Medical Newswire!

Health News Health News Headlines - Yahoo! News Get the latest health news headlines from Yahoo! News. Find breaking health news, including analysis and opinion on top health stories. Nonprofit launches campaign to reach uninsured 18 Jun 2013 at 12:54pm 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. Medicare: Cost-saving changes coming for diabetics 18 Jun 2013 at 11:57am 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. Especially grim encephalitis toll feared in India 18 Jun 2013 at 5:49pm GORAKHPUR, India (AP) ? A mosquito-borne disease that preys on the young and malnourished is sweeping across poverty-riven northern India again this monsoon season in what officials worry could be the deadliest outbreak in nearly a decade. Singapore fumes as air pollution hits 16-year high 18 Jun 2013 at 7:17pm SINGAPORE (AP) ? Singaporeans rolled back military training, kept cough-stricken children indoors and considered wearing protective masks to work after a smoky haze triggered by forest fires in neighboring Indonesia caused air pollution to briefly hit its worst level in nearly 16 years. 18 mayors: Limit use of food stamps to buy soda 18 Jun 2013 at 7:11pm NEW YORK (AP) ? The mayors of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and 15 other cities are reviving a push against letting food stamps be used to buy soda and other sugary drinks. Beverage group: 18 mayors wrong on sugary drinks 18 Jun 2013 at 7:01pm NEW YORK (AP) ? The American Beverage Association says efforts by the mayors of 18 cities to stop food stamps from being used to buy sugary drinks won't make the nation healthier. Republican-led House passes bill restricting abortion 18 Jun 2013 at 6:12pm By Rachelle Younglai WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Tuesday passed legislation severely restricting abortions, a move that could alienate women from the conservative party. The bill would ban abortions 20 weeks after fertilization occurs, a time when a fetus begins to feel pain, Republicans said. The legislation makes exceptions for victims of rape and incest as long as they first report the crime to authorities. The bill has no chance of becoming law with Democrats controlling the Senate and the White House threatening to veto it. ... Melissa Etheridge Calls Angelina Jolie's Mastectomy 'the Most Fearful Choice ... 18 Jun 2013 at 5:37pm By Tony Maglio LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Melissa Etheridge believes Angelina Jolie jumped the gun with her double mastectomy. The singer, a breast cancer survivor, told The Washington Blade that she has the same BRCA gene mutation as Jolie. When asked about Jolie's choice to undergo a preventative double mastectomy, Etheridge called Jolie's decision "the most fearful choice you can make when confronting anything with cancer." "I wouldn't call it the brave choice," the singer said. ... Outbreak of deadly piglet virus spreads to 13 U.S. states 18 Jun 2013 at 5:35pm By P.J. Huffstutter CHICAGO (Reuters) - A swine virus deadly to young pigs, one never before seen in North America, is spreading rapidly across the United States and proving harder to control than previously believed. The virus now has spread to 13 states - with more than 100 positive cases to date - since it was first diagnosed in the United States last month, said Montserrat Torremorell, the Allen D. Leman Chair in Swine Health and Productivity at the University of Minnesota's College of Veterinary Medicine. ... Call for overhaul of drug industry business model 18 Jun 2013 at 4:03pm By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - Pharmaceutical companies need to boost the benefits of drug research by working with regulators and healthcare providers to overhaul the way medicines are approved and paid for, a thinktank backed by investors says. After years of disappointing research and development (R&D) productivity, a new report backed by leading institutional investors sees "early indications of a recovery", with U.S. approvals of new drugs last year the highest since 1996. ... Mississippi leans on Google to crack down on illegal products 18 Jun 2013 at 3:18pm By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mississippi's attorney general said on Tuesday he would subpoena documents from Google Inc as part of a probe into allegations the Web search company facilitated the sale of drugs without a prescription and other illegal products. Google responded in a blog post that it had been vigorous in working to limit drug advertisements to legitimate companies that comply with the law and to combat what it called "rogue online pharmacies. ... Enroll America sets private outreach for Obamacare sign-up 18 Jun 2013 at 3:07pm 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. ... FDA probes deaths of two patients on Lilly schizophrenia drug 18 Jun 2013 at 3:06pm 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. ... Lullaby Medicine for Premature Babies 18 Jun 2013 at 2:32pm 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.         Ohio residents accused of holding disabled woman in slavery 18 Jun 2013 at 2:25pm 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. ...