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Survey of sulphur dioxide in soft drinks

A Food Standards Agency survey of soft drinks has found that manufacturers are making sure that sulphur dioxide levels are within the legal limits.

19 May 2004

CMS to take steps to protect the Medicare-approved Discount Drug Card Program from fraud

Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), said today government and public partners are taking further steps to protect the new Medicare-approved Discount Drug Card Program from any possible fraudulent activities.

19 May 2004

CMS will undertake pilot program to determine the effectiveness of the voluntary compliance programs used by many hospitals

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mark McClellan, M.D., Ph.D. today announced CMS will soon undertake a pilot program in partnership with hospitals in 13 states and the District of Columbia to determine the effectiveness of the voluntary compliance programs used by many hospitals.

19 May 2004

To sleep…

Proteomic analysis using mass spectrometry could be used in a diagnostic test for sleeping sickness that can more accurately spot the disease than current approaches.

18 May 2004

The UK Health Protection Agency has issued symptom-based clinical action cards to all GPs in England to help them recognise unusual symptoms

The Health Protection Agency has this week issued symptom-based clinical action cards to all GPs in England to help them recognise unusual symptoms. The cards do not reflect any increased threat to the public, but have been developed in response to requests from the medical profession for more specific training in the recognition of unusual symptoms caused by emerging diseases and by chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) hazards.

18 May 2004

Benitec acquires Avocel to focus on rapid development of hepatitis C therapeutics

Benitec Ltd. today announced the acquisition of Avocel, Inc. of Sunnyvale, CA, a leading RNAi therapeutics company, and the establishment of its wholly-owned US subsidiary, Benitec, Inc. Through the acquisition, Benitec gains its first in-house advanced therapeutic development program using DNA-directed RNAi (ddRNAi) to target the Hepatitis C virus.

18 May 2004

Patients and health professionals believe that the UK's NHS is getting better

The annual report of the NHS Modernisation Board says that services are better than four years ago due to changes in attitude and culture since the NHS Plan was introduced.

18 May 2004

Man with long career of impersonating doctor sentenced to an additional 10 years in prison

Gerald Barnes, 70, was sentenced on his fifth conviction of impersonating a doctor. The 10-year sentence imposed by United States District Judge J. Spencer Letts in Los Angeles will run consecutive to both the 12½-year sentence and a separate, previously imposed 2½-year sentence for the escape. The prior sentences are not due to expire until June 2009.

18 May 2004

HHS launches new web pilot project for consumer health information

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced the launch of a 9-month pilot project with WebMD Health to make HHS consumer health information more widely and more rapidly available to the public on a new HHS "channel" on WebMD.

17 May 2004

British cancer charities call for improved lung cancer care

Today, MPs are being urged to support cancer charities' call for the provision of modern equipment vital to the treatment of people living with lung cancer, six months after the Government first promised to produce a national framework.

17 May 2004

Steps to tackle bed-blocking have led to a big reduction in delayed discharges

Health Secretary John Reid said that the 4,000 beds that have been freed up since the ‘Cash for Change’ programme was introduced in 2001 was equivalent to adding eight extra hospitals to the NHS. The scheme provided £300m to local councils to ensure that people leaving hospital would get the care they needed.

17 May 2004

New joint UK-Slovak health collaboration

A new joint UK-Slovak programme to boost collaboration into a range of medical conditions was announced by Health Minister John Huttontoday.Mr Hutton signed a joint agreement between the UK and Slovak Republic covering medicine and public health.

17 May 2004

The Australian Medical Association (WA) today slammed proposed changes to Workers Compensation legislation

"This arrogant and offensive legislation will mean the Government will have the power to tell injured workers how many times they can see their doctor and what treatment they can receive," AMA Workers Compensation spokesman Dr Richard Choong said.

17 May 2004

New website for oral cancer prevention and detection

Every year in the United Kingdom, approximately 3, 500 people are diagnosed with oral cancer. About half these people will die of the disease. On average, four people in the UK die every day from oral cancer.

17 May 2004

Managing large numbers of patients from mass casualty incidents

Today’s hospitals are challenged to become better prepared to manage large numbers of patients from mass casualty incidents (MCI), hazardous material incidents (HAZMAT), or in extreme cases, attacks using weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

17 May 2004

One person per week dies in British hospitality industry from passive smoking

New figures to be presented at a Royal College of Physicians (RCP) conference today will show that every week in the UK one hospitality industry employee dies from passive smoking at work. The new figures, calculated by Professor Konrad Jamrozik of Imperial College in London, will be presented at the RCP conference called ‘Environmental Tobacco Smoke and the Hospitality Industry’.

17 May 2004