DENVER (AP) ? In the most prominent challenge of its kind, Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. asked a federal appeals court Thursday for an exemption from part of the federal health care law that requires it to offer employees health coverage that includes access to the morning-after pill.
NEW YORK (AP) ? The nation's record-low teen birth rate stems from robust declines in nearly every state, but most dramatically in several Mountain States and among Hispanics, according to a new government report.
By Lavinia Mo HONG KONG (Reuters) - The H7N9 bird flu virus may be capable of spreading from human to human and can be transmitted not only through direct contact but also through airborne exposure, researchers at the University of Hong Kong have found. The researchers found in a study, presented at a news briefing on Friday, that three ferrets - the main animal used for research into human influenza - that were placed in close contact with ferrets injected with H7N9 contracted the virus. One out of three that were kept in different cages became infected through airborne exposure. ...
Novo obesity drug could launch in U.S. end 2014
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Danish drug maker Novo Nordisk said it could launch obesity treatment liraglutide in the United States by the end of next year and rejected some analysts' doubts over the medicine's commercial potential. The world's biggest insulin producer is hoping the treatment for severe obesity will help to at least partly offset the delay to its next generation insulin treatment Tresiba after U.S. regulators asked for more tests. ...
Study: No higher cancer rate at Conn. Pratt plants
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) ? An 11-year study of the incidence of brain cancer at jet engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney in the state ended Thursday with university researchers saying they found no statistically significant elevations in the rate of cancer among workers.
By Belinda Goldsmith CANNES (Reuters) - A trip to space with Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio raised 1.2 million euros ($1.5 million) for charity at a glitzy fundraiser at the Cannes film festival on Thursday. At the 20th annual event organized by amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, DiCaprio emerged as the mystery guest to accompany the winner on a Virgin Galactic flight into space. DiCaprio stars in the film "The Great Gatsby," which opened the 66th Cannes film festival. ...
By Keith Coffman CENTENNIAL, Colo. (Reuters) - Lawyers for accused Colorado movie theater gunman James Holmes argued on Thursday the state's insanity defense law was unconstitutional because it forces him to cooperate with court-appointed psychiatrists or forfeit the right to raise mental-health issues at sentencing. Prosecutors countered during a hearing before Arapahoe County District Judge Carlos Samour Jr. that without an independent examination, there would be no way to evaluate defense claims that Holmes was legally insane at the time of the crime. ...
Study: No higher cancer rate at Conn. Pratt plant
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) ? An 11-year study of the incidence of brain cancer at jet engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney in the state ended Thursday with university researchers saying they found no statistically significant elevations in the rate of cancer among workers.
Boy Scouts Vote to End Ban on Gay Scouts
Some gay rights advocates call the move a step forward, but others say the 103-year-old organization has sent the wrong message to youth if it denies membership to gay leaders.
Aveo says partner Astellas will not seek EU nod for kidney cancer drug
(Reuters) - Aveo Pharmaceuticals Inc said it was informed by its partner Astellas Pharma Inc that the Japanese company would not be seeking marketing approval for their experimental kidney cancer drug in Europe. Aveo shares fell about 13 percent in extended trade, after closing at $2.70 on the Nasdaq. They have lost about 55 percent of their value since April 30, when FDA reviewers raised questions about the drug. Astellas does not intend to fund any future studies of the drug, tivozanib, in renal cell cancer, Aveo said in a regulatory filing on Thursday. (http://r.reuters. ...
DENVER (AP) ? In the most prominent challenge of its kind, Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. asked a federal appeals court Thursday for an exemption from part of the federal health care law that requires it to offer employees health coverage that includes access to the morning-after pill.
California reveals prices for health insurance under Obamacare
By Sharon Bernstein LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California unveiled prices on Thursday that consumers will pay for a selection of health plans offered through the state under the Affordable Care Act, providing a glimpse into how health care reform may look as it is rolled out across the nation. Under the federal health care reform law, Californians who do not get or cannot afford health insurance through their jobs can buy coverage through an exchange, at a group rate negotiated by state regulators. ...
Lawmaker would give FDA more oversight of drug compounding
By Toni Clarke WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Representative Edward Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, on Thursday became the latest lawmaker to propose legislation that would give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration greater regulatory authority over drug compounding. U.S. lawmakers, responding to a deadly meningitis outbreak in 2012, continue to wrestle with ways to regulate the pharmacies that compound large volumes of drugs for hospitals, individuals and clinics. ...
By Richard Cowan and Rachelle Younglai WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Thursday his chamber would chart its own path on immigration rather than simply considering a Senate-passed measure, quashing hopes some Democrats had for quickly enacting the landmark legislation. "While we applaud the progress made by our Senate colleagues, there are numerous ways in which the House will approach the issue differently," Boehner said in a statement. "We will not simply take up and accept the bill that is emerging in the Senate if it passes," he added. ...
GENEVA (AP) ? International efforts to combat a new pneumonia-like virus that has now killed 22 people are being slowed by unclear rules and competition for the potentially profitable rights to disease samples, the head of the World Health Organization warned Thursday.
Maine Medicaid expansion passes but governor sets veto
By Dave Sherwood BOWDOINHAM, Maine (Reuters) - Maine's Democratic-controlled legislature on Thursday passed a bill to expand access to its Medicaid program as outlined by the Affordable Care Act, setting up a showdown with the state's Republican governor, who immediately began veto procedures. At issue is lawmakers' effort to link expanded access to the health insurance program for low-income residents to a plan to pay the state's share of $484 million in debt owed to Maine's hospitals. ...
New J&J anti-depressant related to 'Special K' party drug
By Ransdell Pierson NEW BRUNSWICK, New Jersey (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson said it plans to seek approvals for 11 new drugs by 2017, including a treatment for patients with depression who have failed to benefit from standard medications. The intranasal drug, called esketamine, is closely related to a pediatric anesthetic called ketamine that has been shown in academic studies to ease symptoms rapidly in such patients, including a reduction in suicidal thoughts. Ketamine is also the active ingredient of the mood-altering party drug known as "Special K. ...
Sugar water injections may help ease knee pain
By Kathryn Doyle NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Knee pain appears to decrease up to one year after "prolotherapy," a series of sugar water injections at the site of the pain, according to a new study. Previous research on the therapy that suggested positive effects was plagued by flaws, but the new report may be more reliable, according to Dr. John D. Loeser, a pain specialist and professor emeritus at the University of Washington in Seattle. ...
By John Tilak TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index dipped on Thursday as fears the U.S. Federal Reserve will dial back its bond-buying program and pessimism following sluggish economic data from China and Europe fueled declines in all major sectors. Weakness in Toronto-Dominion Bank further weighed on the market after the country's No. 2 lender reported earnings slightly below expectations. Investors were nervous after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress on Wednesday that a decision to scale back massive bond buying each month could come at one of the U.S. ...
Online tool reduces inappropriate medical tests
By Trevor Stokes NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A web-based decision-making tool that alerts heart doctors when diagnostic tests would not be useful for a specific patient can curb wasteful procedures, according to a new study. "This educational tool helps doctors determine the best test for any particular patient," said lead author Dr. James Min, director of cardiac imaging research at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Imaging tests help detect disease and motivate doctors to focus their care, but expensive diagnostic tests can be a financial drain if overused, experts said. ...
Marijuana tied to better blood sugar control
By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who had used marijuana in the past month had smaller waists and lower levels of insulin resistance - a diabetes precursor - than those who never tried the drug, in a new study. The findings, based on surveys and blood tests of about 4,700 U.S. adults, aren't enough to prove marijuana keeps users thin or wards off disease. And among current pot smokers, higher amounts of marijuana use weren't linked to any added health benefits, researchers reported in The American Journal of Medicine. "These are preliminary findings," said Dr. ...
Shuttered NM plant resumes making peanut butter
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) ? The eastern New Mexico peanut butter plant shuttered eight months ago after a salmonella outbreak is back in production, and company officials say their coveted natural and organic butters could be back on store shelves within a month.
Labs reject dramatic findings on cancer drug in Alzheimer's mice
By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. scientists say a dramatic result last year suggesting that a cancer drug already approved by U.S. regulators could quickly clear out Alzheimer's plaques in mice was too good to be true. The study, published last year in the journal Science, showed the skin cancer drug bexarotene cut the amount of an Alzheimer's-linked protein called beta amyloid by half in three days. It also reversed Alzheimer's symptoms, restoring a sense of smell in treated mice and allowing them to resume nest building activities. ...
By Tom Miles and Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) warned countries with possible cases of the SARS-like novel coronavirus on Thursday that they must share information and not allow commercial labs to profit from the virus, which has killed 22 people worldwide. Saudi Arabia, where the first case occurred, has said the development of diagnostic tests for the disease has been delayed by a foreign laboratory's patent rights on the SARS-like virus. ...
New advice didn't change breast screening rates
By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women in their 40s didn't cut back on mammograms during 2010, the year after a government-backed panel said annual breast cancer screening should be optional for them, says a new study. Researchers found that the odds of U.S. women between the ages of 40 and 49 getting a mammogram remained stable from 2006 to 2010. So did mammography rates among women in their 40s relative to those of older women, who were still advised to get regular breast cancer screenings. ...
WHO: 22 deaths worldwide from coronavirus
GENEVA (AP) ? World Health Organization officials said Thursday that their probe into the deadly new coronavirus that has now claimed 22 lives is being delayed because of a dispute over the ownership rights to a sample ? a claim disputed by the researcher at the center of the issue.
By Susan Heavey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. schools need to boost efforts to get students moving, and make gym class as critical as other core subjects if they want to increase test scores as well as students' general well-being, a leading group of health advisers said on Thursday. The Institute of Medicine called for younger students to get at least 30 minutes of physical activity per day in school and older students 45 minutes, with at least half that time spent moving vigorously. ...
Novo Nordisk says obesity drug trial confirms weight loss
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark's Novo Nordisk, the world's biggest insulin producer, said Phase III study results had shown people treated with its liraglutide drug had an 8 percent weight loss. "These data, together with previously reported Phase III trials, consistently demonstrate clinically significant weight loss and improvements in obesity-related risk factors in people with obesity," chief science officer Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen said in the statement. Just how big the product could be is fiercely debated by analysts. ...
