Currently browsing tag

angeles

More patients may be able to safely shower after surgery

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.

Anthem offers $46 billion for Cigna, says CEO role holds up deal

U.S. health insurer Anthem Inc said on Saturday it had offered $46 billion in cash and stock for smaller rival Cigna Corp but that the deal was stalled over Cigna CEO David Cordani's role in the merged company. The announcement comes as the biggest U.S. health insurers seek acquisitions to boost membership in government-paid healthcare plans and the employer-based insurance that is Cigna's specialty. Anthem, the second largest health insurer in the United States, said in a statement that it had made four offers for Cigna in June, sweetening each one with better terms.

Ex-NFL player, married to Hope Solo, charged with drunken driving in California

Former National Football League tight end Jerramy Stevens, the husband of U.S. women's soccer goalkeeper Hope Solo, was charged with drunken driving on Monday following his arrest in the Los Angeles area earlier this year, a county prosecutor said. Stevens, 35, was charged with one misdemeanor count each of driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a .08 percent blood alcohol content, both within 10 years of another DUI, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said in a statement. He had a blood alcohol concentration that was .15 percent or more, the prosecutor said. If convicted, Stevens faces a possible maximum sentence of one year in county jail, Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said.

Raise minimum age to buy cigarettes to decrease use: U.S. study

By Yasmeen Abutaleb NEW YORK (Reuters) – Raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21 or 25 years old would significantly reduce their use and tobacco-related illnesses in the United States, a study published Thursday found, suggesting that states and local authorities should consider passing such laws. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which sponsored the report, cannot increase the minimum age to buy tobacco in the country from 18, but states and local authorities can do so. The report was presented to the FDA on Tuesday, said Richard Bonnie, chair of the report committee. Among people who smoked daily, 90 percent had tried their first cigarette before the age of 19 while the remaining 10 percent had tried tobacco products by 26, the study found.

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. …