FDA: This Halloween, Drop the Black Licorice

Food Safety: Don't eat too much black licorice as a Halloween treat, the FDA warns consumers. Its sweetening compound glycyrrhizin, made from licorice root, can cause your potassium levels to dip, Sora Song reports for Time's Healthland blog.

Preventive Health: Employers are trying many kinds of sticks and carrots to get their workers to stop smoking and lose weight, hopefully saving on health insurance costs, but employees aren't showing signs of improvement, Jilian Mincer reports for Reuters Health.

Malpractice: A California girl whose limbs had to be amputated after delayed emergency treatment will receive a $10 million malpractice settlement,

Drug Shortages: President Barack Obama on Monday signed an executive order for the Food and Drug Administration to identify and reduce shortages of vital medications amid recent shortages of lifesaving drugs like chemotherapy agents.  Gardiner Harris offers context in the New York Times.

Want more from Reporting on Health? Join us, sign up for our newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. Check out our Tumblr, too!

Photo credit: J.D. Hancock via Flickr