Month: March 2013

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas House on Wednesday voted to override Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe’s veto of a bill that would ban most abortions from the 12th week of pregnancy onward, giving the state the country’s most restrictive abortion laws and setting the stage for a certain court challenge.

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — In a story March 4 about the challenges of explaining health care reform to non-English speakers, The Associated Press relied on incorrect information from the California Primary Care Association in reporting that organizations have to provide written notices in languages spoken by 10 percent or more of their service population.

Why would the president of a chocolate company head up a rally to help combat the childhood obesity crisis? Mars Chocolate president Debra Sandler recently spoke at the National Confectioner’s Association meeting and expressed concern that candy makers need to “step up” before the government steps in.

Bloggers petition to have Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 removed from Kraft’s U.S. product.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Nursing home residents taking sleep aids such as Ambien are more likely to fall and fracture a hip than residents not being treated for insomnia, new research suggests. According to the study’s lead author, the known dangers of older benzodiazepine sedatives, such as Valium and Xanax, among elderly patients have led many doctors to turn to the newer medicines, known as non-benzodiazepines, but that doesn’t mean they’re any safer. Benzodiazepines are associated with an increased risk of falls and fractures, said Dr. …

LONDON (Reuters) – Fighting the tobacco industry's tactics in the world's poorest countries and ensuring the best vaccines get to those most in need are key to cutting the number of cancer deaths worldwide, according to a report by specialists in the disease. Experts reporting from a meeting of cancer organizations across the world said smoking and other forms of tobacco use are the main drivers of a growing global burden of cancer. They urged governments to put citizens' health above the financial gains they reap from the tobacco business. …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The health insurance industry is escalating its lobbying battle against a proposed Medicare Advantage pay cut to insurers by launching a television and online advertising campaign to garner public support among the program’s 14 million beneficiaries. America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), a leading Washington-based trade group, said a 30-second commercial titled “Too Much” would be shown in a dozen states and the Washington, D.C., area in hopes of dissuading the Obama administration from imposing a 2.3 percent cut in government payments next year. …

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – U.S. adults have been eating steadily fewer calories for almost a decade, despite the continued increase in obesity rates, according to survey data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "It's hard to reconcile what these data show, and what is happening with the prevalence of obesity," co-author Dr. William Dietz, former CDC director of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, told Reuters Health. …

(Reuters) – U.S. investment firm Royalty Pharma on Wednesday stood by its offer to acquire Irish drugmaker Elan, which has rejected the approach, and said it was ready to move quickly and could complete due diligence within 20 days. The firm is scheduling meetings with 10 to 15 of Elan's largest shareholders, including Johnson & Johnson, as well as a few smaller investors, over the next several days, Pablo Legorreta, chief executive of Royalty Pharma, told Reuters. The firm is meeting with nearly a dozen shareholders this week alone, with the first talks taking place on Wednesday. …

Family of woman denied CPR says she is ‘at peace.’

On Tuesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ‘s director, Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. , sounded an alarm via telebriefing about an antibiotic-resistant strain of bacteria that pose a triple threat to health. The infections caused by these bacteria are acquired while patients are in the hospital or another type of medical care facility, referred to as nosocomial infections and most severely affect those people who are the most ill, have compromised immune systems and other risk factors.