Germany’s Merck halts supply of cancer drug to Greek hospitals 
November 3rd, 2012
FRANKFURT | Sat Nov 3, 2012 8:10am EDT FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German pharmaceuticals firm Merck KGaA is no longer delivering cancer drug Erbitux to Greek hospitals, a spokesman said on Saturday, the latest sign of how an economic and budget crisis is hurting frontline public services. Drugmakers raised concerns with EU leaders earlier this year over supplies to the euro zone’s crisis-hit southern half and Germany’s Biotest in June was the first to stop shipments to Greece because of unpaid bills. Publicly-owned hospitals in some countries worst hit by the euro zone debt crisis had been struggling to pay their bills, Merck’s chief financial officer, Matthias Zachert, was quoted as saying by German paper Boersen-Zeitung in an interview on Saturday
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U.S. jury awards troops $85 million over Iraq chemical exposure
November 3rd, 2012
By Teresa Carson PORTLAND, Oregon | Fri Nov 2, 2012 8:51pm EDT PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) – An Oregon jury awarded 12 Army National Guardsmen $85 million in damages from defense contractor KBR Inc. on Friday after finding that the company failed to protect them from exposure to cancer-causing chemicals when they served in Iraq
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Meningitis death toll rises to 29 with fatality in Virginia
October 31st, 2012
Tweet Share this Email Print Exserohilum rostratum, a type of fungi, is seen in this handout image from the Centres for Disease Control, October 13, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Centres for Disease Control/Handout Wed Oct 31, 2012 3:18pm EDT (Reuters) – Another patient has died in Virginia after contracting fungal meningitis from potentially tainted steroid injections supplied by a Massachusetts company, the U.S.
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Analysis: Employees to face healthcare sticker shock
October 28th, 2012
By Caroline Humer NEW YORK | Sun Oct 28, 2012 1:46pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) – Visit to New York City orthopedist: $223. One X-ray: $50. One follow-up magnetic resonance imaging test: $766.
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Meningitis outbreak spreads to 18 states with South Carolina case
October 25th, 2012
Tweet Share this Email Print A sample of Cladosporium species, one of the fungi diagnosed in the fungal meningitis outbreak sweeping the United States, in Nashville, Tennessee on October 19, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Harrison McClary Thu Oct 25, 2012 2:34pm EDT (Reuters) – The deadly outbreak of fungal meningitis tied to tainted steroid medications from a Massachusetts company expanded to 18 states on Thursday with South Carolina reporting its first probable case of the disease
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New CEO has work cut out as AstraZeneca sales fall
October 25th, 2012
1 of 2. AstraZeneca Chief Executive Pascal Soriot poses for a photograph in this undated handout photograph released in London October 24, 2012.
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U.S. elderly, middle-aged see higher obesity rates: poll
October 24th, 2012
By Susan Heavey WASHINGTON | Wed Oct 24, 2012 11:30am EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Here’s one more reason to dread aging: older Americans are seeing a greater increase in obesity rates, according to a survey released on Wednesday. Data from nearly 600,000 U.S
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U.S. says death toll rises to 23 in meningitis outbreak
October 20th, 2012
Tweet Share this Email Print 1 of 4. A sample of Cladosporium species, one of the fungi diagnosed in the fungal meningitis outbreak sweeping the United States, in Nashville, Tennessee on October 19, 2012.
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London sanitation show aims to make "poo" hot topic
October 18th, 2012
By Julie Mollins LONDON | Thu Oct 18, 2012 12:47pm EDT LONDON (Reuters) – Human defecation remains a taboo subject, despite the fact that 2.5 billion people lack toilets, causing a global health crisis that kills more than a million children each year. The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) hopes a new exhibition opening on Thursday will make sanitation easier to discuss
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