Month: May 2014

By Laila Kearney NEW YORK (Reuters) – Nearly two dozen Dominican Republican citizens were charged in an extortion scheme targeting U.S. residents who they believed had unlawfully purchased prescription medication via call centers in that Caribbean nation, U.S. officials said on Wednesday. The defendants generated roughly $880,000 in profits by posing as agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency who imposed fines on the drug purchasers, DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart and U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said. “These alleged criminals not only bilked thousands of dollars from unsuspecting Americans but they also called into question the integrity and honor of the DEA and all law enforcement,” Leonhart said.  Those charged with the extortion plan are accused of obtaining lists of people in the U.S. who had purchased medication through call centers and websites run out of the Dominican Republic.

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) – A group of 53 leading scientists has warned the World Health Organisation not to classify e-cigarettes as tobacco products, arguing that doing so would jeopardize a major opportunity to slash disease and deaths caused by smoking. In an open letter to WHO Director General Margaret Chan, the scientists from Europe, North America, Asia and Australia argued that low-risk products like e-cigarettes were "part of the solution" in the fight against smoking, not part of the problem. The urge to control and suppress them as tobacco products should be resisted," the experts wrote. Leaked documents from a meeting last November suggest the WHO views e-cigarettes as a "threat" and wants them classified the same way as regular tobacco products under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

By Euan Rocha TORONTO (Reuters) – The Bank of Nova Scotia said on Wednesday it plans to sell the majority of its 37 percent stake in asset manager CI Financial via a secondary offering that could raise as much as C$2.62 billion ($2.4 billion). The offering, one of the largest in Canadian history, will see Scotiabank sell at least 72 million CI shares for a set price at C$31.60 a share, raising roughly C$2.28 billion. The syndicate of underwriters, led by Scotia Capital, RBC Capital Markets and GMP Securities LP also have an option to buy a further 10.8 million shares to cover over-allotments, meaning the offering could raise over C$2.6 billion for Scotiabank. Earlier this month Scotiabank, CI’s largest shareholder, said it planned to explore options to divest itself of some or all of its stake in CI and redeploy the capital.

While yacon syrup seems to produce weight loss results, any fad diet or … produced beneficial health results in the test group including weight loss, …

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) — German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim said Wednesday it has agreed to pay $650 million to settle thousands of U.S. claims questioning the marketing and safety of its popular blood thinner Pradaxa.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An outbreak of antibiotic-resistant salmonella linked to a California chicken producer continues to sicken people more than a year after it started.

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Obesity is imposing an increasingly heavy burden on the world's population in rich and poor nations alike, with almost 30 percent of people globally now either obese or overweight – a staggering 2.1 billion in all, researchers said on Wednesday. The biggest obesity rises among women came in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Honduras and Bahrain. Among men, it was in New Zealand, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO Calif. (Reuters) – California lawmakers urged swift action on Wednesday to better train law enforcement officials to recognize and deal with mental illness after last week's bloody rampage in an idyllic college town near Santa Barbara. The killing spree by the son of a Hollywood film director has raised questions about whether police have adequate training to spot warning signs of violence after it emerged that deputies sent to the young man's home weeks prior to the rampage found him to be polite and left without taking further action. California Democrats hoping to improve the ability of police to spot warning signs renewed a call on Wednesday to spend $12 million on better training for police on such issues as part of a broader measure seeking increased funding for mental health services in California's criminal justice system.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An outbreak of antibiotic-resistant salmonella linked to a California chicken producer continues to sicken people more than a year after it started.