Today's Top Stories (all those selected for the Home Page, Plus Other important news)

►February 23, 2004 - Tort reform wouldn't dent health spending -- CBO report - Changes should focus on fairness to both patients and physicians, the study concludes. - www.ama-assn.org

►February 23, 2004 - Revisiting the crisis in Nevada: Tort reform in need of reform - Doctors hope passage of a fall ballot initiative will improve practice conditions. Trial lawyers say it would only make the situation worse. - www.ama-assn.org

►February 23, 2004 - Massachusetts doctors advocate needle exchange - The state medical society says programs help limit the spread of disease. - www.ama-assn.org

►February 23, 2004 - States boosting doctor oversight - A New Jersey bill aims to bring quicker reviews of complaints against physicians; a South Dakota bill toughens discipline standards. - www.ama-assn.org

►February 23, 2004 - Asian-Americans don't have to be heavy to develop diabetes - Body mass index charts may not be relevant for assessing actual risk in this racial group. - www.ama-assn.org

Comment:  More possible evidence against any "one-size-fits-all" approach to health or disease.

►February 16, 2004 - Models help estimate children's exposure to toxins - Stanford University via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 16, 2004 - Germany Launches HIV/AIDS Vaccine Trial - Germany Launches First HIV/AIDS Vaccine Trial, a Yearlong Program to Involve Up to 50 Subjects - AP via ABC News 

►February 16, 2004 - Long-term use of antibiotics possibly linked with increased risk of breast cancer - JAMA and Archives Journals Website via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 16, 2004 - A new protective protein against Parkinson's disease - Cell Press via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 17, 2004 - Naturopathic doctors renew push for licensing in Pennsylvania - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 

►February 17, 2004 - Two for Whom? - Combo Pills May Help Patients -- and Are Sure To Help Drug Firms (requires registration) - Washington Post - "Two, two, two drugs in one...If pharmaceuticals were marketed like breath mints, that slogan might begin appearing more often. Responding to market pressures, drug makers have returned to a bygone era of combining two or more medications into one easy-to-take pill. And this time around, judging by initial reactions, the idea may be a bigger hit." 

►February 17, 2004 - Obstructive pulmonary disease is on rise, No. 4 cause of death - The New York Times via Mercury News - "Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a progressive, irreversible decline in lung function that afflicts 35 million Americans, gradually robbing them of the ability to take in oxygen and remove carbon dioxide from their blood. Nearly half the people who have the disease do not yet know it. Although the disorder cannot be cured, if it is diagnosed early enough and properly treated, deterioration in lung function can be slowed...The disease can be detected with a simple, non-invasive breathing test."

►February 17, 2004 - U.S. Army Makes Exceptions To Anthrax Shots Rule (requires registration) - The Hartford Courant - "The U.S. Army has sent to Iraq at least four soldiers who have refused to be vaccinated against anthrax, despite the Pentagon's long-held insistence that the vaccine is mandatory for all service members assigned to areas of combat or probable terrorism...The deployments by base commanders in Indiana, Kentucky, New York and Wisconsin has led Pentagon critics to question the seriousness of the anthrax threat and the fairness of penalties meted out by the armed services earlier for scores of service members nationwide who refused the vaccine."

►February 17, 2004 - Mercury rising - editorial - The Boston Globe - "A NEW, more accurate measure of mercury levels in newborns has doubled the Environmental Protection Agency's estimate of how many might have dangerous amounts of the toxin in their bodies. The new data strengthen the case for requiring coal-burning power plants and manufacturers to reduce sharply the amount of mercury in their emissions."

Comment:  As usual, no mention of or concern about mercury in vaccines.

►February 17, 2004 - Alert on anti-smallpox vaccinia - Households cautioned about virus transmission - Seattle Post-Intelligencer - "Soldiers and health care workers who take the smallpox vaccine should take extra precautions against spreading the live virus used in the vaccine to members of their household, according to a new report."

►February 17, 2004 - Don't wait to attack mercury pollution - editorial - The Indianapolis Star - "Our position is: Indiana should follow the example of states that are not waiting for a federal solution to mercury poisoning."

►February 17, 2004 - States acting on their own to reduce mercury emissions - Gannett News Service via Zanesville Times Recorder - "'There's a concern about mercury because it's such a toxic substance. States have chosen not to wait,' said Larry Morandi, who follows the issue for the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Comment:  Sadly, that concern does not extend to mercury injected via vaccines. 

►February 17, 2004 - China uplifts independent anti-SARS vaccine R&D - Chinese scientists have reported significant improvement in vaccine research and development. A leading researcher cites the example of an anti-SARS vaccine, developed in just nine months, to explain what's behind the success of the independent work.  In the past, almost all vaccines manufactured in China modeled western countries' products. But the situation has changed greatly as far as an anti-SARS vaccine is concerned. Project Manager Yin Weidong says it's the first anti-SARS vaccine developed in China and first ever used in clinical tests in the world . - People's Daily

►February 17, 2004 - New insight into HIV vaccine development - University of Wisconsin-Madison via Medical News Today

►February 17, 2004 - HIV exhausts the immune system through chronic non-specific activation - Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine via Medical News Today

►February 16, 2004 - Food fright - The Washington Times - "'It is fatal unless you use the EpiPen,' Mrs. Cole says about the shot of epinephrine she has on hand to stop symptoms of allergic reaction. 'Until it hit home with me, I had no idea of the severity and risk of fatality involved. It's startling when you first learn about it.'"

Comment:  What is the incidence of allergy among infants allowed to breastfeed on demand, particularly those that are allowed to wean themselves or nurse until toddler age and beyond?  And, of course, what is the incidence among the vaccinated compared to the never vaccinated?  And if the vaccinated are more allergic, is there some protective effect of breastfeeding among the vaccinated?  (For more on the possible relationship between vaccination and allergies, go to Out of Control: "Childhood vaccinations and the risk of asthma"  - a CDC study.

►February 16, 2004 - Approved drug blocks deadly anthrax toxin - University of Chicago Medical Center via www.eurekalert.org - "In the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team led by Wei-Jen Tang of the University of Chicago shows that in vitro adefovir dipivoxil (sold as Hepsera®) can effectively reduce the effects of edema factor, one of the two deadly toxins produced by anthrax...'These toxins pack a one-two punch that makes inhalational anthrax extremely harmful,' said Tang, an associate professor in the Ben May Institute for Cancer Research at the University of Chicago. 'For the first time, we have a clinically approved drug that, at least in tissue culture, completely eradicates half of that toxic team, and does it at non-toxic doses.'"

►February 16, 2004 - New mad cow strain similar to human CJD - UPI - "Italian researchers said Monday they have discovered a new strain of mad cow disease that is very similar to a spontaneously occurring form of a deadly human brain disorder called sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease...Scientists previously thought the consumption of meat infected with the mad cow pathogen could only cause a specific form of the fatal disorder known as variant CJD...The new finding, which appears in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, increases the possibility some cases of sporadic CJD also could be due to mad cow-infected meat, said Salvatore Monaco, a co-author of the study and a professor in the department of Neurological and Visual Science at Policlinico G.B. Rossi in Verona, Italy"

►February 16, 2004 - Disease-fighters in our mouths provide clues to enhancing the immune system - University of Washington via www.eurekalert.org - "Studies of natural antibiotics in our mouths may lead to new treatments for oral infections, as well as ways to boost the infection-fighting powers of mouthwashes, denture coatings, and wound dressings, according to a presentation at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). These compounds, called beta-defensins, are key components of our innate immune system...'Innate immunity describes the defenses that we're are born with; they're coded in our genes. In contrast, we develop the antibodies of our acquired immune system over time as we're exposed to bacteria and viruses,' said Dr. Beverly Dale, professor in the University of Washington Department of Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, and scientific director of the UW Comprehensive Center for Oral Health Research. 'It's when our innate defenses fail that the acquired immune system picks up the slack.'

►February 16, 2004 - Worker files $12 million anthrax claim against government - AP via The Daily Press

►February 16, 2004 - Cord Blood Cells Proven to Differentiate Into Heart Muscle, Brain Cells - AScribe Newswire - "Scientists at the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center have scientifically validated for the first time that stem cells in umbilical cord blood can infiltrate damaged heart tissue and transform themselves into the kind of heart cells needed to halt further damage...Clinical proof of this principle has existed for a decade, as Duke physicians have used cord blood to correct heart, brain and liver defects in children with rare metabolic diseases. But until now they lacked the molecular evidence to prove that cord blood stem cells were the root of a cure."

►February 17, 2004 - Chronic fatigue's cause, cure remain mystery to science - North America Syndicate via The Arizona Republic

►February 16, 2004 - A flu jab for all toddlers? - The Scotsman

►February 17, 2004 - UK Food Standards Authority speaks out the mercury in Fish debate - Port Focus Asia Pacific - ""Some types of fish contain more mercury than others. The amount of mercury we get from food isn’t harmful for most people, but if a woman takes in high levels of mercury during pregnancy this can affect her baby’s developing nervous system...In fact, if a woman is pregnant, breastfeeding, or intending to become pregnant, she should avoid eating shark, swordfish and marlin. She should also limit the amount of tuna she eats to no more than one tuna steak (weighing about 140g when cooked or 170g raw) or two medium-size cans of tuna a week (with a drained weight of about 140g per can). This means about six rounds of tuna sandwiches or three tuna salads."

►February 16, 2004 - Studies offer new insight into HIV vaccine development - University of Wisconsin - Madison - "Mutations that allow AIDS viruses to escape detection by the immune system may also hinder the viruses' ability to grow after transmission to new hosts, scientists at UW-Madison announced this week in the journal Nature Medicine...The discovery may help researchers design vaccines that exploit the notorious mutability of HIV by training the immune system to attack the virus where it's most vulnerable."

►February 16, 2004 - Chip slaps cuffs on pox bug - A chip that can sense a single virus could lead to revolutionary medical diagnostic tools - http://news.zdnet.co.uk - "American researchers have demonstrated a chip capable of detecting and potentially analysing a single virus. The microelectromechanical system (MEMS) silicon device reacted to a single particle of vaccina virus and the researchers say this could lead to chips capable of identifying many thousands of different kinds of viruses, toxins and bioagents. It was created using variants of standard silicon chip production technology."

Comment:  For a different perspective on what it means to be a heptatitis B carrier, go to Scandals: The CDC and “The New Math”, where 1 + 1  does not equal 2.  And for more on the problem with  "unsafe injection practices" go to Scandals: "But Faith, fanatic Faith, once wedded fast To some dear falsehood, hugs it to the last." - Thomas Moore (Scandals - update and "flashback").

►February 15, 2004 - Onions May Be To Blame - www.krgv.net - "Dr. Lorenzo Pelly has treated several hepatitis patients. He tells NEWSCHANNEL 5 that the employee at Rudy's Country Store and Barbecue may not be the only source of the Hepatitis-A outbreak. Dr. Pelly says workers in the Mexican onion fields could be carrying the virus or the water that's being used to irrigate the Mexican onions may be contaminated with Hepatitis-A. Pelly says the best way to get rid of the virus is to boil or cook the onions."

►February 17, 2004 - Despite F.D.A. Ban, Ephedra Won't Go Away (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times

►Autism Growth and Incidence Graphs - Fighting Autism

►February 17, 2004 - Reader Responses - Autism and Vaccines (The Wall Street Journal)

►February 17, 2004 - Unpublished letter from an MD in response to: Autism and Vaccines (The Wall Street Journal) - "As a physician for 30 years, a strong advocate for vaccines, a conservative Republican and supporter of tort reform, I must say you missed the boat in this article."

►February 9, 2004 - Slide presentation by Jeff Bradstreet, M.D.  - presented to the IOM - www.nomercury.org