Health Highlights: July 29, 2007

Dr. David A. Schwartz, a Schwartz, who in 2005 became head of the NIHs National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, spent $6 million in 2006 on his laboratory, despite agreeing to spend $1.8 million, billed the U.S. for personal items and asked staff members to run personal errands for him, the newspaper reports. Sen. Charles Grassley, (R-Iowa), ranking Republican member of the Senate Finance Committee is investigating the allegations.

NIH spokesman John Burklow told theTimesthat the Institutes had initiated a number of measures in response to the investigation: Schwartz no longer had permission to consult with law firms, he no longer ran his laboratory, he had resigned his faculty position at Duke University, and that he repaid unauthorized office and travel expenses.

The newspaper quotes a statement from Schwartz: "I firmly believe that I have acted ethically and in the best interests" of the health institute and that he was working to resolve "the issues raised."

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Next Year's Vioxx Trials May Include Stroke Cases

Until now, all of the lawsuits brought to trial involving the controversial painkiller Vioxx had centered on plaintiffs who had suffered heart attacks.

But according to theAssociated Press, the federal judge appointed to oversee pretrial motions for the more than 8,500 federal lawsuits against Vioxx's maker Merck and Co. said that some of the trials next year could involve people who had suffered a stroke.

"We may carve out five or six stroke cases and try them," the wire service quotes U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon as telling attorneys for the plaintiffs and Merck.

Merck pulled Vioxx from the market in 2004 after studies revealed that using it increased a person's heart attack twofold.

Plaintiffs have sued Merck in both federal in state courts. In federal cases, Merck has won four of five. In all, there are almost 30,000 lawsuits filed against Merck. The company has won about half the cases, but it lost a big jury award in Texas, which is now on appeal.

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Sara Lee Recalls 27 Whole Wheat Bread Brands