Health Highlights: Dec. 29, 2005

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

Millions of American Teens Depressed, Study Finds

Some 2.2 million teenagers in America experienced at least one major bout with depression in the past year, according to a federal report released Thursday.

Nearly one in 10 adolescents was affected during the past year by a depressive episode lasting at least two weeks, with symptoms including depressed mood, loss of interest, and problems with sleep, energy, concentration and self-image, the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) said in issuing the report.

"These new data serve as a wake-up call to parents. Mental health is a critical part of the overall health and wellbeing of their children," SAMHSA Administrator Charles Curie said in a statement. "Unfortunately, less than half of these children received any help for their depression."

Some 12.3 percent of teens ages 16 or 17 suffered a major depressive bout in the last year, compared to 9 percent of those ages 14 or 15 and 5.4 percent of those ages 12 or 13, according to the report, titled "The National Survey on Drug Use and Health."

Affected teens were about twice as likely as other adolescents to have used illicit drugs, alcohol, or tobacco, the report found.

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S. Korean Scientist Fabricated Landmark Stem Cell Research: Panel

South Korean scientist Dr. Hwan Woo-suk could present no evidence at all to corroborate his landmark research on producing genetically matched stem cells from cloned human embryos, a Seoul university panel announced Thursday.

The announcement by the panel from Seoul National University suggested that Hwang fabricated all the research published in the journal Science, The New York Times reported.

"So far we could not find any stem cells regarding Dr. Hwang''s 2005 paper that genetically match the DNA of patients," said Roe Jung Hye, the university''s dean of research affairs, in a statement. "According to our judgment, Dr. Hwang''s team doesn''t have scientific data to prove that it has produced such stem cells."

The latest revelation added more skepticism to Hwang''s claim that he had the technology to clone human embryos and extract stem cells from them, which would be a breakthrough in the quest to help patients with hard-to-treat diseases produce their own tissues.

There was no immediate comment from Hwang, who apologized last week for falsifications in his paper and resigned from the university, the newspaper reported.

The university committee investigating allegations of fabrications had said last week that Hwang falsified data for 9 of the 11 patient-derived embryonic stem cell lines in his June paper. Of the remaining two lines, the panel had said it did not yet know whether they had been derived from patients or from fertilized human eggs.

In its follow-up report Thursday, the committee, citing extensive DNA tests, said that none of the stem cells Hwang said he had created was produced through cloning. All the samples presented for the paper that still exist in his laboratory were stem cells extracted from fertilized human eggs at Seoul''s MizMedi Hospital, which participated in the research, Roe said.

Apparently anticipating such an outcome, Hwang had claimed that his authentic stem cells were stolen from his lab and were replaced with MizMedi samples, the Times said.

The panel is still investigating Hwang''s 2004 research on cloning and the authenticity of what he claimed in August was the world''s first cloned dog.

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Drug Approved to Prevent Breast Cancer Recurrence

The Novartis drug Femara (letrozole) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to prevent recurrence of hormone-sensitive early breast cancer among post-menopausal women.

The Dec. 29 New England Journal of Medicine includes study findings that Femara was more effective at preventing breast cancer relapse when used as an initial therapy after surgery than tamoxifen, a standard breast cancer preventive. The study was funded by Novartis.

Femara showed its greatest benefit among women whose breast cancer had already spread to the lymph nodes, and among women who had undergone chemotherapy, Novartis said in a statement.

Femara is an aromatase inhibitor, a class of drugs that blocks production of the female hormone estrogen, which is thought to spur most post-menopausal breast cancers. The drug should only be taken by post-menopausal women, Novartis warned, since aromatase inhibitors aren''t thought to be effective before then. The drug could also cause fetal harm, the company said.

Common side effects of taking Femara include hot flashes, joint pain, night sweats, and weight gain, Novartis said.

Femara is already approved by the FDA to treat advanced breast cancer.

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U.S.: Climate of Fear Plagued L.A. Liver Transplant Program

The liver transplant program at St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles was plagued by a climate of "fear and retribution" that prevented staffers from revealing the program''s serious inadequacies, according to a federal report cited by the Los Angeles Times.

The 99-page report by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that the hospital did not comply with eight conditions required by hospitals receiving federal funding, the newspaper said. Based on hospital records, there was no proof that some patients received a physical examination or, in some cases, were even reviewed by a selection committee before being added to the transplant list, the Times reported.

St. Vincent closed its liver transplant program following its admission in September that its doctors had improperly arranged for a September 2003 transplant to a Saudi man using an organ that was supposed to have gone to a person who was higher on the hospital''s priority list.

The transplant was not revealed until two years later when the hospital was responding to a routine audit, the newspaper said.

The hospital acknowledged that a number of staff members knew about the incident but "participated in [an alleged] coverup," the Times reported.

Inspectors cited several instances "in which transplant staff members said they were asked to falsify documents," the Times reported.

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Americans Are More Miserable, Survey Finds

In this season of what''s supposed to be comfort and joy, a new University of Chicago poll suggests that many Americans are more miserable now than they were 15 years ago.

More Americans are reporting incidents of illness, inability to afford medical care, and unstable romantic relationships than when the school''s National Opinion Research Center conducted its first "Negative Life Events" survey nearly 15 years ago, the school said in a statement.

Seventeen percent of this year''s respondents said they had been a patient in a health-care facility, versus 14 percent in 1991. Eleven percent said they couldn''t afford needed medical care, compared with 7 percent in 1991, and 18 percent said they lacked health insurance, compared with 12 percent in the earlier poll.

Nearly 7 percent in the most recent survey said they were separated from a partner, compared with 5 percent in 1991. More of the recent respondents also cited unemployment and pressure to pay bills than in the earlier poll.

Last Updated: Dec. 29, 2005