Month: July 2014

By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday faulted a "dangerous pattern" of safety lapses at government laboratories handling deadly pathogens such as anthrax and avian flu, calling for an overhaul of controls at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Members of a House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee cited new information on breaches previously unreported by CDC, which is under scrutiny for the potential exposure of more than 80 lab workers to live anthrax bacteria in June. The criticism, equally shared by Democratic and Republican lawmakers, was directed at CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden at a hearing. The incidents at the CDC's Atlanta campus have sparked fresh concerns over the lack of independent oversight of potentially dangerous research nationwide, even as the number of labs doing such work has surged in recent years.

By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs needs $17.6 billion in additional funding over the next three years to eliminate long waiting times for veterans’ healthcare appointments, the embattled agency’s acting chief said on Wednesday. Acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson told senators that without additional resources to buy private care and increase internal capacity, “the wait times just get longer” as more veterans return from wars, get older and turn to VA for healthcare.

The chief of the US government's top public health agency on Wednesday admitted to a pattern of safety errors after dangerous mixups in the handling of influenza and anthrax. "I think we missed a critical pattern," said Tom Frieden, who leads the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during two hours of questioning from the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Last week, the CDC admitted to five incidents over the past decade — two of them in recent months — in which workers shipped anthrax, flu, botulism and a bacteria known as brucella to other labs without following proper de-activation and safety procedures. No one was believed to have been hurt by the mishaps, but they exposed a major lapse of protocol within the CDC, which is viewed globally as a leading scientific and health agency.

Scientists have long known that compounds derived from marijuana have some cancer fighting properties, but a recent discovery demonstrates how exactly one compound may fight tumors. Published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the research reveals two previously unknown "signaling platforms" in cells that allow THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis known for producing the "high" sensation, to shrink some cancerous tumors. “THC, the major active component of marijuana, has anti-cancer properties," Dr. Peter McCormick, a researcher from University of East Anglia in England and co-author of the study, said in a statement.

Hally Yust’s family doesn’t want others to fear the water.

(Reuters) – Apple Inc has agreed to pay $450 million to resolve U.S. state and consumer claims the iPad manufacturer conspired with five major publishers to fix e-book prices, according to court records filed Wednesday. A ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York reversing the liability finding could under the settlement either reduce the amount Apple pays to $70 million, with $50 million for consumers, or eliminate payments altogether.

By Noah Browning GAZA (Reuters) – Asked if a quick ceasefire with Israel might at least be welcome for saving lives, Abu Hashem simply scoffed. The 50-year old father of two strolled in the shade of a street in Gaza city, unfazed by the periodic thud of bombings. “Israel has put us under siege for eight years, and the whole time we never felt we weren’t at war. People here have been left with nothing, so what more do we have to lose now?” Hamas and other militants have spurned an Egyptian truce deal to end nine days of fighting with Israel.

The more Couric dug into the topic — for herself, her family, and her audience — the more she realized that the most essential and scientific truths about the drivers of obesity and disease simply were not reaching the American population.

By Li Hui and Adam Jourdan BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Three former Chinese employees of GlaxoSmithKline PLC GSK.L, which is embroiled in a long-running corruption probe in China, are seeking compensation for illegal dismissal from their jobs, a lawyer representing them told Reuters. The plaintiffs are seeking two months' pay for each year of their employment from Britain's biggest drugmaker for dismissing them between April and May for expenses that were "not compliant with company regulation," Shanghai-based Liu Feng said.