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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Medicare is lurching toward disaster and it is too late for the Bush Administration and Congress to do anything about it, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said on Tuesday.

He said the next administration will have to act to stop rising costs and get control of the $400 billion federal health insurance plan b for the elderly, which now covers 44 million people.

"Higher and higher costs are being borne by fewer and fewer clan.

(Read the full post about ‘Medicare “drifting towards disaster”: U.S. official (Reuters)’…)

free viagraScientists for the first time have used gene therapy to dramatically improve sight in people with a rare form of blindness, a development experts called a major advance for the experimental technique.

Some vision was restored in four of the six young people who got the treatment, teams of researchers in the United States and Britain reported Sunday. Two of the volunteers who could only see hand motions were able to read a few lines of an eye chart within weeks.

“It’s a phenomenal breakthrough,” said Stephen Rose, chief research officer of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, which helped pay for one study done at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. (Read the full post about ‘Gene Therapy Could Reverse Blindness’…)

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KANO, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria's northern state of Kano has resumed settlement talks by Pfizer Inc over a 1996 drug test that Nigeria says caused the death of 11 children and left dozens more disabled, lawyers said on Tuesday. (Read the full post about ‘Nigerian state, Pfizer resume talks over drug trial (Reuters)’…)

BEIJING (AFP) - Local authorities in eastern China tried to cover up an eruption of a extremely contagious venom that has killed 20 children and left more than 1,500 others disordered, Chinese press reports declared Tuesday. (Read the full post about ‘Chinese officials accused of covering up killer virus (AFP)’…)

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PARIS (AFP) - Variants in two genes which caper a clew role in osteoporosis, the bone-crumbling sickness that afflicts many elderly woman (try women’s health), have been netted in a trawl of DNA, a study published on Tuesday said. (Read the full post about ‘Two gene flaws spotted for osteoporosis (AFP)’…)

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TUESDAY, April 29 (HealthDay news) — The launch of the International Cancer Genome Consortium was announced Tuesday by research organizations from around the world.

The consortium was created to produce high-quality genomic data on up to 50 types of cancer.

Each consortium member plans to conduct a comprehensive, high-resolution analysis of the full set in a row of genomic changes in at least one specific emblem or subtype of cancer.

(Read the full post about ‘International Consortium Will Hunt Down Genetics of Cancer (HealthDay)’…)

LONDON (AFP) - Children who attend day charge or playgroups have a 30 percent diminish risk of developing leukaemia, US researchers said Tuesday ahead of a presentation of their findings to experts in London. (Read the full post about ‘Playgroups, crèches ‘help cut childhood leukaemia’: study (AFP)’…)

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TUESDAY, April 29 (HealthDay news) — If you've ever shared your allergy medicines, antibiotics or even painkillers to a family member or friend, you've got plenty of company: A new survey suggests many give away their prescription medicines or borrow them from others.

However, this can be an extremely bad idea, experts say.

(Read the full post about ‘Many Americans Share Prescription Meds (HealthDay)’…)

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LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists from around the world are joining forces to hunt for key genetic mutations involved in cancer. (Read the full post about ‘Global consortium to hunt for cancer genes (Reuters)’…)

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TUESDAY, April 29 (HealthDay news) — Treating elderly cancer patients for five years costs Medicare $21.1 billion, and these costs are expected to increase dramatically as the population ages, a new study says.

The costs for treating patients varies by type of cancer, with expenditures highest for lung, colorectal and prostate tumors, said the researchers, who based their estimates on patients diagnosed by cancer in 2004.

(Read the full post about ‘Medicare Costs Soar for Cancer Care (HealthDay)’…)