Pope John Paul is now living the drama of aging and chronic illness himself

VATICAN CITY (AP) - The use of a feeding tube for Pope John Paul illustrates a key point of Roman Catholic doctrine he himself has proclaimed toward the aging and chronically ill: The administration of food and water to a patient is morally necessary....More

Medical experts to join probe into deaths at Oaklands Regional Centre

TORONTO (CP) - Medical experts have joined a probe into the deaths of 10 residents at an Ontario home for the mentally disabled, as the province's chief coroner tries to determine whether an inquest is necessary....More

Ont. doctors vote to accept four-year, $2.4 billion new fee agreement

TORONTO (CP) - Ontario doctors have voted to accept a four-year, $2.4 billion fee agreement with the provincial government, after rejecting an earlier tentative contract last November....More

FDA says Biovail pain drug Tramadol will need new clinical trials before approval

TORONTO (CP) - Drugmaker Biovail Corp.'s pain treating drug Tramadol ER will require yet another round of clinical trials before it can be approved for release in the United States, the company said Wednesday.

Toronto-based Biovail said the U.S....More

Malnutrition has doubled among Iraqi children: UN monitor

GENEVA (AP) - The war in Iraq and its aftermath have almost doubled malnutrition rates among Iraqi children, a UN specialist on hunger has told the world's major human rights body.

Acute malnutrition rates among Iraqi children under five rose late last year to 7....More

Congolese official fears Ebola-like fever will cross border from Angola

BRAZZAVILLE, Congo (AP) - The Republic of Congo's top health official said Monday he fears an outbreak of a rare hemorrhagic fever could spread from neighbouring Angola despite efforts to curtail cross-border traffic and monitor arrivals from the infected area.

Dr....More

New York jury awards woman US$18.8 million for smoking injuries

NEW YORK (AP) - A state court jury has ordered Altria Group Inc.'s Philip Morris USA unit to pay $18.8 million US to a woman who said 45 years of smoking cigarettes gave her lung cancer and neurological problems, the woman's lawyer said Tuesday....More

Pandemic planners should focus on care for sick, not death estimates: expert

TORONTO (CP) - The man whose mathematical models provide the basis for U.S. and Canadian pandemic influenza planning is fed up with what he calls the "high noon" of competing projections of how many lives a pandemic might claim....More

China denies Internet report of Ebola deaths in south part of country

BEIJING (AP) - China is denying reports on the Internet that at least four people had died of the deadly Ebola virus in the country's south....More

N.B. judge denies group's request to stop service cuts at francophone hospital

CARAQUET, N.B. (CP) - A Court of Queen's Bench judge in New Brunswick has denied requests for a court order to stop service cuts at a francophone hospital in Caraquet....More

Study: Most American adults sleep poorly

WASHINGTON (AP) - Getting a good night's sleep is hard for many adults and that often means poorer health, lower productivity on the job, more danger on the roads and a less vibrant sex life....More

Drugmaker says it plans to withdraw attention deficit drug

WASHINGTON (AP) - A drug that has been used for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder for 30 years is being discontinued....More

FDA approved once-a-month drug to help women battle osteoporosis

WASHINGTON (AP) - A once-a-month pill to help women battle the bone-weakening disease osteoporosis has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Boniva will be the first monthly osteoporosis medication, said Dr. Richard Emkey of Radiant Research in Reading, Pa....More

Panel says women need better information on treating menopause

WASHINGTON (AP) - The most effective therapies for menopause symptoms can have serious side effects and individual women need better information to help them make a decision on what is best for them, a National Institutes of Health consensus panel said Wednesday. The U.S....More

Cambodia confirms Asia's 47th victim of avian flu; Vietnam reports 2 new cases

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Cambodia confirmed Friday a 26-year-old man died this week of avian flu, becoming Southeast Asia's 47th human victim of a disease that has become entrenched in the region's poultry and raised fears of a global pandemic....More

Cases of Ebola-like virus in northern Angola detected in capital

LISBON, Portugal (AP) - Five cases of an Ebola-like fever that has killed as many as 112 people along the Angola-Congo border have been detected in the Angolan capital....More

Most Canadians have taken note of the threat of a flu pandemic

TORONTO (CP) - Most Canadians have taken note of escalating warnings of the threat of a flu pandemic, but they don't feel the avian influenza virus ravaging parts of Southeast Asia represents a real danger to them, a poll suggests....More

N.B. judge denies group's request to stop service cuts at francophone hospital

CARAQUET, N.B. (CP) - A Court of Queen's Bench judge in New Brunswick has denied requests for a court order to stop service cuts at a francophone hospital in Caraquet....More

Cda sends unique lab to test for fatal virus in Angola; more than 100 dead

TORONTO (CP) - Canada is sending a one-of-a-kind portable laboratory to Angola to help contain an Ebola-like fever that has killed more than 100 people since October.

Dr....More

Former Ottawa Senators owner Rod Bryden appointed chairman of PharmaGap

OTTAWA (CP) - PharmaGap Inc. has appointed former Ottawa Senators owner Rod Bryden as the cancer drug developer's new chairman.

Ottawa-based PharmaGap (TSXV:GAP) said Thursday that Bryden will replace Dan Larkin, who remains a member of the company's board of directors....More