Month: March 2013

LONDON (AP) — The harsh spending cuts introduced by European governments to tackle their crippling debt problems have not only pitched the region into recession — they are also being partly blamed for outbreaks of diseases not normally seen in Europe and a spike in suicides, according to new research.

LONDON (Reuters) – Pfizer's new lung cancer pill Xalkori is too expensive to be worth using on Britain's state health service, the country's health cost watchdog said on Wednesday. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) said the drug, which works by blocking enzymes that can stimulate tumour growth, could not be considered a cost-effective use of National Health Service resources. The agency's draft guidance on the drug – which costs 4,689 pounds for a 30-day supply – is now open for consultation. …

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) – Europe’s financial crisis is costing lives, with suicides and infectious diseases on the rise, yet politicians are not addressing the problem, health experts said on Wednesday. Deep budget cuts and growing unemployment are tipping more people into depression, and falling incomes mean fewer people can see their doctors or afford to buy medicines. …

Volunteers who chewed gum during an exercise focused and remembered number sequences better than non-gum chewers. Amy Kraft reports.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Insurance companies will have to pay out an average of 32 percent more for medical claims on individual health policies under President Barack Obama's overhaul, the nation's leading group of financial risk analysts has estimated.

By Jeff Mason and David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s top healthcare adviser acknowledged on Tuesday that costs could rise in the individual health insurance market, particularly for men and younger people, because of the landmark 2010 healthcare restructuring due to take effect next year. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said definitive data on costs will not be available until later this year when private health plans become authorized to sell federally subsidized coverage on new state-based online marketplaces, known as exchanges. …

By Linda Sieg TOKYO (Reuters) – If past is precedent, optimists hoping Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will defy vested interests to take bold action to open the country to more competition as a way to spur growth could well be in for disappointment. Japan's list of reports urging reforms date back almost three decades and have rarely led to the bold action that critics say is needed to dig the economy out of stagnation. …