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

Ashcroft Hospitalized With Inflamed Pancreas

Attorney General John Ashcroft was hospitalized Thursday night for what doctors said was an inflamed pancreas brought on by gallstones.

Ashcroft, 61, cancelled a scheduled appearance Thursday afternoon in Alexandria, Va., to announce verdicts in a terrorism case, thinking he had a stomach flu, according to a statement by Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo.

As the day progressed, his condition worsened. Dr. Daniel Parks, the White House physician, visited Ashcroft at his home and urged him to seek emergency care.

Ashcroft was brought to George Washington University Hospital, where doctors determined that he was suffering from acute pancreatitis, Corallo says. He was admitted to the hospital's intensive care unit, where he is being treated with antibiotics.

Pancreatitis is a sudden inflammation of the pancreas, a large gland behind the abdomen that produces insulin. Pain and vomiting are hallmark symptoms. It can be brought on by alcohol abuse, but in Ashcroft's case -- as often happens with this condition -- it was the result of gallstones blocking the pancreatic duct.

Recovery is often without incident, according to the National Pancreas Foundation. Corallo says doctors will have a better handle on Ashcroft's condition within the next two days.

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Couples Find IVF Stressful

A Swedish study finds that many couples quit in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment because they find it causes too many relationship and psychological problems.

The BBC reports that of 974 couples undergoing IVF, 242 discontinued the treatment.

The study, appearing in the journal Fertility and Sterility, found that 26 percent of those who opted out did so because of psychological problems and 15 percent reported marriage woes.

Suzi Leather, chairwoman of the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority, told the BBC that many couples drop out of IVF treatment because they have misconceptions about it.

"They really believe this is going to sort it out for them straight away and the facts are that it won't necessarily solve it for them straight away," she says. "They have inflated expectations."

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Group Wants New Cholesterol Drug Pulled

The watchdog group Public Citizen is urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to pull the cholesterol drug Crestor from the market only months after it was approved.

Citing reports that some patients on the drug suffered from life-threatening kidney failure and muscle damage, the group called upon the FDA to remove Crestor "immediately," adding that Public Citizen had warned of these complications before the drug was approved in August.

A 39-year-old woman in the United States died from those complications, and Public Citizen says it has counted nine cases of kidney damage and seven cases of muscle damage in the United States, Canada, and England since Crestor was approved.

Another statin, Baycol, was removed from the market for similar reasons. However, says Dr. Sidney Wolfe, leader of Public Citizen Health Research Group, those cases happened after Baycol was approved; in Crestor's case, the problems happened during clinical trials.

Crestor's maker, AstraZeneca, has launched a direct-to-consumer advertising campaign. In addition to the cases, Public Citizen says two major U.S. health insurers and the Swedish government are refusing to cover the drug.

AstraZeneca says that the drug is "generally well-tolerated," but that it should be prescribed "with caution" to patients with kidney trouble.

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Patient Lifts Recalled Over Fall Risk

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday announced the recall of patient lifts because of a faulty design in a key bolt that could cause a patient to fall.

These lifts, commonly used in hospitals and nursing homes, are designed to move a patient from one place to another, such as from a bed to a bathroom.

This batch of lifts, made in Denmark and distributed by Moving Solutions Inc., of Downers Grove, Ill., has a bad main bolt that connects the lifting arm to the main frame. When the bolt breaks, the FDA reports, the arm becomes disconnected, which can result in a fall.

"The lift arm may also fall on the patient, which could result in serious injury, even death," the agency warns. "Facilities should stop using these lifts until the problem is corrected."

Moving Solutions warned customers about the problem and offered to give a washer to help fix it, but the FDA says it's not convinced that solution will work.

About 850 lifts have been distributed in the United States.

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Study: Asbestos Still a Crisis in U.S.

The asbestos crisis is far from over and the United States can expect to see at least 10,000 asbestos-related deaths each year for the next two decades or so.

So says a new report released Thursday by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Action Fund in Washington, D.C. The report includes the first maps to disclose asbestos-related deaths on both the county and national levels since 1979. Los Angeles County in California and Cook County in Illinois topped the list.

"After 15 years of working on these issues, I was absolutely stunned at the extent of mortality and diseases that are still caused by asbestos," HealthDay quotes EWG senior vice president Richard Wiles as saying. "This rate of death appears to be increasing based on a review of federal mortality data maintained by the CDC from 1979 to 2001."

The group is critical of a bill pending in the U.S. Senate that would set up a trust fund and place restrictions on asbestos-related claims.

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