Month: May 2013

By Chris Francescani and David Jones NEW YORK/NEWARK (Reuters) – New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who has struggled with obesity for much of his adult life, said on Tuesday he underwent lap band surgery in February to lose weight, a move he said had nothing to do with a possible run for the White House in 2016. The blunt-spoken, popular Republican said he made the decision to protect his health and his family. "It's not a career issue for me," said Christie. "It is a long-term health issue for me and that's the basis on which I made this decision. It's not about anything other than that. …

LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan injured his head after falling off a mechanical lift raising him onto a stage at a rally on Tuesday four days before national elections, party and medical officials said. Khan fell as the lift was just short of the 15ft (4.5 meter)-high platform in the eastern city of Lahore, witnesses said. Television footage showed the dazed leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party being led away to hospital with blood on his head. "He is not in any danger … …

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he decided to have weight-loss surgery for himself and his family, not to advance his political career.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Weight-loss surgery such as the type that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie underwent may not just improve people's waistlines, but their health.

By Jessica Dye and Toni Clarke NEW YORK (Reuters) – A federal judge criticized the Food and Drug Administration over its refusal to make emergency contraception available to girls of all ages without a prescription, saying the agency’s move to restrict distribution to consumers aged 15 and older was not realistic. U.S. District Judge Edward Korman on April 5 ordered the FDA to lift age restrictions on all levonorgestrel-based emergency contraception – also known as the “morning-after” pill or “Plan B” – to prevent unwanted pregnancies. …

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has both joked about his weight and said that it's a real concern, secretly underwent a weight-loss surgery in February that experts say could help him if he gets exercise and watches what he eats.

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge, asked by the government on Tuesday to freeze his plan giving teenage girls broader access to morning-after birth control, instead seized the chance to accuse health officials of taking steps that would end up hurting poor people and improve their chances of prevailing in a protracted legal fight with reproductive rights advocates.

“Genie” Wiley grew up tethered to a toilet seat; Elizabeth Fritzl, imprisoned for 24 years, was sexually abused by father. But kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart sees rays of hope in her abduction.        

“Genie” Wiley grew up tethered to a toilet seat; Elizabeth Fritzl, imprisoned for 24 years, was sexually abused by father. But kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart sees rays of hope in her abduction.        

By Dave Warner PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – A Philadelphia jury ended its sixth day of deliberations on Tuesday without a verdict in the murder trial of a doctor accused of killing babies and a patient during late-term abortions at a clinic serving 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 a week ago on Tuesday. …