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

Experts Urge Strong FDA Warning for Antidepressants

Antidepressants prescribed to children should carry a clearly stated warning that they can sometimes trigger suicidal thoughts or actions in pediatric patients.

That was the unanimous recommendation handed up Tuesday by members of two U.S. Food and Drug Administration panels convened jointly to examine the risks of giving medications known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors to children, according to wire service reports.

The 25-0 vote, which was greeted with applause by tearful families at the hearing, followed two days of testimony and mounting evidence that antidepressants like Paxil, Prozac, and Zoloft may induce suicide or suicidal thoughts in some children.

The long-awaited decision comes after months of impassioned debate by physicians, parents, children, and drug industry representatives on the safety of the medications.

Before the vote, the FDA advisory group also heard evidence Tuesday that tougher drug warning labels mandated by the FDA in March have had little or no effect on the sale of antidepressants to minors.

In their decision, which now goes to the FDA for action, the panelists recommended that the antidepressants carry the nation's strictest warning -- a black box on the label -- detailing the potential risks, the Associated Press reported.

They also concluded that the drugs should come with an easy-to-read pamphlet that explains how to decide if a child is an appropriate candidate for the drug and what the warning signs of suicide are. In addition, they recommended, the FDA should consider making parents sign a form that they understand the risks before a child starts taking the pills.

The FDA advisory committee chairman, Dr. Wayne Goodman, who supported all the recommendations, cautioned, however, that there may be a backlash to such strong warnings, the AP reported.

"It will make prescribing more difficult. I anticipate there will be alarm from parents and the child," said Goodman, a psychiatry chairman at the University of Florida.

"I think that's worth that complication," he added, "because it will raise the threshold to prescribing" these drugs to minors.

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A Daily Brew Can Be Good For You, Study Finds

Not fond of red wine? A new Canadian study finds that a daily beer is just as good for you.

But the key is moderation. While one pint a day seemed to deliver the same antioxidant benefits as a daily glass of wine, three beers had the opposite effect, the Associated Press reported of the study by researchers at the University of Western Ontario.

Beer, like wine, contains plant compounds called polyphenols. Like other antioxidants, polyphenols are compounds that help prevent the oxidation of blood plasma that's believed to play a role in causing heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Even though red wine contains more polyphenols than beer, the Canadian researchers found that the body absorbs equally effective amounts from both beer and wine, according to an analysis of the study by the CanWest news service.

Though the research was funded by beer makers Guinness and Labatt, the researchers said this had no effect on the study's outcome, the AP reported.

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Anti-Snoring Device Approved for Sleep Apnea

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first implantable device to treat sleep apnea, a common disorder in which breathing stops during sleep for 10 seconds or more, sometimes more than 300 times a night. This often leads to restless sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness.

Obstructive sleep apnea, the disorder's most common form affecting 12 million Americans, usually occurs when the soft tissue in the back of the throat collapses and closes during sleep. This can cause patients to snore loudly and wake up as many as 20 to 30 times per hour.

Restore Medical's Pillar Procedure involves implanting three inserts into the soft pallet, stiffening the tissue and lessening airway obstruction, the company said in a statement. The inserts, each less than an inch long, are made from a woven soft polyester that's been used for years in other implantable medical products, the statement said.

The device is installed during a single office visit using a local anesthetic. The company said the procedure, first approved last year to treat common snoring, is completely reversible.

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Thailand Won't Use Bird Flu Vaccine on Fowl

The government of Thailand says it won't vaccinate any of its poultry against a deadly strain of bird flu that's swept the Asian continent, the Associated Press reported Wednesday. This year, the illness has twice broken out and infected millions of fowl then spread to people, killing at least 28 humans in both Thailand and Vietnam.

Following a three-hour meeting of health and agricultural ministers, the Bangkok government Wednesday refused to sanction the vaccine for poultry, saying it offered no guarantee of safety. The country, among the world's top four poultry exporters, has faced two outbreaks of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza this year. Tens of millions of chickens have died or been slaughtered, the AP reported.

Also Wednesday, the government said a total of 11 people had been hospitalized recently with symptoms of bird flu. World health officials worry that bird flu will combine with a common human flu strain, exposing people to a pandemic-causing flu strain that can't be stopped by vaccine.

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Child Care Report Finds States Lacking

States are charging low-income parents more for child care, putting more children on waiting lists and paying providers less, tightening a national child care crunch, a report released Tuesday concludes.

The study, by the National Women's Law Center, compared publicly subsidized child care programs in 2001 and 2004 and found the situation had worsened in most states.

Specifically, it found that income requirements got stiffer in about three of five states, so families had to earn less in order to qualify for subsidies; family co-payments went up in about half the states for parents earning 150 percent of the federal poverty level; almost half the states had waiting lists; and three of four states paid providers less than the amount recommended in federal regulations, which was a similar finding in 2001.

The report blames tight state budgets and stagnant federal funding, the Associated Press reported. The group and many independent experts say child care is essential for poor and low-income parents, particularly single mothers, to find and keep work.

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