(Reuters) – Pfizer Inc said its Wyeth unit has agreed to pay $784.6 million to settle cases related to the calculation of Medicaid rebates for a drug between 2001 and 2006. The claims alleged that Wyeth’s calculation of rebates for Protonix violated the Federal Civil False Claims Act and other laws. Pfizer also said it was reissuing its financial results for the fourth quarter and the full year to reflect this charge.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela has announced the first Zika-related deaths in the South American country.
By Jessica Macy Yu CHAOMIDIAN, China (Reuters) – On the outskirts of Beijing, the disused factories of Chaomidian show the impact of China's drive to shut down thousands of small firms causing big pollution. After a three-year campaign, China's push to cut smog appears to be paying off, whatever the localised cost, just as economic growth weakens to its slowest pace in 25 years. While a World Health Organization report in 2014 found 13 of the world's 20 dirtiest cities were in India, a still smog-bound Beijing issued its first pollution “red alerts” last month.
Israeli elder statesman Shimon Peres was hospitalized on Sunday for a second time in as many weeks after complaining of chest pains, an aide said. Peres, who was released from hospital last week after suffering a heart attack on Jan. 14, was conscious and the hospitalization was a precautionary measure, Peres aide Ayelet Frisch told Reuters. “It was an irregular heartbeat and he will stay in overnight, hopefully he will be released tomorrow,” she said.
Sierra Leone's Health Ministry said on Thursday it was investigating a suspected Ebola death in Tonkolili district, hours after the World Health Organization said transmission of the virus in West Africa had ended. “A suspected Ebola death has been reported in Tonkolili district today,” said a note sent by the ministry to health officials in the country and seen by Reuters.
This story is part of our monthlong “Work Well” initiative, which focuses on thriving in the workplace. You can find more stories from this project here.One somewhat unfortunate reality of living in the United States is that health care is inexorably tied up with employment, for better or for worse.On the plus side, employers generally…
By Lisa Rapaport (Reuters Health) – Many patients may be able to shower just two days after their operations without increasing their risk of infections around the incision site, a recent study suggests. The findings, along with results from other recent research, should help convince more doctors to let patients shower after surgery, said Dr. Paul Dayton, a researcher at Des Moines University and UnityPoint Health in Iowa who wasn’t involved in the study. “Traditions are sometimes long to fade away due to lack of good evidence to support change – this paper will certainly help to drive change,” Dayton said by email.
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Guinea has been declared free from transmission of Ebola, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, marking a milestone for the West African country where the original Ebola chain of transmission began two years ago leading to the largest epidemic in history.
By Lisa Rapaport (Reuters Health) – Men don’t need to live in fear of ridicule over the appearance of their penis after getting surgery to correct a birth defect that causes urine to come out in the wrong place, a Swiss study suggests. Researchers focused on a condition known as hypospadias, a birth defect that affects around 1 in 200 boys and causes the urethra to form abnormally with an opening for urine anywhere from just below the end of the penis to the scrotum. Men with corrected hypospadias – a surgery typically done between ages 3 months and 18 months – often suffer from sexual inhibition and fear of being ridiculed for their penile appearance, researchers note in the Journal of Pediatric Urology.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — One of the nation’s most prominent medical centers has voluntarily suspended its living donor program for kidney transplants after a living donor died last month.