FDA Poised To Rule Meat, Milk From Cloned Animals: Safe
The Financial Times
Meat and milk from cloned farm animals is about to be declared safe for human consumption by the US Food and Drug Administration, one of the world's most powerful regulatory bodies. A favourable risk assessment from the FDA is expected to start the commercial exploitation of cloning to improve livestock quality around the world.
City Officials Reach Agreement With Nurses
KGO ABC 7
San Francisco officials have reached a tentative contract with city nurses. The proposed one-year agreement would increase nurse-to-patient ratios, provide wage hikes, and improve the city's incentives to recruit and retain skilled nurses. More than 1,500 nurses who work at San Francisco General Hospital and Laguna Hospital are involved in the agreement. City officials say they hope this plan will help the nursing shortage. Currently, there are 100 vacancies in San Francisco.
Hospitals, Educators Fret State's Nursing Shortage
Myrtle Beach Sun News
South Carolina ranks in the bottom 10 states in the nation for nurse-to-population ratios, according to information from the Census Bureau. As Horry and Georgetown county hospitals expand to accommodate a growing retiree population, experts expect a widespread nursing shortage to hamper immediate and future efforts to find qualified nurses.
Donated Eggs Bring Higher Miscarriage Risk
InteliHealth
COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- New research indicates that women who become pregnant with donated eggs are more likely to suffer miscarriages and dangerous high blood pressure than those who undergo fertility treatments with their own eggs. In a study presented Tuesday at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, Korean scientists reported that the risk was even higher if the donated egg came from a woman who was not related to the patient.
Common Virus Kills Cancer, Study Finds
Reuters
WASHINGTON -- A common virus that is harmless to people can destroy cancerous cells in the body and might be developed into a new cancer therapy, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday. The virus, called adeno-associated virus type 2, or AAV-2, infects an estimated 80 percent of the population. "Our results suggest that adeno-associated virus type 2, which infects the majority of the population but has no known ill effects, kills multiple types of cancer cells yet has no effect on healthy cells," said Craig Meyers, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the Penn State College of Medicine in Pennsylvania.
After Two Deaths FDA Recalls Implantable Defibrillators
Consumer Affairs
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is recalling implantable defibrillators made by the Guidant Corporation. The devices can develop an internal short circuit without warning, resulting in failure to deliver a shock when needed. The device has failed in at least 26 cases and is suspected in two deaths, including a college student who died in March.
Probable Case Of West Nile Virus Reported
CBS 2 New York
TOPEKA, Kan. -- This year's first probable case of West Nile virus was reported in Kansas where a 51-year-old resident is believed to have had the illness, health officials said. Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said Tuesday that lab tests have not confirmed the case. However, she said the doctor who treated the resident in mid-May reported West Nile symptoms.
Growing Demand for Pharmacists Make it Hot Field
Daily Herald
Applications to pharmacy schools across the nation have soared as word has spread that graduates are virtually guaranteed lucrative jobs. Pharmacy openings are multiplying as the aging population increasingly needs professionals to dispense, manage and research a growing list of prescription medications. Even as more universities offer pharmacy degrees and turn out larger graduating classes, the industry projects there won’t be enough bodies to avoid a personnel shortfall.
Marijuana-Based MS Drug Selling in Canada
KESQ TV 5 News
A painkiller derived from marijuana went on sale Monday in Canada, the first country to approve the spray designed for multiple sclerosis patients. Many people who have the painful nervous system disease smoke marijuana, but the drug is difficult to regulate and often hard to obtain, the Associated Press reported. Some 2.5 million people worldwide are believed to have MS, of which about 50,000 are Canadian, the wire service said.
Most Doctors Surveyed Believe in God
The Associated Press
CHICAGO -- A survey examining religion in medicine found that most U.S. doctors believe in God and an afterlife - a surprising degree of spirituality in a science-based field, researchers say. In the survey of 1,044 doctors nationwide, 76 percent said they believe in God, 59 percent said they believe in some sort of afterlife, and 55 percent said their religious beliefs influence how they practice medicine.
