Health Highlights: July 15, 2007

Boston Scientific spokesman Paul Donovan told the newspaper that the settlement will resolve all civil claims. But, he added, the U.S. Justice Department's investigation into possible criminal activity is continuing.

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China Rejects U.S. Meat, Poultry Imports

In an act of apparent retaliation to the United States' cracking down on imports of many of its food products, China has suspended importing a number of U.S. meat products, including poultry from the world's largest producer, Tyson Foods of Arkansas.

TheAssociated Pressreports that that the Chinese government, following months of U.S.-rejected imports ranging from pet food additives to toothpaste, announced late last week that many U.S. meat products contained substandard materials, including Tyson frozen poultry, which the Chinese agency known as the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said contained salmonella bacteria.

Other banned meat products contained residue of an anti-parasite drug in pork and a leanness-enhancing food additive, the AQSIQ said. Representatives from Tyson Foods had not responded to theA.P.late Saturday.

In a statement, Li Yuanping, director of the AQSIQ's import and export bureau, said that China had always been diligent in controlling the quality of its exported food. "There is no such thing as zero risk. China-made products should not be labeled as substandard just because of a few bad producers," the wire service quotes him as saying.

There is little doubt that China wants to show it meets international exporting product standards. Its former top food and drug regulator was executed Tuesday after being found guilty of taking bribes to approve untested medicine.

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$35 Billion Cigarette Tax Increase Approved By Senate Committee

A hike in the U.S. cigarette tax has moved closer to becoming a reality, although how large the increase will be remains a question.

TheNew York Timesreports that leaders of the Senate Finance Committee have agreed that the increase, which will be used to broaden a federal program to provide health insurance for millions of low income children, will be $35 billion over a five year period.