Month: May 2014

By Angela Moon NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks ended higher for the second straight session on Thursday, led by small-cap stocks, while the Nasdaq climbed on a rally in biotech shares. The surge in biotech stocks extended the recent trend of volatile trading. Small-caps and the so-called momentum names in the Internet and biotech spaces have recently echoed the broader market's direction, but moved in an outsized fashion, often without specific news. Among momentum names, noted for high growth and perceptions of excessive valuation, Vertex Pharmaceuticals shares shot up 6 percent to $71. …

By Daniel Gaitan NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – May is National Stroke Awareness Month, and experts are using the time to teach Americans about the risk factors and warning signs. “The public is dangerously uninformed about what stroke is, and what the signs and symptoms of stroke are, as well as the risk factors,” Jim Baranski, C.E.O. of the National Stroke Association, told Reuters Health. The National Stroke Association suggests using the word FAST to help recognize the signs of a stroke. The American Stroke Association says that during a stroke, “Time lost is brain lost.” An estimated two million brain cells die every minute during a stroke, increasing risk of permanent brain damage, disability and death.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Two California counties have filed a lawsuit accusing five drug companies of waging a campaign of deception to boost the sales of painkillers behind the nation’s prescription drug addiction problem.

Johnson & Johnson said on Thursday it would file for approvals of more than 30 major products by the end of 2016 as it looks to restore growth to a medical device division that has been overshadowed by its drugs business. The diversified healthcare company said it was positioned for growth through new products and would place significant focus on fast-growing emerging markets, particularly China and Russia. "We are capitalizing on our established footprint to grow and expand our overall business (in China)," Chief Financial Officer Dominic Caruso said during a device business review for analysts and investors at its New Jersey headquarters. J&J said it signed an exclusive agreement with Nova Biomedical Corp to sell blood glucose testing systems to hospitals in China, which account for about 60 percent of diabetes care in the country.

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City is using a novel way to uncover cases of food poisoning — reading Yelp restaurant reviews.

It took some time to realize that even though my title and pay were the highest they had ever been, this situation was not sustainable. I was spending more time in my car than with my daughter every day, and I found that unnerving.

Today is bittersweet for the family of comatose Melissa Carleton.

I think in turning 40, perhaps it is forcing me to take a step back. Not to look at 40 years that have passed, but rather 14,600 days that have passed — 14,600 days to make myself either a better person, a worse person or a person that can make a difference in someone else's life.

A few years ago, I made a documentary on CNBC that focused on tobacco. The basic premise was to look at how was a business could be growing and making billions of dollars in profits while most people on the planet wanted to get rid of it. We learned a lot in the year we spent on the topic. One thing we knew going in was just how many decades went by without any substantive questioning of the potential hazards of smoking. But even as a third of the country puffed away their youth and vitality, the companies themselves knew

Here's what I know: This addiction sure feels a lot less shameful and dangerous than my coke addiction did. But also my already short attention span is growing ever shorter as a result of my behavior and true serenity comes from being in the moment and not from checking out.