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

Surgical Implant to Treat Depression Clears FDA Panel

There soon may be a way other than drugs to treat chronic depression.

The Washington Post reports that an advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recommended the agency approve a surgical implant that actually helps ease depression. This is the first time that such a device has been recommended to treat a psychological condition.

The procedure is called vagus nerve stimulation, which uses electrodes implanted in the neck. These then activate areas in the brain that scientists believe regulate a person's mood.

According to the Post<, the recommendation didn't come easily. There was some question as to whether there was enough data provided by the device's manufacturer, Cyberonics Inc. of Houston, to allow approval. But basing its decision at least in part on the fact the device is already used to treat people with epilepsy, the panel voted 6-2 to recommend approval.

"We lost four of these individuals in the last 2 1/2 hours," Dr. A. John Rush, a psychiatrist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas told the Post as an example of the high suicide rate chronic depression causes.

The FDA usually follows the recommendations of its advisory panels.

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Faulty Procedures Prompt AIDS Tests on Ex-Hospital Patients

A suburban New York City hospital has asked almost 100 former patients to be tested for the AIDS and hepatitis virus, because instruments used in a routine test may not have been properly disinfected.

The New York Times reports that 86 patients have returned for HIV and hepatitis testing after officials at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, Long Island, acknowledged that instruments used for endoscopies (inserting a tube with a light source and miniature video camera at its tip into an orifice to examine internal organs) may not have been sterilized before they were reused.

The Times reports that two employees had failed to test a disinfectant bath used to clean the endoscopes, according to a hospital spokesman. Those employees have been fired, according to the report. The New York state Department of Health is conducting its own investigation, the newspaper said.

No cases of either HIV -- the virus that causes AIDS -- or hepatitis have been found, the newspaper says.

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U.S. Declares Batter-Coated French Fries a Fresh Vegetable

Batter-coated french fries are a fresh vegetable, at least according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The department got a federal judge's ruling last week to back up this seemingly bizarre classification, the Associated Press reported.

The ruling stated that, under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, batter-coated french fries can be considered fresh vegetables. Most other kinds of frozen french fries have been classified that way since 1996.

The USDA explained that this classification applies only to rules of commerce, not nutrition. The department does not actually consider a bunch of garden-fresh carrots and a plate of fries to be like two peas in the same nutrition pod.

Frozen fries, including the battered variety, are considered fresh because they don't meet the criteria to be classified as processed food, the AP reported.

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Short Legs Tied to Higher Heart Risk in Women

Short legs in women could mean a shorter life.

That's because women with shorter legs have a greater risk of heart disease than those with longer legs, according to a study of more than 4,000 women by researchers at Bristol University in the U.K.

They found that a woman's risk of heart disease decreased by 16 percent for every extra 4.3 centimeters of leg length. The researchers examined leg length because it's an indicator of living conditions and childhood diet, BBC News Online reported.

The study, published in the journal Heart, also found that other factors -- such as being older, obese, and smoking -- also increased heart disease risk in women.

"What this study highlights is that factors which stunt growth such as smoking and poor diet also increase your risk of coronary heart disease," Judy O'Sullivan, a cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, told BBC News Online.

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Drugmakers May Have to Publicly Register Clinical Trials

A proposal to require pharmaceutical companies to register clinical trials of new drugs before they begin is being considered by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.

The trials would have to be registered in a public database in order for the results -- negative or positive -- to be published in medical journals.

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors includes 12 major medical journals, including the Journal of the American Medical Association, The Lancet, and the New England Journal of Medicine.

If this proposal is passed by the committee, it would put pressure on drugmakers to disclose more information about their clinical trials, the New York Times reported.

Currently, drug companies generally don't have to reveal results of trials or even whether they've conducted a trial. Some critics have long argued for a public drug trial registry because pharmaceutical firms, as well as researchers and medical journals, tend to highlight only trials that yield positive results.

A decision on the proposal could be made this summer.

In related news, the American Medical Association was expected to vote, perhaps as early as Tuesday, on a proposal to urge the U.S. federal government to create a public registry of clinical trials and their results, the Times reported.

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AMA Supports Nonprescription Contraceptive

The American Medical Association (AMA) has announced its support for over-the-counter sales of the so-called morning-after pill, and criticized the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for not allowing the move.

The Associated Press reported that the nation's largest organization of doctors passed a resolution Monday supporting nonprescription sales of the pill. The resolution passed without debate, and drew applause during a committee meeting, according to the AP.

The drug, when taken within three days of unprotected intercourse, can prevent pregnancy in nearly nine out of 10 cases. Supporters say women need quick access because they can't always find a doctor in time.

But Dr. Steven Galson, the FDA's acting drug chief, overruled his staff and FDA advisors last month and rejected such sales. The agency said it was concerned that young teenagers would use the pill.

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