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Enroll America sets private outreach for Obamacare sign-up
By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Enroll America, a nonprofit group at the center of the political fight over President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law, launched a multi-state grassroots campaign on Tuesday to help sign up millions of uninsured Americans for health coverage in the coming months. The group, which has strong ties to the Obama administration and the healthcare industry, announced plans for more than 50 events in 18 states, including California, Florida and Texas, as part of its "Get Covered America" campaign. ...
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FDA probes deaths of two patients on Lilly schizophrenia drug
By Ransdell Pierson (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is investigating the cases of two individuals who died after injections with Eli Lilly and Co.'s long-acting treatment for schizophrenia, Zyprexa Relprevv. Both patients died three to four days after receiving "an appropriate dose" of the medicine, and both had very high levels of the drug in their bloodstreams, the FDA said in a bulletin released on its website on Tuesday. ...
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Lullaby Medicine for Premature Babies
Something as old as mankind itself is helping keep pre-term babies alive — the lullaby. Research shows that music has become an important new ally for babies who are born too soon and struggle to breathe and eat. The neonatal intensive care unit in a hospital is filled with technology that helps keep the hospital's tiniest, most fragile patients alive. At New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell – and others across the country – the relentless beeping of monitors fades when music takes over. The effect on preemies isn't just dramatic; it's physical.
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Ohio residents accused of holding disabled woman in slavery
 By Kim Palmer CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Three Ohio residents are accused of holding an intellectually disabled woman and her daughter against their will and forcing the woman to perform physical labor for them, threatening her with snakes if she didn't comply, authorities said on Tuesday. The trio, Jordie Callahan, Jessica Hunt and Daniel Brown, conspired to beat the woman and her child and forced them to sleep in a padlocked room with a large iguana, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. ...
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Naked gymnast faces charges over San Francisco transit stop antics
By Laila Kearney SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A trained gymnast whose naked acrobatics and harassment of passengers at a San Francisco public transit station were captured on video and circulated widely on the Internet is facing criminal charges over his antics, authorities said on Tuesday. Yeiner Alberto Perez Garizabalo, 24, was caught on video doing handstands and contortions on turnstiles and front flips off a concrete newsstand - all in the nude - at a Bay Area Rapid Transit District station on May 10. ...
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Past care tied to later treatment's success
By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - If a person doesn't have much success with one pain treatment, they may say the next one they try doesn't work so great either, suggests a new study from Germany. Previous studies have found that people receiving a dummy pill in clinical trials don't fare as well once they're switched to the real drug, compared to those who have been getting the real treatment all along, according to Dr. Ulrike Bingel, the study's lead author from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. ...
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New Hampshire nears approval of medical marijuana law
By Jason McLure LITTLETON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - New Hampshire is set to become the final state in New England to allow medical marijuana after negotiators from the Republican-controlled Senate and Democratic-controlled House agreed Tuesday on a bill backed by Governor Maggie Hassan. The law would allow up to four marijuana dispensaries to open as soon as 2015. Patients with cancer, HIV, glaucoma and other diseases would be eligible to purchase the drug with state-issued identity cards from a physician or nurse practitioner certifying that they need it to soothe pain. ...
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U.S. court finds Novo Nordisk Prandin diabetes drug patent invalid
(Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court found the patent on Novo Nordisk's Prandin diabetes drug in combination with metformin to be invalid, paving the way for introduction of a generic version of the medicine, the Danish drugmaker said on Tuesday. In a 2-1 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court ruling handed down in 2011, the company said. Novo said it still believes the patent to be valid and was reviewing the ruling. ...
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Obamacare-like groups tied to lower costs: study
By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Large independent doctor practices that focus on primary care tend to spend less money and are more likely to meet guidelines for Americans on Medicare than smaller groups, according to a new study. The findings suggest that the so-called Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) created by the 2010 Affordable Care Act may improve the quality of care while lowering spending, said the study's lead author. "I think our analysis is sort of searching for pockets of excellence and seeing whether those pockets of excellence echo the ACOs. ...
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MRI may help find infection from tainted injection
By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Some people who received potentially contaminated steroid injections may benefit from a MRI to check for signs of infection, a new study suggests - even if they don't have obvious symptoms. Researchers screened 172 people who had been injected with methylprednisolone from a New England Compounding Center (NECC) lot tied to meningitis and fungal infections, and found abnormal test results for 36 of them. That included 13 people who had no new or worsening symptoms, such as pain and weakness near the injection site. ...
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Nonprofit launches campaign to reach uninsured
CHICAGO (AP) — A nonprofit group helping to spread the word about President Barack Obama's health care overhaul launched a campaign Tuesday that will target states with high numbers of uninsured Americans and tackle their skepticism with straightforward messages.
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Magazine's Suicide-Themed Fashion Spread Causes Uproar
Some suicide prevention experts and feminists condemned images of famous literary suicides as tasteless and commercial; but some say photos were only art and Americans view death as a "taboo."
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Suicide-Themed Fashion Spread Causes Uproar
Some suicide prevention experts and feminists condemned images of famous literary suicides as tasteless and commercial; but some say photos were only art and Americans view death as a "taboo."
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Russia evacuates thousands after blasts at army munitions store
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Some 6,000 people were evacuated in Russia's southwestern Samara region on Tuesday after ammunition explosions shook a military training area, the Emergencies Ministry said. The ministry said five explosions initially took place at the site on Tuesday evening, triggering a fire that was still causing blasts hours later. Footage aired on Russia's state television showed plumes of dark smoke rising from the site, where the ministry said some 11 million pieces of ammunition was stored. ...
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Vice Axes Suicide Fashion Spread in Uproar
Some suicide prevention experts and feminists condemned images of famous literary suicides as tasteless and commercial; but some say photos were only art and Americans view death as a "taboo."
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Industry-backed studies more prominent at meetings
By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Studies that are funded by pharmaceutical companies or involve industry-backed scientists tend to be more prominent at cancer meetings than independent studies, a new report suggests. "Figuring out the reasons behind these findings is critical," said Dr. Beverly Moy, who led the analysis at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center in Boston. She and her colleagues also found the proportion of presentations with a financial conflict of interest increased between the 2006 and 2011 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meetings. ...
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Medicare: Cost-saving changes coming for diabetics
 WASHINGTON (AP) — Medicare begins a major change next month that could save older diabetics money and time when they buy crucial supplies to test their blood sugar — but it also may cause some confusion as patients figure out the new system.
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Exclusive: Japan's Astellas looks to sell dermatology assets - sources
 By Jessica Toonkel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Japanese drugmaker Astellas Pharma Inc is looking to sell its dermatology portfolio, which could be worth between $500 million and $1 billion, according to three people familiar with the situation. Astellas has hired London-based investment banking boutique DC Advisory to sell the assets, according to two of the people, who wished to remain anonymous because they are not permitted to speak to the press. The company's dermatology portfolio, which includes a drug to treat eczema called Protopic, sells products around the world. ...
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AstraZeneca turnaround is 3-4 year journey, says CEO
 By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - Turning around drugmaker AstraZeneca will be a long haul, with a strategy of revamping research and boosting acquisitions set to take up to four years to pay off, its chief executive said on Tuesday. Speaking as the group unveiled the location for a new global headquarters and research center in Cambridge, England, Pascal Soriot said he was not expecting any short-term fixes for the group, which is struggling from falling sales as patents expire. ...
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Maine Democrats scramble after governor blocks Medicaid expansion
By Dave Sherwood BOWDOINHAM, Maine (Reuters) - Democratic legislators in Maine scrambled on Tuesday to muster the votes needed to override Republican Governor Paul LePage's late-night veto of a bill to expand Medicaid coverage to an additional 60,000 people. LePage late on Monday blocked a compromise bill that would have increased the number of low-income people eligible for the federal insurance program, an expansion allowed by the U.S. healthcare reform that stands as the signature domestic legislative achievement of President Barack Obama's first term. ...
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