Month: May 2013

By Patricia Reaney NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oscar-winning film star Angelina Jolie revealed on Tuesday that she underwent a double mastectomy after learning she had inherited a high risk of breast cancer and said she hoped her story would inspire other women fighting the life-threatening disease. Jolie, an actress who has long embodied Hollywood glamour and has in recent years drawn nearly as much attention for her globe-trotting work on behalf of refugees as for her role as a celebrity mom, disclosed her choice in an op-ed column in the New York Times. …

By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare reform law will extend coverage to 2 million fewer uninsured Americans than expected only a few months ago, congressional researchers said on Tuesday. A new report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said 25 million people who currently lack insurance will obtain coverage through subsidized marketplaces or an expanded Medicaid program over the coming decade, down from a February CBO estimate of 27 million people. …

By Dave Warner PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – A Philadelphia doctor avoided the possibility of the death penalty for murdering babies during late-term abortions by agreeing not to appeal his convictions, and he was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison, the city prosecutor said. Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, was convicted on Monday on three counts of first-degree murder, which raised the possibility of the death penalty. The case focused on whether the infants were born alive and then killed. …

Double mastectomy surgery can be a lifesave for those with genetic mutations but may be worthless for other women at risk for breast cancer.        

By Colleen Jenkins WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (Reuters) – A South Carolina couple sued doctors and state social workers on Tuesday for subjecting a 16-month-old child born with both male and female genitalia to what they say was medically unnecessary and irreversible sex-assignment surgery while the toddler was in foster care. …

(Reuters) – U.S. health regulators on Tuesday approved a test developed by Roche for a specific gene mutation present in about 10 percent of non-small cell lung cancers, and said the company's drug Tarceva could be used as an initial treatment in patients with the mutation whose cancer has spread beyond the lungs. This marks the first companion diagnostic that detects epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the agency said. The diagnostic is called the Cobas EGFR Mutation Test. …

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – The number of U.S. children who were exposed to violence, crime and abuse in 2011 was essentially unchanged from 2008, according to a new government survey. Researchers who interviewed 4,503 children and teenagers in 2011 found that two in five children reported being physically assaulted in the previous year, and one in every 10 kids was injured by that abuse. “The good news is that a lot of people expected things to get worse given the economy was doing so bad,” said David Finkelhor, the study’s lead author. …

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Despite evidence suggesting that women whose uterus has been removed may be more likely to experience heart troubles, a new study finds that the usual signs of heart disease risk are not more severe in middle-aged women after hysterectomy. After following more than 3,000 women for about 11 years, researchers found that heart risk factors like cholesterol, markers of inflammation and blood pressure were not significantly worse in women in the years following an elective hysterectomy, compared to women who did not have the procedure. …