Month: April 2013

Expensive Equipment Cited in Scary Misshaps

LONDON (Reuters) – British supermarket chain Asda said on Tuesday very low levels of the horse pain-killing drug phenylbutazone, also known as bute, had been found in horsemeat discovered in tins of corned beef in the first such case in Britain. Britain's Food Standards Agency (FSA) said the level of the drug, which is banned from entering the human food chain, posed a low risk to human health, as results showed it contained 4 parts per billion. Asda, the British arm of the U.S. …

By Bill Berkrot (Reuters) – An experimental drug that spurs the immune system to fight cancer appeared to be safe and demonstrated anti-tumor activity against a variety of cancers in a small early stage study, researchers said on Tuesday. The drug, called MPDL320A, was discovered and is being developed by Roche's Genentech unit. The Phase 1 trial of the drug in 30 patients with advanced cancer was designed as a dose escalation study to test for toxicity at higher doses. But researchers were also pleased to find early signs of effectiveness of the drug. …

Dr. Jessica McCannon reports: My husband and I are one of a rapidly growing number of dual-language families in the U.S., if the Census Bureau is any indication. Spanish, in particular, is the second most-common language spoken in households in the U.S.  I don’t know…

CHICAGO (AP) — The biggest thing in operating rooms these days is a million-dollar, multi-armed robot named da Vinci, used in nearly 400,000 surgeries nationwide last year — triple the number just four years earlier.

North Carolina researchers have confirmed what patients have been saying for years about their headaches. The scientists discovered that it’s almost impossible for sufferers to identify triggers for their migraines without participating in formal experiments.

By Toni Clarke WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the huge agency that runs Medicare and Medicaid got rare bipartisan praise on Tuesday, but faced tough questions about healthcare reform and a recent controversial decision on Medicare Advantage payment rates. Testifying before the Senate Finance Committee, which will decide whether to advance her nomination, Marilyn Tavenner said her role would be to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as a business, and as a partner with many healthcare entities for the benefit of all. …

By Verna Gates BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) – Doctors who provide abortions will face stricter standards in Alabama starting in July under a law signed on Tuesday that requires them to have admitting privileges at hospitals in the state. Proponents say the legislation, the latest salvo in the national debate over abortion, will make pregnancy terminations safer, while critics say it will unnecessarily restrict a woman's right under the U.S. Constitution to choose an abortion. …

The FDA approved Diclegis, a morning sickness drug, which was pulled from the market 30 years ago, now has the highest FDA safety rating for a pregnancy drug.