Healthcare

A line of caffeinated gum was pulled from production on Wednesday after a consultation with federal regulators.

Reps. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) are calling for a speedy release of federal guidelines to reduce the amount of arsenic in fruit juice.

The two lawmakers pushed the White House budget office to release industry guidance on arsenic now under consideration from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

"It is inexcusable that these guidelines are stalled while consumers continue to be exposed to potentially dangerous levels of arsenic," Pallone and DeLauro wrote. 

Complying with President Obama's healthcare law will take nearly 190 million hours per year, according to a new tally released by House Republicans.

The GOP reached that total by adding together the compliance burden in each regulation implementing part of the healthcare law.

They said the annual burden to comply with ObamaCare is enough time to build Mount Rushmore more than 1,500 times over, or to build the Empire State Building 27 times.

Regulators are troubled by processes that add caffeine to food, a growing trend over which they currently have little oversight.

The American public handed over 371 tons of prescription drugs to the government this past weekend.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) collected the unused, expired and unwanted pharmaceuticals, equaling about nine tractor-trailer trucks, from more than 5,800 nationwide locations as part of its sixth scheduled National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.

Saturday's haul collected 50 percent more pills than the previous event, which the agency pointed to as a sign of support for the program.

The action follows the administration’s move to simplify application forms for ObamaCare's tax credits and health exchanges.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved over-the-counter “Plan B“ emergency contraceptives for teens as young as 15, according to The Hill’s Healthwatch.

The regulator is also considering whether to impose new limits on caffeine in snacks, after the emergence of Wrigley’s Alert Energy Caffeine Gum, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has determined that a foreign firm is too heavily involved in plans to build a pair of reactors in Texas, according to The San Antonio Express-News.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed $9,000 in fines against a Montana business for workplace violations after grizzly bears mauled a man cleaning their cage, Reuters reports.

The move will likely stir controversy among social conservatives, some of whom view Plan B as a form of abortion.

A draft form released last month topped out at 15 pages, raising concerns the process would discourage applicants.

The Obama administration wants to increase the amount it pays hospitals under Medicare.

In a 1,424-page proposal, set to be published in the Federal Register on May 10, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing to increase the operating rates for long-term and short-term acute care at inpatient hospitals that treat patients covered by the government healthcare program, and is laying out some new features of the Affordable Care Act.

The CMS proposes increasing payments for acute care, which include short stays for non-chronic conditions like severe injuries or brief illnesses, by 0.8 percent, or about $27 million.

The agency also wants to increase payment rates for long-term care by 1.1 percent in 2014, estimated to come out to $62 million.

The agency's proposed increases account for offsets and reductions in spending, and would take effect starting in October.