Month: February 2014

By Jared Ferrie YANGON (Reuters) – The United States on Friday urged Myanmar to allow humanitarian agencies “unfettered access” in Rakhine state, following reports the government had ordered medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) to stop working there. The Nobel Prize-winning charity has been giving health care to both ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, a mostly stateless minority who live in apartheid-like conditions and who otherwise have little access to healthcare. “Free, regular and open access is essential to ensure the benefits of humanitarian activities are delivered appropriately to all people of Rakhine State,” a U.S. embassy official told Reuters. Government spokesman Ye Htut told media that MSF had been ordered to cease operations.

Soccer player found to have had CTE, a first for the sport.

LEVERKUSEN, Germany (Reuters) – German drugmaker Bayer expects Xarelto and Eylea, among its most promising drugs, to be near their peak sales potential in about 5 to 6 years, Chief Executive Marijn Dekkers told a news conference on Friday. He added that Bayer’s Adempas and Xofigo drugs would likely reach peak sales somewhat later. Earlier on Friday, Bayer lifted its estimate of the peak sales potential of its five most important drugs to at least 7.5 billion euros ($1.03 billion), up from more than 5.5 billion euros previously. (Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Christoph Steitz)

Some 9 million poor women and young children who receive federal food assistance under the U.S. government's so-called WIC program will have greater access to fruits, vegetables and whole grains under an overhaul of the program unveiled on Friday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture hailed the revamping of its Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children as the first comprehensive revisions to WIC food voucher allowances since 1980. The list of foods that recipients could pay for with WIC vouchers was long limited to such basics as milk, infant formula, cheese, eggs, cereals, bread and tuna fish. In its final form, the overhaul will boost by 30 percent, or $2 per month, the allowance for each child's fruit and vegetable purchases, and permit fresh produce in lieu of jarred infant food for babies, if their parents prefer.

Children, the elderly and pregnant women have been urged to leave a small Australian town because of health concerns from a fire that has been burning at a nearby coal mine for almost three weeks. Particulate pollution, which can damage the lungs and respiratory system, has been measured at more than 10 times the recommended daily threshold in the area around the fire near South Morwell, about 150 km (95 miles) east of the Victoria state capital of Melbourne. The fire at the nearby Hazelwood coal mine, co-owned by GDF SUEZ Australian Energy and Mitsui & Co Ltd, has been burning since February 9. State officials said on Friday that the elderly, young, pregnant women and those with respiratory problems should consider leaving the area because of the threat posed by smoke and ash.

By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama's ban on discriminatory health insurance practices against the sick has not stopped insurers from increasing up-front charges for the expensive drugs needed to control chronic illnesses from leukemia to multiple sclerosis. Actuarial studies of plans sold through health insurance marketplaces in some states found that many make consumers responsible for as much as 50 percent of the price of specialty drugs, which can cost $8,000 or more a month. Long before the U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, became law in 2010, insurers began replacing fixed-dollar co-payments for the drugs with co-insurance rates that require consumers to pay a percentage of the cost of specialty medicines. Therefore, any discussion of prescription drug coverage must also include a focus on the direct link between rising prescription drug prices and consumer cost sharing," said Clare Krusing, spokeswoman for America's Health Insurance Plans, a trade and lobbying group.