Expert: Genetics may put some at higher risk for bird flu

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -- People who have been infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus might be especially susceptible to avian viruses because they are genetically predisposed to them, leading disease experts suggested on Thursday.

Unsterilized instruments cause hospital HIV scare

SAN DIEGO, California (AP) -- A hospital nurse who failed to clean surgical instruments may have exposed nearly 300 patients to hepatitis or HIV, officials said Wednesday.

British woman pregnant at age 63

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- A 63-year-old British hospital consultant is set to become one of the world's oldest mothers after undergoing fertility treatment, the Italian doctor who treated her said on Thursday.

Medicare helpline advice often wrong, investigators say

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal investigators posing as senior citizens found that Medicare's operators routinely failed to give callers accurate and complete information about the government's new drug benefit, prompting Democratic critics of the Bush administration program to again request an extension of an approaching enrollment deadline.

Study: Vioxx carries early risk

NEWARK, New Jersey (AP) -- A lawyer said Wednesday that more lawsuits may be brought against the maker of the painkiller Vioxx in light of a new study suggesting that the risk of a heart attack in elderly users of Vioxx occurs sooner after starting the medication than previously thought.

Half-ton man may get gastric bypass

ROME (Reuters) -- A Mexican man who at 1,200 pounds is possibly the heaviest person in the world hopes to travel to Italy for a life-saving operation to shed weight.

Drink companies pulling sodas out of schools

NEW YORK (AP) -- The nation's largest beverage distributors have agreed to halt nearly all soda sales to public schools, according to a deal announced Wednesday by the William J. Clinton Foundation.

Kids' antipsychotic drug use soars

NEW YORK (AP) -- The number of children taking antipsychotic medicines soared 73 percent in the four years ending in 2005, far outpacing the increase in adults, according to a report released by pharmacy benefit manager Medco Health Solutions Inc.

U.S. readies 'road map' for potential flu disaster

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration say it's making plans for a worst-case scenario: A flu pandemic that kills 2 million people in the United States and puts 40 percent of the workforce out of commission.

Study: Americans sicker than English

CHICAGO (AP) -- Middle-aged, white Americans are much sicker than their counterparts in England, startling new research shows, despite U.S. health care spending per person that's more than double what England spends.

Court: Terminally ill patients can sue FDA

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Terminally ill patients seeking access to experimental, unapproved drugs won a legal reprieve Tuesday in a federal appeals court.

Germ warfare: Focus on phone, not doorknob

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Worried about colds, flu and other germs? Go ahead and touch those doorknobs and elevator buttons, but watch out for the telephone, fresh laundry and sinks, a top expert advises.

Smart-baby videos' claims challenged

NEW YORK (AP) -- A children's advocacy group filed a complaint Monday with the Federal Trade Commission contending that Baby Einstein and Brainy Baby, leading producers of videos for infants and toddlers, are marketing those products without evidence to support claims they are beneficial.

Giving blood to meet battlefield demand

FORT KNOX, Kentucky (AP) -- A boyish Army recruit sits quietly in a plastic chair at Fort Knox and shields a wince from the stern gaze of a drill instructor while a nurse digs with a needle for a vein in his arm.

Report: U.S. bracing for massive flu disruptions

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Employers should have plans to keep workers at least 3 feet (1 meter) apart, colleges should consider which dormitories could be used to quarantine the sick, and flight crews should have surgical masks to put on coughing travelers under a draft of the government's pandemic flu plan obtained by The Associated Press.

Snowbirds, sunbirds face Medicare drug choices

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hundreds of thousands of older Americans who travel for extended periods face an added requirement in the complicated selection of Medicare drug coverage: choosing a plan that goes with them.

Study: Spray flu vaccine may be better for kids under 5

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Spraying flu vaccine into the noses of babies and preschoolers offers significantly more protection than shots, says one of the largest comparisons of flu inoculations ever performed.

Pediatricians urged to add fitness checkups

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- The American Academy of Pediatrics wants to turn children's doctors into activity police, encouraging them to routinely monitor how active patients and even their parents are each day to help conquer obesity.

Transplant patient feels new face

PARIS, France (AP) -- The French woman who received the world's first partial face transplant has complete feeling in the new tissue five months after the operation, she told a Sunday newspaper.

114,000 bras strapped up to fight cancer

PAPHOS, Cyprus (AP) -- Campaigners in Cyprus on Sunday said they had created the world's longest chain of bras to raise awareness of breast cancer and win a place in the Guinness Book of Records.