Month: October 2013

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – With President Barack Obama's healthcare law marred by a shaky rollout, top administration officials including Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will meet with insurance company chief executives on Wednesday, a White House official said. The chief executives of WellPoint and Humana confirmed they would attend the meeting. Obama on Tuesday turned to a trusted advisor to fix the glitch-plagued website that is central for the success of the president's signature health insurance plan, widely referred to as Obamacare. …

By Erika Solomon BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syria's army has sealed the few remaining smuggling routes into the besieged eastern suburbs of Damascus, activists and aid workers said on Wednesday, tightening a chokehold on rebel-held areas near the capital. Activists inside the Eastern Ghouta region, a semicircle of rural towns outside Damascus, said no food or supplies had entered the region in days. They said the army began intensifying its blockade over a week ago. …

By Toni Clarke (Reuters) – Gilead Sciences Inc’s sofosbuvir drug is safe and effective when used in combination with other therapies to treat hepatitis C, according to reviewers with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Their review was posted on the FDA website on Wednesday ahead of an October 25 meeting of an outside panel of medical experts who will recommend whether or not the agency should approve the drug. …