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State policies decrease youth smoking, drinking, sex

State policies, such as taxing the sale of cigarettes and alcohol, decrease teenage smoking and drinking, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

3 Feb 2005

Eleventh Edition of the Report on Carcinogens

The Department of Health and Human Services released its Eleventh Edition of the Report on Carcinogens today, adding seventeen substances to the growing list of cancer-causing agents, bringing the total to 246.

31 Jan 2005

Startling results from new biomedical research will smooth path to the market place

Researchers have discovered how to convert liver cells of mice into pancreatic cells using a single injection. This may eventually lead to a cure for diabetes. Dr. James Mittra, one of the organisers of an international conference in Edinburgh on the Evolution of the Life Science Industries asks, “How does the pharmaceutical industry respond to this kind of work? They are primarily interested in treatments, not cures. Do they see this kind of research as a threat?”

27 Jan 2005

Increasing trend in society to be more open about the use of sperm donors

Two studies to be published tomorrow (Thursday 27 January) in Europe's leading reproductive medicine journal, Human Reproduction provide a generally optimistic picture about attitudes towards the increasing trend in society to be more open about the use of sperm donors.

26 Jan 2005

Many of George Bush's health policies likely to be controversial in second term

Many health policies under George Bush's second term in office are likely to be controversial, warns a leading British doctor and an American colleague in this week's BMJ.

20 Jan 2005

Health benefits justify smoking ban

The risk of widespread job losses if there is a ban on smoking in public places is justified by the health benefits, according to an MP pushing a ban in Wales.

19 Jan 2005

Parental notification laws concerning contraception would affect teenagers

Rachel K. Jones, Ph.D., and colleagues with the Alan Guttmacher Institute, New York, N.Y., conducted a study in which 1,526 female adolescents younger than 18 years (minors) seeking reproductive health services at 79 national family planning clinics were surveyed between May 2003 and February 2004.

19 Jan 2005

Human Genome Project may have made traditional race-based measurements of human differences obsolete

New and sophisticated methods for studying the relationship between human genetic differences, the environment, health and behavior, all made possible by the completion of the Human Genome Project, have made traditional race-based measurements of human differences obsolete

17 Jan 2005

Scientific evidence on passive smoking is inconclusive

Scientific evidence on environmental tobacco smoke (ETS or so-called "passive smoking") is inconclusive and does not justify a total ban on smoking in public places, it was argued at a conference on public smoking in Edinburgh today.

17 Jan 2005

Baby Bottle artificially flavoured drink found to contain high benzoate levels

A ‘Baby Bottle Artificially Flavoured Drink on a Candy' product has been found to contain benzoate levels in breach of the 1995 food additives legislation. Benzoates are associated with urticaria (nettle rash) in some people. The U.K's Food Agency has issued a Food Alert 'For Action.'

13 Jan 2005

Lowering health care costs overall seen as top U.S. health priority

The public favors reducing jury awards in malpractice lawsuits and allowing drugs to be imported from Canada, but ranks them relatively low on a list of 12 health care priorities for President Bush and Congress to address this year, according to a new post-election survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health.

12 Jan 2005

First deceleration in U.S. national health spending growth in seven years

The pace of health spending growth slowed in 2003, marking the first deceleration in national health spending growth in seven years, a report by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary shows. The annual report is published in the January/February 2005 issue of Health Affairs.

12 Jan 2005

Italy's tough anti-smoking laws are an embarrassing reminder of Western Australia's ineffective new regulations

"For a country that has a large population of heavy smokers, the Italian Government has shown real courage in the fight against passive smoking," said association President Dr Paul Skerritt.

12 Jan 2005

Call for a smoke free Scottish Parliament

The chairman of the BMA in Scotland has this week written to the Presiding Officer suggesting that the Scottish Parliament smoking room for staff and MSPs be closed and replaced with a drop in smoking cessation support centre for staff and MSPs who wish to give up the habit.

12 Jan 2005

Mothers still face negative stereotypes in the workplace

Despite the gains women have made in the workplace, new research suggests one group of women employees still face negative stereotypes – mothers.

5 Jan 2005

Easier access to emergency contraception would not increase the risk of STDs

Making it easier to obtain emergency contraception would not increase unprotected intercourse, lead to abandonment of regular contraception, or increase the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), according to a study in the January 5 issue of JAMA.

5 Jan 2005

Bush Administration pressures Canada to eliminate drug importation

The following news release is being issued by CIPA - Canadian mail-order drug importation may become illegal soon due to new regulations proposed by the Liberal Government. After quietly supporting the practice for four years, the Liberals made a conspicuous about face after President Bush's November visit to Canada.

4 Jan 2005

Give all workers the right to a smoke-free environment

As civil servants throughout Northern Ireland head back to work today to completely smoke-free offices, the BMA is again calling for this public health benefit to be extended to all workers here.

4 Jan 2005

Lessons learned from troubles with COX-2 inhibitors

One of the nation’s leading cardiovascular medical researchers has issued a call for less aggressive direct-to-consumer advertising and better safety assurances of medications in a special article posted online by JAMA because of its relevance to the recent withdrawals and warning labels on the pain-relieving drugs known as COX-2 inhibitors.

28 Dec 2004

Patients' bills of rights laws don't actually protect health care providers

Despite critics who say patients' bills of rights laws are actually designed to protect health care providers, new research published in the current issue of the American Journal of Medicine found just the opposite.

23 Dec 2004