TheRepublic.com - Health News

Texas Senate drops abortion ban after 20 weeks

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 01:02:26 -0400

AUSTIN, Texas - The Republican-led Texas Senate voted late Tuesday night for tough new restrictions on abortion clinics and providers, but abandoned efforts to ban the procedure after the 20th week of pregnancy.

Feds say Calif. hospice owes $112M for fake claims

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:29:10 -0400

SAN DIEGO - A Southern California hospice owes the government $112 million in false claims for payment, federal officials say.

Singapore fumes as air pollution hits 16-year high

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:20:26 -0400

SINGAPORE - 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

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:13:45 -0400

NEW YORK - 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.

Mich. woman ordered to trial on false rape report

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:02:05 -0400

PORT HURON, Michigan - A Michigan woman accused of faking a sexual assault was ordered to stand trial on charges of making a false report of rape and tampering with evidence Tuesday after a doctor said her purported bruises faded after he wiped them with gauze.

Bolivian girl mauled by dog to fly to US for help

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:01:49 -0400

LA PAZ, Bolivia - A 4-year-old Bolivian girl who was unconscious for nearly three weeks after being mauled in the face and body by a Rottweiler is awake and ready to fly to Boston for reconstructive surgery, a doctor said Tuesday.

Especially grim encephalitis toll feared in India

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:53:02 -0400

GORAKHPUR, India - 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.

House passes far-reaching anti-abortion bill

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:40:27 -0400

WASHINGTON - The Republican-led House on Tuesday passed a far-reaching anti-abortion bill that conservatives saw as a milestone in their 40-year campaign against legalized abortion and Democrats characterized as yet another example of a GOP war on women.

New charges added in medical marijuana busts

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:26:23 -0400

MEDFORD, Oregon - Three people arrested in raids on medical marijuana dispensaries in Southern Oregon are facing new criminal charges of racketeering and money laundering.

Ark. AG seeks to uphold verdict against J&J

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:22:15 -0400

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas - Arkansas' attorney general filed a brief Tuesday backed by his counterparts in 35 other states asking the Arkansas Supreme Court to uphold a $1.2 billion fine levied against Johnson & Johnson and a subsidiary over the marketing of the antipsychotics drug Risperdal.

Ark. officials confirm avian flu in Scott Co. bird

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:04:25 -0400

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas - A chicken in Scott County is confirmed with avian influenza and state officials have quarantined poultry within a 6.2-mile radius around the infected bird's farm.

Mich. Senate doesn't vote on Medicaid expansion

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:30:40 -0400

LANSING, Michigan - The Michigan Senate adjourned Tuesday without voting to expand Medicaid eligibility to hundreds of thousands of low-income adults under the federal health care law, leaving the bill's future in doubt before lawmakers break for the summer.

18 mayors: Limit use of food stamps to buy soda

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:58:31 -0400

NEW YORK - The mayors of Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles and 15 other cities are reviving a push against letting food stamps be used to buy soda and other sugary drinks.

Minn. G Banham has successful surgery on knees

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:48:17 -0400

MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota junior captain Rachel Banham has undergone successful surgery for patellar tendonitis in both knees.

Aetna to stop selling individual plans in Calif.

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:34:30 -0400

SACRAMENTO, California - Aetna Inc. will stop selling individual health insurance policies in California next month, just weeks after opting out of the exchange that is being established as part of the national health care reforms, a state regulator said Tuesday.

Taco Bell jumps on protein craze with menu test

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:22:44 -0400

NEW YORK - Taco Bell plans to test a "Power Protein" menu that it's hoping will eventually be hit with its core audience - young men.

Ga. hospital warning of tuberculosis exposure

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:05:01 -0400

DULUTH, Georgia - State health officials and executives of a metro Atlanta hospital said Tuesday that more than 100 patients may have been exposed to tuberculosis.

Records sought in fungal meningitis outbreak

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:40:01 -0400

NASHVILLE, Tennessee - Three Tennessee clinics have received subpoenas for documents related to drugs from a Massachusetts specialty pharmacy linked to a fungal meningitis outbreak last year.

NH lawmakers reconcile medical marijuana bills

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:09:29 -0400

CONCORD, New Hampshire - House and Senate negotiators reached a deal on a medical marijuana bill Tuesday, positioning New Hampshire to join more than a dozen other states in legalizing the drug for seriously ill patients.

Lobbyists tally costs of 2013 Minn. session

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:03:03 -0400

ST. PAUL, Minnesota - Minnesota business and labor union organizations were among the heaviest spenders on lobbying during the first five months of 2013, which coincided with the Legislature's annual session, according to financial reports made public Tuesday.

Vt. Gov. Shumlin tours new psychiatric residence

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:59:52 -0400

MIDDLESEX, Vermont - Gov. Peter Shumlin, legislators and other officials toured Vermont's newest state psychiatric facility Tuesday, a day before the Middlesex Therapeutic Community Residence was set to receive its first two patients.

$3500 reward in fatal poisoning of 2 bald eagles

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:53:51 -0400

NEW ORLEANS - Federal investigators say someone poisoned and killed two bald eagles in Thibodaux.

NU licenses new form of menthol to Chinese firm

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:22:51 -0400

OMAHA, Nebraska - New technology to reduce bad breath that was developed at the University of Nebraska Medical Center has been licensed to a Chinese company.

Nonprofit launches campaign to reach uninsured

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:55:36 -0400

CHICAGO - 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

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:00:17 -0400

WASHINGTON - 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.