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H1N1 Could Infect Up To 2B People Within Next Two Years, WHO Says
The WHO on Friday said the "H1N1 swine-flu virus could infect up to two billion people over the next two years - about one of every three people in the world," VOA News reports. According to the news service, "A separate WHO report Friday said the virus has spread to almost every country in the world, killing about 800 people since it emerged in April" (7/25).

FDA Takes Enforcement Action Against Three New Jersey Dietary Supplement And Protein Powder Manufacturers
The U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, has filed a complaint for permanent injunction against Quality Formulation Laboratories, Inc., American Sports Nutrition Inc., Sports Nutrition International LLC and Mohamed S. Desoky, who oversees operations at all three companies.
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White House Budget Chief Says Issue Of Abortion Coverage In Health Reform Still Under Debate
In an appearance on "Fox News Sunday," White House Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag said that he is "not prepared to say explicitly" whether health care reform legislation would prohibit the use of federal tax revenue to fund abortion coverage, the New York Times reports. Orszag"s statement came in reply to a question asking whether he was prepared to say that "no taxpayer money will go to pay for abortions." Orszag said, "It"s obviously a controversial issue, and it"s one of the questions that is playing out in the debate" (Pear/Liptak, New York Times, 7/20).Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), who also appeared on "Fox News Sunday," said, "No matter what your views are on abortion, you shouldn"t ask people to use their tax dollars if they think that abortion is taking a life." Gregg added, "I would hate to see the health care debate go down over that issue. We do really need health care reform, and it has to be substantive. ... So hopefully we won"t get ourselves wrapped around the wheel of abortion in this debate" (FoxNews.com, 7/19). According to the Times, there is an ongoing behind-the-scenes debate over handling abortion coverage in health overhaul legislation. The debate affects both the public insurance plan the legislation would create and private insurers, who would receive tens of billions of dollars in federal subsidies to expand coverage for low- and moderate-income U.S. residents. A provision in the House health reform bill (HR 3200) calls for a federal advisory committee to advise the HHS secretary on an "essential benefits package" that most insurers would be required to provide. Abortion-rights opponents want abortion coverage excluded from the package, while abortion-rights advocates say the decision should be left to medical professionals. House committees working on health reform legislation have rejected Republican amendments that would have restricted abortion coverage. The Hyde Amendment, first enacted in 1976, prohibits the use of federal Medicaid money for abortion services. However, abortion-rights opponents argue that federally subsidized coverage of the uninsured would not be subject to the existing restrictions. The National Right to Life Committee issued an analysis of the House bill, stating, "There is no doubt that coverage of abortion will be mandated, unless Congress explicitly excludes abortion from the scope of federal authority to define "essential benefits."" According to the group, even if the HHS secretary did not require abortion coverage, "federal courts would interpret the broadly worded mandatory categories of coverage to include abortion" (New York Times, 7/20).
Cardiovascular

Comfrey Root Extract Ointment Relieves Back Pain Fast

[Efficacy and safety of comfrey root extract ointment in the treatment of acute upper or lower back pain: results of a double blind randomised placebo controlled multicentre trial Online First Br J Sports Med 2009; doi: 10.1136/bjsm.2009.058677] An ointment containing an extract of comfrey root quickly and effectively relieves back pain, finds industry sponsored research published ahead of print in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. The authors base their findings on 120 people with upper or lower back pain who were treated three times a day for five days with either a dummy ointment or one containing comfrey root extract. The participants were all aged between 18 and 60 and rubbed on 4 g of ointment at each application. They were asked to assess their levels of back pain, and to what degree this interfered with normal movement, using validated pain and mobility scales on four separate occasions before, during, and at the end of the study period. Neither the trial participants nor the researchers knew who had been given the comfrey root extract ointment. Only one person given the comfrey root extract ointment had taken a regular painkiller (paracetamol) for a cold. The results showed that pain intensity fell by an average of 39% between the first and fourth assessment among the 60 people treated with the dummy ointment. But among those treated with the comfrey root extract ointment, the fall in pain intensity averaged 95% between the first and fourth assessment. Comfrey root also was also fast acting, relieving pain after an hour. Several previous studies have also compared the effectiveness of comfrey root preparations with regular anti-inflammatory creams for the relief of muscle and joint pain. The results indicated that comfrey root was more effective. British Journal Of Sports Medicine


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