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FDA reviewers question Lilly Alzheimer’s test

U.S. health reviewers are concerned that clinicians may not be able to properly interpret brain scans using Eli Lilly & Co.’s imaging agent for Alzheimer’s and that the tests may be of limited use in assessing the degenerative disease.

The radioactive dye is intended for use with positron emission tomography, or PET, scans that help detect the presence of beta-amyloid plaques linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Get the full story »

New effort to make mortgage modifications easier

The Obama administration Tuesday stepped up efforts to make it easier for struggling homeowners to renegotiate their mortgages, though it could be more than a year before such efforts pay off.

The way mortgage servicers — firms that collect loan payments on behalf of a loan’s owner — are paid is “broken and should be fixed,” Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said in a joint statement. Get the full story »

Obama: Rethink regulations that hurt job creation

President Obama says he wants to get rid of government regulations that stifle job creation. He’s ordered federal agencies to review regulations and look for unreasonable ones that hurt economic growth.

Obama says he will sign an executive order Monday making it clear that his administration wants to strike the right balance between protecting the public and promoting economic growth.

Ill. tax credit incentive to hire temp workers

Gov. Pat Quinn has signed legislation providing a $2,500 tax credit to employers hiring trainees from the Put Illinois to Work temporary jobs program. The measure signed Monday takes effect immediately. Quinn says the new law gives employers an incentive to continue providing jobs to those who need them. Get the full story »

Transcripts show Fed saw housing bubble risks in ‘05

Federal Reserve officials worried in 2005 about the risks a housing bubble could pose to the U.S. economy but ended the year hopeful a steady round of interest-rate increases would keep the problem in check, transcripts released Friday showed.

The documents suggest the Fed, in hindsight, may have been too complacent about an overheated housing market that helped spark the worst U.S. financial crisis and deepest recession since the 1930s. Get the full story »

U.S. to end Boeing border fence project

President Barack Obama’s administration plans to pull the plug on the troubled “virtual fence” project  meant to better guard stretches of the U.S. border with Mexico, a senior lawmaker said Friday.

The project, being run by Boeing Co., has cost about $1 billion  to pull together video cameras, radar, sensors and other technologies to detect smugglers trying to cross the porous border. Get the full story »

FTC looks into football helmets’ safety claims

The chairman of the Federal Trade Commission says his agency is looking into marketing claims that some football helmets can help reduce concussions, responding to a senator who wants the FTC to investigate what he called “misleading safety claims and deceptive practices” in the sale of new helmets and reconditioning of used ones.

“We agree that these are serious concerns, and will determine what action by this agency may be appropriate,” FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz wrote to Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.). Get the full story »

Bernanke sees growth picking up, but not jobs

The U.S. economy should grow around 3 percent to 4 percent this year, a healthier clip than in 2010 but not enough to bring down unemployment as much as policymakers would like, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday.

“We see the economy strengthening. It has looked better in the last few months. We think a 3 to 4 percent-type of growth number for 2011 seems reasonable,” Bernanke said at an event sponsored by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Get the full story »

Basic first class mail spared from postal rate hikes

Postal rates will go up in April, but the cost of sending the basic letter will remain the same.

The Postal Service said Thursday that most rates will go up April 17 under a formula that allows the agency to increase prices within the rate of inflation. Get the full story »

FDA seeks to limit painkiller in Vicodin, others

U.S. health regulators are requesting a limit on the amount of acetaminophen in prescription pain medicines to curb the risk of liver damage.

The move announced on Thursday aims to limit combination drugs such as the opioids Percocet and Vicodin to 325 milligrams of acetaminophen per pill and calls for them to carry a “black box” warning about potential liver failure. Get the full story »

S&P, Moody’s: U.S. top credit rating in jeopardy

Two leading credit rating agencies on Thursday warned the U.S. on its credit rating, expressing concern over a deteriorating fiscal situation that needs correcting.

Moody’s Investors Service Inc. said in a report Thursday that the U.S. will need to reverse an upward trajectory in the debt ratios to support its Aaa rating.

“Further actions will be necessary to avoid an unfavorable debt trajectory, which would increase the probability of a change to a negative outlook on the Aaa rating,” Moody’s said in a report. Get the full story »

U.S. budget deficit narrowed in December

The federal budget deficit narrowed slightly in December from a year earlier, but the deficit for the entire year is still on pace to exceed $1 trillion.

The government ran a deficit of $80 billion last month, down 12.4 percent from the previous December, the Treasury Department said Wednesday. Through the first three months of the current budget year, the deficit totals $370.8 billion, an improvement of 3.1 percent a year earlier. Get the full story »

Beige Book shows economy still growing modestly

Economic growth continued to expand moderately the last few weeks, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.

In its latest snapshot of regional economic conditions, the Fed reported that manufacturing, retail and non-financial services sectors were strong in most regions. Get the full story »

U.S. trading in China’s yuan seen as symbolic

China is allowing U.S. currency traders to have a crack at its tightly controlled currency, the yuan, but analysts say the move will have more impact on international politics than markets.

“It’s a peace offering to the rest of the world,” said Dean Popplewell, chief currency strategist at the Toronto office of the Oanda Corp., a currency trading services company. Get the full story »

OSHA cites Bridgford plant for safety violations

A Bridgford Foods processing plant in Chicago faces up to $212,000 in fines for worker safety violations, a federal agency said Tuesday.

The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the producer of meat snacks and deli foods for failing to implement and provide training for workers on lockout procedures, in turn exposing workers to energized equipment. Get the full story »