Health Highlights: Jan. 28, 2005

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

First Case of Mad Cow Confirmed in Goat

A goat slaughtered three years ago in France is the first confirmed case of a non-bovine animal that contracted mad cow disease, the Agence-France Presse news agency reported Friday.

European Commission officials downplayed the report, saying the disease had crossed from cows to the goat naturally, and that the incident posed a minimal risk to people, AFP said.

At the same time, an EC spokesman said the commission is proposing testing 200,000 goats over the next six months to determine if this was an isolated incident. About 140,000 goats had been tested since 2002, the news service reported.

The goat affected with mad cow, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, was slaughtered and then randomly tested in 2002. Another 300 goats in the same herd were destroyed as a precaution, although none showed signs of the brain-wasting disease.

A human form of mad cow called variant Creutzfelt-Jakob disease has killed 148 people in Britain and nine in France. A handful of human fatalities have been recorded in other countries, including Ireland, Canada, Italy and the United States, the news service said.

-----

Feds Begin Formal Vioxx Probe

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has begun a formal investigation into the events that led Merck & Co. to withdraw its premier arthritis drug, Vioxx, from the market in September, the company announced Friday.

The SEC action gives the agency the power to issue subpoenas for documents or testimony. Merck issued a brief statement saying the action had been expected, and wouldn''t offer additional comment, the Bloomberg news service reported.

Last week, U.S. Food and Drug Administration reviewer Dr. David Graham alleged in a prominent journal article that Vioxx may have been responsible for as many as 140,000 heart attacks between the drug''s 1999 approval and its withdrawal.

As of Dec. 31, Merck said 575 lawsuits had been filed alleging Vioxx-linked side effects including heart attacks and kidney damage, Bloomberg said.

Meanwhile, a U.S. appeals court invalidated a patent on Merck''s osteoporosis drug, Fosamax, which could open the door to generic versions of the once-weekly drug beginning in 2008, the wire service said. Fosamax is the world''s best-selling drug for bone loss, Bloomberg added.

-----

Ford Recalls 800,000 Trucks, SUVs for Fire Hazard

Ford is recalling nearly 800,000 pickups and sport utility vehicles to replace a faulty cruise-control switch that could short circuit and cause a fire.

The recall affects Ford F-150 pickups, Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators from model year 2000, and model-year 2001 F-Series Supercrew trucks.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation last fall after receiving 36 reports of fires, the Associated Press said. No one was hurt in any of the incidents, all of which occurred when the vehicle was parked and the motor turned off.

Initially, Ford said, it will deactivate the cruise control switch until the company has an adequate supply of replacement switches, the AP said.

-----

Medicare Expands Implantable Defibrillator Coverage

Medicare has expanded by a third, to 500,000 people, the number of beneficiaries eligible for coverage for expensive implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) to treat heart failure.

To be covered, Medicare beneficiaries have to agree to release details about their cases to a database shared by hospitals, the Associated Press reported.

A Medicare official said the data would be collected in a way that preserves patient confidentiality. That data may help medical experts determine which patients receive the most benefit from the implantable defibrillators, which deliver an electrical shock to keep the heart beating.

The expanded coverage, which took effect Thursday, is expected to cost $2 billion over five years. It''s estimated that 25,000 Medicare beneficiaries will receive and be covered for ICDs in the first year.

A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that doubling or tripling the use of ICDs to treat heart failure is economically justifiable. The study found the death rate of heart patients with ICDs was 23 percent lower than among those treated with drugs.

-----

Illinois May Be Stuck With Bill for Excess Flu Vaccine

Illinois taxpayers may foot the more than $6 million bill for 700,000 doses of unused flu vaccine purchased from Europe.

Governor Rod Blagojevich, along with some other state and city governments, agreed to buy the flu vaccine doses from Europe to cover expected shortages in the United States.

But now, officials from Cleveland and New York City who signed the deal say they don''t require their share of vaccine doses and don''t want to pay for them, the Associated Press reported.

New York City had agreed to purchase 200,000 doses for $10 each and Cleveland had signed on to buy 4,500 doses at about $11 each.

Illinois has not been able to sell any of the 700,000 doses. A spokesperson for Blagojevich said that anyone who signed onto the deal is responsible for paying their share of the flu vaccine tab.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took moves Thursday to loosen restrictions on who can get the vaccine. To increase supply around the country, the agency will sell back 3.1 million doses of flu vaccine it bought from Sanofi Pasteur so the company can, in turn, sell the vaccine to public and private providers. In addition, about 1.3 million doses that had been reserved for the Vaccine in Children program will be made available for other users.

-----

Vietnam Reports 10th Bird Flu Death in a Month

The 10th human fatality caused by bird flu in Vietnam in a month was reported Friday.

The 32-year-old man from the northern part of the country is the most recent victim in a string of bird flu-related deaths to strike Vietnam since Dec. 30, Agence France-Presse reported.

It was also reported that two girls, aged 10 and 13, who tested positive for bird flu are in critical condition in Ho Chi Minh City. Two men with the deadly H5N1 virus are in stable condition.

The bird flu virus has spread to 27 of Vietnam''s 64 cities and provinces. The country has reported 30 deaths from bird flu since the end of 2003, when the virus first swept Asia. Bird flu has killed 12 people in Thailand.