Month: March 2014

A Canadian man who returned from Liberia with what health experts feared was the Ebola virus tested negative for it early this morning, according to the World Health Organization. Health officials have not yet confirmed made the man ill, but his travel history, symptoms and…

By Ros Krasny WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. food prices are expected to rise more rapidly this year after a very tame 2013, led by gains in beef, poultry and egg prices, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday. The food price inflation outlook assumes normal weather, the USDA said, adding that the California drought poses a risk of bigger increases in many food categories, and that high supermarket prices for beef are “here to stay.” Various measures, including overall food, food-at-home and food-away-from-home prices, are expected to rise by 2.5 to 3.5 percent in 2014. The consumer price index for all food prices rose by 1.4 percent in 2013. The ongoing drought in California could have “large and lasting effects on fruit, vegetable, dairy and egg prices” although that impact has not been seen so far, USDA said.

A new study suggests that current body mass index (BMI) recommendations may be unsuitable for older adults. Caryl Nowson, a professor of nutrition and aging at Deakin University, led a research team that examined the relationship between BMI and risk of death in people 65 and older. The findings indicated the lowest risk was among those with a BMI of about 27.5, which is considered overweight by the World Health Organization. "It is time to reassess the healthy weight guidelines for older people," Professor Nowson said.

By Toni Clarke WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A drug to treat acute heart failure made by Novartis AG should not be approved because there is insufficient evidence to show it improves symptoms, according to an initial review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The review, posted on the FDA's website on Tuesday, comes two days ahead of a meeting of outside advisors who will make their own recommendation on whether the drug should be approved. The FDA is not obliged to follow the advice of its advisory panels but typically does so. Acute heart failure is a medical emergency in which patients become short of breath as the heart struggles to pump blood and fluid around the body.

Diversified healthcare and chemicals group Merck KGaA said the head of its Consumer Health unit, Udit Batra, would become chief executive of its much larger laboratory and biotech equipment unit Merck Millipore. Batra will succeed Robert Yates, who has decided to leave the German company to take on a new job outside of Merck, it said on Tuesday. Uta Kemmerich-Keil, who currently heads Merck’s allergy treatment unit Allergopharma, will succeed Batra to lead the Consumer Health unit, which makes non-prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and which owns the seven seas brand.

LONDON (AP) — Air pollution kills about 7 million people worldwide every year, with more than half of the fatalities due to fumes from indoor stoves, according to a new report from the World Health Organization published Tuesday.

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Before the car-wreck victim reached the emergency room, doctors, residents and nurses at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center knew what to expect by glancing at their smartphones.