On a more positive note, data collected from HIV patients in the Canadian province of British Columbia show that treatment with the combination anti-HIV drug therapy known as “highly active antiretroviral therapy” (HAART) has reduced the province’s HIV infection rate by half since 1996. Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse, said in a statement:

ACSH’s Dr. Elizabeth Whelan lost a night of sleep on Friday reading Lisa Genova’s novel Still Alice (Simon & Schuster, 2009), which depicts the story of a Harvard professor who at age 50 is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. After reading such a book, Dr. Whelan says, you cannot help but become interested in Alzheimer’s research, which happened to have made the front page of Saturday’s New York Times.

ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross would like to provide a word of caution to patients on Avandia: do not discontinue your medication without discussing such a move with your doctor first. Physicians of the Endocrine Society, American Diabetes Association and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists issued a similar statement on Wednesday, warning that the risk of stopping Avandia use abruptly is greater than any potential cardiovascular risk the drug might possess.

ACSH’s Jeff Stier testified today at the Food and Drug Administration's Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC), which began meeting yesterday in Gaithersburg, Md. At the conference, TPSAC is discussing the possibility of proscribing the use of menthol in cigarettes. His testimony was based on ACSH’s position paper on mentholated cigarettes.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reports a dramatic increase in prescription painkiller drug abuse between 1998 and 2008, with a 400 percent increase in the amount of Americans treated for the problem. Hospital admission for substance abuse cut across age groups, education, employment, race and geography and included painkillers such as hydrocodone, oxycodone and morphine.

A group of specialists from England and Ireland were able to elicit a reaction from ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross that ACSH staffers attempt on a daily basis: unbridled laugher. Apparently, all it takes is the publication of an article recommending the transplantation of obese children from their homes into foster care because of assumed parental negligence.

An FDA advisory panel surprised observers Thursday by voting 10-to-6 to reject Vivus Inc.’s anti-obesity drug Qnexa, citing concerns of adverse side effects and unknown safety risks associated with its long-term use. The panel’s rejection is not final, and the FDA will make a decision on the drug’s market approval in a few months.

The American Cancer Society (ACS), in collaboration with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Cancer Institute, is targeting 19 chemicals and shift work for additional epidemiological research in the hopes of clarifying their potential to cause cancer.

China s Center for Disease Control and Prevention may have determined the cause of Yunnan Sudden Death Syndrome, which has caused 400 cardiac arrest fatalities over the past three decades a tiny mushroom called Little White.

WebMD reports that German scientists assessing the efficacy of nine weight loss supplements over eight weeks have preliminarily determined that the supplements are no better than a placebo.