House panel bill to crack down on steroids
Legislation to combat illegal use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs in professional sports leagues won the approval on Wednesday of a U.S. congressional committee.
On a 38-2 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee approved the measure, which would create minimum standards for drug testing and provide for a lifetime suspension for a third offense.
Vietnam bird flu toll rises to 39
A 73-year-old Vietnamese has died from bird flu, taking the country’s toll to 39, 19 of them since the virus returned in December, state-run media reported on Thursday.
The Hanoi resident, one of four people infected by the H5N1 virus being treated in hospital, died on Tuesday after being admitted on June 23, the Lao Dong newspaper quoted hospital officials as saying.
It gave no further details of the patient, and doctors at the hospital could not be reached immediately for comment.
Australia’s “Dr. Death” had acceptable record
An Indian-born surgeon, dubbed “Dr. Death” in Australia after being linked to the deaths of 87 patients, had an acceptable medical record but still contributed to eight deaths, a review of the doctor’s patients said.
Jayant Patel, who was banned from surgery in two U.S. states, left Australia in March after he was linked to the 87 deaths at Bundaberg Hospital in Queensland state in 2003-04, when he was head of surgery at the hospital.
UK ambulance changes mean more treated at home
Up to a million people calling emergency services could be treated at home rather than at hospital under a reorganisation of England’s ambulance service, Health Minister Lord Warner said on Thursday.
“We are going to develop and enhance the care that is available in our communities from the NHS by using ambulance services to take healthcare to the patient, to become a mobile healthcare system,” he said in a statement.
Health groups seek to intervene in U.S. tobacco case
Anti-smoking and health advocates made a bid to intervene in the U.S. government’s racketeering case against cigarette makers, telling a federal judge the Justice Department was not being tough enough on the industry.
Six anti-smoking groups said they filed with U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler arguing that they should be made formal parties to the lawsuit so they can propose stricter sanctions against the industry.
UK airline calls in sleep doctor to cure jet lag
British Airways has called in a specialist to find a cure for jet-lag, potentially a dream come true for sleep-deprived frequent flyers.
Sleep researcher Dr. Chris Idzikowski will spend the next six months studying the best way to snooze at 30,000 feet as well as tricking passengers’ body clocks to cope with time zone changes.
Whistle blower says drug industry cheated Medicaid
Settlements of cases involving prescription drug price manipulation in both the U.S. Medicaid and Medicare health programs provide “evidence of systemic, industry-wide problems that need to be addressed,” U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said Wednesday.
At the second of 2 days of hearings on fraud in the Medicaid program, the Senate Finance Committee heard testimony from both state and federal officials detailing the more than $2 billion in recoveries from drug price manipulation over the past 4 years.
Portugal Socialists seek 2005 abortion referendum
Portugal’s ruling Socialists introduced legislation on Tuesday to allow a referendum to ease strict abortion laws to be held this year, a party spokesman said on Wednesday.
The Socialists had promised a referendum during their campaign ahead of February elections. A spokesman for the Socialist parliamentary bloc said the legislation was filed on Tuesday and a vote is set for July 8.
S. Africa acts on illegal circumcision after deaths
South African authorities are taking action against illegal circumcision rituals but were too late to save six youths who died after botched operations, a regional health official said on Tuesday.
At least 10 traditional surgeons and nurses had been arrested for unlicensed circumcisions involving young men and teenage boys in the Eastern Cape this month, provincial health department spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said.
