Month: December 2013

By Sharon Begley NEW YORK (Reuters) – California’s Obamacare insurance marketplace experienced a surge in enrollment last week, officials said on Thursday, offering welcome news for President Barack Obama’s sweeping healthcare law from a state crucial to its success. Some 144,146 applications were completed and 49,708 people selected commercial plans in the first week of December, compared to 403,323 completed applications and 109,296 enrollments in the previous two months since the Covered California marketplace opened, officials said. At that rate, California would meet its 2013 enrollment target. “This is a good day for Californians,” Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California, the state’s Obamacare marketplace, told reporters.

DENVER (AP) — Synthetic marijuana is believed to have sickened 221 people in Colorado during a monthlong outbreak this year, according to a federal report released Thursday.

By Shereen Jegtvig NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – College students who consume energy drinks tend to drink more alcohol and having both in the same day may lead to more negative consequences, a new study says. Combining heavily caffeinated energy drinks and alcohol is a trend, especially among college students. In fact, about half of energy drink users admit to combining them with alcohol while partying. Mixing alcohol and energy drinks is a serious public health concern when compared to drinking alcohol alone.

Whether consciously or not, the holidays are filled with situations in which we feel socially evaluated by others, and assessed by our ability to give others what they want — materially and emotionally.

By Caroline Humer NEW YORK (Reuters) – Aetna Inc has decided not to reinstate or extend individual health insurance plans that are being canceled with the advent of the U.S. Affordable Care Act because the time frame is too short. Aetna is the largest insurer yet to announce a decision on how it would proceed across the United States after President Barack Obama said last month that insurers could extend these health plans under a temporary transitional policy. Aetna's move means that some consumers, who are required to have health insurance in 2014 or pay a fine, will need to buy a new plan for 2014. Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini made the comments at an investor meeting on Thursday.

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – People with an irregular heartbeat may also be at increased risk of being depressed, suggests a new study from Germany. The added risk was small, researchers found, but it’s in keeping with other studies linking heart disorders with depression. “It’s consistent with a large and growing literature on the role that depression plays with heart disease,” Richard Sloan, who was not involved with the new study, said. Sloan is the Nathaniel Wharton Professor of Behavioral Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University in New York.

Attorneys general from 28 U.S. states have asked the Food and Drug Administration to reconsider its approval of the powerful painkiller Zohydro ER, which Kentucky’s top law enforcement official said could start an epidemic of abuse. The drug, manufactured by Zogenix Inc of San Diego, was approved by the FDA in October. Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway said his state had been hurt by abuse of prescription painkillers, especially OxyContin, and he feared more problems with Zohydro ER. Conway joined attorneys general from 27 states and the U.S. territory of Guam in signing a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, dated Tuesday, asking that approval of Zohydro be reconsidered or that the drug be reformulated with chemical deterrents to abuse.

This year had its remarkable share of senseless diets, bizarre research and odd inventions. Here's what you might've missed.

By a lopsided vote of 13 to 1, an independent committee of medical experts voted on Thursday to recommend approval of a new type of diabetes drug from Bristol-Myers Squibb that U.S. regulators rejected two years ago due to safety concerns. The advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the benefits of the medicine, called dapaglifozin, appear to outweigh its risks. Bristol-Myers is developing the drug, which is already approved in Europe, in partnership with AstraZeneca Plc. The FDA typically follows the advice of its advisory panels, but is under no obligation to do so. The FDA rejected the medicine in January 2012 after a previous medical advisory panel said clinical data did not provide enough certainty about its cancer and heart risks.

Far too often I hear of people going overboard with their cheat meal — which turn into day-long bingers. Stop the madness and take control of your life and do what will make you happy. Think long term satisfaction rather than immediate or short-term satisfaction.

I try, not always successfully, to live in integrity with the truth of my experience not because I want to be a good person, but because it's the best thing that I can do for myself. It's the most direct path to my own heart and to the hearts of others.