Month: December 2013

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A 13-year-old California girl declared brain dead after complications from a tonsillectomy should be kept on life support for the time being, a judge has ruled.

By David Ingram WASHINGTON (Reuters) – John Hinckley is ready for more freedom from the mental hospital where he has lived since shortly after he shot President Ronald Reagan in a failed assassination attempt in 1981, a federal judge ruled on Friday. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman accepted a recommendation from St. Elizabeths Hospital that Hinckley be allowed to leave for 17 days a month, up from 10 days a month, to stay with his mother in Williamsburg, Virginia. Hinckley shot Reagan in an attempt to impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom he was obsessed. …

By Randall Palmer OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada's Supreme Court on Friday struck down major restrictions on prostitution, including bans on brothels and street solicitation, declaring the laws unconstitutional because they compromised the safety of sex workers. Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin dismissed the federal government's argument that it was prostitution itself, not the laws that govern it, that puts prostitutes at risk. McLachlin said a law that banned brothels – what she called "safe havens" for prostitutes – could expose them to predators. "It makes no difference that the conduct of pimps and johns is the immediate source of the harms suffered by prostitutes." Justice Minister Peter MacKay said the Conservative government was concerned with the ruling.

French biomedical firm Carmat said on Friday it had begun the first human trial of its prototype artificial heart, which aims at overcoming shortages of organs available for transplant. The implant operation, which took place on Wednesday at the Georges Pompidou Hospital in Paris, "went satisfactorily," it said in a statement. Tens of thousands of people with hearts damaged by disease or a heart attack die each year because of a lack of a donor.

By Roberta Rampton and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Friday defended his administration's decision to delay for some people the requirement to buy medical insurance under his healthcare law, explaining that the rollout of his signature domestic policy is a "messy process." Officials said late on Thursday that people whose insurance plans were canceled because of new standards under the law may be able to claim a "hardship exemption" to the requirement that all Americans must have coverage by March 31, or face a penalty. …

By Natalie Huet PARIS (Reuters) – France’s Carmat said on Friday it had carried out its first implant of an artificial heart that can beat for up to five years, adding that the operation had gone smoothly. The implant operation was performed on Wednesday at the Georges Pompidou European Hospital in Paris, the biomedical firm said in a statement. “We are delighted with this first implant, although it is premature to draw conclusions given that a single implant has been performed and that we are in the early postoperative phase”, said Carmat’s CEO, Marcello Conviti. Heart-assistance devices have been used for decades as a temporary solution for patients awaiting transplants, but Carmat’s bioprosthetic product is designed to replace the real heart over the long run, mimicking nature’s work using biological materials and sensors.

A record number of manatees died in Florida waters this year and the leading killer of the endangered mammals was a toxic algae bloom in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The commission’s research institute said it documented 803 manatee deaths in state waters between January 1 and December 13, the most for any year since record-keeping began in 1974. That was more than double the 392 manatee deaths in Florida in 2012 and up sharply from the 453 deaths recorded in 2011. “The previous record was 766 manatee deaths and that was in 2010,” commission spokesman Kevin Baxter said on Friday.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid appeared to be feeling better after being hospitalized on Friday with an undisclosed illness, his office said in a statement on the Senate's last work day of the year. He missed several key Senate votes as lawmakers wrapped up their work before the holiday break. "Early this morning, Senator Reid was not feeling well and as a precaution decided to go to the hospital. But the Senate's Assistant Majority Leader Richard Durbin said that he had spoken with Reid.

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss BOSTON (Reuters) – Hedge fund billionaire William Ackman is facing mounting pressure as his high-stakes bet against nutrition and weight loss company Herbalife enters its second year, but for now, his investors look ready to stick with him. The founder of Pershing Square Capital Management has seen the value of his $1 billion short play against Herbalife lose nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars in 2013, making it one of the 10-year old fund's riskiest bets. …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Friday that the “basic structure” of his 2010 health care reforms are working, despite recurrent issues with the HealthCare.gov website and “messaging problems” with the law. He told reporters at a news conference that last-minute exemptions from the law announced on Thursday provided an additional safety net for a small group of people, and said he took the blame for the poor rollout of his signature policy achievement. “Since I’m in charge, we screwed it up,” Obama said. …