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Health Highlights: March 11, 2003

Posted on: Tuesday, 11 March 2003, 06:00 CST

Health Highlights: March 11, 2003

Source: HealthScoutNews

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of The HealthScout News Service:

FDA Issues Alert About Counterfeit Procrit

Health workers and patients are being warned to be on the lookout for a counterfeit version of the drug Procrit.

The counterfeit product is ineffective and contaminated with bacteria, says a U.S. Food and Drug Administration statement issued Tuesday. The bacteria poses a potential significant hazard to consumers.

The fake version of the drug was discovered after an investigative review and laboratory testing.

Procrit, also known as epoetin alfa, is used to stimulate production of red blood cells in order to treat people with severe anemia brought on by chemotherapy, HIV, and other conditions or procedutres that attack red blood cells.

There are 3 lots of the counterfeit drug. They have the following lot numbers and expiration dates:

POO7645, expiration 10-2004.

POO4677, expiration 02-2004.

POO4839, expiration 02-2004.

The FDA urges health workers and patients to check Procrit packaging and vials carefully before they use the product. If a counterfeit version is found, it should not be used for any purpose, the FDA says.

Health workers should quarantine it and immediately contact the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at 1-800-835-4709, prompt #1, then prompt #5. People with counterfeit product can also contact the manufacturer, Ortho Biotech, at 1-800-325-7504, prompt #2.

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Med Schools Changing Policies on Ob/Gyn Exams

A number of leading medical schools in the United States now require doctors to get patient permission before medical students can do gynecological exams on anesthetized women

That requirement changes a decades-old system. Previously, doctors at the medical schools routinely allowed medical students to conduct pelvic exams on women having gynecological surgery.

These student pelvic exams were often done without the a woman's knowledge, the Associated Press reports.

The policy changes have occurred slowly and quietly over the past few years. The modifications were prompted by complaints from medical students who felt it was unethical to do these examinations without the patient's consent.

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Prince Charles to Have Hernia Operation

Prince Charles is scheduled to have a hernia operation later this month.

The 54-year-old Prince of Wales will enter the hospital on March 28 and could require weeks to fully recover from the operation, BBC News Online reports.

It's believed that the heir to the British throne suffered the hernia while planting hedges in the gardens of his Highgrove estate in Gloucestershire.

A hernia, which appears as a lump, occurs when the intestines are pushed through the abdominal muscle wall. Coughing, heavy lifting, vigorous exercise or even sex can cause a hernia.

Smoking Appears to Suppress Cough Reflex

Men who smoke may have less of a cough reflex than non-smoking men, researchers at Albert Einstein Hospital in New York say.

The reflex that triggers coughing helps prevent airborne particles from entering the respiratory tract, and helps remove mucus from the airways. A weakened reflex may leave smokers more prone to respiratory tract infections, the researchers say.

They studied cough sensitivity in 20 healthy males with an average age of 32, all of whom smoked. Their results were then compared with a control group of 50 male non-smokers of about the same age. On average, smokers needed more than four times the dose of a medication that induces coughing than the non-smokers.

Results appear in the March 11 issue of the journal Chest, published by the American College of Chest Physicians.

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Anthrax Vaccine Maker Hopes to Begin Testing

Human testing on a new vaccine to prevent anthrax should begin by year's end, its San Diego manufacturer hopes.

Vical Inc. says its DNA vaccine protected rabbits against the killer bacteria with few side effects, having reported similar results with mice. The company is now seeking U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to test the two-shot vaccine on a handful of people, reports the Associated Press.

While the FDA considers it unethical to deliberately expose people to harmful diseases like anthrax, the agency has said it would approve some vaccine testing on people if the experimental inoculation protected at least two animal species. The company says it's working with the FDA to determine if the two trials on rabbits and mice provided sufficient proof of effectiveness, or if testing on monkeys might be required first, the AP reports.

The only existing anthrax vaccine is made by BioPort, Inc., but requires six shots over 18 months, plus an annual booster. The U.S. government has come up with its own genetically engineered vaccine that would cut the six-shot regimen in half. Tests on that vaccine are slated to begin later this year, the AP says.

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Congress Reconsiders Partial Birth Abortion Bill

Congress may be ready to end an eight-year standoff on a ban over late-term "partial birth" abortions, as supporters in the U.S. Senate say they now have the votes to pass such a measure, reports the Washington Post. President Bush has vowed to sign the legislation.

Congress has passed a similar bill twice before, and it was vetoed both times by President Bill Clinton. In the midst of an attempt to reconsider the issue three years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional a Nebraska law that was similar to the federal legislation, because it did not include an exception to save the life of the mother.

The House passed a reworded ban last year, and Senate supporters tell the Post they believe they now have the 60 necessary votes to deter a filibuster by the bill's opponents.

The new legislation, authored by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), defines the procedure as one in which a fetus is partially delivered, and a doctor performs "an overt act that the person knows will kill the partially delivered living fetus," the Post reports.

Opponents say the new language would allow an exception only to save a woman's life and would not apply to cases in which continued pregnancy would cause her "grievous injury," the newspaper says.

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