Novartis says confident flu vaccines produced in Italy are safe

A man walks past the logo of Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG in front of a plant in BaselZURICH (Reuters) – Novartis AG said on Thursday it was confident of the safety of two flu vaccines produced at its Italian site and had witnessed no safety concerns to date. On Wednesday, Italy banned the sales and use of four anti-influenza vaccines produced by Novartis pending tests for possible side effects. The Swiss health watchdog later followed suit, issuing a precautionary halt to deliveries of the vaccines Agrippal and Fluad, which are manufactured in Italy. Novartis said the move by the Italian health ministry followed a report by the drugmaker of small particles in the vaccines. …

Obama tackles rape comments, "fiscal cliff" on TV talk show

U.S. President Obama speaks to host Leno as he makes an appearance on the Tonight Show in Los AngelesBURBANK, California (Reuters) – President Barack Obama suspended the levity during an interview with late-night TV talk show host Jay Leno on Wednesday to address a Republican Senate candidate's assertion that pregnancies resulting from rape are intended by God and to express confidence that Washington could soon address the looming "fiscal cliff." "I don't know how these guys come up with these ideas. Let me make a very simple proposition: rape is rape. It is a crime," Obama said on NBC's "The Tonight Show. …

Disabled South Koreans protest "inhumane" benefits system

SEOUL (Reuters) – Wheelchair-bound Choi Jong-hun spends most Fridays in a makeshift tent encampment in one of Seoul’s busy subway stations, eating instant noodles as commuters dodge and weave around him and a handful of fellow demonstrators. He’s part of a protest that has lasted more than 60 days and aims to change South Korea’s benefits system, which campaigners say humiliates disabled people by “grading” them according to their disability. …

Study: are cancer patients’ hopes for chemo too high?

(Reuters) – At least two thirds of people with advanced cancer believed the chemotherapy they were receiving might cure them, even though the treatment was only being given to buy some time or make them comfortable, according to a U.S. survey. Researchers reported in the New England Journal of Medicine that 69 percent of patients who were terminally ill with lung cancer, and 81 percent with fatal colorectal cancer, did not understand that their chemotherapy was not at all likely to eliminate their tumors. …

Indiana candidate sorry about rape comment; Romney stands by him

Indiana Republican U.S. Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, speaks with volunteers in Jeffersonville, IndianaINDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) – The Republican candidate for the Senate in Indiana, Richard Mourdock, said on Wednesday he was sorry if anyone misunderstood a comment on rape and abortion, and White House hopeful Mitt Romney's campaign said he would stand by the controversial candidate. Mourdock made comments at a Senate debate on Tuesday night that some critics interpreted as condoning rape. At a hastily called news conference on Wednesday, Mourdock said he abhors rape and violence against women. "I apologize that they came away" with that interpretation, he said. …

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