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Open debate about illegal drug use is needed

Open debate about illegal drug use is needed to gain accurate, impartial information about the true extent of usage and the acute and long-term health effects, states an editorial in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

16 Jun 2005

Schiavo finally laid to rest

Hopefully autopsy findings released today will finally allow Terri Schiavo to be laid to rest.

16 Jun 2005

Doctor blames parents for return of sick girl's cancer

Thirteen year old Katie Wernecke is back in hospital after doctors confirmed the girls Hodgkin's disease had returned.

16 Jun 2005

Information given about animal welfare on food labels is confusing

Information given about animal welfare on food labels is confusing because it varies widely between countries and between different certification bodies, research at Cardiff University has found.

14 Jun 2005

Eat at home - its probably safer

Health officers in the UK say that some staff in restaurants they visited have what they term 'shocking' hygiene standards.

14 Jun 2005

Responsible drinking labels to go on cans and bottles of beer

British brewers plan to label cans and bottles of beer sold in the UK with a "responsible drinking" message. The labels will also show how many units of alcohol the drinks contain.

14 Jun 2005

Ruling does not overturn California law permitting the use of medical marijuana

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer issued the following statement on this week's ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in Gonzales v. Raich, which holds that federal laws prohibiting the use of medical marijuana remain in effect regardless of state laws that permit its use:

10 Jun 2005

Private health insurance given the go-ahead in Canada

A Quebec law that banned some private health insurance, has been overruled by the Supreme Court of Canada and is a decision which is likely to pave the way to a greater use of private health care to supplement a crumbling public system.

10 Jun 2005

Concern for smokers who don't understand nicotine

Medical experts warned today that thousands of smokers are jeopardising their chances of quitting successfully. New data presented at the UK National Smoking Cessation Conference (UKNSCC) shows that misconceptions about the role of nicotine are preventing smokers from quitting using nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) that actually increase the chances of quitting for good.

9 Jun 2005

12-year-old cancer victim taken into care after parents block treatment on religious grounds

State Child Protective Services in Texas are going to court on June 15 to try to get custody of a 12-year-old girl suffering from advanced Hodgkin's disease.

9 Jun 2005

Majority of the UK public believe that pub staff should be protected from second-hand smoke

Seven in ten (68%) of the UK public believe that the health of pub staff should be protected from second-hand smoke at work, according to a survey done by MORI for the British Medical Association (BMA).

9 Jun 2005

Soy appears to lower cholesterol and blood sugar levels, aid weight loss

A quick trip through the health-food section of any grocery will reveal several labels touting soy content, but most Americans do not know much about soy beyond a vague idea that it is a healthy food.

8 Jun 2005

New medical marijuana ruling

In many of San Francisco's medical marijuana clubs business carried on as usual despite the Supreme Court ruling on June 6 that people who smoke pot for medicinal purposes can be prosecuted for violating federal drug laws.

8 Jun 2005

Nitrogen oxides emitted by soil could play a substantially larger role in seasonal air pollution

Nitrogen oxides produced by huge fires and fossil fuel combustion are a major component of air pollution. They are the primary ingredients in ground-level ozone, a pollutant harmful to human health and vegetation.

6 Jun 2005

U.S. Supreme Court overules states and makes marijuana for medicinal use illegal

A U.S. Supreme Court has decreed that the Federal Government has the power to prevent sick patients from smoking home-grown marijuana that a doctor recommended to relieve chronic pain. The 6 to 3 ruling by a divided court is a major setback for the medical use of marijuana.

6 Jun 2005

Basic sanitation must reach 138 million more people every year through 2015

...close to 2 billion in total - to bring the world on track to halve the proportion of people living without safe water and basic sanitation, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF warn in a new report.

6 Jun 2005

5,000 people die from bowel cancer each year making it one of Australia's biggest cancer killers

Around 25 per cent, or more than 3,000 of the 13,000 bowel cancers diagnosed in Australia every year could be prevented if men and women maintained a healthy body weight, ate a healthy diet and engaged in daily physical activity.

6 Jun 2005

'Miracle Mermaid Baby' Milagros meets the media after her successful operation

The world had its first glimpse of 13-month-old Milagros Cerron last Thursday since she had surgery to separate her fused legs. This is only the second such successful operation on record performed to correct "mermaid syndrome."

5 Jun 2005

Banned chemical discovered in Canadian farmed salmon

Canadian federal officials have confirmed that farmed salmon with trace amounts of a banned chemical have recently been found on store shelves.

5 Jun 2005

Doctors in the UK demand that junk food television advertisors pay for public health messages

Delegates to the British Medical Association's public health medicine and community health annual conference want a 'fairness doctrine' adopted by advertisers, and the motion has been backed and put forward by alcohol addiction and research council chairman Dr Noel Olsen.

5 Jun 2005