Beleaguered diva Whitney Houston’s eagerly awaited yet widely panned return to the pop pen has not exactly gone to plan. Houston faced a barrage of criticism when she took her Nothing But Love tour to Australia last week, amid reports of fans walking out of her shows, demanding refunds and complaining she was off-key during performances. The backlash was kick-started after her disastrous Brisbane appearance. As has been widely reported, 46- ... Jump to full article >>

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You may find yourself missing more than nicotine when you finally snub out your last butt. Cigarettes are designed to manipulate your taste buds too, and research shows that tobacco’s flavors, both natural and added, can hold extra sway for many people struggling to quit. “The sensory components—the taste of it, the feel of inhaled smoke—these are an important part of why people smoke,” says Joseph McClernon, PhD, an assistant r ... Jump to full article >>

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President Obama is in “excellent health” – but has to stay away from the smokes and watch his cholesterol, doctors said Sunday. Obama, 48, is a lean 180 pounds, with 20-20 vision, but needs to “continue smoking cessation efforts,” doctors said after his first physical as commander in chief. Physicians at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. recommended Obama continue his “nicotine replacement ther ... Jump to full article >>

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Recently Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT) and the state were successful in their defense against a damages suit in which three people had sought ¥10 million each for health problems — cancer and pulmonary emphysema — allegedly caused by smoking. Still, the Jan. 20 Yokohama District Court ruling, which the plaintiffs appealed Feb. 1, includes points that JT and the government should seriously consider. The ruling covered the period from 1947 to 1993, ... Jump to full article >>

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A prosecutor said Thursday that New York jurors should focus on the abuse suffered by an alleged victim of police brutality. The New York Times said ahead of jury deliberations in a New York criminal case, prosecutor Charles Guria attempted to show how easily a police officer could have sodomized Michael Mineo in a 2008 incident at a New York subway station. “It doesn’t take very long,” Guria said while repeatedly gesturing with ... Jump to full article >>

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Location may be as significant to health outcomes as it is to real estate, a ranking of health by county indicates, U.S. researchers say. The County Health Rankings — by the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation — the first set of reports to rank the overall health of every county in all 50 states — is at: www.countyhealthrankings.org. Each county is ranked within a st ... Jump to full article >>

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