Sale of Abortion-Pill Threatened By U.S. Lawmakers
News-Medical.Net
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a new warning this week regarding the abortion pill RU-486 following the deaths of five women taking it, from bacterial infections. But several conservative lawmakers are saying that this is inadequate, and want sales of the abortion pill halted until a further safety review has been conducted. The three cases apparently involved a rare bacterium known as Clostridium sordellii. One occurred during a clinical trial in Canada in 2001, while the other four were reported in California, two in late 2003, one in early 2004 and one in mid-2005. Dr. Steven Galson, acting director of the FDA's drug center, says as yet ' there are no alarm bells going off ', but they are watching the situation very closely.

Relief for South Dakotas Nursing Shortage Within Sight
Thune announces $266,972 grant to SDSU College of Nursing
BlackHillsPortal.com
Washington, D.C. -- Senator John Thune announced today that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded a $266,972 grant to the South Dakota State University College of Nursing as part of the Health Resources and Services Administration Advanced Education Nursing Grants program. The award is provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). HRSA’s mission is “to provide national leadership, program resources and services needed to improve access to culturally competent, quality health care.”

Judge Drops Contempt Proceedings Against Governor
North County Times
SACRAMENTO -- A Sacramento judge dropped contempt proceedings Thursday against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, saying his reissuing of regulations delaying tougher nurse staffing standards in hospitals was not a willful attempt to violate a court order. In a written order, Judge Judy Hersher said she accepted statements from the governor's attorneys that administration officials believed that reissuing the regulations would not violate an injunction knocking down the regulations. "Disobedience alone ... is not enough; such disobedience must be willful...," Hersher said. "The court is confident that respondents' misperceptions have now been corrected and the readoption of the emergency regulation will not resurface as an issue in the future."

Doctor Liable for Leaving Tool in Patient
The Associated Press
NEW YORK -- A judge found a physician negligent in a medical malpractice lawsuit accusing the doctor of losing a surgical needle in a patient's abdomen and then closing the opening after he couldn't find it. State Supreme Court Justice Eileen Bransten found Dr. Douglas M. Heymann liable for the mishap during hernia surgery in 2001. The needle eventually lodged in 55-year-old Christopher Faas' liver, where it remains.

Merck Didn't Study Vioxx Effect on Heart
The Associated Press
ANGLETON, Texas -- Merck & Co. didn't do any significant studies on whether Vioxx could cause heart attacks or other serious cardiovascular problems before the popular painkiller went on the market in 1999, the company's top epidemiologist testified Wednesday. Nancy Santanello, head of Merck's epidemiology department and the company's corporate face at the nation's first Vioxx-related lawsuit to go to trial, said nothing in Merck's database before the drug went on the market in 1999 indicated it could cause heart attacks.

Debate On Autism Link To Vaccines Fired Up Again
News-Medical.Net
In a relatively unusual event, federal health officials called a news conference this week in an attempt to affirm the safety of vaccines. This came among the growing concern of some parents who allege that vaccines can cause autism. A rally by autism activists is planned this week in front of the U.S. Capitol on to emphasize their belief that the government has concealed evidence linking autism to a mercury-based product once used in vaccines.

Feds Again Dispute Vaccine-Autism Link
ABC News
WASHINGTON -- The government assembled some leading scientists Tuesday to try again to lay to rest public suspicions that a mercury-based preservative once used in childhood vaccines causes autism. A day before parents who blame the chemical were to complain to Congress, federal health officials stressed that the only childhood vaccines that still contain the preservative are some, but not all, flu shots and that there's no credible evidence that it caused the brain disorder anyway.

Flu Vaccine Maker Gets A Second Dose Of Bad News
USA TODAY
Chiron, the company whose flu vaccine was declared unusable last year, plunging the USA into a shortage, announced Wednesday that problems at a second plant, in Marburg, Germany, will prevent it from supplying a brand of flu vaccine sold in Europe. Though the German-made vaccine was never intended for the U.S. market, the situation raises concerns about whether the company will be able to resolve its manufacturing problems in time to provide vaccine for the coming flu season.

Work Begins in Pa. Flu-Vaccine Factory
SanLuisObispo.com
SWIFTWATER, Pa. -- Work began Wednesday on a new $150 million factory to make flu vaccines, a facility designed to boost the nation's precarious vaccine supply. The new Sanofi-Pasteur SA factory, which company officials said should be ready for production for the 2009 flu season, replaces an existing factory in Swiftwater. It will double the capability for producing flu vaccine and is expected to add 100 production jobs, company officials said. About 1,500 people work at the 276-acre campus, about 80 miles north of Philadelphia.