Skin Cells Converted to Stem Cells
The Washington Post
Scientists for the first time have turned ordinary skin cells into what appear to be embryonic stem cells -- without having to use human eggs or make new human embryos in the process, as has always been required in the past, a Harvard research team announced yesterday. The approach -- details of which are to be published this week in the journal Science but were made public on the journal's Web site yesterday -- is still in an early stage of development. But if further studies confirm its usefulness, it could offer an end run around the heated social and religious debate that has for years overshadowed the field of human embryonic stem cell research.

Shortage of 61,000 nurses by year 2020 in S. Fla.
Boca Raton News
The National Commission on the Nursing Workforce (NCNW) said in May there are nearly 100,000 vacant nursing positions in long-term care facilities nationwide on any given day. Nurse turnover rate exceeds 50 percent, while the shortage is costing long-term care facilities an estimated $4 billion a year in recruitment and training expenses, the NCNW said.

Nursing Programs Don't Fill Demand
Schools turn away qualified applicants for lack of space
Daily Review Online
Local colleges and universities, inundated with applications from would-be nursing students, are turning away hundreds of qualified students because they don't have enough space. The shortage of slots is fueling concerns the state won't produce enough nurses to stem a nursing shortage predicted to reach crisis proportions in the next 15 years.

State Grant To Boost Capacity To Address Nursing Shortage
Orlando Business Journal
Valencia Community College has won a $390,240 grant to increase the number of students entering the college's associate degree program in nursing. The grant is part of the Succeed Florida Nursing Education Grant Program, and allows colleges and universities to increase the capacity of Board of Nursing-approved programs to produce more nurses to alleviate a drastic shortage in Florida's workforce.

Fla. Woman Dies of Flesh-Eating Bacteria
New York Newsday
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A 45-year-old Jacksonville woman has died from flesh-eating bacteria that she contracted while riding a personal watercraft on the St. Johns River, officials said. Candace Scott died Aug. 3, Duval County health officials said. One to three cases of flesh-eating bacteria are typically reported in the county each year, but deaths are rare, said Tim Lawther, director of chronic disease and prevention for the county's health department.

Armstrong Pushes Bush for Cancer Research
WJLA-TV Washington D.C
CRAWFORD, Texas -- Lance Armstrong said he set a one-day record during his bike ride with President Bush - not for cycling but for lobbying. During their two-hour ride on Bush's ranch Saturday, Armstrong pushed the president to spend more federal money on cancer research. "I've never asked someone for so much money before," the seven-time Tour de France winner and cancer survivor told ABC's "This Week" for its Sunday broadcast.

Merck & Co. Vows To Appeal $253M Judgment
USA Today
A Texas jury's $253 million verdict against drugmaker Merck (MRK) had lawyers worldwide plotting strategy in a war over billions of dollars that will last years. Merck's painkiller Vioxx was taken off the market nearly a year ago after it was linked to an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. About 4,200 lawsuits were expected. But Mark Lanier, the victorious lawyer for Carol Ernst, widow of Robert Ernst, a triathlete who died in 2001 at 59, said Sunday that he has fielded calls from lawyers in Germany, Israel, Ireland and Venezuela and predicts the number could grow to 30,000.

Merck Faces More Challenges in Next Round
ABC News
LAKE JACKSON, Texas -- Drug-maker Merck & Co.'s blistering defeat in the nation's first Vioxx trial was only round one in a series of expected court battles in the coming months, many of them involving plaintiffs who have some major advantages. The link between the patients' health problems and Vioxx is already well established. They suffered heart attacks; Merck yanked the drug from the market last year because a study showed it doubled patients' risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Calif. AG Disputes FDA on Tuna Warning
San Francisco Chronicle
WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration told California this week that the state's attempt to require mercury warnings on tuna conflicts with federal law. California's attorney general disputed the FDA letter Friday, and said it was an attempt to stop a lawsuit the state has filed against tuna companies over the warnings.

Arkansas Pet Distributor Quarantined
The Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- The state Department of Health and Human Services ordered a pet store distributing company quarantined Friday after officials suspected some of the store's rodents were infected with a virus that can be harmful to humans. Midsouth Distributors of Arkansas LLC near Scott was also prohibited from selling and distributing animals to pet stores and consumers and ordered to allow testing of some of its animals for the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, a department release said.

Feds Step Up Battle Against Meth Abuse
ABC News
NASHVILLE, Tenn -- Top officials from the Bush administration announced new efforts to battle methamphetamine abuse, including a training laboratory for police agencies and $16.2 million in grants to focus on treatment of addicts. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt and drug czar John Walters made the announcement Thursday at the Davidson County Drug Court and Treatment Center, the only drug court in the nation with a treatment and residential facility attached.