Month: February 2015

By Ian Simpson WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Possessing and growing small amounts of marijuana in the District of Columbia are set to become legal early on Thursday but top Republican congressmen have warned the city the new standards are unlawful. Voters in the U.S. capital last year overwhelmingly approved Initiative 71, which lets the heavily Democratic city join Washington state, Alaska and Colorado in making marijuana legal for recreational use. We strongly suggest you reconsider your position," committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Mark Meadows of North Carolina, head of a committee subpanel, said in a letter to Bowser late on Tuesday. They said that legalization was barred by language in a December spending bill that prohibited the District of Columbia from spending any funds to make pot legal or lessen penalties.

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By Andrew M. Seaman (Reuters Health) – Preventing the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in one person living in the U.S. saves more than $250,000 over their remaining lifetime, according to a new analysis. Based on estimates of lifespan and medical costs from age 35 onward, researchers found that avoiding infection with the virus that causes AIDS saves from $229,800 to $338,400, depending on the amount of care a person receives. Bruce Shackman, who led the study, said the savings may be even greater once non-medical costs are taken into account, including a person’s reduced productivity due to the infection. “There are a lot of cost savings by avoiding HIV infections that weren’t included,” said Shackman, who is a professor of psychiatry and public health at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.

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Angela Merkel’s conservative allies in Bavaria agreed to support an extension of the Greek bailout in a parliamentary vote expected on Friday, but kept up their tough rhetoric in insisting on precise details from Athens on planned reforms. Germany’s Merkel is rallying lawmakers to approve the extension, despite Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble’s avowed doubts about the credibility of Athens’ latest reform plans, and her right-left coalition has a big enough majority to easily win the vote on extending the rescue for four months. The Christian Social Union (CSU), sister party to Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), have consistently taken a tougher stance than the chancellor on Greece and include several high profile critics. These include a clear timetable and details of reforms, and specify that the Greek government can only offer new welfare measures with the support of its international creditors.
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By Adriana Selwyn and Derek YachThe low-carbohydrate diet phenomenon is the latest in a long line of diets claiming to be the solution to rapidly rising rates of lifestyle-related chronic diseases. It comes as no surprise then that on Feb. 19-22, the world’s first International Low Carb High Fat Health Summit will take place in Cape Town, South…
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By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a North Carolina state dental board does not have the authority to regulate teeth-whitening services, accepting the federal government’s claim that the system is anticompetitive because dentists sit on the panel. The court, on a 6-3 vote, ruled for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which had decided that the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners could be subject to antitrust claims. The justices, in an opinion by Justice Anthony Kennedy, agreed with the government’s claim that although state entities are usually exempt from federal antitrust laws, the exemption did not apply because the board was not actively supervised by the state and that it was made up of self-interested private businesses. Kennedy wrote that the exemption “does not authorize the states to abandon markets to the unsupervised control of active market participants.” The FTC filed an administrative complaint against the board in 2010, claiming it violated a section of the Federal Trade Commission Act that prohibits unfair methods of competition and deceptive acts and practices in commerce.
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By Jessica Dye NEW YORK (Reuters) – Three major U.S. tobacco companies including R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co, Lorillard Inc and Altria Group’s Philip Morris USA will pay $100 million to settle hundreds of federal lawsuits over smoking, according to an announcement from plaintiffs’ lawyers on Wednesday. The agreement will cover more than 400 lawsuits filed in federal court in Florida by smokers or their families, according to the announcement. Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds will each pay $42.5 million, and Lorillard will pay $15 million, according to a lead lawyer for plaintiffs, Joe Rice of law firm Motley Rice.

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The World Health Organization on called on European nations Wednesday to step up vaccinations against the highly contagious measles virus after an outbreak of over 22,000 cases across the continent since 2014. "We must collectively respond, without further delay, to close immunisation gaps,” said Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO's Europe director. According to the UN health agency, 22,149 cases of measles have been reported in seven countries across the region since the start of 2014, with Kyrgyzstan, Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Russia hit hardest. The resurgence of the preventable disease in some European countries, as well as parts of the United States, coincides with a movement among some parents to refuse to vaccinate their children.

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