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| Medicines Co blood thinner cuts death risk in European ambulance trial Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 11:54 AM PDT Medicines Co's blood thinner Angiomax, when administered en route to the hospital to patients suffering a serious heart attack, significantly reduced the risk of major bleeding and death compared with commonly used heparin, according to data from a large clinical trial. The rate was 5.1 percent in the Angiomax group versus 8.4 percent for those who got heparin, which researchers said was highly statistically significant. "The benefit was early and sustained at 30 days," said Dr. Philippe Steg, lead investigator of the Euromax study, who presented the findings on Wednesday at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific meeting in San Francisco. A secondary goal, added second heart attacks to the composite of death and major bleeding. Full Story | Top |
| White House: president has 'complete confidence' in HHS's Sebelius Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 11:26 AM PDT ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has full confidence in embattled Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who told Congress on Thursday that she is responsible for the "debacle" of the roll out of the health care web site. "The president has complete confidence in Secretary Sebelius," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters traveling with the president. (Reporting By Roberta Rampton and Mark Felsenthal; editing by Jackie Frank) Full Story | Top |
| New two-hormone Roche drug shows promise in diabetes, obesity Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 11:04 AM PDT By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - An experimental drug that mimics the effects of two naturally occurring hormones appears to work significantly better than existing single-hormone medicines against diabetes and obesity, scientists said on Wednesday. A team of German and U.S.-based researchers said they are using "mother nature's toolkit" to seek a breakthrough for treating type 2 diabetes and related obesity which is affecting rapidly growing numbers of people in the West and many developing nations. The new dual-action molecule, which is being developed by Swiss drugmaker Roche, targets receptors for hormones known as GLP-1 and GIP that play a critical role in regulating the body's metabolism. Currently approved injectable drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Victoza and Byetta from Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca mimic only GLP-1. Full Story | Top |
| Top Obamacare official says website a 'debacle', points to insurers Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 10:57 AM PDT  By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government's top health official on Wednesday called the rollout of the website that is central to President Barack Obama's signature insurance reform a "debacle" but blamed insurers for cancelling the health plans of hundreds of thousands of Americans. The government has scrambled for weeks to fix the troubled insurance exchange website that has frustrated millions of Americans who want to sign up for new health plans under Obama's Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare. Obama, who is due to speak about the healthcare reform later on Wednesday, and other administration officials have repeatedly promised that the 85 percent of Americans who already have health insurance would be able to keep their current plans. Speaking on Capitol Hill, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius apologized for the botched rollout of the Healthcare.gov website and vowed to win back the confidence of millions of disappointed Americans. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Merck works toward bringing Zilmax back to U.S., Canada Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 10:45 AM PDT  By P.J. Huffstutter CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co plans to resume sales of the controversial Zilmax animal feed additive in the United States and Canada after it completes an audit of how the product is used, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday. Merck halted sales of the muscle-building drug in August after Tyson Foods Inc. said it would stop accepting Zilmax-fed beef given some cattle were observed arriving for slaughter with signs they were having difficulty walking or moving. Merck has said it stands behind the safety of its product, but the pause added to global concerns over its use. On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Merck's Animal Health unit said that while "it is too early to speculate on when we will resume sales for Zilmax in the U.S. and Canada," Merck was pushing forward with its quality control program to ensure the drug was being properly used. Full Story | Top |
| A Minute With: Jared Leto on movies, music and playing a transgender woman Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 10:13 AM PDT  By Piya Sinha-Roy LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - After transitioning from a Hollywood heartthrob to a critically acclaimed actor, then fronting a rock band with worldwide success, Jared Leto takes on one of his biggest challenges yet, playing a transgender HIV patient in his return to film. "Dallas Buyers Club," out in U.S. theaters on Friday, is based on a real story. Leto, 41, plays Rayon, a HIV-positive transgender woman who helps homophobic drug addict Ron Woodruff (Matthew McConaughey) smuggle much needed medication not approved in the United States to other AIDS patients. Leto, who rose to fame as a complex teenager on 1990s TV series "My So-Called Life" and has had roles in 1999's "Fight Club," 2000's "Requiem for a Dream" and 2002's "Panic Room," recently focused on being the frontman of the rock band 30 Seconds to Mars. Full Story | Top |
| More than 20 killed in Zimbabwe crash involving fuel tanker Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 10:03 AM PDT HARARE (Reuters) - More than 20 people were killed when a truck carrying mourners collided with a fuel tanker which then exploded in southeastern Zimbabwe on Wednesday, police said. Some of the victims were burned beyond recognition in the accident which occurred in Chisumbanje district. "We are investigating. So far, we know that more than 20 people died," a police spokeswoman told Reuters. ... Full Story | Top |
| New video of kidnapped Czech women appears in Pakistan Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 10:02 AM PDT Two young Czech women kidnapped in southwest Pakistan in March said in a new video released by the Czech government on Wednesday they feared they would soon be killed. The Czech embassy in Islamabad received the footage, which shows Antonie Chrastecka, 25, and Hana Humpalova, 24, who were seized while heading for India by microbus through the province of Baluchistan, neighboring Afghanistan. In the video, released by the girls' families through the Czech Foreign Ministry, one of the women said she was in poor health. "My health condition is very unstable mainly because of the food and water and it's getting worse," Humpalova said in English, in a three-minute video she said was recorded on August 23. Full Story | Top |
| Top U.S. health official says still confident in healthcare contractor Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 09:40 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Wednesday said she has not lost confidence in Quality Software Services Inc, one of several contractors that helped develop the troubled federal health insurance exchange website. Last week, the Obama administration announced that QSSI, a unit of health insurer UnitedHealth Group, will serve as a general contractor to oversee repairs to HealthCare.gov. "I haven't lost my confidence in them," Sebelius said at a House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee hearing. ... Full Story | Top |
| CACI to focus on integrating Six3 acquisition for now: CEO Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 09:22 AM PDT will focus for the next six months to a year on integrating its $820 million acquisition of Six3 Systems Inc and deleveraging its balance sheet, the company's chief executive, Ken Asbury, told Reuters. "For the next six months to a year, we're going to concentrate very hard on delivering our balance sheet and integrating Six3," he said. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. health secretary says won't ask official to resign over website woes Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 08:10 AM PDT U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Wednesday said she will not ask for the resignation of a top official at the agency overseeing the implementation of the federal health insurance exchange. Asked at a congressional hearing if she would call for the resignation of Gary Cohen, the deputy administrator and director at the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, Sebelius said: "I will not." Her comments came at a House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee hearing focused on the technical troubles with HealthCare.gov, the website for people to enroll in insurance coverage under the 2010 healthcare law. Full Story | Top |
| Sebelius concedes more time was needed to test HealthCare.gov Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 08:08 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two weeks was not enough time to test the overall federal health insurance exchange website that launched on October 1, the top U.S. healthcare official told lawmakers on Wednesday. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said while all the various components of the HealthCare.gov website were tested and verified, they were not put together until late September. "We did not adequately do end-to-end testing," she said at a House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee hearing. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. health chief says early insurance enrollment likely 'very small' Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 08:08 AM PDT U.S. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Wednesday said technical problems with HealthCare.gov make it hard to collect accurate data on how many people have signed up for coverage through the federal health insurance exchange. "The system is not functioning, so we are not getting that reliable data," she told the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, adding that health officials expect to give monthly updates on the number of people who sign up starting in November. Full Story | Top |
| Gradual heart attack pain means bigger treatment delay Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 08:00 AM PDT Everyone knows that could be a heart attack. When symptoms come on slowly, heart attack patients are less likely to get to a hospital quickly, according to a study in Dublin, Ireland. "We didn't know that most heart attacks start off with mild and slow symptoms," said Sharon O'Donnell, who led the study at the University of Dublin, Trinity College in Ireland. they take much longer to reach the emergency department than those with fast-onset heart attacks because they don't call an ambulance, they call/visit their doctor or they wait to see if their symptoms would go away," she told Reuters Health in an email. Full Story | Top |
| Teva Pharm CEO resigns, CFO stands in on interim basis Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 07:33 AM PDT , the world's largest generic drugmaker, said its chief executive Jeremy Levin was stepping down and finance chief Eyal Desheh would stand in on an interim basis, effective immediately. Earlier this week, Teva and Levin denied an Israeli media report that Levin was considering resigning due to a rift with the company's board of directors over Teva's strategy. Levin took the helm of Israel-based Teva "We have had different views on the best way to carry out the strategy," Chairman Phillip Frost told a conference call with analysts on Wednesday without providing details. Full Story | Top |
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