Month: May 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time, the government is publicly revealing how much hospitals charge, and the differences are astounding: Some bill tens of thousands of dollars more than others for the same treatment, even within the same city.

At 105, Pearl Cantrell has one “healthy” habit she swears by: a daily dose of bacon. Cantrell’s son Billy Allen, 81, said that along with a morning cup of “coffee pudding,” or coffee with lots of milk, sugar and a biscuit, the Texas centenarian starts…        

By Dave Warner PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – A Philadelphia jury ended its seventh day of deliberations on Wednesday without a verdict 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. …

By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senators alarmed by a jump in sex crimes in the U.S. military called on Wednesday for a cultural overhaul of the Air Force and a lawmaker exposed a web page used by Marines that she said depicted a "culture of misogyny and sexual harassment." "I'm just fed up with this sexual assault stuff," Senator Barbara Mikulski told a hearing with top Air Force leaders a day after the Pentagon released its 2012 annual report on sexual assault in the military, which showed a 37 percent jump in estimated sex crimes to 26,000. …

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

By Caren Bohan WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Senate bill to overhaul U.S. immigration laws would help ease financial strains on the Social Security retirement program, government analysts said on Wednesday in a report that marked the latest salvo in a debate over the legislation’s impact. In a letter to Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who is one of the authors of the bill, analysts at the Social Security Administration said the overall effect of the bill on the Social Security’s finances “will be positive.” The analysis said the bill would create a net 3. …

Eating fish is good for your heart but taking fish oil capsules does not help people at high risk of heart problems who are already taking medicines to prevent them, a large study in Italy found.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wrigley says it is taking a new caffeinated gum off the market temporarily as the Food and Drug Administration investigates the safety of added caffeine.