Month: May 2013

By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. think tank on Tuesday recommended Congress suspend trade benefits for India, in the latest sign of U.S. frustration over Indian policies that block American exports and "free ride" on costly U.S. research to develop new medicines and other forms of valuable intellectual property. "The United States should not sit idly by as the Indian government enacts regulations that harm American industry and jobs," Stephen Ezell, senior analyst at the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF), said in a paper. …

WASHINGTON (AP) — States should cut their threshold for drunken driving by nearly half— from .08 blood alcohol level to .05_matching a standard that has substantially reduced highway deaths in other countries, a federal safety board recommended Tuesday. That's about one drink for a woman weighing less than 120 pounds, two for a 160-pound man.

New blood test can find allergies before implant surgery.        

CHICAGO (AP) — One of the world's most glamorous women had an operation that once was terribly disfiguring — removal of both breasts. But new approaches are dramatically changing breast surgeries, whether to treat cancer or to prevent it as Angelina Jolie just chose to do. As Jolie said, "the results can be beautiful."

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said on Tuesday the Department of Justice had charged 89 defendants in eight cities with healthcare fraud, and warned that budget cuts could limit future efforts to crack down on fraudulent claims. The government's sixth national crackdown on healthcare fraud since 2010 involved $223 million in fraudulent claims in jurisdictions including Miami, Detroit, Los Angeles and Brooklyn, New York, the Justice Department said. …

A study analyzed nearly 1,000 speed dates and their aftermaths to find out what conversational cues work best for people to click. Amy Kraft reports.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A surprising new report questions public health efforts to get Americans to sharply cut back on salt, saying it's not clear whether eating super-low levels is worth the struggle.

By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal officials charged 89 people including doctors, nurses and other medical professionals in eight U.S. cities on Tuesday with Medicare fraud schemes that the government said totaled $223 million in false billings. In the latest big Medicare fraud crackdown, more than 400 law enforcement officers including FBI agents fanned out in Miami, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York and other cities to make arrests. …

By Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Google Inc Chief Executive Larry Page provided the first public details of the voice ailment that sidelined him from speaking engagements last summer, saying that he has limited movement in his left and right vocal cords. The 40-year-old co-founder of the world's No. …

The findings of a new study point to the U.S. obesity epidemic as a potential culprit in the increases in sleep apnea rates. The relatively small study looked only at subjects in Wisconsin.

RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia has confirmed six new cases of the SARS-like novel coronavirus in its Eastern Province, state media reported on Monday and Tuesday, citing the health ministry. It reported four new cases late on Monday and a further two late on Tuesday. One of the new cases has been treated and the patient was released from hospital, while the other new cases were still being treated, the Saudi Press Agency reported. On Sunday, Saudi Arabia said it had had a total of 24 confirmed cases since the disease was identified last year, of whom 15 had died. …

By Trevor Stokes NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Bottling up emotions is thought to harm both mind and body, but a new study suggests that the opposite extreme may be no better. In a study of thousands of heart attack patients, those who recalled having flown into a rage during the previous year were more than twice as likely to have had their heart attack within two hours of that episode, compared to other times during the year. …