Health & Science

Wednesday, May 29th 2019 - 08:52 UTC
Johnson & Johnson on trial in Oklahoma over the so called “opioid epidemic”

Johnson & Johnson, one of the world's largest drug manufacturers, has gone on trial in a multi-billion dollar lawsuit by the US state of Oklahoma. Prosecutors accuse the firm of deceptively marketing painkillers and downplaying addiction risks, fuelling a so-called “opioid epidemic.”
Monday, May 27th 2019 - 05:39 UTC
Hazardous radioactive material stolen in Uruguay

Uruguay's Ministry of the Interior Saturday issued a nationwide alert for the theft of a tub containing radioactive material. According to the communiqué, 100 millilitres of radioactive iodine (iodine 131) contained in a tub of 3 kg of lead (lead is used as shielding material to prevent the spread of radioactivity) were stolen.
Thursday, May 23rd 2019 - 09:43 UTC
Brazil's Prosecutor suing major tobacco companies for health costs derived from smoking

Brazil's solicitor general's office is suing the world's largest cigarette makers British American Tobacco Plc and Philip Morris International to recover the public health treatment costs of tobacco-related diseases over the last five years. The office, known as the AGU, announced the landmark lawsuit late on Tuesday against the two multinational companies and their Brazilian subsidiaries.
Tuesday, May 21st 2019 - 09:35 UTC
Polish woman gives birth to sextuplets: four girls and two boys

A woman has given birth to Poland's first sextuplets with each newborn weighing about 1kg (2.2 pounds), physicians at the University Hospital in the city of Krakow announced on Monday.
Tuesday, May 21st 2019 - 07:53 UTC
World's biggest salmon farming company investigated for possible misreporting on chemicals

The world's biggest salmon farming company is one of a number of firms under investigation for possible misreporting of chemical use. The BBC can reveal Mowi, formerly known as Marine Harvest, is among those being investigated by Scottish regulators.
Saturday, May 18th 2019 - 07:59 UTC
Smog disaster in Mexico City, all residents “smoking” half a pack of cigarettes a day

Scientists say breathing the heavily polluted air in Mexico City these days is like smoking somewhere between a quarter-and a half-pack of cigarettes a day.
Friday, May 17th 2019 - 09:57 UTC
Falkland Islands Land Mines, how they are cleared and blown up

British Forces Network reports how a specialist de-mining team is clearing and exploding a hoard of land mines from the Falkland Islands landscape – out of more than 30,000 laid the Argentine forces during the 1982 conflict.
Thursday, May 16th 2019 - 09:02 UTC
Alabama abortion bill triggers a national debate in US ahead of 2020 elections

Alabama's governor signed a bill on Wednesday to ban nearly all abortions in the state, even in cases of rape and incest, in the latest challenge by conservatives to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision establishing a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy.
Thursday, May 16th 2019 - 08:58 UTC
UK scientists launch the “Darwinian” project, a new approach to combat cancer resistance to treatments

Cancer scientists in Britain are launching what they call the world's first “Darwinian” drug development program in a bid to get ahead of cancer's ability to become resistant to even the newest treatments and recur in many patients.
Tuesday, May 14th 2019 - 09:49 UTC
Bayer-Monsanto loses US$ 2bn glyphosate law suit in California

A jury in California on Monday ordered Bayer-owned Monsanto to pay more than US$2 billion damages to a couple who sued on grounds the weed killer Roundup caused their cancer, lawyers said.