Health Headlines - April 6

Jury Awards $4.5 Million in Vioxx Case

One of two plaintiffs was awarded $4.5 million in compensatory damages after a New Jersey jury handed down a split verdict Wednesday in a trial involving the once-popular painkiller Vioxx.

After two days of deliberations, the jury ruled that drug maker Merck & Co. concealed the heart attack dangers of the drug and failed to warn doctors and the public about the risks, the Associated Press reported.

The jurors found that Vioxx caused the heart attack of one plaintiff, who took it for four years, and awarded him compensatory damages. But the jury concluded that the drug did not cause the heart attack of the second plaintiff and awarded him only the cost of his Vioxx prescription.

This trial was the first involving long-term use of Vioxx and could prompt Merck to rethink its strategy of fighting each Vioxx lawsuit individually, the AP reported.

On Thursday, the former CEO of Merck denied a plaintiff lawyer's suggestions that the drugmaker withheld information about the safety of Vioxx from the Food and Drug Administration.

Former CEO Raymond Gilmartin took the stand in a court hearing aimed at determining whether Merck should pay punitive damages to the plaintiff who received compensatory damages for his heart attack.

This is the sixth trial involving Vioxx, and Merck faces 9,650 other lawsuits.

Teen Drug Use Dips, But Drinking Continues: Report

Drug use among American teens has dipped nationwide but underage drinking persists, with jumps in California and Wisconsin, according to a substance abuse report released Thursday.

The report by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration was based on interviews of 135,500 people and is the first to document state-by-state drug and alcohol use from 2002 to 2004, according to the Associated Press.

In 2004, 10.9 percent of young people age 12 to 17 reported that they had used an illegal drug in the past month, a drop from 11.4 percent in 2002, the report found. Fueling the decline were six states -- Illinois, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont and Virginia -- while use in other states was largely flat.

At the same time, teen alcohol use remained basically unchanged -- from 17.67 percent in 2002 to 17.65 percent in 2004. But in California, among the youths age 12 to 20, drinkers rose from 24.7 percent to 26.3 percent, while in Wisconsin, they increased from 34.7 percent to 38.3 percent.

"While we are making progress on drug and alcohol use among youth, underage drinking continues as a stubbornly persistent problem," said Charles Curie, administrator of SAMHSA. "It's time to change attitudes toward teen drinking from acceptance to abstinence."
The report showed wide disparities from state to state when it came to tobacco use as well as abuse of alcohol and drugs, including cocaine, marijuana and the non-medical use of pain relievers.

Alaska and New Mexico topped the list among those ages 12 and older who reported using an illegal drug in the past month, at 11.8 percent and 11.3 percent, respectively, compared to a national average of 8.1 percent. The most drug-free were Mississippi (5.8 percent) and Iowa (6.5 percent).

Among teens, tobacco-producing state Kentucky as well as South Dakota had the most tobacco use at 24.3 percent and 21.3 percent, respectively, compared to a national average of 14.4 percent. The lowest were Utah (8.7 percent) and the District of Columbia (9 percent).

Partners Adopt Each Other's Eating Habits

Men tend to eat more healthy when they get married or move in with a partner while women often start to eat more sugars and fats and put on weight, say researchers at Newcastle University in the U.K.

They reviewed seven studies from a number of countries and found that men start eating lighter, healthier meals and more fruits and vegetables. On the other hand, women began consuming creamier, heavier meals, BBC News reported.

The authors said these changes in eating habits are the result of each partner trying to please the other.

The review included a U.S. study of more than 9,000 adults that found an association between marriage and weight gain in women. It also found a link between moving out of a marriage and weight loss in women. This may be due to more structured eating and less time for exercise within marriage.

The findings appear in the journal Complete Nutrition.

FDA Admits Soft Drinks Contain Significant Benzene Levels

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has acknowledged that a study found 19 of 24 samples from diet sodas contained cancer-causing benzene levels that were, on average, four times higher than the safe limit for drinking water.

Despite that, the agency said it was not concerned about the safety of soft drinks.

"We haven't changed our view that, right now, there is not a safety concern, not a public health concern," Laura Tarantino, the FDA's director of food additive safety, told the Associated Press.

"But what we need to do is understand how benzene forms and to ensure the industry is doing everything to avoid those circumstances," she said.

The FDA's acknowledgement Wednesday about the levels of benzene in soft drinks contradicts information released last week by the agency that said there were insignificant levels of benzene in soft drinks, the AP reported.

Tarantino said the FDA has been conducting a separate study of benzene in soft drinks, but is not yet ready to release the results.

One group suggested the FDA is suppressing information about benzene in soft drinks.

"If they're so confident the situation is not a safety risk, they need to release the data to prove it," Richard Wiles, vice president of the Environmental Working Group, told the AP. "The only data available to the public contradict their claim."

Dead Swan is Scotland's First Case of H5N1

The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has been confirmed in a dead swan found in Scotland, the Associated Press reported.

The swan was found at a harbor in Cellardyke, more than 450 miles north of London. Movement of poultry in the area has been restricted and officials are considering whether to expand the current two-mile protection zone around the harbor.

In other news, the number of human cases of bird flu in Egypt has increased to nine after a toddler from the southern city of Sohag tested positive for the virus.

The 16-month-old girl's mother bred chickens in the house and some of the chickens were found dead. Other members of the family are being tested for the virus, the AP reported.

Of the nine people in Egypt who've been infected, two have died. Both were women in their 30s.

In Cambodia, bird flu is suspected in the death of a 12-year-old boy. If that's confirmed, he would be the sixth victim in that country.

Germany confirmed its first case of H5N1 bird flu in domestic fowl, detected at a poultry farm in the east.

In Gaza, half a million chickens have been ordered slaughtered due to exposure to bird flu. This follows the previous slaughter of a quarter of a million chickens.

And the European Union announced that restrictions on poultry imports from Croatia, Romania and Turkey have been extended until the end of July.