Health Highlights: Oct. 29, 2005

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

W.H.O. Asks China for More Tests in Potential Human Bird Flu Death

One day after health officials in the Chinese province of Hunan ruled out bird flu in the death of a 12-year-old girl, the United Nation''s World Health Organization on Friday requested that China conduct further tests to confirm that finding.

According to a report in The New York Times the girl, He Jin, lived near the site of the latest outbreak in poultry of avian flu in China. She died one week after falling ill on Oct. 11. Her younger brother has also been hospitalized with similar flu-like symptoms.

Chinese officials have so far reported no human deaths from avian influenza, but W.H.O. officials have asked for more extensive tests on the two children.

"We would not consider that any of these cases have been thoroughly tested yet, based on the extremely limited information we have seen," said Dr. Julie Hall, coordinator of epidemic response at the W.H.O.''s Beijing office. "We feel at this moment it is really too early to say if both of these cases are negative."

Also on Friday, a doctor at a hospital in central Vietnam reported that a 14-year-old girl and a 26-year-old man died earlier this week after showing symptoms of avian influenza, according to a report from Vietnamese news agency Thanh Nien Daily.

Worldwide, health officials have confirmed 77 humans cases of infection with the H5N1 bird flu virus, including 30 deaths. All cases have so far been confined to Southeast Asia.

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Texas Oil Company Employees Given Fake Flu Shots

Up to 1,000 Houston-area workers of the Exxon-Mobil company, as well as 14 residents of a local senior citizens home received shots of purified water instead of the flu shot, officials announced Friday.

U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg told the Associated Press that Iyad Abu El Hawa, 35, the owner of three Houston home health care centers, has been arrested and charged with Medicare fraud in connection with the fake shots given to 14 elderly residents of a home in LaPorte, Texas on Oct. 21. Charges stemming from the shots given to the Exxon-Mobil workers at a company health fair have not yet been filed.

"This is a very callous and disturbing crime," Rosenberg told the AP. "[El Zawa] purposefully put at risk many, many people." Medicare fraud carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

According to Rosenberg, the alleged fraud came to light when a nurse noticed irregularities in the handling of the flu shots.

The nurse, who was not identified, thought it odd that El Zawa''s employees seemed ignorant of lot numbers used to track vaccines, and that they would not let a doctor at the health fair check the syringes. She kept two of the syringes for herself and gave them to the FBI.

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Lyme Disease Often Misdiagnosed as Psychiatric Illness

Adults with chronic Lyme disease often display mood swings that can be misdiagnosed as psychiatric illness, causing delays in treatment for this debilitating condition, a new study found. On average, researchers say the average patient with chronic Lyme disease waits more than a year before receiving a proper diagnosis.

The four-year study, conducted by a team from Columbia University, New York, also found that over three-quarters of female Lyme disease patients, and about one-quarter of males, suffer from significant pain and disability linked to infection with the tick-borne illness.

"While much is known about early Lyme disease, very little is known about chronic Lyme disease, despite its rising prevalence and disabling effects," lead researcher Dr. Brian Fallon said in a prepared statement. The findings were presented Saturday at the annual Lyme Conference in Philadelphia.

In another study presented at the conference, researcher Dr. Daniel Cameron, director of First Medical Associates in Mt. Kisco, New York, found that the average quality of life for patients with chronic Lyme disease falls below that of patients with other chronic conditions such as heart failure. Re-treatment with the antibiotic amoxicillin can help ease patients'' symptoms, however.

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U.S. FDA Warns Against Cherry Industry Health Claims

Companies marketing products containing cherry juice concentrates or other cherry-derived products are often overstating the fruit''s health benefits, officials at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned Friday.

According to the Associated Press, the agency has issued a letter to 29 companies making or marketing cherry products. In that letter, the FDA directs the businesses to cease making "unproven claims" on product labeling or Web sites that cherry products prevent or treat cancer, heart disease, arthritis and other illnesses. Failure to comply could result in product seizure under the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, the FDA warned.

The cherry industry has been promoting the fruit as a health food over the past few years, and the Web site of the Lansing, Mich.-based Cherry Marketing Institute describes cherries as "a natural pain killer."

Jane DePriest, the institute''s marketing director, said her group hasn''t contacted the the FDA on the warning letter, but told the AP "We want these businesses to take the letters seriously and respond to them."

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Companies May Abandon Controversial Diabetes Drug

The makers of an experimental drug to help diabetics control blood sugar and cholesterol said Friday that they may abandon seeking approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Associated Press reported.

Drug companies Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck & Co. said the FDA, before considering approval, wanted additional safety data about Pargluva (muraglitazar) -- data the companies said could take up to five years to obtain, the AP reported.

The agency and some physicians who have examined data about muraglitazar obtained during clinical trials have concerns that the drug could be linked to heart problems, the wire service said.

Bristol-Myers Squibb released a statement Friday saying it was considering options including "conducting additional studies or terminating further development of muraglitazar."

Last week, both companies said the FDA had issued an "approvable" letter if the drug makers met certain conditions. It wasn''t until Friday that the companies said the FDA wanted additional safety data information, the AP reported.

Members of the FDA''s Endrocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 8-1 to recommend approval of the drug to treat type 2 diabetes, the wire service said. The full FDA usually follows the recommendations of its expert panels.

Last week, however, HealthDay reported that a group of prominent cardiologists warned that the FDA shouldn''t approve Pargluva without additional studies, since the drug appeared to double the risk of death, heart attack, and stroke. The cardiologists'' report was published Oct. 20 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

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Last Updated: Oct. 29, 2005