630WPRO.COM Health Headlines

RI set to hold cancer summit

A statewide coalition working on cancer prevention, screening and treatment is preparing to hold the 2011 Rhode Island Cancer Summit. ...Read More

Women & Infants: Fertility Answers Seminar & Webinar

On Tuesday, September 20th at 6:30 p.m. you can join WPRO's Tara Granahan and Dr. Bala Bhagavath of Women & Infants Center for Reproduction & Infertility as they host a very special and informative seminar to answer your questions about fertility. ...Read More

Measles case reported in RI

A suspected case of measles has been reported in Rhode Island according to the Rhode Island Department of Health. ...Read More

About a quarter of RI adults considered obese

About a quarter of Rhode Island adults are considered obese, up slightly from last year but nearly double the 1995 rate. ...Read More

Westerly Hospital plans layoffs

The Westerly Hospital is planning to lay off 29 workers this week, mostly in clinical areas where employees have direct contact with patients. ...Read More

New Report: cellphones and cancer

An international panel of experts says cellphones are possibly carcinogenic to humans after reviewing details from dozens of published studies on the matter. ...Read More

RI to receive over $27,000 in drug settlement

Rhode Island is set to receive over $27,000 after the maker of epilepsy treatment Keppra agreed to settle allegations it marketed the medication to treat migraine headaches in violation of U.S. drug laws. ...Read More

Hasbro doctor awarded 2011 Silver Rattle Award

Patricia Flanagan, M.D., chief of clinical affairs for Hasbro Children’s Hospital, has been named the recipient of the 2011 Silver Rattle Award by the RI Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition. ...Read More

RI bakery ordered to remain closed

A Rhode Island bakery tied to a salmonella outbreak that killed two people has been ordered to remain closed. ...Read More

Report says too many poor RI kids lack dental care

Poor and minority children in Rhode Island are twice as likely as their peers to suffer from untreated tooth decay, according to a new study examining childhood dental health in the Ocean State. ...Read More

DeFusco's-2nd salmonella death reported

According to a email released by the Rhode Island Health Department Friday afternoon there was a second salmonella-associated death reported linked to DeFusco's Bakery in Johnston. ...Read More

Study: Colonoscopy cuts colon cancer death risk

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Millions of people have endured a colonoscopy, believing the dreaded exam may help keep them from dying of colon cancer. For the first time, a major study offers clear evidence that it does. ...Read More

US drafts plan to fight feared Alzheimer's disease

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration declared Alzheimer's "one of the most-feared health conditions" on Wednesday as it issued a draft of the nation's first strategy to fight the ominous rise in the mind-destroying disease. ...Read More

Common prenatal tests become campaign issue

WASHINGTON (AP) — First birth control, now prenatal testing? Once again a fact of life for many American women has become a jarring issue in the presidential race. ...Read More

Getting caffeine fix as easy as taking deep breath

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Move over, coffee and Red Bull. A Harvard professor thinks the next big thing will be people inhaling their caffeine from a lipstick-sized tube. Critics say the novel product is not without its risks. ...Read More

Vending machine dispenses 'morning-after' pill

Students at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania can get the "morning-after" pill by sliding $25 into a vending machine, an idea that has drawn the attention of federal regulators and raised questions about how accessible emergency contraception should be. ...Read More

Counterfeit drugs becoming big business worldwide

WASHINGTON (AP) — The discovery that a fake version of the widely used cancer medicine Avastin is circulating in the United States is raising new fears that the multibillion-dollar drug-counterfeiting trade is increasingly making inroads in the U.S. ...Read More

Government panel favors some WTC cancer claims

NEW YORK (AP) — A $2.76 billion aid program for people sickened by World Trade Center dust should be expanded to include those who have at least some types of cancer, members of a government advisory panel said Thursday. ...Read More

Doctors telling more adults: Get out and exercise

ATLANTA (AP) — More and more U.S. adults are being told by their doctor to get out and exercise, according to government survey released Thursday. ...Read More

For pregnant women with cancer, chemo possible

LONDON (AP) — Researchers have encouraging news for women who find themselves in a very frightening situation: having cancer while pregnant. Studies suggest that these women can be treated almost the same as other cancer patients are, with minimal risk to the fetus. ...Read More

Russia alarmed by rash of teenage suicides

MOSCOW (AP) — A rash of teenage suicides in Russia has set off alarm bells and experts are urging the government to take immediate action. ...Read More

Remote-controlled chip implant delivers bone drug

WASHINGTON (AP) — Medication via remote-control instead of a shot? Scientists implanted microchips in seven women that did just that, oozing out the right dose of a bone-strengthening drug once a day without them even noticing. ...Read More

Panel favors some World Trade Center cancer claims

NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. government panel favors expanding an aid program for people sickened by World Trade Center dust to include people who have at least some types of cancer. ...Read More

Ohio couple get 8 years in in son's cancer death

CLEVELAND (AP) — The parents of an 8-year-old boy who died from Hodgkin lymphoma after suffering for months from undiagnosed swollen glands were sentenced to eight years in prison Thursday following their guilty pleas to denying him medical treatment. ...Read More

Industry bickers over how to catch fake drugs

WASHINGTON (AP) — The news this week that a fake version of the cancer medicine Avastin has made its way into the United States highlights a longtime concern: There are few safeguards to make sure fake drugs can be spotted before they make it to your doctor's office. ...Read More

System to catch fake drugs has idled for years

Johnson & Johnson CEO to step down in April

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Johnson & Johnson's longtime CEO Bill Weldon is stepping down as the health care giant's top executive after an embarrassing string of recalls of everything from Tylenol to Benadryl that has cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars and consumers' trust. ...Read More

Medicare's bill for artificial feet is questioned

WASHINGTON (AP) — It doesn't compute: Medicare's bill for artificial feet has jumped by more than half, although foot and leg amputations due to diabetes continue to decline dramatically. ...Read More

US flu season off to latest start in decades

ATLANTA (AP) — U.S. health officials say the flu season is finally here — the slowest start in nearly 25 years. ...Read More

Q&A: Obama and the birth control controversy

WASHINGTON (AP) — What birth control debate? A half-century after the introduction of the pill, acceptance of birth control by American women is virtually universal. ...Read More

Hungarian home birth advocate looses appeal

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — A Hungarian obstetrician known for promoting home births lost an appeal Friday against her two-year prison sentence for malpractice. ...Read More

Panel: Seniors should get whooping cough shots

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal advisory panel is recommending that all Americans age 65 and older get vaccinated against whooping cough. ...Read More

Panel: All adults should get whooping cough shots

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal advisory panel wants all U.S. adults to get vaccinated against whooping cough. ...Read More

Norovirus sickens George Washington Univ. students

WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials at George Washington University in Washington are alerting the campus that about 85 students have been sickened by the norovirus this week. ...Read More

Tainted sprouts again linked to Jimmy John's

WASHINGTON (AP) — Raw sprouts from the sandwich chain Jimmy John's have been linked to an outbreak of foodborne illness — again. ...Read More

New malaria method could boost drug production

BERLIN (AP) — German scientists have developed a new way to make a key malaria drug that they say could easily quadruple production and drop the price significantly, increasing the availability of treatment for a disease that kills hundreds of thousands every year. ...Read More

Bird flu still a menace in Asia and beyond

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Thought bird flu was gone? Recent human deaths in Asia and Egypt are a reminder that the H5N1 virus is still alive and dangerous, and Vietnam is grappling with a new strain that has outsmarted vaccines used to protect poultry flocks. ...Read More

FDA: New suppliers to ease 2 cancer drug shortages

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Federal regulators said Tuesday that they've approved new suppliers for two crucial cancer drugs, easing critical shortages — at least for the time being — that have left patients and parents frightened about missing life-saving treatments. ...Read More

Big outbreak of child virus in Vietnam may worsen

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam says a large ongoing outbreak of a common childhood virus could worsen this year. ...Read More

Injured boomers beware: Know when to see doctor

CHICAGO (AP) — It happened to nurse Jane Byron years after an in-line skating fall, business owner Haralee Weintraub while doing "men's" push-ups, and avid cyclist Gene Wilberg while lifting a heavy box. ...Read More

Pa. vending machine dispenses 'morning-after' pill

APNewsBreak: FDA to review inhalable caffeine

BOSTON (AP) — U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials plan to investigate whether inhalable caffeine sold in lipstick-sized canisters is safe for consumers and if its manufacturer was right to brand it as a dietary supplement. ...Read More

Sex-changing treatment for kids: It's on the rise

CHICAGO (AP) — A small but growing number of teens and even younger children who think they were born the wrong sex are getting support from parents and from doctors who give them sex-changing treatments, according to reports in the medical journal Pediatrics. ...Read More

J&J consumer health segment recalls infant Tylenol

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Johnson & Johnson is recalling all infant Tylenol on the U.S. market because some parents have had problems with newly designed bottles — just introduced three months ago — that the company had touted as a big improvement to make measuring the correct dose easier. ...Read More

India's global pharmacy role threatened by EU pact

NEW DELHI (AP) — Efforts by India and the European Union to strengthen trade are threatening India's ability to deliver lifesaving medicines to the world's poorest, analysts say as the two sides push through protracted negotiations on a free-trade pact. ...Read More

Trimming super-size with half-orders, plate colors

WASHINGTON (AP) — Call it the alter-ego of super-sizing. ...Read More

Hepatitis C deaths up, baby boomers most at risk

WASHINGTON (AP) — Deaths from liver-destroying hepatitis C are on the rise, and new data shows baby boomers especially should take heed — they are most at risk. ...Read More

British minister heckled over health reforms

LONDON (AP) — Britain's health minister was angrily heckled Monday over health care reforms that the government says will improve efficiency but opponents claim threaten the foundation of the country's state-funded health care service. ...Read More

Italian Nobel medicine winner Dulbecco dies at 97

ROME (AP) — Renato Dulbecco, who shared the 1975 Nobel Prize in medicine for his seminal research on the interaction between tumors and cells, has died in California. He was 97. ...Read More

Russians alarmed by rash of teenage suicides

MOSCOW (AP) — A rash of teenage suicides in Russia has set off alarm bells and experts are urging the government to take immediate action. ...Read More

Radiation from disaster detected off Japan's coast

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Radioactive contamination from the Fukushima power plant disaster has been detected as far as almost 400 miles (643 kilometers) off Japan in the Pacific Ocean, with water showing readings of up to 1,000 times more than prior levels, scientists reported Tuesday. ...Read More

Nearly 1 in 20 US adults over 50 have fake knees

CHICAGO (AP) — Nearly 1 in 20 Americans older than 50 have artificial knees, or more than 4 million people, according to the first national estimate showing how common these replacement joints have become in an aging population. ...Read More

Study finds MDs not always honest with patients

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trust your doctor? A survey finds that some doctors aren't always completely honest with their patients. ...Read More

Roche warns of counterfeit cancer drug in US

WASHINGTON (AP) — The maker of the best-selling cancer drug Avastin is warning doctors and patients about counterfeit vials of the product distributed in the U.S. ...Read More

Study: Tai chi helps ease symptoms of Parkinson's

NEW YORK (AP) — The ancient Chinese exercise of tai chi improved balance and lowered the risk of falls in a study of people with Parkinson's disease. ...Read More

Study: Electric boost helps brain to learn better

NEW YORK (AP) — People learned better when a key part of their brains got mild zaps of electricity, a finding that may someday help Alzheimer's patients keep more of their memories. ...Read More

Johnson & Johnson CEO Bil Weldon retiring in April

NEW BRUNSWICK, New Jersey (AP) — Johnson & Johnson's longtime CEO, Bill Weldon, is retiring this April, following an embarrassing string of product recalls that has stretched for more than 2 years, costing the health care giant hundreds of millions of dollars and consumer trust. ...Read More

Radiation detected 400 miles off Japanese coast

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Radioactive contamination from the Fukushima power plant disaster has been detected as far as almost 400 miles off Japan in the Pacific Ocean, with water showing readings of up to 1,000 times more than prior levels, scientists reported Tuesday. ...Read More

Johnson & Johnson CEO Bill Weldon retires in April

TRENTON, New Jersey (AP) — Johnson & Johnson's longtime CEO Bill Weldon is stepping down as the health care giant's top executive after an embarrassing string of recalls of everything from Tylenol to Benadryl that has cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars and consumers' trust. ...Read More

Medicare puzzle: Big rise in artificial feet costs

WASHINGTON (AP) — What's wrong with this picture? Medicare's bill for artificial feet rose nearly 60 percent in recent years, although foot and leg amputations due to diabetes continued a dramatic decline. ...Read More

Doctors: Myanmar desperate for HIV and TB drugs

BANGKOK (AP) — Some 85,000 HIV-infected people in Myanmar are not getting treatment due to a lack of funding, despite renewed international engagement with the government amid a wave of political reform, a medical aid group said Wednesday. ...Read More