Miscellaneous News

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Parents who just prayed as child was dying charged with murder

The parents of a diabetic girl in the U.S. who died as her parents prayed for her recovery rather than seek medical help, have been charged with second-degree reckless homicide.

30 Apr 2008

Drug group warns about over-reacting to methamphetamine abuse

A group which represents illegal drug users in Australia is warning authorities about the danger of adopting an alarmist approach in dealing with methamphetamine abuse.

29 Apr 2008

ACTU says 1.5 million workers are exposed to cancer-causing chemicals

According to the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), exposure to cancer-causing substances at work threatens the health and well being of as many as 1.5 million Australians.

29 Apr 2008

Mental Health Commission of Canada outlines startling statistics on homelessness and mental illness

The statistics are disturbing, but there is hope. That was the message from the Honourable Michael Kirby, Chair of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, as he delivered the keynote address at the Collaboration for Change forum in Vancouver today.

29 Apr 2008

High self-esteem not always what it's cracked up to be!

Oscar Levant, a mid-century pianist, film star and wit, once watched noted keyboardist and composer George Gershwin spend an evening playing his own music at a party and clearly having a great time.

28 Apr 2008

Global food price increase forces World Vision to scale back food aid program

One of the world's largest humanitarian organizations has announced it can no longer provide food to 1.5 million of the 7.5 million poor it fed last year.

23 Apr 2008

European action in global life sciences - food forum

The EAGLES conference focused on the European response through research to the global challenges posed by food security, quality and safety, and sustainable agriculture in the developing and emerging countries (DECs).

21 Apr 2008

Queensland Health and Cancer Council in fight over access to cancer data

Queensland Health Minister Stephen Robertson is again embroiled in yet another crisis which will leave Queenslanders doubting his ability to deal with the job.

20 Apr 2008

New Australian legislation on the way to ban flavoured cigarettes and regulate use of solariums

As a result of an agreement between state and federal health ministers, the sale of flavoured cigarettes will be banned in Australia.

20 Apr 2008

Urgent action needed against global food crisis

Life scientists from the developing world told their European colleagues at the EAGLES Food Symposium, held this week at the New Library of Alexandria (Egypt), that they are dismayed and even horrified at the persistent failure of Europe to deploy its life sciences effectively in the fight against hunger. Our Asian, African and Latin American colleagues have said that they simply cannot understand why that on the continent of Darwin and Pasteur, the voices of science and reason have been devalued.

18 Apr 2008

American Chemistry Council calls on FDA to update review of Bisphenol A

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) today sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach requesting FDA to update its review of the safety of bisphenol A in food contact applications.

17 Apr 2008

Patients are the real losers in the complementary medicine debate

One of the most important questions about complementary medicine - does it generate more harm than good - remains unanswered because two alternative and antagonistic attitudes are influencing the evidence, says an expert today.

17 Apr 2008

Warning about chemical found in plastic bottles and food containers

A chemical used to make plastic bottles and other food containers, is suspected to be linked to hormonal and neurological problems.

17 Apr 2008

Surgery successful in removing Indonesian man's disfiguring bark-like warts

An Indonesian man so badly disfigured by warts that he has been dubbed the Tree Man of Java has had surgery to remove the bark like tissue growing from his hands and feet.

16 Apr 2008

No guarantee that bottled water is any better than tap water

How much do you spend on bottled water? If you buy certain brands thinking the water is cleaner or safer, experts say you may as well be pouring money down the drain.

15 Apr 2008

Sydneysiders consider class action over radiation poisoning

A class action against the New South Wales (NSW) government over alleged radiation poisoning is being considered by the relatives of a number of Sydney residents who died of cancer in the 1970s.

14 Apr 2008

Cancer cluster at a fire station in Queensland leads to statewide investigation

The investigation into a suspected cancer cluster at a fire station in north Queensland has failed to establish a link between the building and an increased rate of cancer.

14 Apr 2008

Cognitive ability tests are the best way for medical schools to select their entrants

The selection of tomorrow's doctors is an issue of enduring interest because it raises questions about predicting the characteristics of a good doctor, write Celia Brown and Richard Lilford from the University of Birmingham.

11 Apr 2008

Australian RAAF aircraft used to take obese woman to hospital

The chartering of an RAAF Hercules to transport an obese patient to hospital has triggered a heated debate.

9 Apr 2008

Nurses accused of manslaughter plead not guilty

The nurses 48 year-old Jennifer Annique Valentine of Reedy Creek and 51-year-old Michael George Gibbons of Hope Island, allegedly failed to alert doctors to an emergency situation and as a result a patient died.

9 Apr 2008