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

Knee Replacement Surgery Deemed Safe

A panel of experts told the National Institutes of Health on Wednesday that knee replacement surgery is a safe and effective way of relieving persistent pain and disability.

It is also a fast-growing field, the Associated Press reports. More than 300,000 such operations are performed each year. Most of the recipients are elderly, but the panel said that people as young as 50 are getting mechanical knees.

The AP account of the report says that the failure rate is 1 percent over 20 years, with the most common failure being the failure of the implant to align well.

One of the experts, Dr. E. Anthony Rankin of Providence Hospital in Washington, told the AP that the operation isn't for everyone. "It's major elective surgery that carries a variety of important risks," he said, "but it often offers dramatic relief after other therapies fail."

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Senate Passes Anti-Obesity Bill

The U.S. Senate has passed legislation aimed at slimming Americans' ever-increasing waistlines.

Agence France-Presse reports that the bill would set aside $60 million in fiscal year 2004 for community-based programs to combat obesity, including at schools and clinics. It also charges the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with collecting information on fitness levels and energy expenditure of children and adolescents, prime targets of the bill.

"The number of obese children and adults has skyrocketed in recent decades despite the fact that we have learned so much about the importance of physical activity and nutrition," AFP quotes Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), one of the bill's sponsors, as saying. "This legislation is a step to provide parents and others with the tools they need to protect and foster both their own health and the health of their children."

Another sponsor, Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and the Senate's only doctor, said the bill was needed because obesity rates have risen to alarming levels despite better knowledge about health and nutrition.

Some 60 percent of American adults and 13 percent of children are overweight, according to the AFP account.

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Drug Discount Cards Coming in Spring

In the first action resulting from the signing of the Medicare overhaul bill this week, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson announced that prescription drug discount cards will be available in the spring.

"The speed of this regulatory action is unprecedented, and points to the importance of eliminating the practice of Medicare beneficiaries having to pay full price for prescription drugs," Thompson said in a statement.

The elderly and the disabled will be able to use the cards to save between 10 and 15 percent on their prescription purchases. For some individual purchases, the savings could be 25 percent.

The savings start in June, according to an HHS statement. They will carry through 2006, when the Medicare drug program is fully established.

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Flu Kills 4 More Colorado Infants

Flu has claimed the lives of four more Colorado infants, bringing the state's child death toll to 10 this year, the Rocky Mountain News reports.

The latest confirmed victim was a 2 1/2-year-old girl, whose case was preceded by other infants ranging in age from 14 months to 20 months, according to an account from the Associated Press.

Demand for flu vaccine is so high in Colorado that the state health department has recommended that clinics limit their supplies to people at highest risk -- young children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, the Rocky Mountain News reports.

Colorado, with its 10 child deaths and 6,300 confirmed child and adult cases of flu, is one of 13 state reporting widespread flu activity. Other states that have confirmed child deaths from flu include Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Iowa and Nebraska, the newspaper says.

As experts debate why this harsh flu season seems to have begun particularly early, they concede that the strain that's circulating is somewhat different from those covered by this year's vaccine, according to HealthDay.

While the vaccine is normally 70 percent to 90 percent effective, some experts say the mismatched strain may mean this year's inoculation is less than 50 percent effective, the AP reports.

Experts are still encouraging people to get flu shots, because, at the very least, the shot may help make the flu less severe and is better than no shot at all, the AP says.

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FDA Approves Anthrax Test

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a test to help doctors determine if someone has been infected by anthrax.

Tetracore Inc's Redline Alert test takes about 15 minutes and is meant to distinguish the anthrax-causing Bacillus anthracis bacterium from other germs. While a positive result probably means anthrax infection, a negative result does not rule out anthrax, since in rare cases the organism is able to avoid detection, the FDA said in a statement.

The agency said it cleared the test after trials on 145 samples of anthrax from around the world. The test correctly gave a positive result on 143 of these samples.

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U.S., Mexico Differ on Green Onion Ties to Hepatitis

U.S. investigators say they've found problems at all four Mexican companies that grow the green onions that are suspected in recent hepatitis A outbreaks in the United States, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

A statement released Tuesday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration contradicts claims from Mexico's top food-safety official, who says most of the growers have been cleared.

The FDA says its "traceback" investigations link the four Mexican firms to hepatitis A outbreaks that have sickened more than 900 people in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Tennessee from late October through early November. While the agency concedes that "the exact source of the contamination has not been established in any of these outbreaks," it says it's identified "problems of concern" at all four companies, the newspaper reports.

By contrast, Mexico's food safety director, Javier Trujillo, told the newspaper that only one of the firms had exhibited deficient practices, and that conditions at three of the growers "exceeded the expectations" of the FDA.

The FDA hasn't identified any of the specific problems found at the four growers, the Union-Tribune reports.

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FDA Criticized for Mercury Stance

Consumer advocates are repeating criticism of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for not advising pregnant women to limit intake of tuna fish that may contain harmful levels of mercury, the Associated Press reports.

The organizations, including the Environmental Working Group and the Mercury Policy Project, say a single 6-ounce can of white (albacore) tuna could put many women over the safe mercury limit, the AP reports. Such warnings contradict the position of the FDA, which plans next spring to announce that stiffer warnings aren't needed, the AP adds.

Last Updated: Dec-10-2003