Month: March 2013

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's breathing problems have worsened and he is suffering from a "severe" new respiratory infection as he struggles to recover from cancer surgery, the government said in a somber medical update on Monday. The 58-year-old socialist leader has not been seen in public nor heard from in almost three months since undergoing the operation in Cuba. It was his fourth surgery since the disease was detected in mid-2011. "Today there is a worsening of his respiratory function, related to his depressed immune system. …

SEATTLE (Reuters) – A Washington state lawmaker has apologized for telling a bike store owner, in a spat over a proposed bike fee, that bicyclists can cause pollution – just by breathing out carbon dioxide. Ed Orcutt, a ranking Republican member of the state House of Representatives Transportation committee, said in an email exchange with a bike shop owner that drivers and bicyclists should both share the burden of preserving the roads they use. …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Tension over the fiscal crisis eased on Monday as President Barack Obama called more opposition lawmakers to find a way to stop $85 billion in damaging budget cuts and congressional Republicans announced a plan to prevent a government shutdown. Eager to resolve fiscal fights overshadowing his second term, the Democratic president called Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins and Oklahoma Republican Senator Tom Coburn after speaking to other Republican senators over the weekend. …

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) — A nurse's refusal to give CPR to a dying 87-year-old woman at a California independent living home despite desperate pleas from a 911 dispatcher has prompted outrage and spawned a criminal investigation.

(Reuters) – Monster Beverage Corp, defending its Monster Energy drinks from mounting criticism about potential health risks, said on Monday its medical investigators found no evidence that the drinks caused the death of a 14-year-old girl. The family of Maryland teenager Anais Fournier sued the company last year after she died of cardiac arrest that her parents blamed on "caffeine toxicity" after she drank two Monster Energy drinks in a 24-hour period. Monster, the top-selling energy drink, has come under fire from regulators and politicians. …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama, unable to persuade Republicans to accept higher taxes, is attempting to cobble together what he calls a "common-sense caucus" among lawmakers to help resolve U.S. budget woes and push his legislative agenda. On Monday and in recent days, Obama has made individual phone calls to a number of senators in a search for common ground on $85 billion in budget cuts that went into effect last week, as well as his top priorities like deficit reduction, gun control and an overhaul of U.S. immigration laws. …

(Reuters) – Impax Laboratories Inc said U.S. health regulators raised fresh concerns related to manufacturing practices at the drugmaker’s Hayward, California facility, sending its shares down more than 20 percent after the bell. The company’s hopes of securing an approval for its Parkinson’s drug Rytari are tied to its ability to resolve issues at the plant, where the drug is partly manufactured. The U.S. …

(Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson said health regulators denied approval to an expanded use of its blood thinner, Xarelto, to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes in patients with acute coronary syndrome. The drug, which J&J has developed in partnership with German drugmaker Bayer AG, was earlier denied approval in June for the same use, as a panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration raised concerns about missing trial data and bleeding risks. …