Health industry breathes easier as post-Obamacare path stabilizes

By Caroline Humer NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hospitals and health insurers are gaining confidence that their nightmare scenario - millions of Americans instantly losing health insurance once President-elect Donald Trump delivers on a promise to "repeal and replace" Obamacare - is looking more like a bad dream than becoming reality. The early view from the healthcare sector still includes an end eventually to President Obama's signature health program. Trump tapped Republican Representative Tom Price, an orthopedic surgeon who drafted legislation years ago to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), as head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Flu - or flu vaccine - in pregnancy not tied to autism in kids

By Andrew M. Seaman (Reuters Health) - Pregnant women who get the flu, or a flu vaccine, are not increasing their baby's risk for an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a new study suggests. Researchers analyzed data on 196,929 children born from 2000 through 2010 in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California healthcare system after at least 24 weeks gestation. During follow-up periods ranging from two to 15 years, 1.6 percent of the children were diagnosed with ASD.

Britain seeks to curb pollution by small-scale power plants

Britain plans to curb health damaging air pollution with emissions standards for small-scale power plants used to generate back-up electricity at short notice and to stem the rising use of diesel generators. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) suggests plants producing 1-50 megawatts (MW) of electricity should be subject to new rules to cut emissions of harmful pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide. "The combined impact of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) and Particulate Matter (PM) pollution in the UK is estimated to lead to the equivalent of approximately 50,000 premature deaths per year, at a cost of around 30 pounds billion per year," DEFRA said as it launched the consultation this week.

'Terrible time'

As figures show dementia is now the leading cause of death in England and Wales, one woman recounts the "distressing" way the condition affected her late mother.

Gut bacteria 'may help drugs fight cancer'

Bacteria living deep inside the digestive system seems to alter how cancer drugs work, a study suggests.

Cancer survivor: 'I was sacked for having lymphoma'

Cancer survivor Terry Foster, 58, says he was sacked after being diagnosed with lymphoma, as his company felt he “wouldn't be able to handle the stress of the job”.

After $195 million in talc verdicts, J&J strives to change court

After a $67.5 million jury verdict against Johnson & Johnson on Oct. 27 marked its third straight trial defeat in an onslaught of lawsuits claiming its talc-based products cause ovarian cancer, the company is hoping to reverse the trend by having the cases heard in a different court. All three awards, totaling around $195 million, were handed down in state court in St. Louis, Missouri, with the same judge presiding. The plaintiffs claim studies show J&J's Baby Powder and Shower to Shower products, when used in the vaginal area, increase the risk of ovarian cancer.

U.S. blames American Airlines fire on engine failure

WASHINGTON/SEATTLE (Reuters) - A fire on an American Airlines passenger plane as it was taking off from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport last week was sparked when the right engine broke apart, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said on Friday. The investigative update shed new light on a rare "uncontained" engine failure, in which pieces escaped the engine housing, that has been the talk of aviation circles since the incident on Oct. 28. The engine failure caused a fuel leak that resulted in a fire under the right wing.

Looking past vote, U.S. coal country sees millennials as key to revival

If recent history holds, over half of them will either not find work or leave the state, contributing to a brain drain of young talent that is pushing the state to try to reinvent its economy and break with a coal industry in long-term decline. "Companies don't come here to invest because they only associate us with coal," said Sellards, a 20-year-old sophomore who addressed the state legislature when she was in high school about the lack of opportunities for young people in a post-coal economy. The often stark choices faced by Sellards and other young, educated West Virginians underline the challenges awaiting Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton here and in other “Rust Belt” states if she wins the Nov. 8 election, as most polls suggest she will.