Health Highlights: April 21, 2007

ByABC News
March 23, 2008, 11:36 PM

Mar. 23 -- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments,compiled by editors of HealthDay:

FDA Reaffirms Aspartame Not A Carcinogen

After reviewing findings first presented in 2005 by an Italian-based research group, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has concluded that there isn't enough evidence to conclude that the artificial sweetener aspartame causes cancer.

Aspartame, which is used in the sweetener Equal, among others and in a variety of soft drinks and other products, had already been found safe to use after a 2005 U.S. study of half a million participants.

But when the laboratory rat study conducted by the European Ramazzini Foundation (ERF) of Bologna, Italy said a few months later that there was evidence of increased tumor activity when aspartame was consumed, the FDA asked that the research be sent to it for review.

"... the data that were provided to FDA do not appear to support the aspartame-related findings reported by ERF," the FDA says in a statement on its Web site. "Based on our review, pathological changes were incidental and appeared spontaneously in the study animals, and none of the histopathological changes reported appear to be related to treatment with aspartame."

The FDA also said that repeated requests for additional information on the study from the ERF, including pathology slides, was never honored.

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Drug Maker: No Mortality Hike When Anemia Drug Was Used in Clinical Trial

The pharmaceutical company Amgen says it has good news for patients and investors alike.

The New York Times reports that Amgen issued an overview Friday of a closely-watched clinical trial of its anemia drug Aranesp, saying that the medicine did not increase the death rate of lung cancer patients who were using it.

Earlier studies had indicated that Aranesp and other drugs in the same class might cause blood clots, worsen cancer or increase the risk of death if overused. In fact, the U.S. Congress had already entered into the discussion about the safety of these anemia drugs.