Health Highlights: Oct. 2, 2009

Oct. 3 -- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

U.S. Poisoning Deaths Nearly Double Since 1999

Drugs played a major role in the near doubling of poisoning fatalities in the United States between 1999 and 2006, according to a U.S. government report.

During that time, poisoning death increased from almost 20,000 to more than 37,000, said the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2006, more than 90 percent of poisoning deaths involved drugs, United Press International reported.

Opioid analgesics were involved in about 20 percent of poisoning deaths in 1999 and almost 40 percent in 2006. Methadone-related poisoning deaths increased nearly seven-fold, from 790 in 1999 to 5,420 in 2006. That rate of increase is far greater than for other opioid analgesics, cocaine, or heroin.

The government report said poisoning is the second leading cause of injury death overall in the United States, and the leading cause of injury death for people ages 35 to 64, UPI reported.

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General health claims for probiotic yogurts and drinks aren't backed by science, say European Union experts who studied 523 health claims related to 200 foods and food components, including fiber, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, botanical substances and probiotic bacteria.

Of those claims, about two-thirds (350) were rejected, CBC News reported. Nearly half were rejected because they lacked information about the component on which the claim was based, including probiotic bacteria and botanical substances.

While those claims were dismissed, the EU expert panel said they found sufficient scientific evidence to support claims related to vitamins and minerals, dietary fibers or fatty acids for maintenance of cholesterol levels, along with the use of sugar-free chewing gum for dental health, CBC News reported.