Nation in Brief

Growths removed from Bush’s head

President Bush had two moles removed from his left temple on Friday. His doctors expect tests on the skin growths to show that they are noncancerous.

The five-minute procedure called a shave biopsy was performed in the White House office of Bush’s official physician, Richard Tubb.

Bush has had several lesions removed before: a precancerous lesion on his left arm in August, a noncancerous skin growth on his neck in July 2005, small lesions from his left shoulder and face in 2004, and others from his face in December 2001. None has been cancerous, but the president has regular checkups to guard against any lesions advancing to a more dangerous stage.

St. Louis

Couple sues over salmonella

A couple sued ConAgra Foods Inc. on Friday over a salmonella outbreak linked to its peanut butter, and their attorney predicted more suits would follow.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Kansas City by Susanna and Brian Cox, of St. Joseph. It claims that Susanna Cox and the couple’s two children became ill in October after eating Great Value peanut butter, made by ConAgra. The two children required urgent medical treatment, according to the lawsuit.

Seattle-based attorney William Marler, whose firm handles many cases of food-borne illness, said the lawsuit is the first in the outbreak, which has sickened nearly 300 people in 39 states since August. No deaths have been reported.

Also Friday, Marler filed another lawsuit in federal court in Rochester, N.Y., on behalf of a New York couple and their child. The lawsuit said the father and 2-year-old son became severely ill over the last week after eating sandwiches with Peter Pan peanut butter.

A Texas couple also filed a lawsuit Friday against ConAgra in Texas, saying their 5-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son got sick after eating Peter Pan peanut butter.

St. Petersburg, Fla.

Teen has hiccups for three weeks

For more than three weeks, despite medical tests and home remedies, a teenager has been hiccuping. A lot.

In fact, Jennifer Mee is hiccuping close to 50 times a minute, stopping only when she’s sleeping.

The 15-year-old has had blood tests, a CT scan and an MRI since the fits started Jan. 23. Drugs haven’t worked. Neither has holding her breath, putting sugar under her tongue, sipping pickle juice, breathing into a paper bag and drinking from the wrong side of a glass.

And, yes, people have tried to scare them out of her.

Jennifer’s mother, Rachel Robidoux, turned to a newspaper for help, but the suggestions of hundreds of readers have failed. “I’m just looking for some answers where somebody’s gone through this,” Robidoux told the St. Petersburg Times.