HEALTH (ALT)

KWN HEALTH

HEALTH (MSM)

Emails: UN health agency resisted declaring Ebola emergency

GENEVA (AP) — In a delay that some say may have cost lives, the World Health Organization resisted calling the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a public health emergency until last summer, two months after staff raised the possibility and long after a senior manager called for a drastic change in strategy, The Associated Press has learned.

Biogen's Alzheimer's drug slows mental decline in early study

An experimental drug from Biogen Idec Inc became the first Alzheimer’s treatment to significantly slow cognitive decline and reduce what is believed to be brain-destroying plaque in patients with early and mild forms of the disease, according to a small study likely to reignite hopes of a treatment. There was an even greater reduction in plaque for patients at the 3 mg and 10 mg doses when they were tested

Lebanon seizes half a ton of radioactive sanitary towels

More than 550 kilograms of sanitary towels containing a radioactive substance were confiscated at Beirut international airport, officials said on Friday. The Ministry of Finance said in statement that 30 cartons of confiscated pads will be sent to the Lebanese Atomic Energy Agency for checks before being returned to the exporter. Customs officials, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not allowed to talk to the media, said that

Campaign hopes for Tasmanian tobacco-free generation law

Campaigners for a proposed law to ban tobacco sales to anyone born after 2000 said Thursday they were hopeful the bill will be adopted by an Australian state’s parliament next week. Under the bill, the island of Tasmania would lift the age at which people can legally buy cigarettes — currently 18 — a year at a time to achieve a “tobacco-free generation”. “Tuesday is the vote in the legislative

Exclusive: Despite Hillary Clinton promise, charity did not disclose donors

By Jonathan Allen NEW YORK (Reuters) – In 2008, Hillary Clinton promised Barack Obama, the president-elect, there would be no mystery about who was giving money to her family’s globe-circling charities. She made a pledge to publish all the donors on an annual basis to ease concerns that as secretary of state she could be vulnerable to accusations of foreign influence. At the outset, the Clinton Foundation did indeed publish

FDA panel backs Glaxo asthma drug for adults, not adolescents

(Reuters) – GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s drug to treat chronic breathing problems is safe and effective enough to be approved in adults with asthma, but not adolescents, an advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded on Thursday. The panel voted 16-4 that the product, Breo Ellipta, should be approved for once daily treatment of asthma in adults 18 years and older. The FDA is not obliged to follow the

Sixth Oregon college student stricken by meningococcal disease

By Shelby Sebens PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) – A sixth University of Oregon student has contracted the potentially deadly meningococcal disease amid an outbreak that erupted in January, and more cases could emerge, public health officials said on Thursday. Health officials said a 20-year-old college sophomore who lives off campus has been confirmed as having contracted meningococcemia, a bacterial precursor to meningitis that can also lead to damaging blood infections. The