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Federal health officials on Sep 21, 1995 recommended coronary bypass surgery over angioplasty for diabetics with coronary artery disease because of surprising long-term findings from the world's largest study of the two heart procedures

Federal health officials Thursday recommended coronary bypass surgery over angioplasty for diabetics with coronary artery disease because of surprising long-term findings from the world's largest study of the two heart procedures. The recommendation applies only to diabetics treated with insulin or pills called oral hypoglycemics to lower blood sugar who have two or more blocked coronary arteries, the officials said at a news conference at the National Institutes of Health

BETHESDA, Md. - Federal health officials Thursday recommended coronary bypass surgery over angioplasty for diabetics with coronary artery disease because of surprising long-term findings from the world's largest study of the two heart procedures. The recommendation applies only to diabetics treated with insulin or pills called oral hypoglycemics to lower blood sugar who have two or more blocked coronary arteries, the officials said at a news conference. The officials said they were alerting doctors about the recommendation. On average, about 50 diabetic patients fitting the criteria undergo bypass surgery or angioplasty each day in this country

Fifty years after tuberculosis became curable, a worldwide surge in drug-resistant strains of the disease is occurring not just because of the limits of medical science but also because of the profit motives of pharmaceutical companies, experts at an international meeting here last week said. There are more cases of tuberculosis today than ever worldwide. At least 2 million people die from it each year, many from strains of the bacteria that have become resistant to the available drugs. Yet, even though new drugs have been developed and are ready for testing, pharmaceutical companies are unwilling to invest the money it would take to bring them to market, said participants at the meeting, which was sponsored by the Lancet, an international medical journal published in London

Fifty years after tuberculosis became curable, a worldwide surge in drug-resistant strains of the disease is occurring not just because of the limits of medical science but because of the profit motives of pharmaceutical companies, experts at an international meeting said. Many participants in last week's conference, in all 250 experts from 40 countries, also criticized the World Health Organization, a United Nations agency in Geneva, for spending minuscule amounts on tuberculosis after declaring it a ``global health emergency.'' While it was the first time the agency had so designated any disease, it spent only $800,000 of its $1 billion annual budget on tuberculosis. It also spent $4.6 million from other sources on tuberculosis last year. An overwhelming majority of cases occur in developing countries; fewer than 10 percent occur in developed countries. In the United States, for example, there were about 26,000 new cases of active tuberculosis reported last year. Participants at the conference said drug company officials told them the low number of cases in this country represented too small a market to warrant large investments

A new skin test developed by a team of federal scientists at the CDC in Atlanta promises to improve the surveillance for the deadly Ebola infection that occurs in remote areas of Africa

WASHINGTON - Fifty years after tuberculosis became curable, a worldwide surge in drug-resistant strains of the disease is occurring not just because of the limits of medical science but also because of the profit motives of pharmaceutical companies, experts at an international meeting here last week said. Many participants, in all 250 experts from 40 countries, also strongly criticized the World Health Organization, a UN agency in Geneva, for spending minuscule amounts on tuberculosis after declaring it a 'global health emergency.' While it was the first time the agency had so designated any disease, it spent only $800,000 of its $1 billion annual budget on tuberculosis. It also spent $4.6 million from other sources on tuberculosis last year

WASHINGTON - Fifty years after tuberculosis became curable, a worldwide surge in drug-resistant strains of the disease is occurring, not just because of the limits of medical science but also because of the profit motives of pharmaceutical companies, experts said at an international meeting here last week. There are more cases of tuberculosis today than ever worldwide. At least 2 million people die from it each year, many from strains of the bacteria that have become resistant to the available drugs

Dr. Lee Reichman, executive director of the National Tuberculosis Center at the New Jersey Medical School in Newark, said at the meeting that when he had briefed a New Jersey political leader about a growing tuberculosis problem in that state, the elected official, whom he did not identify, said, 'My constituents don't get TB!' 'the drugs sit in a laboratory drawer' because a number of big drug companies have rejected offers to develop them, Dr. Bloom said. 'It's very discouraging.' Dainippon, Dr. Reichman said, 'took back the license from Parke-Davis and transferred it to Rhone-Poulenc-Rorer, which held U.S. rights for Sparfloxacin' against other diseases.

WASHINGTON - After years of recommending AZT as the first-line drug for treating the virus that causes AIDS, federal health officials are considering a change because of surprising results with other drugs. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in an interview that he planned to convene a meeting at which independent experts could decide whether AZT should remain the first choice. A large study paid for by Fauci's institute and reported last week found that AZT was less effective than another drug, didanosine, or ddI, and also less effective than combinations of AZT with either ddI or zalcitabine (ddC)