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

Few Have Access to AIDS Drugs in Developing Countries: WHO

Very few of the six million people infected with HIV in developing countries are getting the immediate access to the medicine they need, a World Health Organization report issued Saturday claims.

The report, released one day before an international AIDS conference opens in Bangkok, showed only 14 percent, or 440,000 people, are getting AIDS drugs, CNN reported.

The statistics are from a six-month progress report of the WHO's "three by five" program launched last December, which had a goal of having three million people on HIV treatment by the end of 2005. Funding for the program is also behind schedule: About $40 million has been raised, far lower than the six-month goal of $84 million.

The WHO report also showed that the cost of AIDS medicine has decreased to somewhere between $150 and $450 per person per year, but most developing countries can only afford to spend less than $1 per person per year on health care, CNN also reported.

Earlier this week, the United Nations released its annual AIDS report, revealing that almost 5 million people became infected with HIV last year -- the largest number of new infections since the disease was discovered in 1981.

And on Friday, the U.N. warned of a looming health crisis for young women in particular, who it said now make up 60 percent of the 15-to-24-year-olds with HIV.

Since 1985, the percentage of adult women with HIV has jumped to 48 percent of the world's cases from 35 percent, according to information from the U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) cited by the Associated Press.

About 77 percent of the world's HIV-positive women live in sub-Saharan Africa, UNIFEM says. Its report speculates that Asia could become the next epicenter, because of similarities like widespread poverty, low levels of education, and the second-class status of women, the AP reported.

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Psoriasis Pill Linked to Birth Defects, FDA Report Says

A psoriasis pill currently under development could cause birth defects when used by pregnant women, according to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration report.

The drug, called Tazoral, was effective in treating psoriasis, the Los Angeles Times reported, but harmed animal fetuses in lower dosages than did Accutane, an acne pill that has been linked to severe brain and heart defects and other abnormalities.

Some analysts predicted that safety concerns would delay FDA approval of the oral drug, even though Allergan Inc., the California-based company that is developing the drug , has told the FDA it would address the issue by tracking all doctors, pharmacies and women who prescribe, dispense and use Tazoral. The psoriasis pill had been expected to reach the market in September. Allergan is best known for the anti-wrinkle treatment Botox.

Both Tazoral and Accutane are retinoids, a class of medications linked to physical deformities and mental disabilities in the children of women on the drugs.

The FDA said in its report that efforts to prevent pregnancies in Accutane users had failed, adding to the agency's concerns about Tazoral. The report will be reviewed Monday at a meeting of medical advisors to the FDA.

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U.S. Tightens Mad Cow Safeguards

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday tightened restrictions aimed at safeguarding food and other products from mad cow disease.

The FDA banned the use of high-risk cattle parts in certain meat-based products, dietary supplements, and cosmetics. The ban covers the brain, skull, eyes, and spinal cord from cattle 30 months of age or older, and tonsils and a portion of the small intestine from all cattle, regardless of age.

These parts of cattle are where the infectious agent that causes mad cow disease is most likely to be found, the FDA said in a news release.

According to the Associated Press, the rules are meant to coincide with similar restrictions put forth by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which has banned such products in meat.

People who consume meat with these infectious agents -- misshapen proteins called prions -- can develop variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human form of mad cow disease.

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EPA Seeks Huge Fine From DuPont

Chemical company DuPont could face a multimillion-dollar fine over allegations that it failed to report potential health and environmental problems caused by a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid, an ingredient used in making Teflon and other materials.

The U.S. Environmental Agency said DuPont's failure to report information about the chemical stretches over two decades. The agency is seeking a large penalty in order to send a message that this type of information about chemicals must be provided so that government officials can make accurate assessments about potential risks.

The EPA could seek a fine of hundreds of millions of dollars, the Washington Post reported. If so, that would be the largest penalty the EPA has assessed for toxic contamination, and the largest environmental penalty in U.S. history.

Industry studies have linked perfluorooctanoic acid to cancer and birth defects in animals. Ohio and West Virginia residents, along with an environmental group, are suing DuPont. They say the company contaminated soil and drinking water around its plant in Parkersburg, W. Va.

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FDA Squelched Data on Cardiac Device, WSJ Reports

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has decided to withdraw a medical journal article that expressed concerns about a new cardiac device after the product's maker threatened both the agency and the journal with legal action, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The article, written in May 2004 by FDA researchers, focused on Medtronic Inc.'s AneuRx stent graft -- used to prevent arterial bulges, called aneurysms, from rupturing. The article suggested that over time, more invasive arterial surgery was a safer option, according to the Journal account.

Medtronic, based in Minneapolis, disputed the article's findings while claiming that the FDA used confidential data without permission, the Journal reported. According to the account, the company's lawyer also threatened the agency and the medical publication, the Journal of Vascular Surgery, with criminal and civil action if the article were published.

In June, the agency officially withdrew the article from publication, the newspaper reported. The FDA since issued a statement saying its decision "rested on substantial legal concerns" over the confidential information it had obtained about the device, and its legal obligation to protect that information, according to the newspaper.

For its part, Medtronic issued a statement saying it "has a proven and unequaled record" in releasing information about the product, which the statement said was a "safe and effective device," the newspaper reported.

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