Month: May 2013

By Jonathan Kaminsky OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) – Key officials helping to create Washington state's potentially lucrative recreational pot market say its success may hinge on preventing consumers from choosing to get high on readily available medical cannabis because of low and sometimes nonexistent taxes on it. The officials say it may be necessary to raise taxes or impose more stringent rules on medical pot to avoid undercutting the new recreational market and the tax dollars it is expected to inject into state coffers. …

Angelina Jolie's mother had breast cancer and died of ovarian cancer, and her maternal grandmother also had ovarian cancer — strong evidence of an inherited, genetic risk that led the actress to have both of her healthy breasts removed to try to avoid the same fate, her doctor said Wednesday.

By David Alexander and Phil Stewart WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A rash of scandals discrediting the U.S. military's efforts to stamp out sexual assault is putting unprecedented pressure on Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to consider options that once appeared off limits to address sex crimes in the armed forces. On Tuesday, the military disclosed that another one of its advocates for victims of sexual assault was himself being accused of sex crimes, including allegations linking him to prostitution. Hagel, in his initial response, ordered the retraining and recertification of U.S. …

NEW YORK (AP) — A deadly new respiratory virus related to SARS has apparently spread from patients to health care workers in eastern Saudi Arabia, health officials said Wednesday.

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) – Bereaved parents who do not want to see their dead babies go through a conventional autopsy could in future be offered a less invasive option which uses magnetic resonance imaging and blood tests to establish the cause of death. Scientists who investigated using a combination of full body scans and sample tests found this so-called minimally invasive autopsy (MIA) was as effective in determining the cause of death as a conventional procedure, which involves an open dissection of the baby's body to examine the organs. …

By Toni Clarke WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Updated federal advice on mercury levels in fish appears to have stalled within the U.S. department of health, frustrating scientists and advocacy groups who argue that exposure to mercury may be dangerous at lower levels than previously thought. The government last revised its mercury guidance in 2004 when it said young children, pregnant women, nursing mothers and women who might become pregnant should eat seafood but avoid shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish, which contain relatively high levels of mercury. …