Health Highlights: March 29, 2005

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

Schiavo''s Husband Plans Autopsy

Terri Schiavo spent her 12th day Tuesday without a feeding tube to supply her food and water while her family continued to clash over her fate -- this time after she dies.

Her husband, Michael Schiavo, wants to have his wife cremated and buried in the Schiavo family plot in the couple''s hometown of Philadelphia.

Her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, oppose cremation but have no legal standing to prevent it, CBS News reported.

Both sides do agree on one thing: The need for an autopsy. Michael Schiavo wants proof of the extent of her brain damage; the Schindlers hope the procedure will offer clues to "unanswered questions" about the nature and extent of her illness, CBS News said.

The condition of the 41-year-old Florida woman at the center of an unprecedented right-to-die legal showdown also was a matter of contention.

"She still looks pretty darn good under the circumstances," her father told reporters after visiting her Tuesday at her Pinellas Park hospice, according to the Associated Press. "You can see the impact of no food and water for 12 days. Her bodily functions are still working. We still have her."

But the attorney for her husband, who visited her Monday, said she looked "very peaceful. She looked calm. I saw no evidence of any bodily discomfort whatsoever," George Felos said.

The Schindlers were joined Tuesday by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who called her impending death "an injustice."

Terri Schiavo had received last rites on Easter Sunday, and one of two priests who visited her then said her death was "imminent."

The legal battle over Schiavo''s fate has dragged on for seven years, with her husband successfully arguing that it was his wife''s unwritten wish to not be sustained by artificial means if the need should arise. Her parents insist their daughter could get better and that she''d never have wanted to be denied food and water.

Terri Schiavo suffered what court-appointed doctors have called irreversible brain damage 15 years ago when her heart stopped due to a chemical imbalance, believed to have been caused by an eating disorder.

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O.J. Simpson Lawyer Johnnie Cochran Dies

Attorney Johnnie Cochran, whose famous quote "If it doesn''t fit, you must acquit" typified the O.J. Simpson murder trial, died Tuesday of a brain tumor at his Los Angeles home. He was 67.

The "must acquit" phrase was coined as Simpson tried on a pair of bloodied gloves allegedly found at the scene of the 1994 murders of Simpson''s wife and her friend. Simpson was acquitted in the criminal case, which Cochran turned into an indictment of the Los Angeles Police Department -- suggesting that the department had planted evidence to frame the former football star because he was a black celebrity, the Associated Press recounted.

Over the years, Cochran also represented football great Jim Brown on rape and assault charges, actor Todd Bridges on attempted murder charges, rapper Tupac Shakur on a weapons charge and rapper Snoop Dogg on a murder charge, according to the wire service.

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Jerry Falwell in Critical Condition

The Rev. Jerry Falwell was listed in critical condition Tuesday after suffering breathing problems Monday night and being admitted to Lynchburg General Hospital in Virginia.

Doctors said Falwell, 71, was on a ventilator and that his condition had stabilized, the Associated Press reported. Falwell is suffering from his second case of viral pneumonia in five weeks, church and hospital officials said.

The founder of the Moral Majority and Liberty University spent 13 days in a hospital in late February and early March. He was on a ventilator for part of that hospital stay.

Falwell recently told the AP he was feeling much better, but still recovering from his first round in the hospital. Falwell was in the pulpit on Easter Sunday and looked to be in good health, a colleague said.

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Virginia Has Fastest Growing Obesity Rate

The obesity rate in Virginia is expanding more rapidly than anywhere else in the United States, according to a new federal telephone survey.

It found that 23.7 percent of 1,027 Virginia residents who took part in the survey qualified as obese, a weighty increase from 9.9 percent of 170 respondents in 1990, the Associated Press reported.

But there''s hope. Currently, state officials are trying to identify the reasons for Virginia''s increasing obesity rate to develop weight control strategies.

Despite having the fastest growing obesity rate in the nation, Virginia doesn''t have the highest percentage of obese adults, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey found.

That dubious distinction goes to West Virginia at 27.5 percent, followed by Mississippi with 26.8 percent and Texas with 25.5 percent.

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Proposed Project Would Map Genetic Make-up of Cancer

Scientists are proposing a federally managed program to compile a complete catalog of the genetic abnormalities that characterize cancers, The New York Times reported.

The undertaking, initially dubbed the Human Cancer Genome Project, would be at least 100 times larger than the Human Genome Project that mapped the complete human genetic blueprint, the newspaper said. It would map the DNA sequences of thousands of tumor samples, looking for common mutations that lead to the development of cancer, or that sustain the disease, the Times reported.

The resulting databank would be made available free to researchers. The project would cost at least $1.35 billion over nine years. It''s still unclear who would fund the undertaking, the newspaper said.

The proposal was drawn up by prominent scientists, including Dr. Leland Hartwell, a Nobel laureate who is president of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle; Dr. Harold Varmus, another Nobel laureate and a former director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health; and Dr. Eric Lander, director of the Broad Institute, a genetic research center affiliated with Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Home Pregnancy Tests Being Recalled

Harmony Brands is voluntarily recalling its "B-Sure" brand One-Step Home Pregnancy kits because their safety and effectiveness can no longer be assured, according to a company statement published on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Web site.

Consumers who have unused and unexpired kits should return them to the place of purchase for a refund. Women who have used the kits may want to contact their health-care providers for verification of the test results, the company said.

While Harmony said there have been no reports of product failure, injury or illness associated with the kits, "we believe this recall is in the best interest of our customers."

The kits were sold throughout the United States at Dollar Stores and other retail outlets. More information about how to identify the kits can be found at www.harmonybrands.com.