Supersized court challenge to New York City’s ban on big, sugary sodas

Benjamin Lesczynski takes a sip of a "Big Gulp" while protesting the proposed "soda-ban," that New York City Mayor Bloomberg has suggested, outside City Hall in New YorkNEW YORK (Reuters) – The beverage and restaurant industries on Wednesday urged a New York judge to block Mayor Michael Bloomberg's ban on large sugary drinks, calling it an unconstitutional overreach that burdens small businesses and infringes upon personal liberty. The ban, scheduled to go into effect in March, outlaws the sale of sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces from New York City's restaurants and many other eateries in an effort to combat obesity. City officials have said they will not begin imposing $200 fines on offending businesses until June. …

Quest Diagnostics expects reimbursement cuts to hurt in 2013

(Reuters) – Laboratory tests provider Quest Diagnostics Inc’s fourth-quarter profit missed analysts’ recently cut estimates, and the company forecast 2013 results below market expectations, citing pricing and reimbursement pressures. Quest, the No. 1 U.S. laboratory testing company, and its peer Laboratory Corp of America Holdings face falling test volumes as hospitals buy physician groups, which order tests to be conducted inhouse. Shares of Quest, which conducts tests under brands such as AmeriPath and Athena Diagnostics, were down 5 percent at $58. …

Study casts doubt on link between cannabis, teen IQ drop

SYDNEY (Reuters) – A landmark study suggesting a link between cannabis use and a drop in teenage IQ may not have gone far enough in its research, with any falls in IQ more likely due to lower socioeconomic status than marijuana, according to a Norwegian study. The latest work, which appears in the journal PNAS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, also suggests that different policy steps might be needed in that case. …

Cycling-Armstrong fails to convince fans with confession-poll

Jan 23 (Reuters) – Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong failed to convince many people he was truly sorry for his actions during his televised confession to cheating his way to a record seven Tour de France titles by using drugs, according to a Reuters poll. Armstrong, 41, admitted in an interview with Oprah Winfrey last week that he used performance-enhancing drugs and lied about it for over decade, finally owning up to being at the centre of one of the biggest drug scandals in world sport. But the two-part interview aired over 2. …

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