In brief

Bankruptcies from medical bills in US rise by 50%: Nearly two thirds of bankruptcies in the United States in 2007 were linked to illness and medical bills. The number rose by 50% from the 2001 figure, a study in the American Journal of Medicine found (doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2009.04.012). More than three quarters of people were insured at the start of the bankrupting illness, the study says.

Number of specialist doctors in Iraq falls: A study of doctors who left 12 tertiary hospitals in Iraq shows that the number of specialists in the hospitals fell from 1243 in 2004 to 1166 in 2007, 94% of the original number (Social Science & Medicine doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.05.021). Of the specialists leaving for whom details were available, 61% left the country and 39% went elsewhere in Iraq.

FDA is to regulate tobacco: The US House of Representatives and the Senate have voted to give the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate the production, sale, and marketing of tobacco products. The bill requires the tobacco industry to reveal ingredients in its products, to expand warning labels on packaging, and to restrict tobacco advertising and promotion.

EU issues guidelines to improve patient safety: European Union health ministers adopted a series of recommendations on 9 June to improve the safety of patients and minimise healthcare associated infections. The non-binding guidelines addressed to national governments and health authorities cover issues such as hygiene, training, information for patients, and blame free reporting systems (http://consilium.europa.eu). Healthcare associated infections affect up to 5% of hospitalised patients in the EU and kill 37 000 patients a year.

And on caring for people with rare diseases: At the same meeting the EU ministers issued a second set of guidelines to ensure that patients with rare diseases have access to high quality care, including diagnostics, treatment, and rehabilitation. They called for further research on rare diseases and support for centres of excellence to treat them. Between 27 million and 36 million patients in the EU have rare diseases (defined as affecting fewer than five in 10 000 people).

Five governments pledge $1.5bn for pneumococcal vaccine: The governments of Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, Russia, and Norway and the Gates Foundation have set up a $1.5bn (£0.9bn; €1.1bn) “advance market commitment” to expand access in the world’s poorest countries to vaccines against pneumococcal disease, a leading killer of children. Although a vaccine has existed since 2000, it is not suitable or affordable for developing countries.

Director of new Florida research facility is named: Bert Sakmann, winner of the 1991 Nobel prize for medicine, has been named inaugural scientific director of the new Max Planck Florida Institute in Jupiter, Florida, which will focus on biomedical research. Dr Sakmann, former director at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg, Germany, will begin assembling his research team this summer in temporary facilities.