Generic color switch tied to not taking pills

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – People seem less likely to take their medications if the pill color changes between prescriptions, which can happen when switching from a brand-name to generic drug, says a new study.“I have a lot of experience when patients of mine come and say, ‘I was taking a green pill and now it’s pink. What’s going on?’” said Dr. Aaron Kesselheim, the study’s lead author from Brigham...

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“Fiscal cliff” crisis heads to resolution in Congress

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A months-long battle over the U.S. “fiscal cliff” headed to a close on Tuesday as the House of Representatives moved toward final approval of a bipartisan deal meant to prevent Washington from pushing the world’s biggest economy into recession.The Republican-controlled House was expected to back a tax hike on the top U.S. earners shortly before midnight on Tuesday, ending weeks...

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Hillary Clinton, Hospitalized with a Blood Clot, Faces New Decisions

Yesterday evening Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was hospitalized for treatment and monitoring of a blood clot. Earlier this month, the 65 year old Secretary collapsed and hit her head while suffering from a stomach virus. At that point, she sustained a concussion. This may have contributed to the new problem, according to State Department notices. The location of her blood clot, in terms...

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New Year’s Resolutions For Better Health

New Year’s resolutions are typically so singular, self-focused and private. How about making a resolution or two this year that has benefits beyond yourself? Here are some suggestions with lots of links to get you started.You can help stop the spread of disease. Resolve to get up-to-date on your vaccines. While children have a full slate of vaccines, many adults don’t realize they have regular immunization...

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Analysis: After “fiscal cliff” dive, more battles, new cliffs

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Whether or not the “fiscal cliff” impasse is broken before the New Year’s Eve deadline, there will be no post-cliff peace in Washington.With the political climate toxic in Congress as the cliff’s steep tax hikes and spending cuts approach, other partisan fights loom, all over the issue that has paralyzed the capital for the past two years: federal spending.The first will come...

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Senate leaders to make last-ditch “fiscal cliff” effort

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama and U.S. congressional leaders agreed on Friday to make a final effort to prevent the United States from going over the “fiscal cliff,” setting off intense bargaining over Americans’ tax rates as a New Year’s Eve deadline looms.With only days left to avoid steep tax hikes and spending cuts that could cause a recession, two Senate veterans will try to forge...

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Former President George H.W. Bush remains in intensive care

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – Former President George H.W. Bush remained in the intensive care unit of a Houston hospital on Thursday, but his longtime chief of staff issued a reassuring message, urging the media and the public to “put the harps back in the closet.”Bush, 88, a Republican who during his one term in office led a coalition of nations that ejected Iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991, was admitted...

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Early Childhood Obesity Rates Might Be Slowing Nation-Wide

About one in three children in the U.S. are now overweight, and since the 1980s the number of children who are obese has more than tripled. But a new study of 26.7 million young children from low-income families shows that in this group of kids, the tidal wave of obesity might finally be receding.Being obese as a child not only increases the risk of early-life health problems, such as joint problems,...

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Kuwait urges Iran to address worries on nuclear plant

MANAMA (Reuters) – Kuwait urged neighboring Iran on Monday to cooperate more with the U.N. nuclear watchdog to allay Gulf Arab concerns about the safety of an Iranian nuclear power plant that lies just across the waterway from the emirate.The emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, said a recent shutdown at the Bushehr plant indicated Tehran had to work with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy...

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Few tests done at toxic sites after superstorm

OLD BRIDGE, N.J. (AP) — For more than a month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said that the recent superstorm didn’t cause significant problems at any of the 247 Superfund toxic waste sites it’s monitoring in New York and New Jersey.But in many cases, no actual tests of soil or water are being conducted, just visual inspections.The EPA conducted a handful of tests right after the storm,...

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Violence, fear & suspicion imperil Pakistan’s war on polio

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistani health worker Bushra Bibi spent eight years trekking to remote villages, carefully dripping polio vaccine into toddlers’ pursed mouths to protect them from the crippling disease.Now the 35-year-old mother is too scared to go to work after masked men on motorbikes gunned down nine of her fellow health workers in a string of attacks this week.“I have seen so...

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Federal judge blocks Missouri law to deny birth control coverage

(Reuters) – A federal judge on Friday blocked a new Missouri law that requires health insurers to offer plans that exclude contraception coverage if employers or individuals object to birth control on moral or religious grounds.U.S. District Judge Audrey Fleissig granted a temporary restraining order preventing the enforcement of the law, writing that it appears to conflict with the new federal health...

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Physician Launches Black Health Website

NATIONWIDE – The glaring realities facing the Black community’s health and well-being are in a state of emergency. Whether it is high blood pressure, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, various forms of cancer or obesity, Blacks in many cases have the unfortunate distinction as the leading sufferers of these health maladies. Dr. Corey Hebert aims to help tackle these dilemmas via cyberspace, with the launch of BlackHealthTV.com,...

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Allscripts names new CEO to spearhead recovery

(Reuters) – Embattled healthcare technology firm Allscripts named its board member and former chief operating officer of rival Cerner Corp Paul Black as its CEO, replacing Glen Tullman, and said it ended a review of strategic alternatives.The move, effective immediately, raises new questions for the direction of Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc after activist shareholder HealthCor Management installed...

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French psychiatrist sentenced after patient commits murder

MARSEILLES, France (Reuters) – A French psychiatrist whose patient hacked an elderly man to death was found guilty of manslaughter on Tuesday in a groundbreaking case that could affect the way patients are treated.A court in Marseilles said Daniele Canarelli, 58, had committed a “grave error” by failing to recognize the public danger posed by Joel Gaillard, her patient of four years.Gaillard hacked...

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Bird flu kills 4-year-old boy in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A 4-year-old Indonesian boy has died from bird flu, bringing the death toll to 160 in the world’s hardest-hit country.Health Ministry official Rita Kusriastuti said Tuesday that the boy died Dec. 6 in Tangerang city, just west of Jakarta, the capital. He developed symptoms of a cold and fever on Nov. 30 and was treated at a public health center before being hospitalized the...

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Boehner opens door to tax hikes, shifts U.S. fiscal cliff talks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner‘s offer to accept a tax rate increase for the wealthiest Americans knocks down a key Republican road block to a deal resolving the year-end “fiscal cliff.”The question now boils down to what President Barack Obama offers in return. Such major questions, still unanswered so close to the end of the year suggest, however, that...

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