MEDICINE

President Barack Obama nominated Dr. Regina Benjamin for the U.S. surgeon general - the top U.S. public health official,- in a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden on Monday.

The new H1N1 influenza virus bears a disturbing resemblance to the virus strain that caused the 1918 flu pandemic, with a greater ability to infect the lungs than common seasonal flu viruses, researchers reported on Monday.

A family doctor and a six-year-old girl have died after catching H1N1 flu, health officials said on Monday, days after the first British death from the infection in an otherwise healthy patient.

Roche Holding AG's Tarceva cancer drug improved the survival of patients with advanced lung cancer when used immediately after initial chemotherapy, the Swiss group said on Monday.

The United States will spend another $1 billion on ingredients for an H1N1 vaccine, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Sunday.

Lobbyists for drugmakers, insurance companies, hospital chains and others are trying to protect lucrative businesses threatened by U.S. healthcare reforms.

The U.S. Congress released a report on Wednesday saying bottled water is less regulated than plain old tap water and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has little power to regulate the safety of bottled water.

Fourteen Britons who had contracted H1N1 flu have died and the rapid spread of infection in two areas of the country is close to epidemic level, health officials said on Thursday.

The United States is planning for a vaccination campaign against the new H1N1 flu that could move into schools and community centers, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Thursday.

Merck & Co Inc shares fell 3.8 percent on Thursday amid speculation its Zetia cholesterol medicine fared poorly in a clinical trial comparing it with Abbott Laboratories' Niaspan in preventing plaque build-up in arteries.

Michael Jackson's long-time dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein said he was aware that Jackson took dangerous drugs and warned him repeatedly about the powerful drug Diprivan which the pop star used to fall asleep.

Americans are getting heavier than ever, with more than 26 percent of the population now fully obese, the U.S. government reported on Wednesday.

Fewer than half of all Americans trust that their health insurance plans would pay for the full costs of cancer treatment and nearly two-thirds falsely believe Medicare would not pay anything, according to a survey released on Wednesday.

Hong Kong's H1N1 tally has exceeded1000 with 41 new cases conformed, the Department of Health (DH) said on Tuesday.

The Obama administration on Tuesday ordered tougher steps to curb salmonella and E.coli contamination in U.S. food processing plants and created a new deputy food commissioner post to coordinate safety in the wake of a salmonella outbreak.

A Seattle clinic for people fed up with insurance, started by doctors fed up with insurance, has gotten $4 million in private venture capital money to expand, it announced on Monday.

France's Sanofi-Aventis said the results of a study on the link between its Lantus diabetes drug and retinopathy, which causes blindness, showed the risk for patients was not greater than with human insulin.

Danish pharmaceuticals group Novo Nordisk's diabetes drug Victoza, a key driver for future sales, has won European Commission approval for marketing across the European Union, the company said on Friday.

Since 2006, U.S. taxpayers have paid nearly $155,000 to send home health nurses to inject twice-daily insulin shots for an elderly, diabetic Miami man.

Obesity rates continued to climb in the past year with 23 U.S. states reporting adults in their states are fatter now than they were a year ago, two advocacy groups said on Wednesday.

The first H1N1 infection found to be resistant to the antiviral drug Tamiflu represents an isolated case with no current implications for public health, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.