Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Report: Merck Knew of Vioxx Dangers Early

Merck & Co., Inc., knew of problems with its blockbuster painkiller Vioxx long before the drug was pulled from the market in September due to newer studies that linked the medication to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

The newspaper cited internal company e-mails, marketing materials, and interviews with outside scientists. It said as early as the mid-to-late 1990s, the company worried that Vioxx's heart risk appeared to be much greater than that of older, cheaper painkillers that had a reputation for being tougher on the stomach, the Journal reported.

The company issued a statement Friday saying that it "acted responsibly and appropriately" in developing and marketing the drug. A lawyer representing Merck told the newspaper that the data obtained by the Journal had been "taken out of context" and "do not accurately represent Merck and its employees."

Still, the newspaper cited a Nov. 21, 1996, memo by an unnamed Merck official, who warned that in pending clinical trials, "there is a substantial chance that significantly higher rates" of cardiovascular problems would be seen among Vioxx users.

The Journal also recited part of a 1997 e-mail in which a senior executive, now a Merck vice president for clinical research, proposed that people with a high risk of cardiovascular problems be kept out of the studies to minimize the apparent gap between heart risks faced by Vioxx patients and members of so-called control groups who didn't use the medication.

When the results of an 8,000-person trial became available in 2000, the heart-attack rate among Vioxx users appeared to be four times as high as people taking other painkillers, the Journal reported.

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Scientists Report Progress on Cervical Cancer Vaccine

Researchers are drawing closer to creating a vaccine that would prevent certain viral infections known to cause cervical cancer, a disease that strikes about 15,000 women in the United States each year and kills 5,000, according to the Associated Press.

Virtually all cases of cervical cancer are caused by infection with human papilloma virus, which is spread through sex. One strain, HPV-16, accounts for about half of all cervical cancers. A new study followed 755 women for four years after vaccination. HPV-16 infections were found in seven women, and none had developed pre-cancerous conditions, the AP said.

The research, funded by the drugmaker Merck & Co. and led by University of Washington scientists, was presented Monday at a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in Washington, D.C.

Merck plans to seek U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval next year for an expanded version of the vaccine that also could be used to prevent genital warts in both women and men, the AP reported.

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Former Baseball Star Ken Caminiti Died of Drug Overdose

Former Major League Baseball star Ken Caminiti, who admitted to using muscle-enhancing steroids during his 15-year career, died Oct. 10 of an accidental drug overdose, the New York City medical examiner's office ruled Monday.

Toxicology and tissue tests done after Caminiti's death in New York City showed he died of "acute intoxication due to the combined effects of cocaine and opiates with contributing factors that included coronary artery disease and cardiactic hypertrophy," an enlarged heart, CNN reported.

A three-time All-Star third baseman before retiring in 2001, Caminiti had struggled with drug addiction in recent years. On Oct. 5, he admitted to a judge that he had violated his probation by testing positive for cocaine in September. It was the fourth time he had failed a drug test since receiving three years' probation for cocaine possession in March 2002, according to the Associated Press.

Caminiti won the National League's Most Valuable Player award in 1996 while playing for the San Diego Padres.

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FDA: Olive Oil May be Good for Your Heart

Foods that contain olive oil can start carrying labels that say they may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, the number one killer of both men and women in the United States, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Monday.

In announcing its decision, the FDA said there is "limited but not conclusive evidence that suggests that consumers may reduce their risk of coronary heart disease if they consume monounsaturated fat from olive oil and olive oil-containing foods in place of foods high in saturated fat."

The agency said its decision on the labels represents a "qualified health claim."

The FDA said the labels for olive oil or foods containing the oil can state that "eating about 2 tablespoons of olive oil daily may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease due to the monounsaturated fat in olive oil. To achieve this possible benefit, olive oil is to replace a similar amount of saturated fat and not increase the total number of calories you eat in a day."

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Rehnquist Undergoing Radiation, Chemo for Cancer

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist announced Monday that he is undergoing chemotherapy and radiation to treat his thyroid cancer.

According to the Associated Press, the announcement indicates that Rehnquist's cancer is more serious than the court had previously disclosed. Rehnquist didn't report for work Monday as the court returned from a two-week hiatus, and the treatment is expected to further delay his return.

Rehnquist, 80, was released from a Maryland hospital on Friday after having a tube inserted in his throat to help him breathe. The chief justice disclosed last week that he's being treated for thyroid cancer.

While in earlier statements Rehnquist said he had planned to attend Monday's session, he issued a new statement that "at the suggestion of my doctors, [I] am continuing to recuperate at home," the AP reported.

Rehnquist had been hospitalized for a week at Bethesda Naval Medical Center. The court has refused comment on how serious his cancer is, the wire service said.

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Cleveland Clinic Plans First Human Face Transplant

Following 10 months of debate on the medical, ethical, and psychological issues involved, the Cleveland Clinic's review board has approved its doctors' petition to be the first institution worldwide to perform a human face transplant, the Associated Press reported.

While the hospital said it has begun screening patients, the actual operation for people severely disfigured by injury or disease was not necessarily imminent.

"It may not happen in six months or a year," its director of plastic surgery research and training told the wire service. "It may not happen in our life, or it may happen sooner than you expect," added Dr. Maria Siemionow, who advocated the procedure.

The risks are huge, Siemionow told the AP, noting that she will tell prospective patients that the chances of the transplant failing are as high as 50 percent, due to tissue rejection and other potential complications.

Last Updated: Nov-01-2004