Health Highlights: June 3, 2007

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

China Attacks U.S. Toothpaste Warning

China's main food safety regulator has rejected a U.S. government warning that consumers should avoid toothpaste made in that country because it may contain a poisonous chemical used in antifreeze.

Calling a Friday warning by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration "unscientific, irresponsible and contradictory," China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said late Saturday that low levels of the chemical have been deemed safe for consumption.

In a statement posted on its Web site, the China agency added that lists of ingredients of toothpaste exported to the United States, showing the amount of all chemicals including diethylene glycol, are provided to the FDA for inspection and approval, the Associated Press reported.

The U.S. warning Friday also included an import ban on all toothpaste made in China, Deborah M. Autor, director of the FDA's Office of Compliance, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, told reporters at an afternoon briefing.

"The companies will have to prove that their products don't contain harmful levels of DEG (diethylene glycol) before it is allowed into the United States," she added.

There have been no reports of poisoning from DEG in toothpaste, Autor said. "However, the agency is concerned about chronic exposure to DEG and exposure in children and individuals with kidney or liver disease," she added.

The agency began its investigation after it discovered DEG-contaminated toothpaste from China had been sold in Panama. In addition, DEG in cold medicine killed at least 51 people and sickened 68 others in Panama last year.

The Chinese agency's statement also demanded that "the U.S. clarify the facts in a scientific manner as soon as possible and properly handle the issue."

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Disciplined Docs Run Drug Trials for Pharmacy Companies: Report

Doctors who have been disciplined by medical boards still oversee drug-testing trials and are paid by pharmaceutical companies for their work, a newspaper analysis revealed.

A study of Minnesota state medical board records showed that more than 100 such doctors, at least two of whom have criminal fraud convictions, received a total of $1.7 million from drug makers from 1997 to 2005, The New York Times reported Sunday.