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Washington state attorney general seeks to raise smoking age to 21

By Eric M. Johnson SEATTLE (Reuters) – Washington state could become the only U.S. state to raise its legal age for smoking tobacco to 21 from 18 under a measure proposed on Wednesday by its top law enforcement official. The legislation, if enacted, would also put the legal age for purchasing and possessing tobacco and nicotine-vapor products on an equal footing with the state's minimum drinking age of 21, with the goal of restricting access to teens and lowering healthcare expenses. The measure, however, would cost the state some $20 million a year in estimated tax revenue. …

Medical charity MSF opens Ebola clinic for pregnant women

By Umaru Fofana FREETOWN (Reuters) – Medical charity Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF) has opened the first care centre in the current Ebola epidemic for pregnant women, whose survival rate from the virus is virtually zero, the charity said on Saturday. There is currently one patient in the clinic, which is perched on a hill in the compound of a disused Methodist boys high school in the Sierra Leone capital. …

Guidance and research on mobile, interactive media for kids needed

By Reuters Staff (Reuters Health) – Mobile and interactive media offer a range of education and entertainment options for toddlers and parents, but more research on their impact is needed, according to a review of existing studies. “Mobile devices, because of their portability and interactive components, are introducing media into all aspects of children’s experience and deserve serious attention and research,” write Dr. Jenny Radesky and her colleagues from Boston Medical Center in the journal Pediatrics. …

Eli Lilly and Adocia agree to develop ultra-rapid insulin

PARIS (Reuters) – U.S. drugmaker Eli Lilly and French biotech Adocia said on Friday they agreed a worldwide licensing partnership to develop ultra-rapid insulin to treat patients with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Under the deal, Adocia will receive an upfront fee of $50 million, potential future payments of up to $280 million if BioChaperone Lispro reaches certain development and regulatory milestones, and sales milestones up to $240 million, the companies said in a statement. (Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Blaise Robinson)

UK proposes rules for embryos made from 3 people

LONDON (AP) — New rules proposed in Britain would make it the first country to allow embryos to be made from the DNA of three people in order to prevent mothers from passing on potentially fatal genetic diseases to their babies.

Four killed after 18-wheeler hits halted Mississippi highway traffic

(Reuters) – Four people were killed early on Saturday after an 18-wheel truck smashed into a row of vehicles that had stopped on a Mississippi Interstate highway to avoid hitting debris spilled by an overturned pickup truck trailer, state police said. A father and his daughter in one car and two young men in another car died in the nearly dozen-car wreck on Interstate 10 in coastal Hancock County, near the Louisiana border, just after midnight, Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Johnny Poulos said. “It’s a tragic situation,” Poulos said. …

West African leaders name Togo’s president to lead Ebola response

ACCRA (Reuters) – West African leaders on Thursday appointed Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe to supervise the region's efforts to contain the deadly Ebola epidemic, which has killed nearly 5,000 people, mostly in the region. The leaders who gathered in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, called for accelerated efforts to make vaccines available against the disease, which has infected some 13,567 people in eight countries. …