Health Highlights: Feb. 14, 2006

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

Hunter Shot by Cheney Suffers Mild Heart Attack

The 78-year-old Texas lawyer shot by Vice President Dick Cheney in a weekend hunting accident suffered a "minor heart attack" this morning after a piece of birdshot migrated and lodged in his heart, hospital officials said.

The victim, Harry Whittington, was immediately moved back to the intensive care unit for further treatment, said Peter Banko, the administrator at Christus Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi-Memorial in Texas, the Washington Post reported.

Whittington was in stable condition after treatment and expressed a desire to leave the hospital, but Banko said doctors would probably keep him for another week to make sure that more birdshot does not move to other vital organs, the Associated Press reported.

-----

U.S. Federal Initiative To Focus on Cancer Biomarkers

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have announced a collaboration to help make cancer therapies more targeted, effective and safe for patients.

The Oncology Biomarker Qualification Initiative (OBQI) will identify and validate biomarkers, or biological indicators of disease or of therapies, which can be used to gauge how a disease is progressing or how well a particular treatment is working.

"For years we have been treating patients without any real knowledge of whether a specific drug would work in that patient but only what we knew would happen across a large population," said Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach, the FDA''s acting commissioner of food and drugs, at a Tuesday news conference. "Biomarkers, indicators of biological effectiveness, now provide for us a tool to make oncology personalized, predictive and preemptive."

The first OBQI project will analyze whether Fluorodeoxyglucose -- Positron Emission Tomography (FDG-PET) scanning is a predictor of tumor response in patients being treated for non-Hodgkin''s lymphoma.

While initial efforts will focus on cancer, von Eschenbach said eventually the initiative "will be applied to a variety of many, many other diseases."

-----

Iran and Austria Report First Bird Flu Cases

Two more countries -- Iran and Austria -- have been affected by bird flu.

Iran''s first bird flu outbreak was reported Tuesday after the disease killed 135 wild swans on the country''s Caspian Sea coast, the Associated Press reported.

Laboratory tests confirmed that the deadly H5N1 avian flu strain was responsible for the deaths of the swans over the past two weeks at two locations in the Anzali marshlands.

Bird flu has already been detected in the neighboring countries of Iraq and Turkey.

Austria also reported its first case of bird flu after tests confirmed the presence of H5N1 in two swans that died near the city of Graz. That makes it the fourth European Union country affected by the virus.

In other news, Indonesia reported that a 23-year-old man who died Sunday in Jakarta is that country''s latest victim of bird flu. Also, four members of a family from west Java province were in hospital with suspected bird flu symptoms. Tests were being done to confirm whether they''re infected with the virus, the AP reported.

So far, bird flu has killed at least 91 people since 2003, the World Health Organization says. The virus has now been detected in central and southeast Asia, eastern and central Europe and west Africa.

The continuing spread of the virus is a concern, experts say, because it increases the likelihood that the virus will mutate into a form that is easily transmitted between humans.

-----

California Boy Spends Nearly Eight Months on Artificial Heart

A 6-year-old California boy finally had a heart transplant after spending nearly eight months (234 days) attached to an artificial heart -- longer than any youngster in North America, the Associated Press reported.

Only three other children in the world have survived longer on the device, called a Berlin Heart. The previous longest time a child in North America survived on the device was 174 days.

Jason Zhao was placed on the artificial heart in June when his swollen heart stopped beating. The Berlin Heart is not approved for routine use, so doctors at Packard Children''s Hospital in Palo Alto had to get permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration before they attached Jason to the mechanical pump.

While he was on the Berlin Heart, the boy suffered two strokes and brain hemorrhages. About a month ago, he was removed from the heart donation list and given only about three months to live. This was done after Jason suffered a stroke that paralyzed him and took away his ability to speak, the AP reported.

Following the heart transplant, Jason''s father says his son is smiling, eating, waving and greeting doctors and nurses.

-----

Gay Marriage May Boost Mental and Physical Health

Gay marriage may help improve the mental and physical health of homosexuals, suggests a report in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health that analyzed findings from previous studies in different countries.

Research has shown that gay men and women have higher rates of depression, drug abuse and cancer than heterosexuals. Lesbians have a greater risk of breast cancer, heart disease and obesity than straight women, while gay men have a higher risk of HIV than straight men.

This report found evidence that stable relationships can offer health benefits and that gay marriage or civil partnerships for same-sex couples can reduce prejudice and social exclusion, BBC News reported.

"Civil partnerships are likely to break down some of the prejudice and promote greater understanding, including among staff working in the health service," noted article co-author Professor Michael King of University College London.

"Legal civil partnerships could increase the stability of same-sex relationships and minimize the social exclusion to which gay and lesbian people are often subjected," he said.

-----

Medicare Drug Plans Hinder Access to Medicines: Critics

Many drugs supposedly covered by the new Medicare drug benefit are hard to obtain due to restrictions and requirements imposed by private insurers who administer the program, doctors and pharmacists say.

Each plan offered by the private insurers has its own list of covered drugs (called a formulary) and the plans require doctors and patients to obtain prior authorization for certain drugs, The New York Times reported.

The procedure for getting prior authorization varies from plan to plan. For example, one plan may have 25 or 30 forms for prior authorization for different drugs. On top of that, most states have at least 40 Medicare drug plans, the newspaper reported.

The assorted requirements are challenging and can delay or deny patient access to medications that they need, doctors charge. However, the insurers contend that these requirements save money and promote proper use of medications, the Times reported.

Last Updated: Feb. 14, 2006