Health Highlights: Dec. 15 2009

Dec. 16 -- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

FDA Opens Mexico City Office

A Mexico City office opened this week by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is the agency's 10th international post in a program meant to improve the safety of food and medical products imported into the United States.

FDA staff at the Mexico City post will work with counterparts in the Mexican government on a number of initiatives, including harmonization of regulations and guidance standards, collaboration on the use of the latest laboratory techniques, and joint training on food-borne illness and food oversight.

In addition, FDA experts will educate Mexican industries that ship food and medical products north of the border about U.S. safety and product quality expectations.

"The opening of this office represents an important step as we re-design our product safety strategy. We, like our partners in the Mexican Government, realize that prevention is the key. For example, more than a third of the fresh fruits and vegetables we eat come from Mexico as do a large amount of our medical devices. Having FDA experts located permanently there will be mutually beneficial to both our countries and respective citizens," FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg said in an agency news release.

The FDA's other posts include China, India, Europe, Chile and Costa Rica.

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Fewer U.S. Seniors Hospitalized for Preventable Conditions

Between 2003 and 2007, many fewer U.S. seniors age 65 and older were hospitalized for potentially preventable conditions, such as angina, pneumonia and uncontrolled diabetes, says a federal government report.

Patients ages 18 to 64 had less of a decrease in the 11 chronic and acute conditions that can usually be controlled outside the hospital if patients have access to good outpatient care and follow doctors' instructions, said the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.