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| Analysis: For Merck, bringing cattle feed Zilmax back won't be easy Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 12:07 PM PDT faces significant challenges bringing its controversial feed additive Zilmax back to market in the United States and Canada, even after a vote of confidence from South Korea on Thursday. South Korea plans to begin accepting meat from cattle raised with the muscle-growing supplement early next year, a senior official in the country's food ministry said, opening the door to beef imports after a government risk assessment found the additive could be permitted at certain levels. To resurrect the once popular drug in the United States, Merck will need to shake this summer's controversy over animal welfare problems - and convince ranchers, feedlot customers and meatpackers that Zilmax was not to blame for some cattle that arrived at slaughter plants having difficulty walking and apparently in pain. It could be a tough sell: On Wednesday, agricultural giant Cargill Inc Full Story | Top |
| Police have video of Toronto mayor, won't detail contents Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 12:42 PM PDT  By Cameron French TORONTO (Reuters) - Police said Thursday they have obtained a video "consistent" with media accounts that it shows Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine, but they would not confirm the contents of the video. Ford, who has denied he smokes crack, said he could not comment on the matter because the video is evidence in a separate case before the courts. In the first official link between Ford and a high-profile Toronto drugs investigation, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair on Thursday identified the mayor as a subject in a video recovered during the probe. "I can tell you that the digital video file that we have recovered depicts images which are consistent with those that had previously been reported in the press," Blair said. Full Story | Top |
| WHO confirms four more cases of Middle East virus Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 12:28 PM PDT Three more people in Saudi Arabia have become infected with the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus and one has died, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday, and it also confirmed the first MERS case in Oman. In a disease outbreak update, the Geneva-based United Nations health agency said the four new cases bring the number of people worldwide struck by the MERS virus to 149, of which 63 have died. Health authorities and scientists are still trying to figure out what kind of animal "reservoir" may be fuelling the MERS outbreak. The virus, which is from the same family as the one that caused a deadly outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome SARS in 2002, is thought to have originated in bats. Full Story | Top |
| For some obese people, surgery beats other options Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 12:23 PM PDT By Kathryn Doyle NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Diet, exercise, therapy and drugs can help obese people get healthier. But weight-loss surgery does a better job of getting rid of extra pounds and treating type 2 diabetes, a new review of past studies shows. So-called bariatric surgery, like gastric bypass or gastric banding, reduces the size of the stomach so patients can only eat small amounts of food. Many doctors have noted the dramatic weight loss that often results. Full Story | Top |
| Google, Oracle, Red Hat experts to help fix Obamacare website Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 12:06 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Experts from top technology and Internet companies including Google Inc, Oracle Corp and Red Hat Inc have joined the Obama administration's effort to fix its troubled HealthCare.gov website, a U.S. official said on Thursday. Individuals from Oracle and Red Hat have expertise in site reliability, stability and scalability, according to a blog post by Julie Bataille, spokeswoman for the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, which is overseeing the effort. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. lawmaker subpoenas Sebelius for Obamacare documents Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 11:53 AM PDT  By Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior House of Representatives lawmaker subpoenaed Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for documents related to the troubled launch of the Obamacare website, HealthCare.gov, his office said on Thursday. Representative Darrell Issa, Republican chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, announced he had subpoenaed Sebelius for information he and Republican Senator Lamar Alexander have sought since October 10. Republicans have sought to derail the healthcare overhaul since Obama took office in 2009 and have seized on recent technical issues to further attack the law. Full Story | Top |
| Coke Femsa, Bimbo fall as Mexico poised to pass food, drink taxes Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 11:31 AM PDT By Elinor Comlay MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Shares of Mexico's food and drink companies fell on Thursday as Congress was poised to approve a 1 peso-per-liter tax on sugary drinks and an 8 percent tax on junk food as part of a wider tax overhaul. The Senate approved the plan, which aims to curb rising obesity levels as well as lift the poor tax take in Latin America's No. 2 economy, on Thursday morning, before sending the bill back to the lower house of Congress for final approval, expected later in the day. Shares of Mexico-based Coca-Cola Femsa, Coke's largest bottler in Latin America, were down more than 1 percent, while shares in bread and snacks maker Bimbo fell more than 2 percent in morning trading. Mexico, where obesity rates are now higher than in the United States, will be the first major soda market to tax high-calorie sodas, following a handful of other Latin American and European countries. Full Story | Top |
| Canceled U.S. health plans are disruptive part of reform -Cigna CEO Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 11:23 AM PDT The hundreds of thousands of Americans whose individual insurance policies will be canceled as Obamacare takes full effect next year are experiencing a disruptive element of healthcare reform, the head of health insurer Cigna said on Thursday. In the past week, reports of pending plan cancellations have become a political problem for President Barack Obama, who promised years ago as he was pushing to pass the healthcare law that Americans who liked their health plans could keep them. Nearly half of U.S. consumers with individual health plans are also expected to qualify for tax credits to buy insurance on new state exchanges under Obamacare. Full Story | Top |
| Some nutrition and diet studies may overstate results Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 11:23 AM PDT By Shereen Jegtvig NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Doctors, policymakers and everyday people may make decisions or give advice based on the results of published nutrition studies. Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham looked at papers published about nutrition and obesity in leading medical and public health journals. His team's findings were published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Results from so-called observational studies - which can't prove cause-and-effect - are often used to make potentially inappropriate recommendations without better data, the researchers said. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. authorities quiz AstraZeneca over heart drug trial Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 09:26 AM PDT  By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - AstraZeneca is being investigated by U.S. authorities over a major clinical trial that was used to win marketing approval for its new heart drug Brilinta, casting fresh doubts over the medicine. Brilinta sales have been a disappointment since its launch two years ago, although AstraZeneca has recently stepped up marketing efforts and hopes that further clinical tests will underscore its value in preventing heart attacks. The British drugmaker said on Thursday it received a civil investigative demand from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) 10 days ago, seeking documents and information regarding the so-called PLATO study. AstraZeneca plans to cooperate with the DOJ and Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said he was "very confident" in the findings of the clinical trial. Full Story | Top |
| Cigna says will increase '14 profit despite pressures Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 09:22 AM PDT  Insurer Cigna Corp said on Thursday it expects to increase its 2014 earnings from 2013, reflecting its smaller exposure to uncertainty around private Medicare and the rollout of individual insurance on new exchanges around the country. Cigna, which reported third-quarter profit that beat analysts' expectations on Thursday, has both a U.S. and overseas health insurance business and also sells disability and life insurance. Cigna said that diversification will help it next year, which it expects to be challenging because of broad changes in the healthcare industry. Larger competitors UnitedHealth Group Inc, WellPoint Inc and Aetna Inc have recently painted 2014 as uncertain because of private Medicare cuts and changes related to President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law. Full Story | Top |
| Many vets given psychiatric drugs without diagnosis Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 09:08 AM PDT By Allison Bond Kotru NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Nearly one-third of U.S. veterans who are given psychiatric medications by their doctors do not have a diagnosed mental health problem, according to a new study. Older vets between ages 65 and 85 were the ones most commonly prescribed psychotropic drugs without a formal diagnosis, and were least likely to be receiving mental health treatment, researchers report in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. The findings are important because such drugs can pose serious health risks. "Psychiatric medications can save lives, but they can also cause harm," said Ilse Wiechers, a psychiatrist at Yale School of Medicine and lead author of the study. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. FDA outlines plan to combat drug shortages Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 08:48 AM PDT  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a strategic plan for preventing drug shortages on Thursday and proposed a rule to require drug and biotechnology companies to promptly notify the agency of potential disruptions to the supply of medically important drugs. The plan and proposal come in response to a 2011 order from President Barack Obama to solve the problem of drug shortages. The 2012 Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act called for the FDA to improve its response to imminent or existing drug shortages and to address the underlying causes of such shortages. The act also gave the FDA new authority to require drug manufacturers to notify it of potential supply disruptions. Full Story | Top |
| Shale gas fracking a low risk to public health - UK review Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 08:39 AM PDT By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - The risks to public health from emissions caused by fracking for shale oil and gas are low as long as operations are properly run and regulated, the British government's health agency said on Thursday. Public Health England (PHE) said in a review that any health impacts were likely to be minimal from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which involves the pumping of water and chemicals into dense shale formations deep underground. Since there is currently no fracking in Britain, the PHE report examined evidence from countries such as the United States, where it found that any risk to health was typically due to operational failure. Full Story | Top |
| Ariad suspends sales of blood cancer drug, shares sink Thursday, Oct 31, 2013 08:20 AM PDT Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc will suspend sales of its blood cancer drug Iclusig, barely two weeks after the company stopped an ongoing trial of the drug due to safety concerns. Ariad, on a conference call, said there was a possibility that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration might ask for new trials for the drug that won an accelerated approval last December. Iclusig was approved to treat two rare blood cancers, a type of chronic myeloid leukemia and a version of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. But the FDA earlier this month placed a partial hold on Iclusig's late-stage trial after a number of patients taking the drug experienced blood clots and heart damage. Full Story | Top |
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