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

Paxil's Maker Concedes Drug is Ineffective on Children

The antidepressant Paxil has proven no more effective in clinical testing on children than a non-medicinal placebo, according to the Associated Press, which cites the drug's manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline PLC.

Glaxo is being sued by the State of New York, whose attorney general accuses the company of concealing details of how well the drug works on children, and possible side effects on youngsters including suicidal tendencies, the AP reported.

On its Web site, the company has published a comprehensive list of studies it has conducted on children. Glaxo said it did notice a marginal increase in suicidal behavior as compared to children who took a placebo, though none of the young participants in the trials actually committed suicide, the wire service reported.

The Eli Lilly and Company drug Prozac is the only antidepressant approved for pediatric use, although there is nothing to prevent doctors from prescribing other antidepressants that have been sanctioned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in adults.

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Medicare Proposes Covering Brain Scans for Alzheimer's

Medicare officials have made a preliminary decision to begin covering brain scans to help diagnose Alzheimer's disease in some patients, the Washington Post reports.

Previously, the officials rejected the idea of paying for the PET (position emission tomography) scans for that purpose, saying there was no conclusive evidence that the technology was effective in diagnosing people with Alzheimer's symptoms.

The decision, made by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, follows the death of former President Ronald Reagan from the disease, and the extensive media coverage of Alzheimer's that followed.

While an autopsy is the only sure way to diagnose Alzheimer's, some experts believe that earlier diagnosis could allow some patients to receive memory-enhancing drugs sooner, the newspaper reported. Other experts cite clinical findings that the drugs have proven only marginally effective in helping people with Alzheimer's, the Post said.

A PET scan typically costs about $2,500. Medicare officials provided no estimates of how many people might be covered by the decision, or an approximate total cost, the newspaper said.

On a related note, a bipartisan group of federal lawmakers has introduced legislation in both houses of Congress to double the amount of federal funding for Alzheimer's research, the Cox News Service reported. The measures would raise the amount allocated to the National Institutes of Health to $1.4 billion for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, the news service said.

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Lawsuit Alleges Some Hospitals Overcharged Uninsured

A number of civil lawsuits filed against more than a dozen nonprofit hospitals nationwide allege that the institutions routinely overcharged people who lack health insurance, according to The New York Times. Some suits also allege that the hospitals have threatened and harassed former patients who hadn't paid their bills.

The lawyers who brought the suits allege that the tax-exempt hospitals "are sitting on large, untaxed sums that should help pay for care for the uninsured," the newspaper reported.

In response, the hospitals said they were simply charging prices that do not reflect the volume discounts negotiated by insurance companies and health maintenance organizations. A spokeswoman for the American Hospital Association said the suits were "baseless and misdirected."

Independent experts called the issue extremely complicated, noting it is difficult to define to what extent a hospital should be required to provide care to patients who cannot afford to pay, the Times said.

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Nearly 82 Million in U.S. Lacked Insurance in Last Two Years

Close to 82 million people in the United States -- about a third of the population under age 65 -- were without health insurance at some time during 2002-03, according to a study released Wednesday by Families USA.

Most of those uninsured people were without health insurance for more than nine months. Blacks and Hispanics were disproportionately affected by lack of health insurance, the Associated Press reported.

The study, based on an analysis of census data, found that Texas had the highest rate of uninsured people in the country. That state had 8.5 million people (43.4 percent of the non-elderly population) who were without health insurance at some point in the past two years.

That was followed by: New Mexico, 42.4 percent; California, 37.1 percent; Nevada, 36.8 percent; Louisiana, 36.2 percent; Arizona, 35.7 percent; Mississippi, 35.1 percent; and Okalahoma, 35 percent.

Previous research has found that poorer health, earlier death, delayed and inadequate medical care are associated with a lack of health insurance, the AP reported.

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AARP Endorses Drug Importation Bill

The AARP announced Wednesday that it endorses and will aggressively work for passage of a bipartisan bill to legalize importation of prescription drugs from other countries, beginning with Canada.

"Though not a complete solution to the problem of high drug costs, safe and legal importation will help put downward pressure on prices and enable consumers to secure additional savings," AARP CEO Bill Novelli said in a prepared statement.

The bipartisan bill is sponsored by Senators Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and 23 co-sponsors.

It contains safety standards that were urged by the AARP including: a system of registration, inspection and tracking of imported drugs; anti-tampering and anti-counterfeiting technologies; and labeling rules.

The bill also stipulates establishment of a Web site and toll-free telephone number consumers can use to locate reputable sites that sell imported drugs.

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British Consider First Application to Clone Human Embryos

Britain's first application for a license to clone human embryos for scientific research is being considered by the country's Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority.

Newcastle University scientists requested permission to create the human embryos in order to harvest stem cells for their medical research. The stem cells would be used in an attempt to create insulin-producing cells that could be transplanted into people with diabetes, the Associated Press reported.

The authority's research committee was scheduled to meet Wednesday to consider the request. There would be no immediate announcement of a decision, the authority said.

In 2001, Britain became the first country to legalize therapeutic human cloning.

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