Month: March 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration is looking into new evidence that a group of recently approved diabetes drugs can increase the risk of pancreatitis and other problems.

By Saundra Amrhein TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) – Virginia Edmonds, standing in shallow water, used her legs to slowly nudge an ailing young manatee to one side of a treatment pool. A half dozen other female members of a manatee rehabilitation team hovered close by – one with a syringe – waiting for the signal. “OK!” Edmonds called, as the others jumped in and threw a mat over the manatee to try and hold it still. …

LONDON (AP) — The new pope has daunting challenges ahead ranging from the church sex abuse scandal to reinvigorating the flock.

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Older women who regularly took aspirin – but not similar anti-inflammatory drugs – had a lower-than-average risk of developing the most dangerous form of skin cancer in a new study. The findings are based on 12 years of data from the large, long-term Women’s Health Initiative study and account for how much time study participants spent in the sun and whether they typically used sunscreen. But they do not mean all women should start taking aspirin to ward off skin cancer, according to the report’s lead author. “This study… …

By Ransdell Pierson (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is studying unconfirmed reports that a widely used class of diabetes drugs, which includes Merck & Co's Januvia, may cause inflammation of the pancreas and pre-cancerous changes to the pancreas. The agency, in a notice on its website on Thursday, said it is the first time it has communicated potential pre-cancerous links to the medicines, known as incretin mimetics. The oral treatments also include Onglyza from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co and AstraZeneca PLC. …

(Reuters) – Some 2.3 percent of 8,500 poor heterosexuals living in cities with high rates of HIV infection tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS, and nearly half of those who were infected said they had never had an HIV test before the study, U.S. health officials said on Thursday. The findings by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention underscore the links between poverty and HIV infection in the United States, where up to 44 percent of new infections are clustered in 12 major cities, including Chicago, Washington, New York and Los Angeles. …

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — When PepsiCo Inc. announced it would stop putting an obscure vegetable oil in its Gatorade right before the Super Bowl, one of the loudest cheers came from a high school student who had made it her mission to get rid of the ingredient.

By Katharina Bart and Nate Raymond ZURICH/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Credit Suisse Group AG has agreed to pay at least $400 million to settle lawsuits by investors over the Swiss bank's role in raising money for a healthcare financier that collapsed in a $2.9 billion fraud more than a decade ago. The settlement averts a trial in Manhattan federal court that had been scheduled to begin in two weeks. It stems from the activities of National Century Financial Enterprises Inc, which filed for bankruptcy protection in November of 2002. …

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – McDonald's Corp will debut a new egg-white McMuffin in the United States in April and allow diners to swap out egg whites on all of its breakfast sandwiches, catching up with rivals already offering the lower-calorie option. Dubbed the "Egg White Delight," the new McMuffin will be available nationwide on April 22, the world's biggest restaurant chain said on Thursday. …

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) – The pharmaceutical industry should be able to charge less for new drugs in future by passing on efficiencies in research and development to its customers, according to the chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline Plc. "It's not unrealistic to expect that new innovations ought to be priced at or below, in some cases, the prices that have pre-existed them," Andrew Witty told a conference on healthcare in London. "We haven't seen that in recent eras of the (pharmaceutical) industry but it is completely normal in other industries. …