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FDA Takes Actions On Darvon, Other Pain Medications Containing Propoxyphene
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is taking several actions to reduce the risk of overdose in patients using pain medications such as Darvon and Darvocet that contain propoxyphene. The actions were taken because of data linking propoxyphene and fatal overdoses.

Prime Minister Pledges Action On Maternal Mortality, UK
Today, the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, said he was determined to keep the issue of maternal mortality high on the agenda of the G8 summit in Italy next week.
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Slight Majority Of U.S. Residents Call Themselves 'Pro-life;' 76% Say Abortion Should Be Legal, Poll Shows
Seventy-six percent of U.S. residents believe that abortion should be legal, a finding in keeping with public opinion over the past three decades, according to a Gallup poll released on Saturday, the AP/Boston Globe reports (AP/Boston Globe, 5/16). However, 51% of respondents identified themselves as "pro-life," while 42% said they are "pro-choice" (Gallup poll, 5/16). The finding marks the first time since Gallup began asking about abortion rights in 1995 that a majority of respondents said they consider themselves "pro-life" (Nadeau, Boston Herald, 5/16). Last year"s poll showed that 50% of respondents consider themselves "pro-choice," compared with 44% who said they are "pro-life" (Abcarian, Los Angeles Times, 5/16).The new poll found that 53% of respondents believe abortion should be legal under some circumstances, 23% believe it should be legal under any circumstances and 22% believe it should be illegal under any circumstances (Boston Herald, 5/16). The percentage of respondents who oppose abortion rights in all cases rose slightly from last year, while those who support abortion rights in all cases decreased slightly. The Los Angeles Times reports that the percentage of respondents who oppose abortion rights in all circumstances and those who support abortion rights in all circumstances is "a virtual tie." The results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.Respondents who labeled themselves as moderates and Republicans accounted for most of the change in views compared with past polls, as Democrats" views remained consistent with previous years, according to the Los Angeles Times. Gallup in its analysis wrote that it is "possible" that President Obama "has pushed the public"s understanding of what it means to be "pro-choice" slightly to the left, politically" (Los Angeles Times, 5/16). The survey was conducted between May 7 and May 10 (AP/Boston Globe, 5/16).Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said, "I am pretty confident that Americans really don"t want Roe v. Wade overturned." She added that the increase in respondents identifying as "pro-life" does not "square with what has happened in the last several elections," noting that voters have rejected several antiabortion-rights ballot measures in South Dakota, California, Oregon and Colorado since 2005. However, Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, said, "It tracks pretty much with what we"ve always known: People generally are pro-life depending on how you ask the question" (Los Angeles Times, 5/16).
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Leading Virologist Says To Expect The Unexpected With Influenza

World renowned virologist Professor Albert Osterhaus told participants at Europe"s largest conference on infectious diseases that the outbreak of influenza A H1N1 is without question the most important event of the past 40 years in human influenza. And he stressed that the current H1N1 threat is a serious one. Osterhaus, who is Head of Virology at the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam and led efforts to identify human infection with the avian influenza strain (H5N1) in 1997, outlined the three cornerstones of medical preparedness in the face of swine-origin flu: good surveillance and diagnostics; effective treatment/antiviral therapy; and vaccination, the foundation of prevention. But he also cautioned that we must be prepared to expect the unexpected as the course of this influenza virus unravels. Osterhaus was speaking at a late-breaker session jointly organized by the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) and The Lancet, which was added to the programme of the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) taking place in Helsinki. Addressing the issue of an A H1N1 vaccination, Osterhaus stressed that there was room for improvement in the production of all influenza vaccines. "We have to do better", he told representatives from the scientific, medical and pharmaceutical industry. "We must improve the influenza vaccine production systems and capacity, regardless of whether we develop an A H1N1 vaccine. Currently we have capacity to produce doses that could protect in the event of a pandemic an estimated 1 billion people - yet with a global population of some 6.7 billion, clearly there is not enough for all." Osterhaus also stressed the need to improve the seasonal flu vaccine production capacity. Focusing on the outbreak from a clinician"s perspective, Professor Javier Garau, the new President of ESCMID and Head of Medicine at the Hospital Universitari Mutua de Terrassa in Barcelona, highlighted priorities in the treatment of swine-origin flu. "We know from experience that secondary infections - which in the case of influenza include pneumonia - can be deadly, which means that adequate stockpiles of antibiotics, as well as antivirals and vaccines, must be included as part of our response". The Editor of The Lancet Infectious Diseases, John McConnell, said, "We must not underestimate this virus. As Professor Osterhaus reminded us, this outbreak is unlikely to disappear spontaneously so we must be vigilant in monitoring the spread of the virus. " Video highlights from the session will be available from Wednesday 20 May at The Lancet"s H1N1 Flu re Centre at http://www.TheLancet.com/H1N1-flu and http:// www.escmid.org/ ESCMID The Lancet


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