Health Highlights: July 9, 2008

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

Texas Infant Dies After Heparin Overdose; Drug's Role Unclear

A newborn baby has died at a Corpus Christi, Texas, hospital after receiving an overdose of the blood thinner heparin, the localCaller-Timesnewspaper reported Wednesday.

Whether the drug played a role in the infant's death is under investigation, the newspaper said. The child, already seriously ill and in neonatal intensive care, was one of as many as 17 newborns in the unit who received the overdose of the drug.

The infant died Tuesday morning, said a spokesman for Christus Spohn Hospital. The drug was applied routinely to flush IV tubes, to prevent blood clots from forming. Hospital workers discovered the overdose based on lab results for the infants.

TheCaller-Timessaid the overdose, thought to be a result of a mixing error at the hospital's pharmacy, may have led to the infants receiving up to 100 times the recommended dosage of heparin.

Two members of the hospital's pharmacy have taken voluntary leave pending the hospital's investigation of the incident, the newspaper reported. The hospital said it had notified the Texas Department of Health Services and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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Controlled Drugs Easily Obtained Online Without Prescription

Powerful addictive drugs -- known as controlled substances because of their potential for abuse -- are easily ordered online, and in most cases without a prescription, a new Columbia University study finds.

Of 365 Web sites that sold controlled substances regulated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), 85 percent of the sites did not require a prescription, according to anAssociated Pressanalysis of the study.

Examples of drugs that could be purchased this way included the potent painkillers morphine and oxycodone, and amphetamine stimulants.