed to ensure stability and prevent "unpatriotic behaviour" but they are likely to deepen Gambia's reputation as one of West Africa's most repressive countries. The new punishments, which apply to anything that is published, were spelled out in the updated Information and Communications Act adopted late on Wednesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| EU approves Novartis eye drug for new use Thursday, Jul 04, 2013 11:18 PM PDT  ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Novartis' eye drug Lucentis has been approved as a treatment for a further condition related to worsening eyesight by the European Union, adding to three other conditions for which it is already approved. The Basel-based drugmaker said the European Commission had granted approval for Lucentis to treat patients with visual impairment due to choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to pathologic myopia. Lucentis, which was first launched in 2006, is an important product for Novartis and had sales of $2.4 billion in 2012. ... Full Story | Top |
| Delay in Obamacare requirement puts onus on the honor system Thursday, Jul 04, 2013 10:34 PM PDT  By Sharon Begley NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Obama administration's move to delay a key element of healthcare reform has another, unintended, consequence: A crucial part of that reform will depend on consumers observing the honor system, with millions of dollars at stake. The U.S. government said on Tuesday it would postpone by a year the provision that employers with 50 or more workers provide them with health insurance; the delay is intended to let companies work out how they report their compliance to tax authorities. ... Full Story | Top |
| Study finds MERS virus has not yet reached pandemic potential Thursday, Jul 04, 2013 04:08 PM PDT By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - The Middle East coronavirus that has killed 40 people since emerging late last year has not yet reached pandemic potential and may simply die out, according to new estimates of how easily it is transmitted. In a study in The Lancet medical journal, researchers from France's Institut Pasteur in Paris analyzed data on Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) clusters and found its likelihood of developing into a SARS-like worldwide epidemic was low. ... Full Story | Top |
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