05/09/2008

Flu vaccine makers to set new doses record for next season
Flu vaccine manufacturers expect to make a record number of doses for next flu season despite concerns that demand may drop because this year's vaccine was largely ineffective.

Suicide rate among doctors thought to be higher than that of general populus
An estimated 300 to 400 U.S. doctors kill themselves each year – a suicide rate thought to be higher than in the general population, although exact figures are hard to come by.

05/08/2008

Sinkhole in small Texas town gobbling up equipment
A massive sinkhole that has swallowed oilfield equipment, telephone poles and vehicles grew overnight but isn't much closer to the main road running through this small town, officials said Thursday.

05/07/2008

Arbitrator upholds vote to establish nurses' union at Tenet hospital in Houston
Texas affiliate of the National Nurses Organizing Committee/California Nurses Association voted March 27 to organize nurses at Tenet Healthcare Corp.'s Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center in Houston.

Minyard giving free prenatal vitamins to pregnant women
The Coppell-based supermarket chain said its free offer is for 12 months, including three months after delivery, and is part of its new community-based "Start Life Healthy" initiative.

05/06/2008

Richardson City Council expected to vote next week on revised smoking ordinance
For the second week in a row, council discussion went late into the night on Monday over the smoking issue. And while the council remains deeply divided on whether to enact some of the toughest smoking rules in North Texas, a slim majority appears to have come to a resolution on what will be included in a ban.

Study: Restaurant tobacco bans influence teen smoking
BOSTON – A Massachusetts study suggests that restaurant smoking bans may play a big role in persuading teens not to become smokers.

05/05/2008

Concern voiced about proposed new version of OxyContin
Purdue Pharma LP contends that adding a plastic-like coating to the tablets makes the drug sometimes called "hillbilly heroin" harder to crush and snort or inject. But advisers to the Food and Drug Administration called for more testing.

FDA study finds risks with insulin pumps
CHICAGO – Insulin pumps, used by tens of thousands of teenagers and others with Type 1 diabetes, can be risky and have been linked to injuries and even deaths, a study by federal regulators found.

Problems with imports include tainted seafood, banned drugs
WASHINGTON – In March, inspectors checking Chinese seafood arriving at U.S. ports made some unsettling discoveries: fish infected with salmonella in Baltimore and Seattle and shrimp with banned veterinary drugs in Florida.

05/03/2008

Reports show systemic abuse at Texas' psychiatric hospitals
In all, 72 employees across Texas' 10 state mental hospitals have been fired in the last three years for allegations of physical abuse, according to a Dallas Morning News analysis of state personnel records.

05/01/2008

TXU Energy to implement summer plan for elderly, disabled customers
The retail electricity unit of Energy Future Holdings said Thursday it will implement its usual summer moratorium on disconnecting low-income, disabled or elderly customers who cannot pay their bills.

Plano steroids supplier wants to help clean up NFL
David Jacobs, the ringleader of one of the largest steroids trafficking networks in the nation, was sentenced to three years of probation and fined $25,000 Thursday. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello confirmed Thursday that the league wants to talk to Mr. Jacobs.

04/30/2008

More mothers breast-feeding
Breastfeeding in the U.S. has increased to the highest rate in more than two decades, topping national goals of having three-quarters of new moms nurse their infants by 2010, a government report said.

Albert Hofmann, father of LSD, dies at 102
Albert Hofmann, the father of the mind-altering drug LSD whose medical discovery inspired -- and arguably corrupted -- millions in the 1960s hippie generation, has died. He was 102.

04/29/2008

Study links easy access to fast food to diabetes, obesity
In communities with an abundance of fast-food outlets and convenience stores, researchers have found, obesity and diabetes rates are much higher than in areas where fresh fruit and vegetable markets and full-service grocery stores are easily accessible.

Lawmakers hear about heparin deaths
Contaminated heparin, a blood thinner used in dialysis and other treatments, has been connected to 81 deaths and 785 severe allergic reactions, said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations.

Philippines bans foreigners from receiving kidneys for transplant
The move was to prevent the country from becoming a major Asian center in an already thriving black-market trade, health officials announced Tuesday. Extensive kidney trading involving impoverished Filipinos and prisoners – who sell their organs for paltry sums to syndicates catering mostly to foreign clients – has been reported by the local media in recent years.

UT Southwestern pharmacology head elected to National Academy of Sciences
David Mangelsdorf, chairman of the department of pharmacology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, was elected Tuesday to the National Academy of Sciences.

04/28/2008

Exercise-heart study casts doubt on 'fit but fat' theory

New research found that being active can lower but not eliminate heart risks faced by heavy women. Previous research has gone back and forth on whether exercise or weight has a greater influence on heart disease risks.

04/27/2008

Marijuana use can rule out transplant
SEATTLE – Timothy Garon's face and arms are hauntingly skeletal, but the fluid building up in his abdomen makes the 56-year-old musician look pregnant.

Subject of illegal immigrants receiving organs stirs debate
LOS ANGELES – Ana Puente was an infant with a liver disorder when her aunt brought her illegally to the U.S. for medical care. She had two liver transplants at the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center as a child in 1989 and a third in 1998, each paid for by the state.