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Wednesday, April 4, 2012 12:05 AM PDT

Today's Reuters Health News Headlines - Yahoo! News: Mali junta defies deadline for handing over power University of Colorado to crack down on annual marijuana party Marijuana advocates vow to reopen "Princeton of Pot" after raid Doctors call for end to five cancer tests, treatments Arizona governor signs law to bar medical marijuana at colleges FDA identifies more bogus cancer drugs in U.S Obama assails Republican budget plan, aims at Romney Catholic university in Ohio ends birth-control coverage Cheney released from hospital after heart transplant Ultrasound helps catch cancer in higher-risk women Common antibiotics tied to eye emergencies: study Mali junta defies deadline for handing over power Obama: not spending much time on healthcare contingency plans Step stool helps shorter rescuers do better CPR Whooping cough vaccine fades in pre-teens: study Mali junta defies deadline for handing over power Tue,3 Apr 2012 11:20 PM PDT Reuters - BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's junta ignored a demand by neighbours for an immediate exit from power on Tuesday, instead simply repeating its offer to hold open-ended talks on a future transition to civilian rule. Malians rushed to stock up on petrol and cash after the 15-state ECOWAS West African bloc launched trade and diplomatic sanctions aimed at forcing the leaders of last month's coup to stand down. ... Full Story Top University of Colorado to crack down on annual marijuana party Tue,3 Apr 2012 11:00 PM PDT Reuters - BOULDER, Colo. (Reuters) - The University of Colorado warned on Tuesday against lighting up at an annual marijuana party on its campus, saying "strong measures" would be taken against offenders. The party has traditionally been held every April 20 in a large field surrounded by student dormitories. It attracts thousands of smokers to the Boulder campus, which is often cited as one of the country's top party schools. In past years, the university has tried to disrupt the event by turning on the field's water sprinklers, but to no avail. ... Full Story Top Marijuana advocates vow to reopen "Princeton of Pot" after raid Tue,3 Apr 2012 09:48 PM PDT Reuters - SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Medical marijuana advocates on Tuesday vowed to reopen a San Francisco-area college devoted to cannabis cultivation and known as the "Princeton of Pot" a day after federal agents shut down the school in a raid. Hundreds of protesters rallied in front of San Francisco's City Hall, some on crutches and in wheelchairs and smoking hand-rolled joints. The demonstrators carried signs that said, "Cannabis is medicine; let states regulate" and chanting "Feds off my meds. ... Full Story Top Doctors call for end to five cancer tests, treatments Tue,3 Apr 2012 09:12 PM PDT Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters) - In a move that threatens to further inflame concerns about the rationing of medical care, the nation's leading association of cancer physicians issued a list on Wednesday of five common tests and treatments that doctors should stop offering to cancer patients. The list emerged from a two-year effort, similar to a project other medical specialties are undertaking, to identify procedures that do not help patients live longer or better or that may even be harmful, yet are routinely prescribed. ... Full Story Top Arizona governor signs law to bar medical marijuana at colleges Tue,3 Apr 2012 09:11 PM PDT Reuters - PHOENIX (Reuters) - Arizona's Republican Governor Jan Brewer signed into law on Tuesday a bill to ban medical marijuana from being used on the campuses of state universities and community colleges in the latest salvo in a long-running battle over legalization of the drug. Arizona's move to bar the drug's use on campus is the latest in a drive to roll back laws legalizing the therapeutic use of marijuana, which remains classified as an illegal narcotic under U.S. federal law. ... Full Story Top FDA identifies more bogus cancer drugs in U.S Tue,3 Apr 2012 05:30 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday said it has identified a new batch of counterfeit cancer drugs distributed in the United States and is urging doctors to avoid using the products, which contain no active ingredient. The fake versions of Swiss drugmaker Roche's widely used cancer drug Avastin are labeled as Altuzan, which is the brand name that Avastin is sold under in Turkey, and do not contain the drug's active ingredient, bevacizumab. "Packaging or vials found in the U.S. ... Full Story Top Obama assails Republican budget plan, aims at Romney Tue,3 Apr 2012 04:50 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama accused Republicans on Tuesday of favoring the rich with a "radical" budget plan that focuses on cutting popular programs, which the White House sees as a potent vote winner for Democrats in this year's election. In a week in which Mitt Romney is expected to extend his lead in the race for the Republican nomination to confront Obama in the November 6 election, the president took aim at their new budget blueprint, calling it "thinly veiled social Darwinism. ... Full Story Top Catholic university in Ohio ends birth-control coverage Tue,3 Apr 2012 03:49 PM PDT Reuters - (Reuters) - Xavier University, one of the oldest Roman Catholic colleges in the United States, will cut off birth-control coverage for its employees in July, a move that has divided faculty members and students on the Cincinnati campus. The abrupt cancellation of insurance benefits at the Jesuit university in Ohio comes amid a furious dispute between the Obama administration and the nation's Catholic bishops over contraception. ... Full Story Top Cheney released from hospital after heart transplant Tue,3 Apr 2012 03:23 PM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Vice President Dick Cheney, who underwent a heart transplant 10 days earlier, was released from the hospital on Tuesday, a spokeswoman said. "As he leaves the hospital, the former vice president and his family want to again express their deep gratitude to the donor and the donor's family for this remarkable gift," his spokeswoman said in a statement. Cheney, 71, who has a history of heart problems having suffered the first of five heart attacks at age 37, was released from Inova Fairfax Hospital Heart and Vascular Institute. ... Full Story Top Ultrasound helps catch cancer in higher-risk women Tue,3 Apr 2012 01:30 PM PDT Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adding an ultrasound to annual mammograms for women at higher-than-average breast cancer risk helps catch more early-stage tumors -- but also ups the chance that healthy women will get follow-up biopsies unnecessarily, according to a new study. For most women who fit into an "intermediate-risk" category -- including those with very dense breasts, or who have a family member with breast cancer -- the extra chance of false positives and more testing is probably worth it, said the study's lead author. ... Full Story Top Common antibiotics tied to eye emergencies: study Tue,3 Apr 2012 01:24 PM PDT Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A common class of antibiotics was linked to a higher risk of so-called retinal detachment -- when the light-sensitive tissue in the eye separates from gel that fills the eyeball, in a new Canadian study. People treated by ophthalmologists for the emergency condition were five times more likely to be taking drugs known as fluoroquinolones, which include ciprofloxacin (marketed under names including Zoxan, Proquin and Cipro) and levofloxacin (Levaquin, Cravit), than those who didn't have retinal detachment. ... Full Story Top Mali junta defies deadline for handing over power Tue,3 Apr 2012 01:12 PM PDT Reuters - BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's junta ignored a demand by neighbors for an immediate exit from power on Tuesday, instead simply repeating its offer to hold open-ended talks on a future transition to civilian rule. Malians rushed to stock up on petrol and cash after the 15-state ECOWAS West African bloc launched trade and diplomatic sanctions aimed at forcing the leaders of last month's coup to stand down. ... Full Story Top Obama: not spending much time on healthcare contingency plans Tue,3 Apr 2012 11:46 AM PDT Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he was not spending "a whole bunch of time" preparing contingency plans should the Supreme Court overturn his healthcare overhaul law because he is confident the justices will uphold it. Obama, a former constitutional law professor, also weighed in with a legal argument, saying the high court was unlikely to strike down a law passed by Congress "on an economic issue like healthcare that I think most people would clearly consider commerce. ... Full Story Top Step stool helps shorter rescuers do better CPR Tue,3 Apr 2012 11:29 AM PDT Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Amid all the technology used in hospitals to keep critically ill people alive, doctors are looking at whether the low-tech step stool can make a meaningful difference. When a hospital patient goes into cardiac arrest, doctors and nurses perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, which includes chest compressions that need to be deep enough to move blood out of the heart and toward the rest of the body. ... Full Story Top Whooping cough vaccine fades in pre-teens: study Tue,3 Apr 2012 11:13 AM PDT Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - During a whooping cough outbreak in California in 2010, immunized children between eight and 12 years old were more likely to catch the bacterial disease than kids of other ages, suggesting that the childhood vaccine wears off as kids get older, according to new research. "We have a real belief that the durability (of the vaccine) is not what was imagined," said Dr. David Witt, an infectious disease specialist at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Rafael, California, and senior author of the study. ... Full Story Top

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