2 dates identified in Vegas hepatitis C outbreak
LAS VEGAS, 8:28 a.m. July 24 (AP)
A hepatitis C outbreak that prompted the largest public health notification operation in U.S. history has been traced to patients treated at a Las Vegas endoscopy clinic on two days in 2007, health officials said Thursday.
“What we have right now is those two dates,” Brian Labus, senior Southern Nevada Health District epidemiologist, said after DNA tests traced the spread of the incurable virus to people treated July 25, 2007, and Sept. 21, 2007, at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada.
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WASHINGTON, 11:00 a.m. July 24 (AP)
Officials: Search for HIV vaccine needs overhaul: Scientists will have to take “enormous intellectual leaps” to develop an AIDS vaccine in the coming years, say researchers clearly frustrated by the failure of a once-promising shot.
NEW YORK, 10:09 a.m. July 24 (REUTERS)
Bristol, Lilly earnings strong as challenges loom: Bristol-Myers Squibb Co and Eli Lilly and Coposted stronger profit Thursday, but the drugmakers also revealed new strategies that reflect the tough challenges facing the pharmaceutical sector.
ATLANTA, 9:00 a.m. July 24 (AP)
U.S. fentanyl deaths topped 1,000 over 2 years: More than 1,000 people died over two years from an illegal version of the painkiller fentanyl, the government reported Thursday in its first national tally of those deaths.
PITTSBURGH, 3:32 p.m. July 23 (AP)
Pittsburgh cancer center warns of cell phone risks: The head of a prominent cancer research institute issued an unprecedented warning to his faculty and staff Wednesday: Limit cell phone use because of the possible risk of cancer.
WASHINGTON, 10:17 a.m. July 23 (REUTERS)
U.S. vaccination plan puts health care workers first: Essential health care workers would be immunized first if a flu pandemic broke out in the United States, the government said Wednesday.
NEW YORK, 10:58 a.m. July 23 (AP)
Gates, Bloomberg pool riches to fight smoking: Microsoft founder Bill Gates and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg are pooling their piles of money to pour $375 million into a global effort to cut smoking.
DALLAS, 10:28 a.m. July 23 (AP)
Only 2 Texas high schoolers positive for steroids: The nation's largest steroids testing program caught only two Texas high school athletes taking unauthorized substances out of more than 10,000 students who were tested, according to results issued by the state Wednesday.
6:00 a.m. July 23 (REUTERS)
Dating violence can affect teenagers too: Dating violence can affect teenagers too
WASHINGTON, 1:09 p.m. July 22 (REUTERS)
Parasitic worms may help fuel AIDS epidemic , study says: People infected with parasitic worms may be much more susceptible to the AIDS virus, according to a study published Tuesday that may help explain why HIV has hit sub-Saharan Africa particularly hard.
LUBBOCK, Texas, 2:42 p.m. July 22 (AP)
EPA postpones decision on ethanol requirements: The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday put off a decision on Texas' request to temporarily lower ethanol requirements for gasoline, a change Gov. Rick Perry says is needed to rein in corn prices.
WASHINGTON, 2:34 p.m. July 21 (AP)
Health officials tout computer prescribing: Those hard-to-read scribbled prescriptions from doctors could soon become a rarity. Beginning Jan. 1, the federal government will boost Medicare's payments to doctors that send prescriptions electronically to a pharmacy rather than writing them out on paper and handing them to the patient.
TRENTON, N.J., 1:48 p.m. July 21 (AP)
Schering-Plough, Merck's Vytorin misses study goal: In the latest disappointment for cholesterol pill Vytorin, a major European study in patients with heart valve disease found the drug didn't prevent worsening of the disease or lower the need for valve surgery, sending its makers' stock plunging.
WASHINGTON, 1:53 p.m. July 21 (AP)
FDA finds salmonella strain in jalapeno pepper: Government inspectors finally have a big clue in the nationwide salmonella outbreak: They found the same bacteria on a single Mexican-grown jalapeno pepper handled by a small Texas produce shipper.
NEW YORK, 5:00 a.m. July 21 (REUTERS)
U.S. health insurers seek rebound after brutal 1st half: U.S. health insurers will need to show some signs of stability when they report second-quarter earnings, beginning on Tuesday, if they are to lure back investors to their beaten-down stocks.
SINGAPORE, 8:23 a.m. July 21 (AP)
Singapore will consider donor payments: Singapore will study the possibility of paying some kidney donors to help meet demand for kidney transplants, the city-state's health minister said Monday.
WASHINGTON, 11:14 a.m. July 18 (AP)
Tomato scare ending: The tomato scare may be over, but it has taken a toll – it's cost the industry an estimated $100 million and left millions of people with a new wariness about the safety of everyday foods.
10:00 p.m. July 20 (REUTERS)
Gene test for lung cancer aggressiveness sought: WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. and Canadian researchers have taken steps toward developing a gene test to determine whether a patient's lung cancer is especially aggressive, or whether radical treatment can be avoided.
6:00 a.m. July 21 (REUTERS)
Children treated abroad as U.S. doctors push for devices: CHICAGO (Reuters) – Every year, Chicago-based cardiologist Ziyad Hijazi accompanies two or three children and their families to his native Jordan for heart operations using medical devices that are not approved in the United States. In one such case, Hijazi implanted a device to close a hole between the lower chambers of the heart in a child from Massachusetts.
July 16 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Children growing less active, study finds: The time that children spend biking, running or doing other exercise drops sharply between ages 9 and 15, putting them in danger of becoming obese and developing chronic health problems, according to a major national study led by UCSD.
NEW YORK, 1:51 p.m. July 17 (AP)
Bill Clinton aims to stabilize malaria drug prices: Former President Clinton's foundation has signed pricing agreements with several suppliers involved in making a malaria-fighting drug in an effort to stabilize the medication's fluctuating costs and ensure more dependable availability.
WASHINGTON, 9:54 a.m. July 17 (REUTERS)
More Americans obese, U.S. government finds: More than a quarter of all Americans are now obese, the latest U.S. government figures show. The percentage of U.S. adults who are obese grew by nearly 2 percent between 2005 and 2007, from just under 24 percent to 25.6 percent, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday.
WASHINGTON, 2:04 p.m. July 16 (AP)
FDA panel gives mixed review of J&J antibiotic: Government experts narrowly backed a Johnson & Johnson antibiotic as a treatment against pneumonia Wednesday, despite serious concerns about how the company studied the drug.
WASHINGTON, 1:00 p.m. July 16 (AP)
Researchers: Menthol used to attact young smokers: Tobacco companies deliberately changed the menthol levels in cigarettes depending upon who they were marketing them to – lower levels for young smokers who preferred the milder brands and higher levels to “lock in lifelong adult smokers,” researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found.
SAN DIEGO, 5:20 p.m. July 15 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
UCSD study: Kids' physical activity drops off between 9-15: The time children spend biking, running or doing other exercise drops sharply between ages 9 and 15, putting them in danger of becoming obese and developing chronic health problems, according to a major national study led by UCSD.
WASHINGTON, 1:23 p.m. July 15 (AP)
EPA unveils first rules on carbon dioxide storage: The Environmental Protection Agency wants to make sure curbing global warming doesn't contaminate drinking water.
WASHINGTON, 3:36 p.m. July 14 (AP)
EPA experts detail global warming's health risks: Government scientists detailed a rising death toll from heat waves, wildfires, disease and smog caused by global warming in an analysis the White House buried so it could avoid regulating greenhouse gases.
July 15 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Hip joints resurfaced instead of replaced: With more people in their 40s and early 50s being sidelined by severe osteoarthritis, a new technology - hip resurfacing as an alternative to hip replacement - is giving baby boomers a chance to stay active longer.
NEW YORK, 11:58 a.m. July 11 (REUTERS)
Roche to suspend HIV research, seeing no advances: Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche Holding AG will suspend its HIV research because none of its pending medicines represents a significant improvement over existing drugs, a company spokeswoman said on Friday.
NEW YORK, 1:00 p.m. July 14 (AP)
Physical fitness may slow Alzheimer brain atrophy: Getting a lot of exercise may help slow brain shrinkage in people with early Alzheimer's disease, a preliminary study suggests.
WASHINGTON, 11:22 a.m. July 14 (AP)
Doctors hopeful easier blood thinners are nearing: A trio of experimental drugs has doctors hopeful that for the first time in decades, millions of people at risk of lethal blood clots may soon get easier treatment.
WASHINGTON, 9:52 a.m. July 14 (REUTERS)
Diabetes makes people more vulnerable to TB , study says: Diabetes makes a person about three times as likely to develop tuberculosis, and it may be to blame for more than 10 percent of TB cases in India and China, researchers said Monday.
BRUSSELS, 6:00 a.m. July 14 (REUTERS)
Reuters Health News Summary: The European Union's health and consumer chiefs urged holidaymakers on Monday to take extra measures to protect themselves from the sun this summer in a bid to curb rising levels of skin cancer, notably among children. Ultraviolet rays from the sun are the leading cause of skin cancer with one in every three cancers diagnosed as the skin variety, the Skin Cancer Foundation says.
July 10 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Report: $1 billion wasted in California: Californians can save more than $1 billion each year by eliminating unnecessary medical treatments, using less-expensive but equally effective drugs and reducing other kinds of waste from the health care system, said a report released yesterday by the California Public Interest Research Group.
WASHINGTON, 2:00 p.m. July 10 (AP)
FDA panel: No suicide warnings on epilepsy drugs: Drugs used to treat epileptic seizures can raise suicide risks, but not enough to deserve the strongest warning labels available, a government panel of experts said Thursday.
WASHINGTON, 1:29 p.m. July 10 (AP)
More suspects in frustrating salmonella probe: Think of your favorite recipe for salsa. Three common ingredients now are suspects in the salmonella poisonings that have become the nation's largest foodborne outbreak in at least a decade.
ATLANTA, 9:46 a.m. July 10 (AP)
Fewer nonsmokers breathe cigarette fumes, CDC says: Nearly half of nonsmoking Americans are still breathing in cigarette fumes, but the percentage has declined dramatically since the early 1990s, according to a government study released Thursday.
SMITHLAND, Ky., 11:18 a.m. July 10 (AP)
Increasingly popular caviar raises health concerns: The buzz of an outboard motor sends pelicans skyward as Charlie Hopkins' skiff glides along the Ohio River to paddlefish nets placed beneath the murky surface.
WASHINGTON, 11:39 a.m. July 10 (AP)
Bush to veto bill restoring Medicare doctors' pay: President Bush intends to block a bill protecting doctors from a cut in their Medicare pay, even though Congress seemingly has enough votes to override his veto, a White House spokesman indicated on Thursday.
BELTSVILLE, Md., 11:24 a.m. July 10 (REUTERS)
Pfizer argues against epilepsy drug warning: Pfizer Inc said its epilepsy drugs do not increase the risk of suicidal behavior and should be exempt from tougher warnings being sought for similar medications, despite concerns from U.S. health regulators.
WASHINGTON, 11:00 a.m. July 10 (AP)
Genes from Middle East families yield autism clues: Harvard researchers have discovered half a dozen new genes involved in autism that suggest the disorder strikes in a brain that can't properly form new connections.
July 9 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Study finds level of liver protein may tell risk of getting diabetes: Elderly people with high amounts of a certain liver protein have more than twice the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes as people with normal levels do, a UCSD researcher has found.
WASHINGTON, 7:47 p.m. July 9 (REUTERS)
Newest fertility treatment may be a diet – meeting: The newest low-tech fertility treatment may be a diet, researchers said Wednesday after learning that obese men have more abnormal sperm and make less semen.
WASHINGTON, 2:42 p.m. July 9 (AP)
Salmonella toll tops 1,000: More than 1,000 people now are confirmed ill from salmonella initially linked to raw tomatoes, a grim milestone Wednesday that makes this the worst foodborne outbreak in at least a decade. Adding to the confusion, the government is warning certain people to avoid types of hot peppers, too.
WASHINGTON, 6:33 p.m. July 8 (AP)
FTC considers backing off nicotine guidance: The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday that it no longer considers reliable a test for tar and nicotine used for more than 40 years and touted by the tobacco industry in marketing “light” and “low-tar” cigarettes.
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