Hundreds of Quebec women may have received flawed breast cancer tests: study

MONTREAL - Health officials in Quebec say flawed breast cancer tests may have put the lives of hundreds of women in the province at risk. The situation is drawing comparisons to the botched testing scandal in Newfoundland and Labrador....More

Flaws in breast cancer testing puts all Quebec cancer patients at risk: MDs

MONTREAL - Quebec health officials are demanding that the provincial government react quickly after a study revealed faults in its breast cancer testing, a situation they are comparing to Newfoundland's botched cancer exams....More

European journal says it's time to find a better name for swine flu

TORONTO - A European public health journal says it's time to find a better name for swine flu and the disease it causes. An unsigned editorial in Eurosurveillance suggests none of the currently used names for the new flu virus are workable....More

Errors in breast cancer testing endanger all Quebec cancer patients: MDs

MONTREAL - Quebec health officials are demanding that the provincial government react quickly after a study revealed faults in its breast cancer testing, a situation they are comparing to Newfoundland's botched cancer exams....More

Daily drinking of alcohol can lead to binge drinking, new study concludes

MONTREAL - Regular alcohol consumption can lead to binge drinking among all gender and age groups, a new study suggests....More

CDC says October soonest for swine flu shots

ATLANTA - A U.S. health official says a swine flu vaccine could be available as early as October, but only if vaccine production and testing run smoothly this summer. Dr. Anne Schuchat of the U.S....More

American stroke group expands time for clot-busting drugs

DALLAS - A change to stroke treatment guidelines is expanding the time that some patients can get clot-busting drugs. Current recommendations limit the use of the medicine to within three hours after the start of stroke symptoms....More

'Bacterial census' finds a zoo full of critters on human skin

WASHINGTON - Eeeww. There's a zoo full of critters living on your skin - a bacterial zoo, that is. Consider your underarm a rain forest. Healthy skin is home to a much wider variety of bacteria than scientists ever knew, says the first big census of our co-inhabitants....More

Seed strains for swine flu vaccine sent out to pharmaceutical companies

TORONTO - At least one flu vaccine manufacturer has received and others will be receiving shortly swine flu seed strains, the basic building block for the production of influenza vaccine, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and some vaccine makers confirmed Wednesday....More

Sask. health minister says there have 'lots of offers' to help review 70,000 exams

REGINA - Offers of aid are pouring into Saskatchewan as health officials review 70,000 X-rays, CT scans, mammography or ultrasound tests for possible errors....More

Sanofi receives swine flu seed strain needed to start vaccine production

TORONTO - The world's largest flu vaccine manufacturer says it has received the starting material needed to make swine flu vaccine. Sanofi pasteur of Swiftwater, Pa....More

Ont. confirms 143 new cases of swine flu; provincial total at 495

TORONTO - Ontario is confirming 143 new cases of the swine flu, bringing the total number of cases in the province to 495. Health officials say almost all of the cases reported to date are considered mild. Six people with the virus were in hospital as of Tuesday....More

Mixed-race patients with cancer struggle to find marrow donors

HAYWARD, Calif. - If Nick Glasgow were white, he would have a nearly 90 per cent chance of finding a matching bone marrow donor who could cure his leukemia. But because the 28-year-old bodybuilder is one-quarter Japanese, his doctor warned him the outlook was grim....More

Deaths linked to swine flu hit 101 worldwide

CHICAGO - A second person in Illinois has died from complications of swine flu - pushing the world's death toll past 100....More

Chalk River reactor down for at least three months

OTTAWA - The Chalk River reactor will be down for at least three months. Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. says it needs the time to make repairs to the aging National Research Universal reactor....More

$2 million for family of woman who died on New York hospital floor

NEW YORK - The family of a woman who died on a New York City hospital floor, struggling to get up while staffers ignored her, has settled a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city for $2 million....More

Government hiding 10-year plan for health care, Opposition charges

TORONTO - The Progressive Conservatives say the government is hiding a long-delayed 10-year plan for health care in Ontario. The plan, which the government promised to release in 2007, is supposed to outline the province's strategy for public health care over the long-term....More

Genome research takes next step for blood test to replace transplant biopsy

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Imagine going to hospital and plugging in an information device that reveals your own genome sequence, allowing doctors to plan a course of treatment just for your unique genetic make-up. Experts say it will happen in our lifetime....More

Former Ont. judge enlisted to mediate N.L. breast cancer testing error lawsuit

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - A former Ontario judge will oversee the mediation of a class action lawsuit launched after hundreds of breast cancer tests were botched in Newfoundland and Labrador....More

EPA announces dioxin review, plans for Dow cleanup

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - The U.S. government will speed up a long-delayed assessment of how dioxins affect human health, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday....More