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

UCLA Employees Allegedly Sold Body Parts From Cadaver Program

The UCLA medical school has suspended indefinitely its body-donor program following allegations that employees had illegally sold hundreds of cadavers, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The newspaper revealed the allegations last week. But until Tuesday, the school had maintained that closing the program would impair medical research. School officials reportedly changed their minds as the scandal appeared to widen.

The Times originally reported that two school employees, Henry Reid and Keith Lewis, had been placed on leave amid suspicion that they sold bodies for personal gain. Reid has since been arrested on charges of grand theft, the newspaper says. An alleged middleman, Ernest Nelson, has also been arrested, the newspaper says.

Bodies that had been scheduled to go to UCLA, which had hosted the nation's oldest cadaver donor program, are being re-routed to UC Irvine, which itself was involved in a body parts scandal in 1999, the Times reports. At the time, UC Irvine fired the director of its cadaver program amid allegations that he sold human spinal parts to a Phoenix research company for $5,000.

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Senate OKs Bill to Clearly Identify Food Allergens

The U.S. Senate has passed a bill requiring food manufacturers to better warn consumers of potential food allergens.

The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) would set standards for clear, more reliable and consistent labeling for ingredients that could cause serious reactions in some allergic consumers. It would cover major allergens, including milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, and soybeans, The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network says in a statement. The organization says as many as 7 million Americans suffer from food allergies.

The act -- which if approved by the U.S. House of Representatives would take effect in 2006 -- would also cover spices, flavorings, colorings and other additives that could lead to anaphylactic shock and death in people with severe allergies.

FALCPA would require manufacturers to highlight affected ingredients by using the word "Contains" in the ingredient list, as in: CONTAINS MILK. Technical ingredient terms would also be clarified, as in: WHEY (MILK).

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Popular Athletic Supplement May Raise Prostate Risk

Athletes who take the popular over-the-counter supplement DHEA to raise testosterone levels may actually be raising levels of different hormones entirely -- an action that could cause prostate problems, a new study finds.

Researchers at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine say DHEA appears to have no effect on testosterone production, but appears to eventually raise levels of a hormone known as ADG. Other studies have found that ADG is a growth factor for the prostate, and may prompt a type of prostate enlargement known as benign prostatic hypertrophy.

Athletes can easily obtain the supplement at health food stores and nutrition centers. While the supplement is typically sold in 25 mg. and 50 mg. doses, many athletes take 200 mg. or more at a time, the researchers say.

Results of their study appear in the March issue of the journal Fertility and Sterility.

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Ashcroft Has Successful Gallbladder Surgery

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft successfully underwent surgery to remove his gallbladder Tuesday at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. He entered the hospital on March 4 complaining of stomach pain, and was eventually diagnosed with a severe case of gallstone pancreatitis.

"Everything went as planned. He did very well," Dr. Bruce Abell, who performed the procedure, told the Associated Press.

Ashcroft was listed in guarded condition and would probably remain in the hospital for observation for four to five days, Abell said.

Gallstones can cause pancreatitis and they usually require surgical removal. After the stones are removed and inflammation goes away, the pancreas usually returns to normal, according to the National Institutes of Health. Some people have more than one attack and recover completely after each attack.

But acute pancreatitis can be a severe, life-threatening illness with many complications. About 80,000 cases occur in the United States each year, with some 20 percent of them severe. Acute pancreatitis occurs more often in men than women, the NIH says.

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New Drug Helps Smokers Quit -- And Keeps Pounds Off

A new drug called rimonabant appears to help smokers quit and to limit their weight gain after they kick the habit, says a University of Cincinnati College of Medicine study.

The study found that, compared to a placebo, rimonabant doubled smokers' odds of quitting and greatly reduced the amount of weight they gained 10 weeks after they quit.

The study, called Studies with Rimonabant and Tobacco Use (STRATUS-US), is one of the largest smoking cessation trials ever conducted in the United States. It included 787 smokers and was done at 11 sites across the country.

Rimonabant is the first in a new class of drugs called selective CB1 blockers. The drug works by inhibiting the CB1 receptor, which plays a role in tobacco dependency, the researchers say.

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Celibacy Vow Does Little to Reduce STD Risk

Taking a vow of celibacy doesn't seem to offer American teens much protection against contracting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), according to a study of 12,000 adolescents ages 12 to 18.

The results show that teens who make a public pledge to abstain from sex until they're married have fewer sex partners and get married at an earlier age than those who don't take a vow of abstinence, the Associated Press reports.

However, both groups have similar STD rates. The study says that's because the adolescents who vow abstinence are less likely to use condoms.

"It's difficult to simultaneously prepare for sex and say you're not going to have sex," study co-author Peter Bearman, chairman of the sociology department at Columbia University, told the AP.

"The message is really simple: 'Just say no' may work in the short term but doesn't work in the long term," Bearman said.

Data from the study was presented Tuesday at the National STD Prevention Conference in Philadelphia.

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