Stopping just short of actually pronouncing them safe, the latest review from the U.K. s Health Protection Agency (HPA) proclaims that mobile phones pose no harm to human health. After analyzing data from hundreds of studies, the researchers found no link between cell phone use and cancer, brain function, brain tumors, infertility, or cardiovascular health. Relatively reassuring, was how the review group s chair boldly described the results.

Typically, when a pregnant woman s water breaks prematurely, doctors will induce labor in order to avoid the increased risk of a uterine infection that could harm the fetus. Yet because there are also risks to delivering a baby pre-term, Dutch researchers have more closely investigated this practice.

Another tip of the ACSH hat to Julie Gunlock, who, in her latest column for Independent Women s Forum, takes apart a recent study alleging that regular soda consumption is associated with a higher risk of stroke.

Earlier this week, we discussed a new study that found that in vitro fertilization (IVF), along with another assisted reproductive technology called ICIS (intracytoplasmic sperm injection), was associated with a significant increase in a baby s risk of birth defects. However, ACSH advisor Dr. Robert Brent, who is also Professor of Pediatrics, Radiology, and Pathology at Jefferson Medical College Research Department and Alfred I.

After we discussed the upcoming National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, to be held this Friday, April 28, reader Paul Hilling of Anchorage, Alaska, took us to task for neglecting to discuss another method of disposing of unused medications:

The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) will hold a panel discussion in D.C. titled Chemical Policy and Regulation: The Costs of Bad Science and Over-Caution:

Today marks the fifth anniversary of World Malaria Day an initiative started by the World Health Organization (WHO) to call attention to a global goal of ending malaria deaths by 2015. Nearly half of the world s population is at risk of contracting malaria, a parasitic disease transmitted by certain mosquitoes.

Prescription drug abuse is the fastest growing drug problem in the U.S., according to the CDC, which is why the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the American Medical Association (AMA) want you to take advantage of National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, this April 28 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.

Last December, we were pleased to announce that childhood obesity rates in New York City and other areas were declining. Now, according to recent research, the same is true for kids under the age of six in eastern Massachusetts.

Earlier this week, we covered the news of a recent study reporting that some children who participate in the New York public schools Breakfast in the Classroom program may end up eating two breakfasts. Yet despite the city health department s fear that such double-dipping may be contributing to childhood obesity, many remain skeptical and Dispatch reader Thomas Vitullo-Martin is one of them. In an email to us, he writes: