Health Highlights: March 2, 2007

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments,compiled by editors ofHealthDay:

Bush Orders Review of U.S. Military and Veteran Hospitals

U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday ordered a thorough review of conditions at all American veteran and military hospitals. The review was prompted by revelations about poor care for wounded troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Bush will name a bipartisan commission to investigate whether the problems uncovered at Walter Reed are also present at other facilities, theAssociated Pressreported.

On Thursday, the Pentagon said it had fired Walter Reed commander Army Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman. The situation at Walter Reed was made public byThe Washington Post, which found that bureaucratic issues prevented many troops from receiving adequate care and that some outpatients were enduring squalid living conditions, theAPreported.

The commission to be appointed by Bush will be separate from a panel named by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to study outpatient care at Walter Reed and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda.

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FDA Outlines Approach to Informing Public About Drug Safety

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday issued final guidance on the agency's approach to communicating drug safety information to the public and the factors that influence when drug safety information is given to the public.

The FDA said the guidance affirms the agency's commitment to provide important drug safety information in a timely manner through: public health advisories; patient information sheets; health care professional information sheets; and alerts posted on public health advisories and patient and health care professional sheets. These are all available through the FDA Web site.

Drug product labeling is another method of providing the public and health professionals with important drug safety information, the FDA said.

"Our goal is to make emerging drug safety information available in a balanced, impartial manner so that health care professionals and patients can consider the information when making decisions about medical treatments despite uncertainties in the data," Dr. Steven Galson, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a prepared statement.