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

Medicare Proposal Would Slash Cancer Drug Coverage: Report

The new proposal to overhaul Medicare would save the insurance program at least $16 billion over 10 years by slashing coverage for many cancer and respiratory drugs, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Funding for some drugs for cancer and lung conditions like emphysema would be cut as much as 89 percent. Some cancer physicians -- who typically pocket the mark-up between what Medicare pays and the wholesale prices they're charged by drug makers -- say they will stop caring for Medicare patients if the plan becomes reality, according to the Times.

A typical cancer doctor's Medicare revenue would drop by 8 percent next year if the plan were adopted, according to the estimates of unidentified federal health officials cited by the newspaper. Last year, 70 percent of the average oncologist's income came from drug mark-ups, Medicare data show.

Last year's historic Medicare legislation attempted to stop the government from paying such price differentials by forcing Medicare to survey actual drug prices and reimburse doctors accordingly.

Cancer doctors have said they use price mark-ups to compensate for products and services that aren't covered by Medicare. But critics say this encourages physicians to prescribe more costly medications. Medicare's drug costs totaled $10.5 billion last year, up from $2.9 billion in 1998, the Times said.

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Ground Zero Dust Posed Minimal Cancer Risk: Study

Hazardous chemicals carried in the dust released by the collapse of the World Trade Center's twin towers in Manhattan posed a minimal cancer risk to local residents, University of North Carolina scientists concluded from a new study.

The researchers, aided by scientists from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, tested for nine airborne compounds that were said to include "some of the most carcinogenic compounds known," reported Newsday. The tests were begun within two weeks of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and lasted until March 27, 2002.

The tests measured levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are contained in fine particles and easily inhaled. The substances are known to cause lung, skin and kidney cancers. The researchers said pollution from the Trade Center destruction would increase the cancer risk over 70 years to 0.167 cases per million people from the normal 0.157, Newsday reported.

Lead researcher Stephen Rappaport, a professor of environmental health at the University of North Carolina, told the newspaper that PAH levels were fairly high in initial air samples, but quickly subsided.

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FDA Approves New Cholesterol-Lowering Combo

The latest statin drug to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration packs a one-two punch, combining two medications that simultaneously inhibit production of cholesterol by the liver and block absorption of cholesterol from food in the intestines.

Vytorin (ezetimibe/simvastatin) is produced by two of the world's largest drug makers -- Merck and Schering-Plough. In 12-week clinical trials involving 1,528 patients with LDL (bad) cholesterol levels of between 145 mg/dl and 250 mg/dl, LDL levels were reduced by 52 percent to 60 percent, depending on the administered dose, the manufacturers said in a statement.

They recommend that doctors who prescribe the once-daily pill monitor patients for signs of liver problems, both before and during treatment.

Frequently reported side effects during clinical trials included headache, upper respiratory tract infection, muscle pain, and pain in the arms and legs.

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Those With West Nile Urged to Delay Giving Blood

People who have or show symptoms of having the West Nile virus shouldn't give blood until two months after the symptoms go away, an official with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration told an advisory panel Monday.

The Associated Press reports that Hira Nakhasi, director of the FDA's Division of Emerging and Transfusion Transmitted Diseases, told a panel of experts that people with headache and fever should be barred from donating blood for at least 60 days.

Typically, people with the virus are asked not to return to donate blood for 28 days, but the AP says that recommendation was based on outdated information. Newer research from the American Red Cross, based on 2003 donations, finds that traces of the virus stay in the body for 49 days.

Newer, more sensitive testing has identified which blood donors carry the virus. Last year, the tests found 818 donors with West Nile.

One problem the FDA and its advisors have to worry about is any reduction in blood donations, which are at such critically low levels that blood collection centers have sent an urgent call for donors.

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Study Finds Inactivity Deadlier Than Smoking

Being a couch potato is more deadly than using tobacco, a new study from Hong Kong finds.

Researchers, looking at records of Hong Kong residents 35 and older who died in 1998, found that a lack of physical activity caused more than 6,400 deaths a year, compared with just over 5,700 from smoking, according to Agence France Presse, citing a report in the South China Morning Post.

The research was done by the University of Hong Kong and the Department of Health. "We calculated that about 20 percent of all deaths in Hong Kong people aged 35 and above could be attributed to a lack of physical activity. This amounted to 6,450 deaths," the Post quoted Lam Tai-Hing, head of the university's department of community medicine, as saying.

Lam added, "It is fine if you do not smoke. But if you do not exercise, then you are [still] at high risk."

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Pool Pump Water Guns Recalled

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Kmart Corp. have announced a recall of 38,600 pool pump water guns because a small part can inadvertently be propelled and cause injury. The CPSC reports that four children have sustained minor injuries from the guns, which were sold from January through June at Kmart stores. The guns are 15 inches long and are shaped like oversized syringes. They fill with water when placed in a pool and the handle is activated; the products shoot water when pushed.

The problem is that the cone-shaped nozzle of the devices can come off when the water is pushed out, and the power of the push can make the nozzle a projectile.

Consumers are urged to stop using the guns and return them to a Kmart store for a refund. Those with questions can call 866-562-7848.

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