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Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Officials Urge Seniors to Relax Over Flu Shot Shortage

There's no health crisis in the United States despite the flu shot shortage, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson told reporters Monday. He urged worried seniors and others at risk to stop standing in long lines to get the inoculation, noting that millions of doses of the ordered vaccine hadn't even been shipped yet.

Lines at pharmacies, supermarkets, and medical clinics have swelled since Oct. 5, when the British government abruptly shut down a major U.S. supplier, Chiron Corp., due to contamination problems at a Liverpool plant.

Thompson said the vaccine on hand would be reallocated to people who need it most. He urged senior citizens to "be calm, and if there are lines, don't wait," according to a CNN account. "We want people to relax. The flu season is not here [yet]," he added.

Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, echoed Thompson's comments that more vaccine was on its way, and urged people not to panic. Last week, however, Gerberding had said it was unlikely that all high-risk people who want a flu shot would be able to get one, the Associated Press reported.

Gerberding said it's too early to tell if this year's flu season will be severe, noting that it's just beginning. "We have [at least] 20 million more doses of flu vaccine to get out there, and our goal is to get those doses to the people who need it most before the season really heats up," she said. Chiron had been slated to deliver to the United States up to 48 million doses, nearly half of the 100 million shots ordered.

Also on Monday, the American College of Emergency Physicians urged Thompson to convene a "crisis summit" of federal agencies and health professionals to plan for a possible flu epidemic. "We believe our nation faces the potential for a public health disaster this flu season," ACEP board member Dr. Arthur Kellerman told the AP at the group's annual meeting in San Francisco.

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Schwarzenegger Backs Stem Cell Research

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger bucked fellow Republicans in Washington Monday, announcing his endorsement of a $3 billion plan to fund embryonic stem cell research, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Proposition 71 has been ahead in the polls, but by a somewhat thin margin, the newspaper said. The initiative would provide some $300 million annually for stem cell grants and facilities over the next decade, including creation of a private California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the Times reported.

Schwarzenegger said he believed in the promise of embryonic stem cell research, which many experts say may lead to cures for chronic diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. However, the practice is controversial, since the embryos must be destroyed in the process.

President Bush has signed an executive order limited federal funding of embryonic stem cell research to existing lines.

Since California polls show strong support statewide for stem cell research, opponents have focused on the cost of the measure, rather than the moral arguments, the newspaper said.

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Canadians Say Drug Exports Will Lead to Shortages

Canadian pharmacies must stop exporting huge amounts of prescription drugs to the United States and elsewhere or Canada will face domestic shortages, a coalition of groups representing pharmacies, patients, and seniors has warned.

The groups, who say they represent some 10 million Canadians, urged the federal government to ban prescription drug exports, the Associated Press reported.

Due to Canadian price controls, Canadian imports are up to 80 percent cheaper than the American equivalents, causing a groundswell of Americans to buy from Canadian brokers. Internet pharmacies and Canadian doctors send an estimated $1 billion a year in Canadian drugs south of the border, the AP reported.

Spokeswoman Louise Binder of the Canadian Treatment Action Council and Best Medicines Coalition called it "completely untenable" that Canadian sources could fill the needs of American and Canadian citizens at the same time.

On the other hand, Canadian health officials have repeatedly said Americans don't threaten Canada's domestic supply. In fact, a top Canadian health official told reporters Monday he believes his country may have a small surplus of flu vaccine available, and would be willing to share it with the United States to help ease America's shortage.

Federal Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh said the United States hasn't made a formal request, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported. The 1 million Canadian doses he offered wouldn't come close to making up for the 48 million Chiron shots that were never received, Dosanjh acknowledged. The Canadian doses were produced by Aventis Pasteur, the main supplier to the United States, and a second supplier, ID Biomedical, which is not licensed to provide the vaccine to the United States.

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'Sister Study' to Examine Causes of Breast Cancer

In what's being described as the largest study of its kind into breast cancer risk factors, a new project will look at 50,000 sisters of women with the disease to try to determine the environmental and genetic causes.

U.S. women of all backgrounds and ethnic groups are eligible for the study if they are between ages 35 and 74; have never had breast cancer themselves; and have a sister -- living or dead -- who has had breast cancer. To ensure a diverse group of volunteers, the researchers are encouraging African-American, Latina, Native American, and Asian women, as well as women 60 and older, to join the so-called "Sister Study."

It is being conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Dale Sandler, chief of the the NIEHS epidemiology branch and lead investigator of the study, said sisters may be key to understanding breast cancer risk. "By studying sisters, who share the same genes, often had similar experiences and environments, and are at twice the risk of developing breast cancer, we have a better chance of learning what causes this disease. That is why joining the Sister Study is so important."

The study will stay in touch with the volunteers for 10 years and compare those who develop breast cancer with the majority who do not.

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