What we are reading today...

• Mass. Health Care Plan Riles Some Liberals
  he most radical portion of Massachusetts' move toward universal health care - a requirement that all residents carry insurance - is giving indigestion to some who view it as a breathtaking expansion of government power.
  
  
• Vaccine Hailed as 80% Guard Against Cervical Cancer
  The cervical cancer vaccine could be even more effective than previously thought, giving protection against the sexually transmitted infections that cause 80% of all cervical cancers, scientists say today.
  
  
• F.D.A. Plans to Intensify Oversight of Heart Devices
  The Food and Drug Administration plans to strengthen how it monitors critical heart devices like defribrillators by appointing outside medical experts to help it review the safety of units already on the market, a top agency official says.
  
  
• F.D.A. OKs first attention deficit patch
  The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved the first skin patch to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children.
  
  
• Safety Checks on GMOs Flawed: E.U. Environment Chief
  Europe's environment chief attacked the EU's top food safety agency on Wednesday for flawed risk assessments of genetically modified (GMO) crops and foods, saying it relied too much on data given by the biotech industry.
  
  
• Scientists Cleared of Blame For Drug Trial That Went Wrong
  Tough rules are to be introduced for drug tests on people after an interim report on the disastrous trial at Northwick Park Hospital found no evidence of human error, contamination or failure to follow protocols.
  
  
• How AIDS in Africa Was Overstated
  Years of HIV overestimates, researchers say, flowed from the long-held assumption that the extent of infection among pregnant women who attended prenatal clinics provided a rough proxy for the rate among all working-age adults in a country.
  
  
• Deadly Bird Flu Invades Britain
  Tests have shown that a wild swan found dead in Scotland had the lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu, the British government said on Thursday.
  
  
• Vioxx Jury Splits in Suits by 2 Heart Patients
  A New Jersey jury ordered Merck & Co. yesterday to pay $4.5 million in the case of a man who blamed the firm's Vioxx painkiller for his heart attack, but rejected a similar claim from a second plaintiff who had taken the drug for less time and suffered less severe damage to his health.
  
  
• Access To Drugs: A Suitable Case for Treatment
  Increasing access to affordable drugs in developing countries requires better government intervention, not less of it.
  
  
• Drug Trial Horror - The Official Interim Report
  The "unprecedented" reaction which left six men fighting for their lives was not due to dosing errors or contamination, but the effects of the drug itself
  
  
• Nanotech Product Recalled in Germany
  Government officials in Germany have reported what appears to be the first health-related recall of a nanotechnology product, raising a potential public perception problem for the rapidly growing but still poorly understood field of science.
  
  
• Article on Bird Flu Criticizes Effort to Monitor Cats and Dogs
  Five leading European scientists think officials should better monitor cats, dogs and other carnivores for their possible role in transmitting avian influenza.