Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
FDA Approves Nonprescription Defibrillators
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday cleared the way for defibrillators to be sold over the counter, specifically for use by laypersons.
Defibrillators are used to treat a person who has undergone cardiac arrest and whose heart is beating abnormally, or fibrillating. If the heart isn't returned to its normal beat within minutes, the problem could be fatal.
The HeartStart Home Defibrillator, made by Philips Medical Systems of Andover, Mass., is already available with a prescription. The FDA announced that it cleared the way for nonprescription sales after the company showed that a person could use the device without supervision from a doctor.
The defibrillator delivers a shock to the heart, while computers analyze the victim's rhythms and tell when a shock is needed. The lay user is guided through the process by voice and visual prompts.
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Meningitis Vaccine Back in Ample Supply
U.S. health officials are once again recommending doctors and parents to get their children the full set of shots against childhood meningitis because the vaccine is back in ample supply.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that the vaccine, known as Prevnar, can meet the demand.
Prevnar can prevent pneumococcal diseases like meningitis and blood infections, which can be fatal, especially to children 2 years old and younger. Before the vaccine was introduced in 2000, such infections caused more than 700 cases of meningitis, 13,000 blood infections, and 5 million ear infections a year.
But barely 18 months after it was introduced, production problems led to a shortage, prompting doctors to reserve the full schedule of Prevnar shots only to those at the highest risk.
The recommended schedule calls for one dose each at 2 months, 4 months, and 6 months, and another between 12 and 15 months. However, patients can catch up on doses missed during the shortage.
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Judge: Juror Under the Influence is OK
A juror who drinks during a trial may be under the influence, but not legally under an "outside influence," a Manhattan judge declared Wednesday.
The Daily News of New York reported that an unnamed juror drank at least six ounces of vodka during deliberations in the larceny trial of a former firefighter who was accused of stealing artifacts from the World Trade Center Ground Zero. The firefighter was ultimately convicted, and faces up to a year in jail.
When the defendant's lawyer, Ronald Kliegerman, learned of the drinking, he tried get Criminal Court Judge Ellen Coin to dismiss the verdict.
But Coin said that even the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the consumption of alcohol or drugs during a trial doesn't constitute the type of "outside influence" that would be the basis for overturning a verdict, the Daily News reported.
The attorney plans to appeal the decision, which he called "insane."
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FDA Considers Antidepressant Warnings for Adults
In light of new recommendations that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration consider stern warnings about a possible link between antidepressants and suicidal thoughts among children, agency officials are re-evaluating whether adults on these medications can become suicidal, too, The New York Times reported Thursday.
Dr. Janet Woodcock, the FDA's deputy commissioner of operations, told the newspaper that the agency will begin applying lessons recently learned in analyzing clinical information among children to trials involving adults. The agency has compiled a database that includes 234 tests involving more than 40,000 patients. Up to now, she told the newspaper, the agency has found no link between antidepressants and adult suicidal behavior.
In the meantime, doctors are grappling with how to deal with an FDA advisory committee's decision that the medicines should include urgent warnings about the risks of suicide among children and teens. Experts say the uncertainty generated by the decision could leave many depressed children without a valuable treatment option, according to HealthDay.
After months of scientific analysis and an emotional public hearing in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, two FDA advisory panels found by a 25-0 vote that there was, indeed, evidence that use of antidepressant medications might raise risks for suicide and suicidal thoughts in some pediatric users.
In another recommendation, this time by a 15-8 vote, an FDA panel advised strengthening the so-called "black box" warning label accompanying drugs like Prozac, Paxil, Celexa, Effexor, and Zoloft, cautioning physicians, patients, and patients' families of the suspected risk.
While the recommendations are not binding, the FDA usually follows the guidance of its advisory panels.
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One Twin Dies After Separation Surgery
One of the German conjoined twins who underwent separation surgery at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore died shortly after the procedure ended, the Associated Press reported Thursday.
Year-old twins Lea and Tabea Block, formerly joined at the head, were separated shortly after midnight Thursday morning. But Tabea died later after an "exhaustive resuscitative effort," a hospital spokeswoman told the wire service.
Surviving twin Lea was reported in critical but stable condition Thursday morning.
Surgery on the girls actually began Saturday, but was halted midstream after one of the twins' condition worsened. The surgery resumed Wednesday afternoon, and had been expected to last up to 48 hours. The pair were joined at the tops of their heads and shared several blood vessels that fed their brains, the AP reported.
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U.S. Launches Drug Comparison Web Site
Hoping to turn elderly consumers into smart shoppers, the U.S. government has launched a Web site that compares prices for similar brand-name prescription drugs.
Intended for Medicare beneficiaries but available to anyone, the first batch of data compares prices for eight categories of drugs that account for about 25 percent of all spending by Medicare participants, The New York Times reported Thursday. The medicines are prescribed for conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, arthritis, and allergies.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson acknowledged discussing the idea with major drug manufacturers, who he said preferred that the information not be disclosed. A drug industry spokesperson worried that consumers would incorrectly conclude that medicines listed in the same category were equivalent, and that one could safely be substituted for another without a doctor's careful analysis.
While a spokeswoman for Consumers Union welcomed the idea, she told the newspaper that the site might be difficult for some elderly computer users to navigate. "You need to be really Web-savvy and good with a computer mouse to get useful information," she said.
The site's address is www.medicare.gov.