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

Obese Women Earn Less, Study Finds

Being obese is more than a threat to your health, it can also hurt your wallet.

A Finnish study found that highly educated obese women earn about 30 percent less than normal-weight women or those who are plump. That works out to a difference of about $5,000 a year less for the obese women, the Associated Press reports.

The study, published Wednesday in the American Journal of Public Health, found that obesity had little or no effect on work income if women were poorly educated, manual workers, or self-employed.

Obesity also had no statistically significant impact on men's wages, the study found.

The researchers had no explanation for why obesity has such an effect on the income of highly educated women. They suggest that higher socio-economic classes may exert more pressure on women to be thin.

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U.S. Launches Investigation Into Lone Mad Cow Case

The U.S. government has begun a criminal investigation into possible falsification of documents in the lone case of mad cow disease in the United States, The New York Times reports.

An Agriculture Department official says the investigation centers on whether the affected Holstein cow, which was slaughtered Dec. 9 in Washington state, was a "downer." That refers to a cow that's too sick or injured to walk.

The investigation is the result of allegations contained in media reports in early February that official records may have been altered, the official told a House of Representatives' appropriations subcommittee on Wednesday.

Official records of the veterinarian at Vern's Moses Lake Meats, where the cow was slaughtered, state the afflicted cow was conscious but down on its chest before it was killed. Three witnesses, including the slaughterhouse owner and the worker who killed the animal, have said publicly that the cow was walking before it was killed, the Times reports.

The Agriculture Department tested fewer than 21,000 cows for mad cow disease last year, compared with millions in Europe. Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman has repeatedly stated that number is enough to guarantee the safety of the nation's beef supply because the testing focuses on downers, which are more likely to carry disease. If mad cow was found in a walking cow, that would undermine the premise behind the testing system, the Times reports.

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FDA Unveils New Drug Information Web Site

A new drug information Web site for patients, consumers and health professionals has been launched by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The site, called Drugs@FDA, is a searchable database that offers information about approved prescription drugs, some over-the-counter drugs, and discontinued drugs. It's the first Web resource that provides a comprehensive overview of a drug product's approval history, the agency says.

Because Drugs@FDA packages all drug approval information on one site, Internet users no longer have to visit multiple Web pages searching for brand name and generic drug information.

The site includes consumer information sheets, medication guides, labeling information and other resources for patients. The site will eventually include information on drug recalls, warnings and shortages.

The site can be found at: www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/drugsatfda.

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Childhood Meningitis Vaccine Shortage Reported

A shortage of a vaccine that protects children against pneumococcal diseases such as meningitis and blood infections has prompted U.S. health officials to recommend that doctors temporarily suspend the last two doses of the vaccine's four-dose regimen.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued the request to ensure the country does not run out of the vaccine Prevnar.

"CDC is concerned anytime children are not able to receive all of the recommended doses of a recommended vaccine. Delaying the third and fourth doses of this important vaccine is not ideal; however, it is important to take steps to assure all children receive some protection with at least two doses of vaccine," Dr. Steve Cochi, acting director of the CDC's National Immunization Program, said Tuesday in a prepared statement.

He said children whose third and fourth doses are delayed should be given their delayed doses on their first visit to a doctor after supplies of Prevnar return to normal.

The CDC says children at increased risk of severe disease should continue to receive the full, routine, four-dose series.

Wyeth Vaccines is the sole manufacturer of Prevnar in the United States. Production problems have resulted in a shortage of the vaccine. Widespread shortages may continue into the autumn, according to a CDC news release.

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Researchers Retract Controversial Vaccination-Autism Study

A retraction has been issued by 10 of the 12 authors of a controversial 1998 study that claimed a link between the triple childhood vaccination for mumps, rubella and measles (MMR) and autism.

The retraction was published in this week's issue of the British medical journal The Lancet, which published the original study.

"We wish to make it clear that in this paper no casual link was established between MMR vaccine and autism as the data were insufficient. However, the possibility of such a link was raised and consequent events have had major implications for public health," the scientists wrote in their retraction.

"In view of this, we consider now is the appropriate time that we should together formally retract the interpretation placed upon these findings in the paper, according to precedent," they wrote.

The conclusions contained in the 1998 study caused many parents to resist vaccinations for their children.

Last month, Lancet editor Dr. Richard Horton issued an apology for publishing the study. Horton said the journal editors weren't informed by the researchers that they were being funded by a legal aid service looking into whether families could sue over immunizations.

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Nerve Block Reduces Pancreatic Cancer Pain

A nerve block technique called neurolytic celiac plexus block offers more pain relief than morphine and other painkillers for people with pancreatic cancer, says a Mayo Clinic study.

The study of 100 people with advanced pancreatic cancer found that patients treated with the nerve block reported a pain reduction of more than 50 percent. Patients on morphine and other medications experienced pain reduction of about 27 percent, BBC News Online reports.

The Mayo researchers also found that the nerve block provided pain relief for several months. The study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The nerve block is an injection that consists of a local anesthetic, steroids and alcohol. It reduces pain by paralyzing the nerves surrounding the pancreas.

Pancreatic cancer causes severe pain. This finding could help people with terminal pancreatic cancer to be more comfortable during the remainder of their lives, the study authors say.

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