What we are reading today...

• Schools Will Shut in 100,000 Flu Death Fear
  Bristish government officials are drawing up plans for widespread closure of schools to halve a potential 100,000 deaths among children in the event of an avian-flu pandemic.
  
  
• Exercises in Fertility Can Be Very Unpleasant
  Every year, millions of American couples try to get pregnant, and every year thousands fail. For a vast majority of these couples the first step in their treatment is clomiphene, a drug that is effective and inexpensive. For as many as 30 percent of patients, it will solve the problem. But also for many, the side effects leave a lasting impression.
  
  
• Science and Religion, Still Worlds Apart
  Should believers be encouraged when a miracle is corroborated by science, or disappointed that it might have been the outcome of natural forces?
  
  
• Healing Rooms Embrace Prayer
  Trained volunteers pray over the sick in a modern-day faith-healing ministry practiced in storefronts and conference rooms. Does it really help?
  
  
• New Online Resource Guide To Help Bulimia Sufferers
  Funded by a $300,000 grant from the Hilda and Preston Davis Foundation, the nonprofit ECRI has recently launched an online bulimia guide to provide everything a person needs to know — from how to recognize the problem in a loved one to how to evaluate insurance plans and treatment options.
  
  
• Factory farms in Asia Blamed for Avian Flu Pandemic
  The insatiable demand for cheap food, the global poultry industry and the giant factory farms of south-east Asia have been blamed for spreading avian flu around the world.
  
  
• Sides React To F.D.A. Study Rule
  The pharmaceutical industry applauds the Food and Drug Administration's decision to evaluate its process for phase 4 commitments, but analysts and consumer advocates don't think any significant changes will come out of the review.
  
  
• Drug Plan's Side Effect Is Severe
  With the new Medicare drug program, thousands who take pills to fight cancer have found themselves with new bills to pay for their essential medicines.
  
  
• British Rethinking Rules After Ill-Fated Drug Trial
  Although tests of TGN1412 in monkeys showed no significant trouble, all six human subjects nearly died. In response, the British government has announced it was convening an international panel of experts to "consider what necessary changes to clinical trials may be required" for such novel compounds.
  
  
• Nanotech Raises Worker-Safety Questions
  No U.S. worker-protection rules yet address the specific risks of exposure to nanomaterials.
  
  
• Beyond Swollen Limbs, a Disease's Hidden Agony
  Lymphatic filariasis, a disease that causes lymph nodes to swell is not curable, but health experts hope to eliminate the disease within a generation.
  
  
• Secret Plan by the British NHS To Ration Patient Care?
  Patients are being denied appointments with consultants in a systematic attempt to ration care and save the NHS money. Leaked documents show that while government officials promise patients choice, a series of barriers are being erected limiting general practitioners' rights to refer people to consultants.
  
  
• Study: 9/11 Escapees Have Health Problems
  A majority of survivors of the 2001 attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center suffered from respiratory ailments and depression, anxiety and other psychological problems up to three years later, federal health officials said Friday.
  
  
• Nanopatterns Guide Stem Cell Development
  Stem cells can be prompted to grow into bone, instead of muscle or cartilage, purely by placing them on a nano-etched surface – with no added chemicals
  
  
• Over-The-Counter Fat Blocker Gets Tentative OK
  GlaxoSmithKline has received conditional approval for over-the-counter sales of the weight-loss drug Xenical, a Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman said Friday.