Healthcare News Headlines - Yahoo! News UK

Saudi Arabia confirms another death from SARS-like virus

Thu, 23 May 2013 13:12:58 +0100

DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has announced another death from the SARS-like novel coronavirus (nCoV) in its central al-Qassim region, bringing the total number of deaths in the kingdom to 17. A non-Saudi, whose nationality and age were not given, died on Tuesday, the Health Ministry said on its website late on Wednesday. It said he had been admitted to a hospital in al-Qassim several days ago with an "acute respiratory syndrome". "Most cases recorded so far are among elderly patients and people with multiple chronic diseases," it added. ...

BTG builds interventional medicine platform with deals

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:01:48 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's BTG said it would make two acquisitions, one extending its expertise in liver cancer and the other a treatment for severe blood clots, to create an interventional medicine business with potential sales of $1 billion. The company said on Thursday it had agreed to buy the targeted therapies division of Nordion Inc, for about $200 million in a deal that adds Therasphere radioactive glass beads treatment for liver cancer to its chemotherapy beads unit. ...

Indian medics reconstruct baby's swollen head

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:42:36 +0100

Indian doctors said Wednesday they have successfully carried out a first round of reconstructive surgery on the skull of a baby suffering from a rare disorder that caused her head to nearly double in size.

Accidental find shows Vitamin C kills tuberculosis

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:39:20 +0100

Scientists said Tuesday they had managed to kill lab-grown tuberculosis (TB) bacteria with good old Vitamin C -- an "unexpected" discovery they hope will lead to better, cheaper drugs.

Royalty ups Elan bid and issues shareholder ultimatum

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:51:45 +0100

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Royalty Pharma raised its hostile bid for Elan to $12.50 (8.20 pounds) per share and heaped pressure on shareholders, saying it will withdraw the bid if they approve a series of defensive transactions announced by the Irish drug firm. In what has become an increasingly convoluted takeover saga, Royalty Pharma, which buys royalty streams of patented drugs, said Elan's efforts to reinvent itself through a series of acquisitions and debt deals were hasty and ill-conceived. Royalty's raised bid for Elan from its earlier offer of $11. ...

Actavis to buy Warner Chilcott in $5 billion stock deal

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:46:34 +0100

By Caroline Humer (Reuters) - Generic drugmaker Actavis Inc , itself the subject of takeover speculation, said on Monday it would buy specialty pharmaceutical company Warner Chilcott Plc for $5 billion in stock to expand its branded drug portfolio, lower taxes and increase profits. Warner Chilcott brings a portfolio of branded women's health pharmaceuticals, such as the contraceptive patch to Actavis, which makes and sells drugs that are no longer under patent protection. ...

Indonesia's nationwide healthcare plan stumbles at first hurdle

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:12:53 +0100

By Randy Fabi and Nilufar Rizki JAKARTA (Reuters) - When a sick Indonesian baby died after 10 hospitals in Jakarta turned her family away in February, critics blamed a pilot health insurance scheme that had overwhelmed the city's public hospitals. The programme, introduced in November, gave health insurance to around 5 million people in Jakarta categorised as poor. Long queues quickly formed at already stretched hospital emergency rooms as many patients, some who were not even ill, sought to take advantage of being covered for the first time. ...

Russia has 'no anti-AIDS strategy': official

Thu, 16 May 2013 20:07:30 +0100

There is no government strategy to fight the spread of AIDS in Russia, where the number of deaths caused by the disease continues to grow, a senior healthcare official said on Thursday.

China bird flu devastates Shanghai family

Thu, 16 May 2013 03:16:17 +0100

The virus has already killed her mother, and Kelly Gu's father lies critically ill with H7N9 bird flu in a Shanghai hospital bed -- the only couple both infected in China's outbreak of the disease.

Health workers attacked in 22 nations in 2012: Red Cross

Thu, 16 May 2013 01:10:52 +0100

Health care workers and institutions came under violent attack in 22 countries last year, including 150 killings, the Red Cross said, lamenting that such violence deprives millions of people in need of care.

WHO reports first patient-to-nurse spread of new SARS-like virus

Wed, 15 May 2013 23:35:30 +0100

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - Two health workers in Saudi Arabia have become infected with a potentially fatal new SARS-like virus after catching it from patients in their care - the first evidence of such transmission within a hospital, the World Health Organization said. The new virus, known as novel coronavirus, or nCoV, is from the same family of viruses as those that cause common colds and the one that caused the deadly outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that emerged in Asia in 2003. ...

First proof of patient-to-nurse infection of coronavirus: WHO

Wed, 15 May 2013 19:41:32 +0100

Two Saudi health workers have contracted the deadly coronavirus from patients, marking the first evidence of transmission in a hospital setting, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.

Indian medics conduct 'perfect' op on baby's swollen head

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:11:48 +0100

Doctors carried out life-saving surgery Wednesday on an Indian baby suffering from a rare disorder that caused her head to swell to nearly double its size, in a case that aroused sympathy worldwide.

Surgeon details mastectomies, hails 'bold' Jolie

Wed, 15 May 2013 02:12:19 +0100

Angelina Jolie was up and working with "bountiful energy" on her next film project just four days after having her double mastectomy, her surgeon said.

Jolie surgery sets good example by careful weighing of risks - doctors

Tue, 14 May 2013 23:49:31 +0100

By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - Angelina Jolie's decision to have a double mastectomy to prevent breast cancer may have stunned fans of the Oscar-winning actress, but doctors say her choice is shared by many other women with a high genetic risk for breast cancer. Jolie, who described her surgery and three-month recovery at length in an opinion piece in the New York Times on Tuesday, says she hopes her experience will encourage other women with a family risk of breast cancer to get tested. ...

Saudi Arabia confirms six new cases of deadly SARS-like virus

Tue, 14 May 2013 20:03:02 +0100

RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has confirmed six new cases of the SARS-like novel coronavirus in its Eastern Province, state media reported on Monday and Tuesday, citing the health ministry. It reported four new cases late on Monday and a further two late on Tuesday. One of the new cases has been treated and the patient was released from hospital, while the other new cases were still being treated, the Saudi Press Agency reported. On Sunday, Saudi Arabia said it had had a total of 24 confirmed cases since the disease was identified last year, of whom 15 had died. ...

US abortion doctor convicted of murder

Tue, 14 May 2013 12:36:30 +0100

A US abortion doctor could face the death penalty after being found guilty of murdering three babies with scissors after they were born alive in his filthy Philadelphia clinic.

Vermont legislators approve assisted suicide bill

Tue, 14 May 2013 07:04:42 +0100

Liberal-minded Vermont has become the third US state to allow doctor-assisted suicide, letting terminally ill patients request lethal medication from physicians.

US fines Indian drug giant Ranbaxy $500 mn

Mon, 13 May 2013 19:47:26 +0100

US authorities announced Monday a $500 million dollar fine against Indian generic pharmaceutical manufacturer Ranbaxy after it pleaded guilty to selling adulterated drugs in the United States.

40 psychiatric patients escape from Kenya hospital, 10 back

Mon, 13 May 2013 19:26:41 +0100

Ten of 40 mentally ill patients who escaped from a psychiatric hospital in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, have been returned to the facility, officials said Monday.

Coronavirus epidemic awaits, not certain to be severe - discoverer

Mon, 13 May 2013 16:19:25 +0100

By Alexander Dziadosz CAIRO (Reuters) - The doctor who discovered a new SARS-like virus says it will probably trigger an epidemic at some point, but not necessarily in its current virulent form. The new strain of coronavirus (nCoV) that Ali Mohamed Zaki found last year, related to one that caused the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003, has killed at least 18 people in the Middle East and Europe. ...

New SARS-like virus can probably pass person-to-person

Sun, 12 May 2013 21:38:17 +0100

By Angus McDowall RIYADH (Reuters) - World Health Organisation (WHO) officials said on Sunday it seemed likely a new coronavirus that has killed at least 18 people in the Middle East and Europe could be passed between humans, but only after prolonged contact. A virus from the same family triggered the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that swept the world after emerging in Asia and killed 775 people in 2003. On Sunday French authorities announced that a second man had been diagnosed with the disease after sharing a hospital room with France's only other sufferer. ...

French victim of SARS-like virus in intensive care

Sun, 12 May 2013 16:10:55 +0100

A man who contracted a deadly new SARS-like virus after sharing a hospital ward with France's first victim was moved to intensive care on Sunday following a deterioration in his condition, hospital officials said.

Second French coronavirus case confirmed

Sun, 12 May 2013 13:49:32 +0100

PARIS (Reuters) - A second diagnosis of the new SARS-like coronavirus has been confirmed in France, the Health Ministry said on Sunday, in what appeared to be a case of human-to-human transmission. The new infection was found in a 50-year-old man who had shared a hospital room with France's only other known sufferer, the ministry said in a statement. Health experts are concerned about clusters of the new coronavirus strain, nCoV, which was first spotted in the Gulf and has spread to France, Britain and Germany. ...

French tests ease fears of coronavirus transmission

Sat, 11 May 2013 11:41:04 +0100

LILLE, France (Reuters) - Three people who came into contact with France's only confirmed case of coronavirus have tested negative for the SARS-like disease, with results pending on two others, Health Minister Marisol Touraine said on Saturday. Lab results were expected later in the day on a friend or family member of the infected man, who remains in serious condition, and another patient who shared his hospital room, the minister and doctors told reporters in Lille, northern France. ...

Suspected new coronavirus case in France, Saudis report two more

Fri, 10 May 2013 11:00:31 +0100

LILLE/DUBAI (Reuters) - A nurse in a hospital that held France's only confirmed case of the SARS-like coronavirus that has killed 18 people has been admitted to hospital in northern France on suspicion of being infected herself, French health officials said on Friday. The World Health Organisation (WHO) raised the number of cases confirmed worldwide to 33 after Saudi Arabia said that two people who were admitted to hospital there in April had been determined by laboratory analysis to be infected. There is no evidence so far of sustained human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus. ...

Brazilian woman shot in mouth with spear gun

Thu, 09 May 2013 23:19:23 +0100

A young Brazilian woman was accidentally shot in the mouth with a spear gun, with the projectile punching out the back of her neck but she survived, a doctor said.

WHO experts to visit Saudi hospital where coronavirus spread

Wed, 08 May 2013 16:01:17 +0100

By Stephanie Nebehay and Mahmoud Habboush GENEVA/DUBAI (Reuters) - World Health Organization (WHO) experts and local officials will visit a Saudi hospital where the SARS-like coronavirus has spread, killing seven people, the U.N. agency said on Wednesday. France reported its first case on Wednesday in a 65-year-old Frenchman who had recently returned from Dubai with the virus that has emerged from the Gulf and has also spread to Britain and Germany as well as Jordan, Qatar and United Arab Emirates. The French case brings total known infections worldwide to 31, of which 18 have died. ...

Pakistan's Imran Khan injured in fall at election rally

Wed, 08 May 2013 02:07:34 +0100

LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan injured his head after falling off a mechanical lift raising him onto a stage at a rally on Tuesday four days before national elections, party and medical officials said. Khan fell as the lift was just short of the 15ft (4.5 metre)-high platform in the eastern city of Lahore, witnesses said. Television footage showed the dazed leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party being led away to hospital with blood on his head. "He is not in any danger ... ...

Two more die in Saudi Arabia from SARS-like virus - WHO

Tue, 07 May 2013 11:46:06 +0100

GENEVA (Reuters) - Two more people in Saudi Arabia have died from a new strain of coronavirus that has emerged in the Middle East, bringing the toll in the kingdom's latest outbreak to seven, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. Six other people are infected, one of them critically ill, in an outbreak centred on a health care facility in Al Ahsa governorate in Eastern Province, WHO spokesman Glenn Thomas said in Geneva. ...

Saudi victims of SARS-like virus didn't travel: doctor

Sat, 04 May 2013 16:56:22 +0100

Five Saudis who died after contracting a new SARS-like virus last week had not travelled abroad, a health ministry doctor said on Saturday.

UK plastic surgeons arrange to insure cosmetic ops

Fri, 03 May 2013 17:22:41 +0100

LONDON (Reuters) - A leading British cosmetic surgeons' association has arranged insurance for its members' patients to cover the cost of righting procedures such as breast enhancements that go wrong. The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) said it arranged the Aesthetic Surgery Commitment policy through the Lloyds of London insurance market in response to recommendations made in a government backed report. ...

Pakistani attacked in India jail over Indian prisoner's death

Fri, 03 May 2013 10:55:51 +0100

By Ashok Pahalwan JAMMU, India (Reuters) - A Pakistani prisoner was badly beaten in an Indian jail on Friday in apparent revenge for a fatal attack on an Indian jailed for spying in Pakistan whose death has led to an outpouring of anger and strained ties between the neighbours. Sanaullah Haq was being treated for severe head injuries in hospital in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, which borders Pakistan and has seen serious territorial disputes between the nuclear-powered nations. ...

Somalia's war surgeons learn skills of peace

Thu, 02 May 2013 04:34:21 +0100

Not yet named but much loved by watchful parents, a newly born baby boy is a small symbol of change: a birth, not a death for Somalia's key war hospital.

New US website makes clinical trials easy to find

Thu, 02 May 2013 02:48:45 +0100

A US doctor has created a website to make it easier for sick people to connect with research that could potentially save their lives.

Breast implants may delay cancer diagnosis: study

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 22:36:26 +0100

Breast implants may delay cancer diagnosis in women, said a study Wednesday that urged a thorough probe into the potential health risks of this type of cosmetic surgery.

Hong Kong prescribes new dose of old Chinese medicine

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:56:03 +0100

Despite the age of its recipes, Chinese medicine -- which continues to thrive among Hong Kong's seven million residents -- is not standing still.

Strip China surgeon of Australian award: academics

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 04:02:10 +0100

Australian academics are calling for a Chinese surgeon accused of harvesting organs from prisoners to be stripped of a University of Sydney honorary professorship.

Catherine Zeta-Jones seeks help again for bipolar disorder

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 02:33:31 +0100

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones has sought help again for bipolar disorder, in what her publicist called a "pro-active" move to take care of her health. It's the second-known trip to a healthcare facility for the British actress since 2011, when news first broke that she suffers from bipolar II disorder - a milder form of the illness that is marked by sharp mood swings and erratic behaviour. "Catherine has pro-actively checked into a healthcare facility," publicist Cece Yorke said on Monday. ...

Mohawk and Jedward provide offbeat help for kids' care

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:38:19 +0100

Hospital doctors in Ireland have discovered a surefire, low-cost way to distract children admitted for emergency care: inflate a rubber glove, pop out its fingers in a spiky hairdo and draw a smiley face on it.