Month: May 2013

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Two multinational drugmakers are teaming up with top global health groups to protect millions of girls in the world's poorest countries from deadly cervical cancer.

By Dave Warner PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – A Philadelphia jury started its eighth day of deliberations on Thursday in the murder trial of a doctor accused of killing babies and a patient during late-term abortions at a clinic that served low-income women. Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, who ran the now-closed Women’s Medical Society Clinic, could face the death penalty if convicted by the jury in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia. The seven-woman, five-man jury heard five weeks of testimony before starting deliberations on April 30. …

Rare conditions captured in medical imaging.        

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – A mango project in Burkina Faso exporting to Europe will receive the first grant from a new $25 million agriculture fund launched on Thursday that is designed to connect small farmers to international markets. With global food demand expected to grow by at least 70 percent by 2050 and with sub-Saharan Africa home to about 60 percent of the world's unused arable land, experts see African farmers as leading the next agricultural boom. …

BEIJING (Reuters) – China reported one more death from a new strain of bird flu on Thursday, bringing the death toll to 32, with the number of infections staying at 129, the official Xinhua news agency said. A 56-year-old man died in the central province of Henan, two weeks after his infection was confirmed, Xinhua cited a statement from the local health bureau. The man had no direct contact with birds, but there were birdcages hanging in the corridor of the building he lived in, the report said. …

Patients thought they had allergies. New techniques allowed their doctors to go through the noses to seal up cerebrospinal fluid leak.        

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) – Drugmakers Merck and GlaxoSmithKline have cut the price of cervical cancer shots in a deal that will deliver them to poor countries for less than $5 a dose. The new record low price for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines should mean millions of girls in developing countries can be protected against the disease, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisations (GAVI) said on Thursday. “By 2020 we hope to reach more than 30 million girls in more than 40 countries,” Seth Berkley, the group’s chief executive, said in a statement announcing the price deal. …

The gum has been pulled from stores as the FDA investigates its safety.        

ROME (Reuters) – Global food prices rose in April for a third straight month as surging dairy costs kept upward pressure on the United Nations food agency's index, but cereal output is expected to be strong this year. Food prices spiked during the summer of 2012 as the United States was hit by a severe drought and dry weather plagued other producers. After falling at the start of 2013, prices have been rising again in the past three months. …