Luke Waid drives 20 miles each day to shower at a relative’s place, hauls bottled water back to his Flint, Michigan, home and worries about his 2-year-old daughter’s irritability. “I don’t know if that is a product of her being exposed to high lead levels, or ... More »
Actor-comedian Tracy Morgan performed a show near the site of a New Jersey car crash two years ago in which he was nearly killed for an audience that included medical staff who treated him, People magazine said on Sunday. The Saturday performance at the State ... More »
MELBOURNE Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose will join the remaining leg of Australian rock band AC/DC’s world tour, after front man Brian Johnson’s doctors raised concerns over his hearing loss. The band rescheduled concerts on their Rock or Bust World Tour in Mar... More »
WASHINGTON The United States is likely to see outbreaks of the Zika virus, with perhaps dozens or scores of people affected, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on Sunday. The United States has se... More »
LIMA Peruvian health authorities on Saturday reported the first case of the Zika virus having been sexually transmitted in the country, after a resident contracted the disease while traveling in Venezuela and then infected his wife once back in Peru. Zika has ... More »
LOS ANGELES Singer Prince was released from an Illinois hospital on Friday after he was hospitalized with the flu following an emergency plane landing, celebrity news outlet TMZ said. A representative for the singer told TMZ that Prince had performed in Atlant... More »
NEW DELHI India’s biggest cigarette maker ITC Ltd said it would resume production at its factories “consequent upon” a favorable court order, two weeks after it decided to shutter its plants over the government’s stringent new packaging rules. India ordered th... More »
An experimental once-daily combination hepatitis C treatment being developed by AbbVie Inc demonstrated very high cure rates across a wide range of disease genotypes, according to data presented on Saturday, likely giving the company a more competitive product... More »
SYDNEY Australian scientists say they have developed the world’s first WHO-approved “gluten-free” barley, a breakthrough for global beer manufacturers which have had to use alternatives to barley such as rice and sorghum to brew gluten-free beer. Australia’s C... More »
For a long time surrogate motherhood has been a a topic for stormy debates and controversies around the world. Many European countries still cannot legitimize this method of assisted reproductive technology (ART) because of religious and ethical reasons. Infer... More »
WASHINGTON An Ohio man paralyzed in an accident while diving in waves can now pick up a bottle or play the video game Guitar Hero thanks to a small computer chip in his brain that lets his mind guide his hands and fingers, bypassing his damaged spinal cord. Sc... More »
ZURICH Roche Holding AG said on Monday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted priority review for atezolizumab for treating people with a specific type of lung cancer. The designation covers treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic ... More »
CHICAGO Scientists in Brazil have uncovered a new brain disorder associated with Zika infections in adults: an autoimmune syndrome called acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, or ADEM, that attacks the brain and spinal cord. Zika has already been linked with t... More »
SYDNEY The head of Australia’s largest bank said its insurance business, CommInsure, had used an outdated and discredited definition of a heart attack to deny some claims from clients and he would apologize to any customers adversely affected. “I am saddened a... More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday moved to revoke approval of a drug used to treat certain diseases in pigs because it could leave a cancerous residue that may affect human health. The drug, carbadox, is made by Teaneck, New Jersey-based Phibro A... More »
(Reuters Health) – Babies exposed to marijuana in the womb are likely to be born smaller than those not exposed, and more likely to need intensive care after birth, according to a new analysis of existing evidence. Mothers who smoke marijuana while pregnant ar... More »
Lawyers for Viacom Inc Chairman Emeritus Sumner Redstone are in talks to settle a lawsuit challenging the 92-year-old media mogul’s mental competency, people familiar with the situation said on Tuesday. Depositions of Viacom Chief Executive Officer Philippe Da... More »
SEOUL South Korea’s former short track world champion Noh Jin-kyu has died of cancer, the Korea Skating Union said on Monday. He was 23. Noh’s sister, Olympic speed skater Seon-yeong, wrote on her Facebook page that he had passed away at 8 p.m. local time on S... More »
SEOUL Samsung Bioepis Co Ltd, which aims to become a force in the fledgling biosimilar drugs industry, has filed a lawsuit against the originator of the world’s best-selling drug, to stop it blocking the launch of its own version. The unit of South Korea’s Sam... More »
MONROVIA A five-year-old boy tested positive for Ebola in Liberia just days after his mother died of the virus in the second flare-up to hit West Africa in recent weeks, the health ministry said on Sunday. A 30-year-old woman died of Ebola in Monrovia last wee... More »
CONAKRY/MONROVIA Guinea will soon vaccinate people who have come into contact with more than 500 men who have recovered from Ebola, a senior health official said, the first time it has vaccinated the contacts of survivors. The decision reflects research that i... More »
ZURICH Novartis took its campaign to invigorate sluggish sales of its new heart-failure medicine Entresto to a U.S. cardiologists meeting on Saturday, telling attendees that even clinically stable patients can benefit from the drug. Novartis, which forecasts E... More »
CHICAGO U.S. states and cities need to adopt a different mosquito-fighting strategy to battle the species carrying the Zika virus as an outbreak that started in Brazil heads north with warmer weather in the coming weeks, health officials said on Friday. The Wo... More »
LONDON The world’s first life-saving gene therapy for children, developed by Italian scientists and GlaxoSmithKline, has been recommended for approval in Europe, boosting the pioneering technology to fix faulty genes. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said o... More »
TEL AVIV Already a pioneer in high-tech and cutting-edge agriculture, Israel is starting to attract American companies looking to bring medical marijuana know-how to a booming market back home. Since 2014, U.S. firms have invested about $50 million in licensin... More »
LONDON French drugmaker Sanofi has poached one of AstraZeneca’s top scientists to be its new research head in another high-profile departure for the British drugmaker. Sanofi said on Tuesday that Yong-Jun Liu had been appointed as head of research with effect ... More »
BUENOS AIRES Chile has confirmed its first case of the Zika virus having been sexually transmitted, the health ministry said in a statement on its website on Saturday. The virus is linked to thousands of suspected cases of birth defects in Brazil. The new case... More »
Federal officials have extended an emergency declaration for Flint that has provided supplies of bottled water, filters and test kits to the Michigan city suffering from lead contamination in drinking water, the state governor said on Friday. The emergency dec... More »
(Reuters Health) – U.S. doctors and hospitals throw out almost $3 billion (roughly 2.7 billion euros) in unused cancer drugs each year because the medicines come in supersized single-use packages and excess medicine must be discarded for safety reasons, a rece... More »
WASHINGTON Scientists on Thursday announced the creation of a synthetic organism stripped down to the bare essentials with the fewest genes needed to survive and multiply, a feat at the microscopic level that may provide big insights on the very nature of life... More »
WASHINGTON The Supreme Court on Wednesday headed toward a possible 4-4 split over a legal challenge by Christian nonprofit employers who object to providing female workers insurance covering birth control as required by President Barack Obama’s healthcare law.... More »
Reuters Health – After one year, gastric bypass surgery did a better job of bringing type 2 diabetes into remission than an intensive diet and exercise regimen, according to results of a small trial among obese patients. Gastric bypass surgery precipitates wei... More »
Reuters Health – A major weakness of asthma care is that many patients don’t know how to use inhalers to deliver life-saving medicine when they’re gasping for air. The fix may be as simple as taking more time to teach patients how the devices work, a U.S. stud... More »
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK A bill that aims to protect babies born to mothers who used heroin or other opioids during pregnancy was introduced on Wednesday in the House as part of the government’s response to a Reuters investigation. The bipartisan measure would requ... More »
LOS ANGELES A Los Angeles judge tentatively ruled on Friday that certain documents can be made public in a lawsuit that challenges the mental competency of 92-year-old media mogul Sumner Redstone. Medical records will remain sealed to protect Redstone’s privac... More »
BEIJING China’s environment ministry has ordered an investigation after a provincial environmental protection body fined a polluting factory just 603 yuan ($90) for dumping waste water, state media said on Friday. China’s government has repeatedly vowed to get... More »
NEW DELHI U.S.-pharmaceutical giant Abbott Laboratories’ India unit (ABT.N) (ABOT.NS) will comply with all legal requirements of a government order that bans more than 300 combination drugs in the country, a company spokesman said on Monday. India banned 344 d... More »
MUMBAI/NEW DELHI Shares in the Indian units of U.S.-based drugmakers Pfizer (PFE.N) (PFIZ.NS) and Abbott Laboratories (ABT.N) (ABOT.NS) fell as much as 5 percent on Monday after authorities imposed a ban on their codeine-based cough syrups, saying they posed a... More »
MUMBAI A powerful antibiotic combination that is marketed in India by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Abbott Laboratories is among 344 drug combinations that have been banned by the Indian health authorities. A Reuters investigation revealed in December that a unit ... More »
LONDON As the world focuses on Zika’s rapid advance in the Americas, experts warn the virus that originated in Africa is just one of a growing number of continent-jumping diseases carried by mosquitoes threatening swathes of humanity. The battle against the in... More »
U.S. health regulators said a genetically engineered mosquito being used in the fight against Zika will not have a significant impact on the environment, possibly paving the way for the technique to be used in the country. The self-limiting strain of the Aedes... More »
(Reuters Health) – Telephone quitlines offer free and effective treatment for tobacco dependence, but for low-income smokers who only have a cell phone and don’t have unlimited minutes, calls to the quitline may take a substantial portion of their cell minutes... More »
(Reuters Health) – That pesky kid brother or sister who broke your stuff and got you in trouble all the time may have actually done you a favor. A U.S. study suggests that younger siblings might be really good for your health. That’s because by first grade, ki... More »
(Reuters Health) – Women with hypertension and physically demanding jobs are much more likely to suffer myocardial infarction than peers who are less active at work and have normal blood pressure, a recent study suggests. Among thousands of nurses, hypertensio... More »
Popular U.S. television dog trainer Cesar Millan, known as the “Dog Whisperer,” said on Friday he understands why he is being investigated for animal cruelty but stands by his training methods, as thousands signed a petition demanding his show be canceled. Mil... More »
CHICAGO Seniors living in Manhattan spend an average of nearly 25 days a year at doctor visits or at a hospital. But in Lebanon, New Hampshire, contact with the healthcare system is far lower – just 10 days on average. New Yorkers probably are not that much si... More »
MUMBAI India has given private assurances that it will not grant licences allowing local firms to override patents and make cheap copies of drugs by big Western drugmakers, a U.S. business advocacy group said. The comments were revealed in a submission last mo... More »
MOSCOW Economic crises convulsing Russia, Ukraine and Belarus mean testing in areas contaminated by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster has been cut or restricted, Greenpeace said, and people continue to eat and drink foods with dangerously high radiation levels. A... More »
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. Sixteen-year-old Emma Joy and her younger sister Quinn recently spent an evening stuffing bags with a full year’s supply of tampons or sanitary pads for women who often miss work or school because they cannot afford menstrual products. The S... More »
NEW YORK Spending on prescription drugs is projected to have risen to $457 billion in 2015 and will likely continue to grow as a percentage of overall healthcare spending, a U.S. government health agency said on Tuesday. The agency also proposed a test program... More »
(Reuters Health) – Children who skip lunch may not be getting enough vitamins and minerals from the rest of their meals and snacks, a study suggests. Researchers examined nutrition information for almost 4,800 school-age kids and found that about 7 to 20% skip... More »
(Reuters Health) – Pedestrian deaths from car crashes surged the most in at least four decades last year and now account for about 15% of fatalities from motor vehicle accidents, a U.S. report suggests. Nationally, pedestrian deaths rose 10% in 2015 from the p... More »
(Reuters Health) – Moderate intensity dancing, like moderate intensity walking, is tied to a lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, according to a new study. “It is not surprising that moderate-intensity physical activity is protective against cardio... More »
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (CMG.N), which is trying to recover from a series of food-borne illness outbreaks, temporarily shut a Massachusetts restaurant after four employees fell sick. The restaurant in the town of Billerica, outside Boston, was closed for a ... More »
NEW YORK In an increasingly anxious world, more financial advisers are fine-tuning their bodies with yoga to clear their thinking and make the right financial choices. So the next time you walk into a financial planner’s office, do not be surprised if you find... More »
SINGAPORE With her brown hair, soft skin and expressive face, Nadine is a new brand of human-like robot that could one day, scientists hope, be used as a personal assistant or care provider for the elderly. The 1.7-metre tall Nadine was created in the likeness... More »
A southeast Michigan couple is twice lucky after the birth of their daughter on Feb. 29, the second time the mother has given birth to a baby girl on that day in a leap year. Chad and Melissa Croff, from Columbus Michigan, welcomed Evelyn Joy into the world at... More »
HOUSTON Addicts in a new study at the University of Houston will strap on virtual reality headsets and navigate a “heroin cave” to help them try and kick their addictions. Researchers are looking to see if making their way through a simulated house party cramm... More »
LONDON A Scottish nurse, who recovered from Ebola but then suffered life-threatening complications from the virus persisting in her brain, was discharged from hospital in London on Sunday. The Royal Free Hospital said in a statement that Pauline Cafferkey was ... More »
SHANGHAI China’s drug regulator said it would accelerate approvals of new medicines, long a headache for pharmaceutical firms who complain it takes too long to get drugs to market. The China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) said in a statement published on ... More »
CHICAGO A study of nine pregnant women from the United States who traveled to countries where the Zika virus was circulating shows a greater-than-expected number of fetal infections and brain abnormalities, U.S. health officials said on Friday. Two of the wome... More »
Pregnant women should consider not traveling to the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil due to the risk of Zika virus infection, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday. CDC also said women considering becoming pregnant, and their male part... More »
RIO DE JANEIRO Even as athletes grow increasingly concerned about the outbreak of the Zika virus in Brazil, the organizing committee for the August Olympics in Rio de Janeiro said it will charge national delegations to have mosquito screens on athletes’ rooms.... More »
(Reuters Health) – On the question of whether the population would benefit if people cut back on salt, researchers fall into two camps, according to a new report. While most studies have concluded that cutting salt would have benefits, about a third do not agr... More »
OSLO Bees and other pollinators face increasing risks to their survival, threatening foods such as apples, blueberries and coffee worth hundreds of billions of dollars a year, the first global assessment of pollinators showed on Friday. Pesticides, loss of hab... More »
SYDNEY The Fijian government and international aid agencies began delivering much needed aid on Wednesday to the Pacific nation’s remote islands and coastal villages devastated by a powerful cyclone that killed 42 people. The death toll has crept up in the day... More »
U.S. health officials are investigating 14 reports of the Zika virus that may been transmitted through sex, including to several pregnant women, raising new questions about the role sexual transmission is playing in the growing outbreak. In two of the suspecte... More »
BRASILIA World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Margaret Chan said on Tuesday Brazil is doing a good job tackling the Zika virus and ensuring that the Olympic games it will host in August will be safe for athletes and visitors. Chan said Brazil’s gov... More »
AUSTIN, Texas Two major Texas health centers have developed what they are calling the country’s first hospital-based, rapid test for the Zika virus that can produce results in a matter of hours, the hospitals said on Tuesday. Researchers at Texas Children’s Ho... More »
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) was ordered by a Missouri state jury to pay $72 million of damages to the family of a woman whose death from ovarian cancer was linked to her use of the company’s talc-based Baby Powder and Shower to Shower for several decades. In a v... More »
The following timeline charts the origin and spread of the Zika virus from its discovery nearly 70 years ago: 1947 – Scientists researching yellow fever in Uganda’s Zika Forest identify the virus in a rhesus monkey 1948 – Virus recovered from Aedes africanus m... More »
SYDNEY Thought-controlled prosthetic limbs, wheelchairs and computers may be available within a decade, say Australian scientists who are planning to conduct human trials next year on a high-tech implant that can pick up and transmit signals from the brain. An... More »
LONDON Scientists in Britain have found how drug-resistant bacteria build and maintain a defensive wall — a discovery that paves the way for the development of new drugs to break through the barrier and kill the often deadly “superbugs”. In recent decades, bac... More »
LOS ANGELES Media mogul Sumner Redstone was under “undue influence” from people around him when he replaced his designated healthcare agent last fall, his ex-girlfriend argued on Thursday in her lawsuit challenging the elderly billionaire’s mental competence. ... More »
RIO DE JANEIRO The worst health scare in recent history is not keeping Brazilians from their annual Carnival revelry, with millions of partiers swarming streets and some making fun of the mosquito that spreads Zika and other viruses. Street processions, block ... More »
NEW YORK/BRASILIA Experts on microcephaly, the birth defect that has sparked alarm in the current Zika virus outbreak, say they are struck by the severity of a small number of cases they have reviewed from Brazil. Consultations among doctors in Brazil and the ... More »
The rapidly spreading Zika virus is discouraging many Americans from traveling to Latin America and the Caribbean, with 41 percent of those aware of the disease saying they are less likely to take such a trip, a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows. The poll is the latest... More »
NEW YORK The United States Olympic Committee told U.S. sports federations that athletes and staff concerned for their health over the Zika virus should consider not going to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in August. The message was delivered in a conference call i... More »
NEW DELHI A doctor at a hospital in India’s capital, New Delhi, was recently tracking a wall of monitors displaying the vital signs of intensive care patients admitted hundreds of miles away when red-and-yellow alerts rang out. The oxygen flow to a 67-year-old... More »
NEW YORK The tumble in share prices for biotechnology stocks has created some buying opportunities, with drugmakers Celgene Corp (CELG.O) and Gilead Sciences (GILD.O) poised for a 30 percent rise over the next year, Barron’s said. Both companies currently rely... More »
PARIS Travelers coming back from any outbreak zones of the Zika virus will need to wait at least 28 days before giving blood to avoid any risk of transmission, French Health Minister Marisol Touraine said on Sunday. Zika, which is rapidly spreading through the... More »
BOGOTA More than 3,100 pregnant Colombian women are infected with the mosquito-borne Zika virus, President Juan Manuel Santos said on Saturday, as the disease continues its rapid spread across the Americas. Brazil is investigating the potential link between Zi... More »
MANCHESTER, N.H. Two Republican U.S. presidential hopefuls said on Saturday they would implement quarantines of travelers if necessary to stop the spread of the Zika virus. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who garnered international attention in 2014 when h... More »
MUMBAI The rapidly-spreading Zika virus has an unlikely victim – Indian carmaker Tata Motors Ltd (TAMO.NS). The carmaker said on Tuesday it had decided to rename its soon-to-be-launched hatchback Zica, short for Zippy Car, after the mosquito-borne virus was de... More »
RECIFE, Brazil For scores of women in the epicenter of the Zika outbreak in Brazil, the joy of pregnancy has given way to fear. In the sprawling coastal city of Recife, panic has struck maternity wards since Zika – a mosquito-borne virus first detected in the ... More »
The E. coli outbreak that affected dozens of Chipotle Mexican Grill customers in nine states last year is expected to be declared over as soon as Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the government’s investigation. Investigator... More »
WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina Athletics’ crisis-hit governing body needs to be completely restructured, but IAAF president Sebastian Coe should be given the chance to lead the reforms, former world hurdles champion David Oliver has told Reuters. “It (the IAAF)... More »
BOGOTA More than 2,100 pregnant Colombian women are infected with the mosquito-borne Zika virus, the country’s national health institute said on Saturday, as the disease continues its spread across the Americas. The virus has been linked to the devastating bir... More »
Rio de Janeiro Last January, long lines formed outside health clinics in Recife, a city in Brazil’s northeast hit hard in recent years by outbreaks of dengue, a painful tropical disease. Doctors were on guard because federal health officials and the World Heal... More »
Companies and scientists are racing to create a Zika vaccine as concern grows over the mosquito-borne virus that has been linked to severe birth defects and is spreading quickly through the Americas. Zika is now present in 23 countries and territories in the A... More »
WASHINGTON U.S. President Barack Obama spoke on Friday with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff about the spread of the Zika virus in the Western Hemisphere, the White House said. “The leaders agreed on the importance of collaborative efforts to deepen our know... More »
Health insurer Anthem Inc (ANTM.N), which is in the process of buying smaller rival Cigna Corp (CI.N), reported a 6.3 percent rise in quarterly revenue as more people enrolled in its Medicaid plans. Anthem, which operates Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in more t... More »
BANGKOK A craze for lifelike dolls thought to bring good luck is sweeping Thailand, reflecting widespread anxiety as the economy struggles and political uncertainty persists nearly two years after a coup. Thailand is predominantly Buddhist and has been moderni... More »
Airlines, hotels and cruise operators serving Latin America and the Caribbean are facing growing concern among travelers spooked by the mosquito-borne Zika virus. The outbreak of the virus, linked to brain damage in thousands of babies in Brazil, comes as a re... More »
CHICAGO/WASHINGTON President Barack Obama on Tuesday called for the rapid development of tests, vaccines and treatments to fight the mosquito-transmitted Zika virus, which has been linked to birth defects and could spread to the United States in warmer months.... More »
United Airlines will allow customers who hold tickets to regions impacted by the Zika virus to postpone their trips or receive full refunds, a spokesman said on Tuesday. United, the second-largest U.S. airline by capacity, said the offer corresponds to virus-h... More »
WASHINGTON A Virginia resident who traveled outside the United States has tested positive for the mosquito-transmitted Zika virus, state health officials said on Tuesday. The adult resident had recently traveled to a country where Zika virus transmission was o... More »
RIO DE JANEIRO As Rio de Janeiro prepares to welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors for upcoming Carnival festivities and the Olympic Games in August, the city is scrambling to expel one unwelcome new arrival: the Zika virus. It will be an uphill battle. Zi... More »
RIO DE JANEIRO Olympic and tourism officials in Brazil downplayed risks for foreign visitors from the mosquito-borne Zika virus on Monday, even as the health ministry warned pregnant women to consult doctors before visiting the country amid a widening scare. A... More »
(Reuters Health) – When mothers eat three sizeable servings of fish each week during pregnancy it may benefit children’s brains for years to come, according to a large study in Spain. Researchers followed nearly 2,000 mother-child pairs from the first trimeste... More »
