Health Highlights: April 25, 2007

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

U.S. Army Testing Equipment to Check Soldiers for Brain Injuries

In an effort to better identify hard-to-diagnose brain injuries in soldiers, the U.S. Army says it will soon begin testing new neuroimaging equipment, theAssociated Pressreported.

A new scanning camera that uses gamma rays and radioisotopes is expected to arrive within two weeks, said Col. John Cho, commander of the Evans Army Community Hospital at Fort Carson, Colo.

Soldiers who've already been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury will be used to test the equipment and its effectiveness. The findings will be given to an Army review board, theAPreported.

Thousands of U.S. soldiers have suffered brain injuries in the Iraq War. A recent study at Fort Carson found that 2,932 (18 percent) of 13,400 troops who'd been to Iraq had suffered at least some degree of brain damage after being hit by blasts caused by improvised explosive devices.

Some critics have accused the Army of not doing enough to diagnose soldiers with brain damage.

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Texas Company Stops Illegal Production and Sale of Drugs

A Texas-based company has agreed to stop the illegal manufacture and distribution of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday.

The agreement applies to PharmaFab Inc., its subsidiary PFab LP, and two company officials -- Mark Tengler, PharmaFab's president, and Russ McMahen, PFab's vice president of scientific affairs.

The products made by the company are illegal because they aren't made according to the required current good manufacturing practice and they may lack FDA approval.