FDA says Covidien device can get stuck in brain

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Covidien Plc device for rare malformed blood vessels can get stuck in the brain and has been linked to nine patient deaths, U.S. regulators warned. The device, made by Covidien unit ev3, uses a spongy material to block off blood flow to abnormal tangles of blood vessels before they are removed by surgery. The material is delivered to the brain through a tube inserted into a groin artery, known as a catheter. But the catheter can get stuck in the spongy material while inside the brain, causing serious complications including hemorrhage and death, the U.S. …

German verdict to delay circumcision, not ban it, jurist says

PARIS (Reuters) – A widely criticized German court verdict on religious circumcision this week aims only to delay the act, not ban it, and is not directed against any faith, a jurist with a leading role in the legal debate said on Friday. The operation does serious bodily harm and only males old enough to consent to it freely should undergo it, said Holm Putzke, law professor at Passau University in southern Germany. …

Supreme Court upholds Obama’s healthcare law

Religious leaders pray over a copy of the verdict on Obama's healthcare overhaul law in WashingtonWASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Supreme Court upheld President Barack Obama's healthcare law on Thursday in an election-year triumph for him and fellow Democrats who championed the most sweeping overhaul since the 1960s of the unwieldy U.S. healthcare system. In a 5-4 ruling based on the power of Congress to impose taxes, the nation's highest court preserved the law's "individual mandate" requiring that most Americans obtain health insurance by 2014 or pay a tax. The justices also preserved, with some changes, a provision of the law expanding the Medicaid health insurance program for the poor. …

Icahn suing Forest, cites succession plan worries

Investor Carl Icahn speaks at the Wall Street Journal Deals & Deal Makers conference, held at the New York Stock Exchange(Reuters) – Activist investor Carl Icahn, who is seeking representation on the board of Forest Laboratories Inc, said he is suing the U.S. drugmaker to get more information about its succession planning. In a letter to the company's board, Icahn, Forest's second-largest shareholder, expressed concerns about Forest's longtime chief, Howard Solomon, handing over reins to his son, David Solomon, who is the company's senior vice president for corporate development and strategic planning. …

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