Month: October 2013

By Victoria Cavaliere NEW YORK (Reuters) – Telephones have been ringing off the hook at a Brooklyn cupcake bakery, an Indian restaurant and other New York City establishments, but the calls are not all helping business. Because of a glitch on a New York state health website, at least a half dozen businesses were wrongly listed as counselors who can help people select health insurance under the new federal Affordable Care Act. "Who would have figured that cupcakes would be confused with health insurance?" said Gus Rodriguez of Brooklyn Cupcake, which has gotten more than two dozen calls a day from people who want help in choosing a health-care plan. New York state's Health Plan Marketplace website listing the numbers to call was unveiled October 1, said Bill Schwarz, spokesman for the New York State Health Department.

By P.J. Huffstutter CHICAGO (Reuters) – Cargill Inc, one of the world's largest beef processors, threw a wrench into Merck & Co.'s plans to reintroduce its feed additive Zilmax, stating it will not accept Zilmax-fed beef into the Cargill supply chain "until we are 100 percent confident the animal welfare issues are resolved." Cargill told Reuters Wednesday its ban on Zilmax applies both to beef it processes, as well as to cattle in its own feed lots. In addition, Cargill said it will not use Zilmax-fed beef "until Asia and other trading partners accept it in their markets." Pharmaceutical giant Merck on Tuesday told Reuters that it is seeking to reintroduce Zilmax, the controversial feed additive temporarily pulled from the market in August after reports that it caused lameness in cattle. Merck's August decision came after Tyson Foods Inc.

By Jim Finkle BOSTON (Reuters) – The security of the Obama administration's healthcare website was at "high risk" because of lack of testing before it opened for enrollment on October 1, according to a government memorandum reviewed by Reuters on Wednesday. The HealthCare.gov site collects a trove of sensitive data, such as Social Security numbers, email addresses, phone numbers and birth dates that could be used by criminals in an array of schemes. "From a security perspective, the aspects of the system that were not tested due to the ongoing development exposed a level of uncertainty that can be deemed as a high risk," said the memo from Department of Health and Human Services officials James Kerry and Henry Chao. According to the document, the recommendation was approved by Marilyn Tavenner, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the lead agency at HHS managing the 2010 Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A trip down the grocery store produce aisle could soon feel like a stroll down "Sesame Street."

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration says that almost 7 percent of imported spices over a three-year period were contaminated with salmonella.

By Shereen Jegtvig NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Mothers with special training can help family doctors provide at-home support to women with violent partners, a new study suggests. Family doctors often see women in their practices who are suffering from intimate partner violence, but in the office, the physicians may not be equipped to give these women the help and support they need, say Dutch researchers. Over a four-month period, “Mentor support had an important role for mothers in becoming aware of the negative effects of (partner violence) on their children and to accept professional support, preventing mental problems and intergenerational transmission of violent behavior,” the study authors write in the journal Family Practice.

Researchers said Internet forums and other online resources may be both good and bad influences when it comes to self-harm and suicidal thoughts among depressed young people. “Certainly there were ways in which the Internet gave anonymous support for people, for this population, and that could be helpful,” said Paul Montgomery. Montgomery and his colleagues analyzed 14 studies that looked at Internet use and self-harm among people under age 25, typically teenagers and preteens. Self-harm includes intentional cutting and burning but is usually not intended as a suicide attempt.

NEW YORK (AP) — Doctors may one day be able to control a patient's HIV infection in a new way: injecting swarms of germ-fighting antibodies, two new studies suggest.

The Hallmarks of Cancer 6: Tissue Invasion and Metastasis