NC Supreme Court listens in execution controversy

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina’s highest court will hear arguments Tuesday over whether the state Medical Board can punish doctors involved in state executions.
State Supreme Court justices have been asked to untangle some legal questions surrounding a doctor’s role when the state carries out capital punishment. These issues have prevented executions from being carried out in North Carolina since August 2006.
A Wake County judge ruled last Read the rest of this entry »

FDA will open inspection office in China this year

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration will establish its first office in China before the end of the year as part of a broader plan to assure the safety of imports from the developing world.
FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach on Thursday laid out a plan to place more than 60 food and drug regulators worldwide over the next year, with a particular focus on India, Latin America and the Middle East.
The staffers will inspect Read the rest of this entry »

AP IMPACT: Tons of drugs dumped into wastewater

By JEFF DONN, MARTHA MENDOZA and JUSTIN PRITCHARD –
U.S. hospitals and long-term care facilities annually flush millions of pounds of unused pharmaceuticals down the drain, pumping contaminants into America’s drinking water, according to an ongoing Associated Press investigation.
These discarded medications are expired, spoiled, over-prescribed or unneeded. Some are simply unused because patients refuse to take them, can’t tolerate them Read the rest of this entry »

Family Research Council Criticizes Obama Pick For HHS Secretary On

said President-elect Barack Obama’s selection of former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) as
secretary demonstrates that the next president will not govern from the “middle” on issues related to abortion, CNSNews.com
reports (Jones, CNSNews.com, 11/20). Although the appointment has not been announced officially, Democratic officials on Wednesday said Daschle had accepted the post and would be given the job barring unforeseen problems Read the rest of this entry »

Ledley fitness boost for Cardiff

Dave Jones expects Wales midfielder Joe Ledley to make a shock early return for Cardiff City in Sunday’s South Wales derby at Swansea City.
The 21-year-old required surgery and needed a pin to mend his dislocated finger sustained in Cardiff’s win over Crystal Palace on 15 November.
Ledley’s finger will be placed in a splint for the highly-anticipated Liberty Stadium morning showdown.
“Maybe Joe will be okay for the derby next Sunday,” Jones Read the rest of this entry »

Despite political focus post-SARS, hospital infection rates

Despite political focus post-SARS, hospital infection rates continued to rise
TORONTO — Toronto’s SARS crisis and Quebec’s C. difficile nightmare drew political attention – and additional funding – to the problem of hospital-acquired infections.
But despite that, rates of these infections continued to rise in the years immediately following the outbreaks, a new study reveals.
Rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus – known Read the rest of this entry »

Scientists ID Uterine Muscle Switch for Contractions

FRIDAY, Nov. 21 (HealthDay News) — Researchers say they’ve found the switch that activates the uterine muscles for contraction during childbirth, a finding that may lead to therapies for preterm labor.
The molecule prostacyclin normally binds the protein IP on the surface of these uterine muscle cells, keeping them relatively inactive during pregnancy.
But researchers from Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire, testing uterine tissue strips Read the rest of this entry »

Survival Rate Little Changed With Aortic Valve Disorder

TUESDAY, Sept. 16 (HealthDay News) — Young adults with a congenital heart defect called a bicuspid aortic valve don’t have lower survival rates than those in the general population, say Canadian researchers.
A bicuspid aortic valve has only two flaps (cusps) that open and close, instead of the normal three. It’s the most common congenital heart defect in the adult population. Prior studies have reported significant death and illness associated Read the rest of this entry »