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HavenWorks.com/health/archive/2004 |
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/ Archive
/ 2004
Tom
DeLay -
- "Ethics
Panel Rebukes DeLay: Majority Leader Offered Favor
To Get Peer's Vote." ... "The House ethics committee admonished Majority
Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) last night for offering a political favor to
a Michigan lawmaker in exchange for the member's vote on last year's hard-fought
Medicare prescription drug bill." ... "After a six-month investigation,
the committee concluded that DeLay had told Rep. Nick Smith (R-Mich.) he
would endorse the congressional bid of Smith's son if the congressman gave
GOP leaders a much-needed vote in a contentious pre-dawn roll call on Nov.
22." -By Charles Babington -WashingtonPost
- 
- "Iowa
lab marks century of testing." ... "The Iowa Hygienic
Laboratory has been on the forefront diseases for 100 years and counting."
... "The state established the lab in April 1904. It wasn't until later
that year, on Sept. 26, 1904, that the first disease sample was recorded
- a tuberculosis test result for woman from Shell Rock. It turned out to
be negative." -AP
via -SeattlePI.NWsource
- "Toll
Climbs to 161 in N.Korea Blast as Aid Sent." ...
"Aid workers initially put the toll at 154 dead and hundreds injured after
the explosion of two trains at North Korea's Ryongchon station near the
Chinese border just hours after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had passed
through by train." ... ""We have heard from our people in North Korea that
the death toll has risen to 161," said Niels Juel, regional relief coordinator
for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies,
Sunday. Scores of primary school children were among those killed." ...
"Intravenous drips to administer antibiotics and painkillers to seriously
injured patients were scant, as were clean sheets and food." (1, 2,
3)
-By Kim Miyoung and Juliana Liu
-Reuters
- 
- 
- "Death
toll near 500 in Fallujah, Baghdad." ... "In the
first detailed accounting of Iraqi casualties in the fighting that erupted
across the country this month, officials at the Iraqi Ministry of Health
said yesterday that 264 have been killed and 791 wounded in the Fallujah
area since April 5, while in Baghdad another 235 have been killed and 832
wounded." ... "The health ministry's nationwide data also show that 12
percent of the Iraqis killed were women or children 15 years old or younger."
... "The health ministry's casualty toll for Fallujah was substantially
lower than the death counts reported since fighting broke out there at
the start of April. The data also show a nationwide death toll for April's
fighting that is much lower than the figures widely reported in the media,
some of them exceeding 1,100." -By Anne Barnard
-Boston/Globe
- 
- 
- "Researchers:
Worry affects female fertility." ... "Women worried
about the medical aspects of the procedure had 20 percent fewer eggs retrieved
and 19 percent fewer eggs fertilized than women who were less inclined
to worry about it, the researchers report in this week's issue of the journal
Fertility and Sterility." ... "Patients who were very concerned about missing
work had 30 percent fewer eggs fertilized, Hillary Klonoff-Cohen and colleagues
found." -Reuters
via -CNN
- "Santa
Cruz group wins court OK to grow pot: Ruling allows
medical marijuana distribution." ... "A Santa Cruz medical marijuana collective
shut down by federal agents two years ago can grow and distribute marijuana
for its patients while its civil lawsuit against the federal government
is decided by the courts, a federal judge ruled Wednesday." ... "The ruling
by U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel in San Jose marks the first time a
court has granted a medical marijuana organization the right to grow the
federally outlawed herb without interference from federal drug agents."
... "The ruling clears the way for the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana
in Santa Cruz to challenge the federal government's authority to raid medical
marijuana gardens operating within the boundaries of California law." -By
Maria Alicia Gaura -SFGate.com
-
- "Iron
tablets can improve women's brainpower." ... "The
brainpower of young women who are lacking in iron can be markedly boosted
by taking supplements of the mineral, suggests a new study." ... "Even
women who were just modestly iron deficient did much worse on attention,
memory and learning tests than those with enough iron in their blood, found
the study by researchers at Pennsylvania State University in the US." -By
Shaoni Bhattacharya -NewScientist.com
- 
- Smallpox
- "U.S.
considers new smallpox vaccine: Scientists optimistic
about MVA." ... "Buoyed by promising results in animal experiments, government
officials are contemplating buying massive quantities of a new type of
smallpox vaccine to supplement the national stockpile already assembled
in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks." ... "Scientists believe
that unlike any of the vaccines now available, the new vaccine may be effective
in protecting against the deadly infectious disease without the risk of
serious -- and occasionally lethal -- side effects." ... "As doubts grow
about the existing vaccines, scientists are increasingly optimistic about
the prospects for the experimental vaccine, called Modified Vaccinia Ankara,
or MVA." -By Griff Witte with contributions by Justin
Gillis -WashingtonPost
via -MSNBC
-
- "A
primate primer: Boys will be boys, as girls ape mom:
Chimps shed light on roots of sex-based learning differences in human youngsters."
... "The girls watch their mothers closely. The boys horse around. Researchers
have found sex-based learning differences in chimpanzees that are similar
to those observed in human children." ... "This means, the scientists said,
that sex-based learning differences likely have a biological basis that
dates back to the last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees." ...
"There is still debate, however, over whether biology or culture plays
a larger role in the learning differences that have been observed between
the sexes in humans." -By Anne McIlroy
-TheGlobeAndMail.com
- 
- 
-
- "Attack
on expectant mom a crime against 2: Relatives of
Peterson, other victims attend bill signing." ... "President Bush signed
legislation Thursday making it a separate crime to harm a fetus during
the commission of a violent federal crime against a pregnant woman, and
he declared that, with the new law, the United States was "building a culture
of life."" ... "The Unborn Victims of Violence Act protects a fetus at
any stage of its development. The measure does not deal with abortion but
at its foundation it deals with the central question in the abortion debate:
At what point does an embryo or a fetus deserve full protection of the
law as a living person?" ... "Advocates of abortion rights fear it will
be used to establish precedent that could undercut those rights, established
in 1973 by the Supreme Court in Roe vs. Wade." -By
James Gerstenzang-LAtimes
via -SFGate.com
-
- 
-
- "UCLA
Denies Role in Cadaver Case: Probe Targets Director
of Willed-Body Program, Suspected Middleman." ... "The University of California
at Los Angeles denied involvement Monday in the sale of cadaver body parts
for profit after the arrest of the head of its medical school's cadaver
program and a second man over the weekend. Authorities are investigating
whether about 800 bodies donated to the program over the past six years
were illegally sawed into pieces and sold to medical research companies."
... "Henry Reid, 54, director of the university's program that makes donated
bodies available for medical education, was arrested Saturday for investigation
of grand theft for allegedly selling corpses and body parts. Ernest Nelson,
the suspected middleman, was arrested at his home in Alta Loma, Calif.,
on Sunday night on suspicion of receiving stolen property." -By
Kimberly Edds -WashingtonPost
- 
-
-
- Anthrax
News
- "Tenet
Warns of Al Qaeda Threat: CIA Chief Says Group Is
Fragmented but Still Dangerous." ... "Despite U.S. success in attacking
al Qaeda's hierarchy, the network is still capable of "catastrophic attacks"
against the United States, and acquiring chemical, biological and radiological
weapons remains a "religious obligation" in Osama bin Laden's eyes, CIA
Director George J. Tenet told the Senate intelligence committee yesterday."
... "The most immediate threats include the possibility of "poison attacks"
and al Qaeda's ongoing effort to produce anthrax material, he said: "Extremists
have widely disseminated assembly instructions for an improvised chemical
weapon using common materials that could cause a large number of casualties
in a crowded, enclosed area."" (1, 2)
-By Dana Priest -WashingtonPost
-
- "Scientist
Is Watched for Signs of Ebola." ... "A scientist
who works in a maximum containment laboratory at Fort Detrick has been
placed in isolation after she accidentally stuck herself with a needle
while working with mice infected with a weakened form of the Ebola virus."
... "The woman, whom officials at the Army base declined to identify, has
shown no symptoms of the deadly Ebola hemorrhagic fever during eight days
of medical observation in a special isolation facility, said Army spokesman
Chuck Dasey. He said she was exposed to the Zaire strain of Ebola, the
deadliest of the three types of the virus." -By Avram
Goldstein -WashingtonPost
- 
-
- "Feds
Seek U. of Michigan Abortion Records." ... "The Justice
Department is seeking abortion records from the University of Michigan
Medical Center and several other university hospitals as part of a lawsuit
over the federal ban on what critics call partial-birth abortions." ...
"The government insists it does not want specific information about patients,
only general information on abortions that were performed by the seven
plaintiffs in the case." ... "But hospitals have been reluctant to produce
the information. The University of Michigan refused several weeks ago based
on privacy grounds, spokeswoman Kallie Michels said Wednesday." -By
Dee-Ann Durbin -AP
via -Miami/Herald
-
- STEM
CELL NEWS - CLONING
NEWS
- "Cloning
of human embryos achieved." ... "South Korean scientists
have succeeded in creating clones of human embryos, a major breakthrough
for the promising field of stem-cell therapy — and for the far more controversial
endeavor of cloning a human being." ... "The achievement, to be published
this week in the journal Science, was hailed by many scientists because
it brings closer the possibility that replacement tissues might one day
be grown to treat medical conditions such as diabetes, spinal-cord injuries
and Parkinson's disease." ... "The study was conducted by a team of scientists
at the Seoul National University, Mizmedi Hospital, Hanyang University,
Gachon Medical School and Sunchun National University." -LAtimes
and -WashingtonPost via
-SeattleTimes.NWsource
-
- STEM
CELL NEWS - CLONING
NEWS
- "Human
cells cloned, South Korean researchers claim." ...
"The researchers, who will publish their work today in the online edition
of the journal Science, placed genetic material from a Korean volunteer
into a human egg cell and coaxed it to develop into a blastocyst, a cluster
of about 100 cells that is substantially more advanced than any embryo
previously known to have been created in a human-cloning experiment." ...
"In another first, the team also extracted embryonic stem cells, powerful
cells with the ability to become any other kind of cell, from the cloned
blastocyst." -By Gareth Cook -Boston/Globe
via -StarTribune.com
-
- STEM
CELL NEWS - CLONING
NEWS
- "South
Korean researchers cull stem cells from cloned human embryo."
... "Researchers in South Korea for the first time have cloned a human
embryo and then culled stem cells from it, marking an important step toward
one day growing patients' own replacement tissue to treat diseases." ...
"This is not cloning to make babies. Instead it's called therapeutic cloning,
in which embryos that are the genetic twins of a particular patient are
grown in a test-tube to supply master stem cells that can grow into any
tissue --without being rejected by that patient's immune system." -By
Lauran Neergaard -AP
via -SFGate.com
-
- -
- "Mercury
damage 'irreversible'." ... "Scientists at the Harvard
School of Public Health have found that methyl mercury contamination of
seafood can cause heart damage and irreversible impairment to brain function
in children, both in the womb and as they grow." ... ""If something happens
in the brain at development, you don't get a second chance," says lead
researcher Philippe Grandjean." ... "Grandjean and his colleagues report
in the Journal of Pediatrics that electrical signals in the brains
of children exposed to mercury aren't transmitted as quickly as in unexposed
children. They also found that mercury appears to weaken the heartbeat."
-By Elizabeth Weise -USATODAY
-
-
-
-
- "More
newborns said to be at risk from mercury." ... "A
new government analysis nearly doubled the estimate of the number of newborn
children at risk for health problems because of unsafe mercury levels in
their blood. Environmental Protection Agency scientists said yesterday
that new research indicates that 630,000 U.S. newborns had unsafe levels
of mercury in their blood in 1999-2000." ... "The key factor in the revised
estimates is research showing differences in mercury levels in the blood
of pregnant women and their unborn children. In a Jan. 26 presentation
at EPA's National Forum on Contaminants in Fish, in San Diego, EPA biochemist
Kathryn Mahaffey said researchers in the past few years had shown that
mercury levels in a fetus' umbilical-cord blood are 70 percent higher than
those in the mother's blood." -By Guy Gugliotta
-WashingtonPost via
-SeattleTimes.NWsource
- "Mad
Cow Quandary: Making Animal Feed." ... "In the month
and a half since a case of mad cow disease was discovered in Washington
State, Americans have been learning more than they wanted to know about
what cattle in this country have been eating." ... "Though consumers may
imagine bucolic scenes of nursing calves and cows munching on grass or
hay, much of American agriculture no longer works that way. For years,
calves have been fed cow's blood instead of milk, and cattle feed has been
allowed to contain composted wastes from chicken coops, including feathers,
spilled feed and even feces." ... "Though the United States banned the
use of cow parts in cattle feed in the 1990's, it still permits rendered
matter from cows to be fed to pigs and chickens, and rendered pigs and
chickens to be fed back to cows. Critics say that in theory, that sequence
could bring mad cow disease full circle, back to cows." -By
Denise Grady-NYTimes
via -Google-News
-
- 
- "Bird
flu 'not under control', says UN." ... "The bird
flu outbreak in Asia is not under control, the UN and the World Health
Authority said today after an emergency meeting in Rome, and called for
targeted vaccination of poultry." ... "The virus, which has killed at least
13 people in Asia after jumping to humans in Thailand and Vietnam, will
spread much further without emergency measures, according to the UN food
and agriculture organisation (FAO), the WHO and the world animal health
organisation (WAHO)." -Guardian.co.uk
- "Mad
cow panel urges testing: The experts also want stricter
rules on animal feed." ... "An influential panel of international experts
warned Wednesday that there are likely more cases of mad cow disease in
the country and urged the Bush administration to further tighten safeguards
on meat and animal feed." ... "The scientists, who reviewed the U.S. regulations
at the request of the government, said the risk to public health was low
but warned that one sick cow could spread the disease widely if its remains
are used in animal feed." -By Philip Brasher
-DesMoinesRegister/News
- "Ricin
Find
Stops Most Senate Business Capitol: Physician Says
No Evidence That Anyone Was Exposed to Ricin Enough 'To Make Them Sick'."
... "A white powder found in Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's office
tested Tuesday as an "active" form of the deadly poison ricin, forcing
cancellation of most Senate business in the second such scare from a lethal
toxin to hit the capital." ... "Between 40 and 50 Capitol employees were
quarantined briefly and decontaminated, said Senate aides who spoke on
condition of anonymity." ... "But officials have found no evidence that
anyone was significantly exposed to the poison enough "to make them sick,"
said Dr. John Eisold, the Capitol physician. However, he urged employees
to be alert for symptoms over the next 48 to 72 hours."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
- 
- "Senator:
Flight cancellations necessary." ... " A key member
of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Sunday the United States has
no defense against threats to release biological weapons inside airplanes
except to cancel suspect flights." ... "Asked about reports that a biological
or chemical agent might be used in an attack on a U.S.-bound airline, Sen.
Jay Rockefeller, D-West Virginia, said the United States would have no
way to counter such moves." -CNN
- 
- "Cost
estimates rise to $540 billion for Medicare plan."
... "The new Medicare drug benefit will cost about 35 percent more than
Congress anticipated, helping to kick the federal budget deficit up to
a record $500 billion next year, according to officials familiar with the
fiscal 2005 budget that President Bush is to release Monday." ... "The
prescription drug plan, which will not be fully in effect until 2006, will
cost about $540 billion over 10 years, instead of the $396 billion projected
in the law that Congress approved late last year, said a government official
and private-sector economists who have been briefed on the budget." -By
Susan Milligan -Boston/Globe
-
-
- "State
changes rules for getting abortion: New law's ID
requirement criticized." ... "Women seeking abortions must show proof of
their age and identity but can refuse information materials concerning
risks, according to rules adopted Thursday by the Texas Department of Health."
... "Abortion rights advocates criticized the ID rule but claimed "partial
victory" after the board amended some of the most controversial rules that
prompted more than 2,300 public comments, a record." -By
Polly Ross Hughes -HoustonChronicle.com
- "Polio
on rise as Nigerian clerics block vaccinations."
... "The World Health Organization has confirmed new outbreaks of polio
in two African countries that were polio-free -- just as the global effort
to eradicate the disease was believed to be on the brink of success." ...
"New cases have been confirmed in Cameroon and Benin, and both were caused
by a strain from Nigeria that is spreading after Muslim leaders in the
north of that country blocked vaccination efforts, saying they were part
of a U.S. plot to make Muslim women infertile." -By
Stephanie Nolen -GlobeAndMail
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