Senate turns to health bill's major obstacles 
Seeking to resolve two contentious issues blocking health-care reform in the Senate, lawmakers began consideration Monday of an amendment to restrict abortion coverage, while Democrats closed in on alternatives to the public-insurance option.
The abortion provision, co-sponsored by Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), would bar individuals who receive federal insurance subsidies from purchasing private policies that cover elective abortions. It also would ban coverage under a government plan -- an issue that could become moot if the public option is dropped.
A vote on the abortion amendment is expected Tuesday, and Nelson has warned that he could oppose the health-care bill unless the current Senate language is changed. Nelson's support is crucial: Without him, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) would be one vote short of the 60 needed to pass the measure.
Administration pushes swine flu vaccines in ads
WASHINGTON -- Pushing Americans to receive swine flu vaccinations, the Obama administration on Monday released a new slate of television and radio ads to counter an illness that already has infected millions.
The public service announcements target children and their parents, young adults and those in high-risk groups, such as people with asthma. The ads in English and Spanish come as a shortage of the vaccine is easing, with another 10 million doses expected to become available this week. The messages also are a shift from earlier efforts to teach Americans how to avoid spreading the illness, known also as H1N1.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was announcing the new ads Monday.
Flu pandemic could be mild
With the second wave of H1N1 infections having crested in the United States, leading epidemiologists are predicting that the pandemic could end up ranking as the mildest since modern medicine began documenting influenza outbreaks.
Experts warn that the flu is notoriously unpredictable, but several recent analyses, including one released late Monday, indicate that the death toll is likely to be far lower than the number of fatalities caused by past pandemics.
The predictions are being met with a mix of skepticism, relief and trepidation: Public health officials worry that people may become complacent about getting vaccinated, which could prove disastrous if a third wave of infections swells later this winter or the virus mutates into a more dangerous form.
Put down the Slim-Fast can -- regardless of flavor, sell-by date, etc.
The maker of Slim-Fast has recalled all of its ready-to-drink canned beverages. All of them. Turns out, thestuff might be contaminated with the bacterium Bacillus cereus.
Here's the notice, posted on the Food and Drug Administration's website and theSlim-Fast site.
It contains the usual "discard immediately," "contact the company ... for a full refund" advice. It also includes a list of the specific products being recalled, but there may be no need to check. The notice also says this:
Swine Flu Rates in US Drop for Fifth Straight Week
Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Swine flu rates declined for thefifth straight week, with the lowest number of reportedhospitalizations and deaths in more than two months, accordingto the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Visits to U.S. doctors for influenza-like illness declinedto the lowest level in three months as the flu retreated inseven states in the week ending Nov. 28, the CDC said on its WebSite. Twenty-five states reported widespread activity, down fromat least 46 in November.
Swine flu, known as H1N1, was first identified in April andswept the globe at an unprecedented rate. The illness promptedgovernments to activate pandemic prevention plans including thebiggest-ever flu vaccination program. The illness causessymptoms similar to seasonal flu in most instances though thenumber of cases remains higher than usual for this time of year.
Review Shows Safety of H1N1 Vaccine, Officials Say
An extensive review of adverse effects from the swine flu vaccine indicates that the vaccine is safe, with side effects no different from those of seasonal flu vaccines, health officials reported on Friday.
Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called the findings “very reassuring” at a news briefing on Friday. But he also noted that the results were still preliminary, because the vaccine for the H1N1 flu has been in widespread use for about only two months, since Oct. 5, when the first doses became available to the public. Rare problems or delayed effects might not show up until later, after many more people are vaccinated. The disease centers also posted a report on the vaccine’s safety on its Web site.
The information comes from two monitoring networks. One is the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, which receives reports about problems from doctors and other health workers, manufacturers and the public. Anyone can file a report, so there is no way of knowing if the problems are actually related to the vaccine until reports are investigated.
H1N1, Seasonal Flu Deaths Aren't Comparable, WHO Says
Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- The World Health Organization, facingcriticism that it exaggerated the threat of swine flu, said it’stoo soon to decide whether the pandemic is more or less deadlythan seasonal flu and comparing death rates may be misleading.
Mortality from the new H1N1 strain is “unquestionablyhigher” than the death toll reported by national authorities,the Geneva-based agency said in a report seen by Bloomberg Newsbefore its scheduled publication today. Deaths totaled more than7,820 as of Nov. 22, said WHO, which estimates as many as500,000 people die each year from seasonal strains.
Health authorities worldwide are assessing whether theirresponse to swine flu is justified by its threat as cases offlu-like illness retreat in the U.S. and U.K. While a majorityof patients recover within days and reported fatalities are afraction of the seasonal flu toll, these figures mask the fullimpact of swine flu on society, WHO said.
US debate over mammograms splits along party lines
* Republicans renew charges of healthcare rationing
* Democrats say reform bills don't bar mammogram coverage
* Task force chief: timing of guidelines was unfortunate (Adds comments from radiology meeting in Chicago)
New Stem Cell Lines Open to Research
The National Institutes of Health said Wednesday that it had approved 13 new human embryonic stem cell lines for use by federally financed researchers, with another 96 lines under review.
The action followed President Obama’s decision in March to expand the number of such cell lines beyond those available under a policy set by President George W. Bush, which permitted research to begin only with lines already available on Aug. 9, 2001.
Since that date, biomedical researchers supported by the N.I.H. have had to raise private money to derive the cells, which are obtained from the fertilized embryos left over from in vitro fertility clinics.
NIH authorizes use of first human embryonic stem cells under new policy
The Obama administration on Wednesday approved the first human embryonic stem cells for experiments by federally funded scientists under a new policy designed to dramatically expand government support for one of the most promising but also most contentious fields of biomedical research.
The National Institutes of Health authorized 11 lines of cells produced by scientists at the Children's Hospital in Boston and two lines created by researchers at the Rockefeller University in New York. All were obtained from embryos left over by couples seeking treatment for infertility.
"This is a real change in the landscape," NIH Director Francis Collins said. "This is the first down payment on what is going to be a much longer list . . . that will empower the scientific community to explore the potential of embryonic stem cell research."
