News

In brief

English trusts in serious financial difficulty: The National Audit Office has reported that by the end of the third quarter of 1997-8, 28 health authorities and 74 NHS trusts in England were in serious financial difficulty. The report, which examined NHS accounts, also says the NHS faces a possible £2.3bn ($3.7bn) bill for clinical negligence, pending court action.

US court ruling threatens smoking bans: A federal judge has ruled that the United States government was wrong to label passive smoking a major cancer risk. Thomas Osteen, a judge in North Carolina, found that the Environmental Protection Agency was not scientifically justified in 1993 in declaring second hand tobacco smoke to be a dangerous carcinogen.

Former French ministers to be tried: Three former ministers in France will be tried on charges of involuntary homicide for their alleged part in the scandal which surfaced in 1992 and led to the infection of hundreds of patients with HIV contaminated blood or blood products. The three ministers are Laurent Fabius, former prime minister and currently speaker of the National Assembly; Georgina Dufoix, former social affairs minister; and Edmond Hervé, former secretary of state for health.

Medical abortion should be encouraged in developing world: The Wellcome Trust and the Population Council have called for an increase in the use of medical abortion to reduce the 70000 deaths a year that are caused by surgical abortions performed in unsafe conditions (Science 1998;281:520-1).

US approves thalidomide: The Food and Drug Administration has approved thalidomide for treating leprous skin lesions, although strict restrictions will be placed on its use (20 September, p 699). Thalidomide was a popular sedative and treatment for morning sickness in the 1950s and '60s but was never licensed in the United States. It was withdrawn from the worldwide market 38 years ago.
CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?