WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Senate panel on Tuesday rejected a government-run “public” insurance option as part of a broad healthcare overhaul, setting up a fight over one of the bill’s most contentious issues.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Several tobacco companies plan to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a May ruling in a racketeering lawsuit that requires them to disclose more about the dangers of smoking and bars them from selling cigarettes as “light” or “low tar.”

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian province of Ontario said on Tuesday it has filed a lawsuit seeking C billion (.9 billion) in damages from tobacco companies for healthcare costs incurred by taxpayers since 1955.

HONG KONG/BANGKOK (Reuters) - An experimental AIDS vaccine that appears to be the first to protect people was mired for years in controversy, and credit for its success must go to Thailand where the trial was conducted, experts said.

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada outperforms the United States in health outcomes but is well behind global leaders like Japan in overall health of its population, a Canadian report released on Monday showed.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Monday reinstated an Alaska lawsuit against Altria Group Inc’s Philip Morris USA by the survivor of a deceased smoker, saying her state product liability claims were not preempted by federal law and should have been tried in state court.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A small but growing number of women with breast cancer are choosing to have the unaffected breast removed in an effort to prevent a recurrence, researchers reported Monday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. health officials are looking into whether patients with a certain bone marrow disorder are more at risk for death and serious complications with the drug Exjade, made by Novartis AG.

GENEVA (Reuters) - Early use of antivirals is effective in treating H1N1 flu and health authorities must be vigilant for signs of drug resistance, the World Health Organisation said on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A broad healthcare overhaul emerged unscathed on Friday from the first week of Senate committee debate, with Chairman Max Baucus keeping fellow Democrats in line and shielding key elements from Republican attacks.