Cost seen limiting use of flu drug on birds in China
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High costs will limit the use of an anti-viral drug to treat Chinese poultry infected with deadly bird flu, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Wednesday.
The World Health Organisation gave tacit confirmation on Tuesday that amantadine, an anti-viral drug meant for humans, had been used on birds at Chinese farms, a practice that threatens to make the medication useless for fighting human influenza.
Antibiotics usually not needed for pink eye
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For most kids with pink eye, also known as acute infective conjunctivitis, the condition will usually resolve on its own, without antibiotic treatment, results of a UK study suggest.
Pink eye often results from a bacterial infection and standard clinical practice is the prescription of antibiotic eyedrops or ointments, Dr. Peter Rose of the University of Oxford and colleagues explain in The Lancet. Previous studies showing that antibiotics were the best treatment for pink eye largely involved patients with severe forms of the disease.
Chinese medicine kills one child, makes 151 sick
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Herbal medicine prescribed to primary schoolchildren in southwest China to ward off chickenpox killed one and made 151 sick, Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday.
The accident happened in Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, on Wednesday when more than 200 children took a homemade herbal concoction, Xinhua said.
About 150 children suffered diarrhea, nausea and vomiting after taking the medicine, a mixture of some 15 types of traditional herbs, it said.
Docs want to dispense drugs if pharmacists won’t
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The American Medical Association wants legislation that will allow physicians to dispense drugs when pharmacists say their consciences will not allow them to fill prescriptions for contraceptives, painkillers and mood stabilizers.
The AMA says conscientious objection by pharmacists is a major public health problem in many areas of the country.
To solve the problem, the AMA’s policy-making House of Delegates voted Monday to ask for changes in state laws so that physicians can dispense medications when there is no “willing pharmacist within 30 miles.”
More than 40 dead in Pakistani heat wave
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More than 40 people have been killed across Pakistan by extremely hot weather and the searing temperatures are expected to last at least a couple more days, officials said on Tuesday.
Most of the fatalities have come in the central province of Punjab, the country’s most populous province, where temperatures soared to 48 degree Celsius (118 Fahrenheit) on Monday. Tuesday might get even hotter, a weather official said.
UK baby death expert faces misconduct hearing
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A British doctor who gave evidence at the trial of several women wrongly convicted of murdering their children faced charges of serious professional misconduct on Tuesday.
Paediatrician Sir Roy Meadow appeared at a hearing of the General Medical Council (GMC) in London and could be banned from practising if found guilty.
Meadow was an expert witness in the trial of Sally Clark, Angela Cannings and Donna Anthony, who were all freed by the Court of Appeal after serving years in prison after they had been wrongfully convicted of killing their children.
Glaxo and IAVI to develop HIV vaccine
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A public-private partnership to develop a vaccine to prevent AIDS was announced on Tuesday by GlaxoSmithKline and the not-for-profit International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI).
In a statement, GSK said the collaboration—the first between IAVI and a major vaccine company—would facilitate early research and development of its “promising” adenovirus vaccine vector technology.
The vectors are derived from adenoviruses, originally isolated from non-human primates, which have been engineered to be non-infectious and capable of efficiently delivering genes expressing HIV proteins to the immune system.
Australia’s ‘Dr Death’ kind, smart—Indian hometown
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An Indian-born surgeon dubbed “Dr Death” who has been linked to the deaths of 87 Australian patients is a kind and brilliant man with a passion for playing cricket, said his family and friends.
Jayant Patel, who left Australia in March and could face murder, negligence and fraud charges if he returns, was the brightest student ever to pass through the medical college in his hometown of Jamnagar, on the west Indian coast, they said.
Dutch doctor in UK organ scandal found guilty
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A Dutch doctor at the centre of a British hospital scandal was found guilty of serious professional misconduct on Monday for removing organs from the bodies of 850 dead children without their parents’ consent.
The General Medical Council (GMC) ordered Professor Dick van Velzen be struck off the UK medical register after his actions at the Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool, northern England.
UK government consults public on smoking ban
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The British government began public consultation on Monday on proposals for a partial smoking ban in England, a day after it was forced to deny it intends a total workplace ban. Views are being sought on plans to outlaw smoking in enclosed public places and workplaces and on how a ban might operate in licensed premises like bars and restaurants.
Newspapers on Sunday indicated any partial ban would likely become total, but this was denied by health officials. On Monday, the government said it wants anywhere that serves food to be smoke-free but that all other bars and members’ clubs would have the right to choose.
Three EU states seen keeping ban on GMO maize type
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The United States may see its case against Europe’s biotech policy strengthened this week as three EU governments look set to maintain bans on a type of genetically modified (GMO) maize, a EU official said on Monday.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, wants Austria, Luxembourg and Germany to scrap their bans on Bt-176, a GMO maize strain made by Swiss biotech giant Syngenta .
Many child workers abused in Indonesian homes
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The Indonesian government is ignoring the widespread physical and sexual abuse of hundreds of thousands of young girls working as maids in homes around the country, an international human rights watchdog said on Monday.
Human Rights Watch said in a 74-page report that some of the children interviewed had described being denied food and wages and beaten and raped by their employers.
Consumer group wants warning label on potato chips
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A California consumer legal group is campaigning to require warning labels on potato chips, saying they contain a chemical known to cause cancer and state law requires the warnings.
The Environmental Law Foundation filed notices with the Golden State’s attorney general on Thursday against Lay’s potato chip maker PepsiCo Inc., Pringles maker Procter & Gamble Co., Cape Cod potato chip parent Lance Inc. and Kettle Chips maker Kettle Foods Inc.
The notices give the attorney general’s office 60 days to take up the case on behalf of all Californians. If the state declines to pursue the matter, the group said in the documents that “it intends to bring suit in the public interest” against the companies.
Zambia to put debt relief into AIDS fight
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Zambia will use millions of dollars freed up by debt relief to provide AIDS drugs for 100,000 people by the end of the year, a minister said on Monday.
Finance Minister Ng’andu Magande said the plan to provide free antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) was approved by cabinet last week after Zambia received additional debt relief from the Group of Eight (G8) rich nations.
Indian women fight back against rape epidemic
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For years, rape victims in India were too afraid to speak out, traumatized by the assault and fearful they would be blamed themselves. Many don’t trust the police.
Now, they are learning to fight back.
Rattled by a series of brutal rapes across the country, almost 3,000 women from 15 to 50 packed into a park in the Indian capital last weekend for self-defense classes that included elements of judo, karate and taekwondo.
