HEALTH (MSM)
By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. prices for the world’s 20 top-selling medicines are, on average, three times higher than in Britain, according to an analysis carried out for Reuters. The finding underscores a transatlantic gulf between the price of treatments for a range of diseases and follows demands for lower drug costs in America from industry critics such as Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The 20 medicines, which
By Ed Stoddard JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – A South African court on Monday began two weeks of hearings to determine if gold miners suffering from debilitating lung diseases they say they contracted at work can proceed with a class action lawsuit against the industry. The stakes are high with miners seeking damages that could amount to billions of rand at a time when South Africa’s gold industry is in a state
NEW YORK (AP) — Amid the bloodbaths of 21st-century America, you might think that there would be a lot of research into the causes of gun violence, and which policies work best against it.
Swiss drugmaker Novartis will invest up to an extra $15 million in Gamida Cell, an Israeli developer of stem cell therapies, Gamida said on Sunday. Novartis last year invested $35 million in the company for a 15 percent stake, in a deal that could reach $600 million if Novartis exercises a buyout option that expires in 2016. The $15 million investment will be used to advance Gamida Cell’s clinical programs,
At a Florida retirement home for former circus elephants, residents enjoy a steady diet of high-quality hay and local fruits and vegetables, as well as baths and occasional walks. For these majestic beasts, this life of relative leisure at the 200-acre Center for Elephant Conservation comes after years on the road, entertaining America in “The Greatest Show on Earth” for Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus. In March, the circus
By Lisa Baertlein LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – California Governor Jerry Brown on Saturday signed a bill that sets the strictest government standards in the United States for the use of antibiotics in livestock production. The move from California, known for its leadership on public health and environmental issues, comes amid growing concern that the overuse of such drugs is contributing to rising numbers of life-threatening human infections from antibiotic-resistant bacteria
The U.S. Department of Defense will seek to make “condolence payments” to families of victims of a U.S. air strike that mistakenly hit a Medecins Sans Frontieres hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, killing 22 people, the Pentagon said on Saturday. “The Department of Defense believes it is important to address the consequences of the tragic incident at the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan,” spokesman Peter Cook said in a
(Corrects Oct. 9 story to say 1mg gets up to 60 mln hits a year on website, not a month, after company clarified) By Aditya Kalra and Zeba Siddiqui NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) – As many as 850,000 small chemist shops in India will shut for a day next week to protest against a burgeoning online pharmacy industry that is attracting big money backers. Healthcare provider Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd plans
With more than 1.3 billion residents, China enjoys a reputation as the world’s most populous nation. There are currently 300 million smokers in China, and an astounding 1 million people die every year from the effects of cancer. When I lived in Guangzhou, about an hour north of Hong Kong, in the mid 1990s, a friend purchased four cartons of Marlboro cigarettes as a present for her father at Chinese
By Aditya Kalra NEW DELHI (Reuters) – New HIV infections in India could rise for the first time in more than a decade because states are mismanaging a prevention program by delaying payments to health workers, the United Nations envoy for AIDS in Asia and the Pacific said. India’s efforts to fight HIV have for years centered around community-based programs run for people at high risk of contracting the virus,
