Health News Headlines

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Danish pharmaceutical group Lundbeck and Japanese partner Takeda said on Saturday that data from clinical phase III studies with the antidepressant vortioxetine had shown significant improvement in patients' symptoms. Lundbeck said in a statement that the trial showed safety levels consistent with …

Men struggle with their wives' breast cancer, but don't always speak up.        

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke painted an upbeat picture on Saturday for the potential of innovation to lift living standards, delivering a sweeping look at the last 100 years that included memories of his 1963 South Carolina home. Bernanke made no reference to monetary policy or the immediate …

By Miriam Arghandiwal and Ibrahimi Aziz KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's parliament failed to pass a law on Saturday banning violence against women, a severe blow to progress made in women's rights in the conservative Muslim country since the Islamist Taliban was toppled over a decade ago. President Hamid Karzai approved …

Men struggle with their wives' breast cancer, but don't always speak up.        

ATLANTA (AP) — A metro Atlanta woman who lost both hands, her left leg and right foot after contracting a flesh-eating disease was on her way back from Ohio Friday after being fitted with prosthetic hands.

By Eduardo Garcia BOGOTA (Reuters) - The Organization of American States on Friday published a report calling for decriminalization of drug use and for greater coordination between nations in tackling the scourge. "The report presented by the OAS today is a vital piece in the construction of a common way to fight this problem," …

Mini-movies of growing embryos could help boost the success of in vitro fertilization, a new study found. But the number of women who could benefit from the time-lapse technology is unclear.        

By Trevor Stokes NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A review of past research finds that fever-reducing drugs have no effect on the speed of children's recovery from an infection, contrary to the fears of some doctors and parents. Researchers have debated for decades whether lowering a sick child's fever helps the recovery process …

In the years I’ve spent writing about infectious diseases I can only think of a handful that have made me squirm: Guinea worm disease, which involves painful extractions of long worms from the human body (blech); Naegleria fowleri, the brain-eating amoeba (pretty self-explanatory); Ebola (because, well, it’s Ebola); and …

By Soyoung Kim and Greg Roumeliotis NEW YORK (Reuters) - Onex Corp has called off its auction of medical imaging firm Carestream Health Inc after failing to find a buyer that was willing to meet its price expectation of as much as $3.5 billion, three people familiar with the matter said this week. Bain Capital LLC, the …

LONDON (Reuters) - Four more people in China have died from a new strain of bird flu, bringing the death toll from the H7N9 virus to 36 from 131 confirmed cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. The United Nations health agency said the four deaths were from cases that had already been identified in laboratories. …

Touch Bionics donated prosthetics to Georgia woman, 25, who lost her hands to flesh-eating bacteria.        

By Joanne von Alroth SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (Reuters) - The Illinois Senate on Friday voted to approve the use of marijuana for medical purposes, which if signed into law would make it the second-most-populous state in the nation after California to allow the drug's use for medical purposes. The bill, approved by the Illinois …

By Sharon Begley and Caroline Humer (Reuters) - In a boost for President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law, two states in the Northwest said on Friday that insurance companies submitted applications to sell policies on the states' health insurance exchanges at rates well below what some insurance executives had predicted. …

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Most surgeons-in-training dislike new rules that limit how many hours they can work, according to a new study that also found the majority said they skirt the restrictions. Researchers surveyed 1,013 surgical residents - who train for years alongside more senior surgeons - …

(Reuters) - Sony Corp plans to appoint Chugai Pharmaceutical Co Chief Executive Osamu Nagayama as chairman, the Nikkei reported. Nagayama's appointment will be finalized on June 20 at a board meeting to be held immediately after a shareholders' meeting, the business daily said. Outgoing chairman Howard Stringer, who served …

By Suzi Parker LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday blocked a new Arkansas law that would ban most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, one of the most restrictive abortion statutes in the nation. U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright granted an injunction sought by abortion rights groups, saying …