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

Senate Passes Bill Expanding Fetal Rights

The U.S. Senate has approved legislation that expands the legal rights of the unborn, making it a separate crime to harm a fetus during an assault on a woman who is pregnant.

Thursday's 61-38 vote means the bill now goes to President Bush, who has pledged to sign it. The House passed the measure last month.

On its surface, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act is somewhat limited, since it only applies during commission of a federal crime, the Associated Press reports. Examples include a terrorist attack, or crimes committed on federal lands or military bases.

But proponents and opponents alike acknowledge its far-reaching consequences, since it's believed to be the first legislation that recognizes a fetus as a distinct person. The bill's wording does not overtly define when life begins -- rather it says the protection involves "a member of the species homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb," the AP reports.

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Drug Discount Cards to Debut Soon

The Bush Administration says it has chosen 28 companies to provide drug discount cards to Medicare participants, bringing the new Medicare law a step closer to fruition.

Beneficiaries can enroll in a discount card plan starting May 1, and begin using the cards on June 1. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson says the cards, intended mostly for people who have no prescription drug coverage, should cut retail prices by up to 25 percent, The New York Times reports.

The cards have been offered as an interim step until the new law's full-fledged drug benefit starts in 2006. The cards will allow qualifying Medicare participants to receive up to $600 a year to help pay for prescription drugs in 2004 and 2005, the newspaper says.

Sponsors of the new cards are permitted to charge an enrollment fee of up to $30, but about 25 percent of them have said they wouldn't impose the fee, a Medicare spokesman tells the Times.

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Circumcision May Cut AIDS Risk

Circumcised men are six- to eight-times less likely to contract the AIDS-causing HIV virus than men who aren't circumcised, American and Indian researchers report in The Lancet medical journal.

Following a study of more than 2,000 Indian men, the researchers conclude that circumcision only reduces the risk of HIV infection, not that of other sexually transmitted diseases like syphilis and gonorrhea, according to a report from BBC News Online.

The study, whose results mimic those of past research, suggests that the foreskin is highly susceptible to HIV. It appears that the virus may directly target cells in the foreskin itself, the researchers say.

"[Foreskin cells appear to be] essentially a magnet for HIV infection," writes Dr. Robert Bollinger of Johns Hopkins University, one of the study's authors.

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FDA Finds Possible Carcinogen in More Foods

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that it has found more foods containing acrylamide, the chemical that in high doses is a cancer-causing agent in animals but whose effects on humans is unclear.

The latest finding is that traces of acrylamide have been found in black olives, prune juice, and Postum, a powdered hot drink. Further tests confirmed earlier findings that acrylamide levels were higher in potato-based and carbohydrate-rich foods that are prepared at high temperatures, such as potato chips and french fries.

Earlier in 2002, Swedish scientists raised concerns about acrylamide in foods, prompting the World Health Organization to call its presence "a serious problem" that warranted further study.

The FDA, which has tested foods purchased at grocery stores and fast-food restaurants, has also found traces of acrylamide in baby formula. However, the agency said levels were inconsistent and, when found in the formulas, were much lower than those in foods fried, baked, or roasted at high temperatures.

Thus far no agency has called on people to stop eating snack foods, though the FDA urges consumers to eat a balanced diet.

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Unintentional Poisoning Deaths Rise Sharply

Deaths from unintentional or undetermined poisoning rose 145 percent in 11 states between 1990 and 2001, the U.S. government reported Thursday.

Overall, death by poisoning increased 56 percent in those states during that time frame, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 63 percent of those were unintentional.

According to data from most of the states -- Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Colorado, Washington, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Delaware, New Mexico, Oregon, and Utah -- half of those deaths were attributable to narcotics and psychodysleptics (opioids and cocaine, for instance).

The highest rates were seen in people between 35 and 54 years old, and the increase was greater among women than among men, according to a report in the CDC publication Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

During the same time period, poisoning suicide rates fell and poisoning homicide rates remained stable.

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C-Sections Less Likely in Military Hospitals

A new study finds that births by cesarean section were much less likely in military hospitals than in civilian ones with no connection to the military.

The study, conducted by the Department of Defense (DOD) and appearing in the March issue of the journal Birth, found that 22.7 percent of women giving birth in DOD-connected hospitals had a C-section. The rate among the general population was 26.1 percent in 2002, the study notes.

Between 1996 and 2002, the overall rate of cesarean sections increased steadily, but the rate of increase was lower at DOD-connected facilities. The study included both military hospitals and civilian hospitals under contract with the Pentagon.

Whereas civilian hospitals had a higher rate of C-sections among women in higher socioeconomic groups, the rates at military hospitals were steady in all socioeconomic groups, the study says.

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