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| China reports latest bird flu death, toll rises to 27 Thursday, May 02, 2013 12:38 AM PDT  BEIJING (Reuters) - A 55-year-old man in central China has died from a new strain of bird flu, bringing to 27 the number of deaths from the mysterious H7N9 virus, state news agency Xinhua said on Thursday. The H7N9 virus, which has infected 127 people in China, is a threat to world health and should be taken seriously, scientists said on Wednesday. The Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) has described it as "one of the most lethal" flu viruses but said there is as yet no evidence of human-to-human transmission of this virus. ... Full Story | Top |
| Sanofi first-quarter misses forecasts on patent losses, forex Wednesday, May 01, 2013 11:41 PM PDT  By Elena Berton PARIS (Reuters) - Sanofi reported lower-than-expected first-quarter earnings on Thursday as the effects of last year's patent losses and foreign exchange headwinds crimped growth from diabetes drugs, vaccines and rare disease unit Genzyme. But the French drugmaker said it expected to return to growth in the second half of the year and confirmed that annual profit would be flat to 5 percent lower than in 2012 at constant exchange rates. "We are in the last quarter of the patent cliff ... ... Full Story | Top |
| What options does Obama have to close Guantanamo? Wednesday, May 01, 2013 10:17 PM PDT  By Susan Cornwell and Jane Sutton (Reuters) - With his renewed vow to close the detention camp for foreign terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, President Barack Obama has effectively assigned himself a list of possible ways to take the prison's population down from 166 to zero. Some would be more easily achieved than others. In pledging to look again at an unfulfilled promise dating back to his first election campaign and early days in office in 2009, Obama made plain on Tuesday that it was untenable to keep the 11-year-old camp open. A hunger strike at the camp at the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
| California may have to move 3,000 inmates at risk for Valley fever Wednesday, May 01, 2013 07:43 PM PDT By Sharon Bernstein LOS ANGELES, May 1, 2013 - As many as 3,000 prison inmates in central California deemed to be at risk from a potentially lethal lung disease may need to be moved to other regions under an order from a court-appointed federal overseer. The directive, issued on Monday, marks the latest effort to stem cases of valley fever, or coccidioidomycosis, at two prisons where the disease was found to have contributed to the deaths of nearly three dozen inmates from 2006 to 2011. ... Full Story | Top |
| FDA appeals making 'morning-after' pill available to all ages Wednesday, May 01, 2013 05:57 PM PDT  By Terry Baynes (Reuters) - The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday appealed a court order directing the agency to make "morning-after" emergency contraception pills available without a prescription to all girls of reproductive age. Lawyers with the Justice Department filed the appeal with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, according to court documents. The appeal is the latest foray in the years-long legal battle over the pill known as "Plan B," a drug that has also sparked political and religious clashes. ... Full Story | Top |
| IRS deals employers a setback in healthcare rules: lawyers Wednesday, May 01, 2013 04:25 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Employer-sponsored healthcare plans cannot include most "wellness programs" as part of minimum coverage requirements, dealing a setback to many businesses, according to new federal rules for U.S. President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul starting next year. The Internal Revenue Service released on Tuesday proposed rules for Obama's 2010 Affordable Care Act that handed a victory to labor unions and consumer groups, tax lawyers said on Wednesday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Allergan delays drug that would rival Regeneron's Eylea Wednesday, May 01, 2013 03:04 PM PDT  By Esha Dey and Ransdell Pierson (Reuters) - Allergan Inc said approval of its Darpin eye drug could be delayed up to two years, providing a new boost to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc whose successful treatment, Eylea, stands to gain from a lack of new competition. Shares of Allergan, which makes wrinkle treatment Botox, fell 13.1 percent after the company said mid-stage trial results of Darpin did not warrant an immediate move into far larger late-stage trials. Regeneron shares closed up 10.3 percent. ... Full Story | Top |
| New bird flu poses "serious threat", scientists say Wednesday, May 01, 2013 02:34 PM PDT  By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - A new strain of bird flu that is causing a deadly outbreak among people in China is a threat to world health and should be taken seriously, scientists said on Wednesday. The H7N9 strain has killed 24 people and infected more than 125, according to the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO), which has described it as "one of the most lethal" flu viruses. ... Full Story | Top |
| Iowa jury awards $240 million to mentally disabled workers in turkey plant Wednesday, May 01, 2013 02:18 PM PDT (Reuters) - A jury on Wednesday awarded $240 million to 32 mentally disabled workers at an Iowa turkey-processing plant to compensate for what government attorneys described as abuse by the Texas company that employed and housed them. A federal jury in Davenport found that Hill Country Farms, doing business as Henry's Turkey Service, of Goldthwaite, Texas, had created an unlawful hostile environment for the men and discriminated against them on the basis of their disability. Jurors awarded them $7.5 million each, following a week-long trial, according to court documents. ... Full Story | Top |
| Jury weighs murder charges against Philadelphia abortion doctor Wednesday, May 01, 2013 01:44 PM PDT By Dave Warner PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A Philadelphia jury ended a second day of deliberations on Wednesday without reaching verdicts in the murder trial of a doctor accused of killing babies and a patient during late-term abortions at a clinic serving low-income women. Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, who ran the now-shuttered Women's Medical Society Clinic, could face the death penalty if convicted by the jury in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia. The case focuses on whether the infants were born alive and then killed. ... Full Story | Top |
| Drugs from Amgen, others assessed by FDA as radiation treatments Wednesday, May 01, 2013 01:21 PM PDT (Reuters) - Drugs from Amgen Inc, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and Sanofi that boost white blood cells are being evaluated by U.S. regulators as treatments for radiation exposure caused by a nuclear attack or accident. The drugs, known as leukocyte growth factors, will be the subject of a Friday meeting of an advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Treatment with Amgen's Neupogen and Neulasta, Teva's Tbo-filgrastim and Sanofi's Leukine, may decrease death rates from radiation exposure, according to FDA staff documents released ahead of the meeting. ... Full Story | Top |
| Key trial of Seaside autism drug fails to show benefit Wednesday, May 01, 2013 01:15 PM PDT By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - The first-ever drug designed to treat social impairments associated with autism failed to show a benefit in a midstage trial, representing a blow to families and to privately held drugmaker Seaside Therapeutics. Results of the study, presented on Wednesday at the International Meeting for Autism Research in Spain, showed the drug known as STX209 failed to improve symptoms of social withdrawal in a 12-month study of 150 individuals aged 5 to 21, most with classic autistic disorder. ... Full Story | Top |
| Five-year-old boy accidentally kills sister with his own rifle Wednesday, May 01, 2013 01:00 PM PDT  By Tim Ghianni NASHVILLE, Tenn (Reuters) - A 2-year-old girl was accidentally shot and killed by her 5-year-old brother with a rifle he received as a birthday gift, Kentucky authorities said on Wednesday. The shooting occurred on Tuesday afternoon in Burkesville, Kentucky, a community in the south-central part of the state, when the boy was playing with the .22-caliber rifle and accidentally shot his sister in the chest, state police said. The boy had received the Crickett "youth model" gun for his birthday in November, Cumberland County Coroner Gary White said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Early release could help ill prisoners and U.S. prisons: Justice Department Wednesday, May 01, 2013 12:21 PM PDT  By Ian Simpson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Compassionate release programs at overcrowded U.S. federal prisons are poorly run and lack clear standards, resulting in some eligible inmates dying before they can be freed, the Department of Justice said on Wednesday. Few prisoners are released early on compassionate grounds. An average of 24 gravely ill prisoners were freed each year from 2006 to 2011, but another 28 died in custody during that time while waiting for the Bureau of Prisons to make a decision on their cases, the department's inspector general said in a report. ... Full Story | Top |
| Primrose oil no better than placebo for eczema Wednesday, May 01, 2013 12:19 PM PDT By Kerry Grens NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Evening primrose oil doesn't reduce the symptoms of the itchy skin problem eczema, according to a new review of studies. Herbal supplement makers market primrose oil as helpful in treating eczema, but "I don't think you'll get a specific benefit" from the pills, said Dr. Joel Bamford, the lead author of the review. Eczema is a common skin disorder, especially among children, marked by itchy, red skin. Commonly, patients are prescribed steroid medications to treat the problem. ... Full Story | Top |
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