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

Drug-Resistant TB is Growing Global Problem

Tuberculosis is becoming more and more resistant worldwide to antibiotics, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

As many as 300,000 new cases of drug-resistant TB are reported each year around the world, and about eight of 10 cases are "superstrains" resistant to three of the four first-line antibiotics, according to an analysis of the WHO survey by The New York Times.

The problem is particularly acute in the former Soviet Union, where infected people are 10 times as likely to have drug-resistant strains of TB than anywhere else, the WHO reports.

And the survey's authors say the problem may be even worse than measured, since statistics were difficult to come by in places like Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, and Nigeria.

One expert tells the Times the last new TB drug was introduced in 1963, and newer medications are urgently needed. Shortages often force patients to cut back on medications, allowing the TB bacterium to mutate into forms that are resistant to the drugs.

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Sick Popcorn Worker Awarded $20 Million

A former popcorn-factory worker with severe breathing problems has been awarded $20 million by a jury that sided with the worker's claim that the butter flavoring used in microwave popcorn damaged his lungs.

Eric Peoples, 32, is the first of 30 former workers at a factory in Jasper, Mo., to have his case decided by a jury, reports USA Today. He developed a severe cough in 1998 and is now functioning with 20 percent lung capacity, the newspaper says.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say they're investigating workers' claims that a chemical used in the buttery flavoring in microwave popcorn is to blame for the lung ailment now referred to as "Popcorn Packers' Lung."

Spokespeople from both agencies maintain that microwave popcorn is safe for consumers to pop and eat at home, USA Today reports.

Monday's judgment was made against New York-based International Flavors and Fragrances, maker of the buttery flavoring. The company could not be reached for comment, the newspaper says.

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Thailand Reports New Bird Flu Death

A 39-year-old factory worker in Thailand has become Asia's 23rd human fatality in the three-month-old bird flu epidemic, the Associated Press reports.

The woman is believed to have been infected on or about March 1 by chickens at a neighbor's house. She died Friday, but her death was not confirmed until Tuesday.

Meanwhile, China has declared itself free of known cases, while Japan has imposed new penalties against farmers who fail to report bird flu infections among fowl, the AP reports.

Despite the human deaths, early fears expressed by the World Health Organization and others that the H5N1 bird flu virus could mix with a human strain of flu and spark a pandemic among people haven't come to fruition, the wire service notes.

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Consumer Group Sues FDA Over Antidepressant

The consumer advocacy group Public Citizen sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday for failing to act on a Public Citizen petition, filed more than a year ago, that sought a ban of the antidepressant drug nefazodone.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asks the court to find the FDA's delay illegal and to require the agency to act.

Nefazodone, sold by Bristol-Myers Squibb under the brand name Serzone, can lead to liver failure, even death, the consumer group says. The FDA's slow decision process continues to put patients at risk of death or serious injury, according to the lawsuit.

Public Citizen sought a ban on nefazodone in March 2003, citing 21 cases of liver failure and 11 deaths between 1994, when the drug was first marketed, and the spring of 2002. An additional petition, submitted to the FDA in October 2003, included an analysis of the agency's Adverse Event Reports Database. That analysis showed that from April 1, 2002, through May 12, 2003, there were 33 additional reports of liver failure -- including nine deaths -- for a total of 54 patients with liver failure, including 20 deaths.

Nefazodone has already been taken off the market in Canada and Europe and is scheduled to be removed from the market in Australia and New Zealand in May, Public Citizen says. Since January 2002, a "black box" warning has been included in its U.S. packing insert, warning of life-threatening liver damage and recommending that physicians advise patients to be aware of signs of liver problems, the lawsuit says.

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Feds to Start Counting Carbs

Stroll down any supermarket these days and you'll find low-carb orange juice, cereals, even low-carb ice cream. It's all part of the food industry's response to America's love affair with the Atkins diet and its assorted cousins.

But the problem, according to the Associated Press, is that many food manufacturers count carbohydrates in different ways. Some foods really do contain a reduced number of carbs, while others may possess just one gram less per serving than normal.

To help consumers make sense of it all, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it's preparing guidelines that will spell out just how many carbohydrates a food can contain so it can be labeled low- or reduced-carb, the news agency says.

It's an effort to "demystify the current confusion about carbohydrates," says FDA Deputy Commissioner Lester Crawford, who notes that a substantial number of products will probably have to change their labels as a result, the AP says.

The guidelines are expected some time this summer.

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Many Blood Pressure Patients Unaware of Health Risks: Survey

Many patients with high blood pressure have a false sense of security about their health, says a survey of 800 people released Monday by the Massachusetts-based Rippe Lifestyle Institute.

According to the survey:

• 76 percent of respondents with a blood pressure of 160/100 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) said their doctors had not warned them their blood pressure was well above an acceptable level.
• All study participants were on medication, 75 percent checked their pressure outside the doctor's office, but 47 percent still had high blood pressure.

A person with blood pressure of 160/100 mm Hg or above has four times the risk of heart attack or stroke than someone with a blood pressure of less than 120/80 mm Hg, according to new federal guidelines.

"People in this study don't understand that blood pressure is much more than just a number -- it is a measure of a person's risk of heart attack and stroke," says Dr. James M. Rippe, founder and director of the institute and associate professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. "We need to do more than tell people to take their medication and check their blood pressure. We have to teach them what their blood pressure means and how to lower it successfully."

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