Health - Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The pandemic of swine flu may be hitting a peak in the Northern Hemisphere, global health officials said on Friday, but they cautioned it was far from over.

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Santa Claus should avoid kissing children and shaking their hands to prevent spreading the flu and should get vaccinated against the illness, Hungary's state health authority said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Texas court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the state against drugmaker Merck & Co that sought a refund for money spent on the withdrawn Vioxx pain treatment, the company said on Monday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - High-cost urban U.S. hospitals may face debt rating downgrades if large cuts to Medicare funding are implemented as part of U.S. health care reform, Moody's Investors Service said on Monday.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - Some Canadian provinces have stopped using a particular batch of the H1N1 flu vaccine after six people experienced severe allergic reactions, the country's health agency said on Monday.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Past the security man and his pit bull and through a haze of eye-watering smoke, two youths load up a pipe next to a row of shiny glass jars with two dozen varieties of marijuana bud displayed like candy.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Morticians who use formaldehyde to embalm bodies have a higher risk of leukemia, researchers reported on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As U.S. health officials struggle to vaccinate tens of millions of Americans against the pandemic of swine flu, some are looking regretfully at one easy way to instantly double or triple the number of doses available -- by using an immune booster called an adjuvant.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The H1N1 flu is moving eastwards across Europe and Asia after appearing to peak in parts of western Europe and the United States, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Eating fruits and vegetables, and drinking tea and red wine may offer overweight men and normal weight women some protection from colon and rectal cancers, hint study findings from the Netherlands.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Regular exercise may help keep teenagers'

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Women in the United States should start cervical cancer screening at age 21 and most do not need an annual Pap smear, according to new guidelines issued on Friday that aim to reduce the risk of unnecessary treatment.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The pandemic of swine flu may be hitting a peak in the United States, health experts said on Friday.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Abuse of ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, is on the rise in many countries and now new research shows that repeated use of the club drug impairs memory, concentration, and psychological well-being.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Florida jury on Thursday ordered cigarette maker Philip Morris USA to pay $300 million in damages to a 61-year-old ex-smoker named Cindy Naugle who is wheelchair-bound by emphysema.

OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian health authorities said on Friday they have discovered a potentially significant mutation in the H1N1 influenza strain that could be responsible for causing the severest symptoms among those infected.