Miscellaneous News

RSS

185,000 patients have personal information stolen

A medical practice, the San Jose Medical Group, is sending letters to current and former patients in California after thieves recently stole two office computers.

11 Apr 2005

NIH accused of sexual intimidation and safety violations

National Institute of Health (NIH) medical officer Betsy Smith has testified in a recent civil case that women at the NIH have faced sexual intimidation and repeated disregard of their concerns for the welfare of patients in AIDS experiments.

11 Apr 2005

How tobacco industry attempted to influence privatisation plans of state-owned tobacco industry in Moldova

A paper in this week’s issue of The Lancet highlights how two tobacco companies attempted to influence plans to privatise the state-owned tobacco industry in Moldova.

7 Apr 2005

People with a peanut allergy should avoid all products containing lupin flour

A report in this week’s issue of The Lancet concludes that adults and children with an allergy to peanuts could also be allergic to lupin flour—a substance that is used in some European countries as a potential replacement for soya flour.

7 Apr 2005

The right to live gives us a right to die

Human beings' inalienable right to life means we also have the right to die, says an editorial in this week's BMJ.

7 Apr 2005

Reprieve for British vitamins and health

Leendert Geelhoed, an Advocate-General at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg has declared that a European directive controlling the sale of some vitamins and other food supplements, which is due to become law this year, is illegal.

6 Apr 2005

Europe wants checks for Sudan dyes

The European Commission will extend its checks for Sudan dyes to cover unprocessed palm oil and turmeric as a number of samples have tested positive for Sudan contamination and products have been withdrawn.

5 Apr 2005

Yoga should heal, not hurt

Yoga should heal, not hurt, according to Roger Cole, Ph.D. In his presentation at the ninth-annual American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Health & Fitness Summit & Exposition, Cole reviewed the injuries most often suffered by yoga practitioners and recommended ways to avoid them.

5 Apr 2005

Organ donors must document their wishes

According to the results of a new survey by the Coalition on Donation, an alliance of national and local organ and tissue donation education groups, even though many Americans support organ and tissue donation and are willing to become donors themselves, many have not taken the steps required to ensure that their wishes will be carried out after their death.

5 Apr 2005

Sobering facts on lung cancer

For up-to-date information about lung cancer, you can contact the Thomas G. Labrecque Foundation. The foundation was founded in 2002 by the Labrecque family in honor of Tom Labrecque, former chairman of the Chase Manhattan Bank. Mr. Labrecque, a non-smoker, died of lung cancer.

5 Apr 2005

Obesity costs California $21.7 billion a year

California businesses are feeling the financial pinch from employees with obesity-related health conditions, State Public Health Officer Dr. Richard J. Jackson announced today. The combined cost of physical inactivity, obesity and overweight totaled $21.7 billion in 2000, according to a new report, The Economic Costs of Physical Inactivity, Obesity and Overweight in California Adults, the first such research conducted for California.

5 Apr 2005

GP's often confronted by Internet informed patients

A psychologist, Elaine Brohan, from the University of Surrey in Guildford, England, has found that family doctors are having to redefine their traditional "father figure" role because patients increasingly turn to the internet for medical advice, and GP's are often being confronted by patients armed with website print-outs.

4 Apr 2005

Wolfowitz is the wrong choice for the World Bank

The nomination of Paul Wolfowitz to head the World Bank is the wrong choice and should be rejected, says an editorial in this week's BMJ.

3 Apr 2005

Pope John Paul II may need to be fed intravenously

The Pope apparently has had difficulty swallowing since a breathing tube was inserted late February.

30 Mar 2005

Avoiding risks of skin cancer from ultraviolet radiation (UVR)

Cancer Research UK has launched the SunSmart Campaign for 2005 and NRPB strongly supports the health promotion messages in the campaign.

30 Mar 2005

280 million pound package to transform the quality of school meals

Britain's Education Secretary Ruth Kelly today set down that schools should spend at least 50p per child on food ingredients as she unveiled a £280 million package to transform the quality of school meals.

30 Mar 2005

Massive weight loss conference hits Dallas

While massive weight loss surgery is increasingly becoming the treatment of choice for the morbidly obese, many patients are unaware that additional plastic surgery – body contouring – will likely be necessary to achieve their desired body shape.

29 Mar 2005

Children sick after zoo visit - Florida Officials investigate

Health officials in Florida report that five children are in a critical condition with kidney failure and may have picked up a rare infection at petting zoos.

28 Mar 2005

US Court rejects appeal of Terri Schiavo's parents

The full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has denied the request by Terri Schiavo's parents that doctors be ordered to reinsert the feeding tube that has kept their brain-damaged daughter alive for 15 years.

23 Mar 2005

Sunlight prevents cancer

The health of the public is being put at risk by recommendations to cover up and stay out of the sun in the UK. These recommendations, which are part of Cancer Research UK’s SunSmart programme, increase the risk of several types of cancer, and may also increase deaths from melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer.

23 Mar 2005