Mark Bloom

May 15, 2007

LYNCHBURG, Va. -- Televalgelism pioneer Jerry Falwell, the founder of Moral Majority and a stalwart of the Christian right wing of the GOP, died today after collapsing in his office here. Falwell was 73 and had suffered in recent years from congestive heart failure and pneumonia.

May 11, 2007

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- Although the FDA advised physicians in March to use erythropoiesis-stimulating agents at the lowest possible dose to preclude a transfusion, an advisory committee has urged the agency to develop still stricter standards.

May 02, 2007

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA asked the makers of all 36 antidepressants today to include young adults ages 18 to 24 in the black box warnings for suicidal thinking and behavior.

April 13, 2007

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA issued an urgent warning tonight to consumers about the risk of olives that are potentially contaminated with Clostridium botulinum.

April 11, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Fred Thompson, the actor and former Republican senator from Tennessee, revealed today he is in remission from a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

March 27, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Presidential spokesman Tony Snow, who was treated two years ago for colon cancer, had surgery yesterday for metastatic liver cancer, the White House announced today.

March 23, 2007

WASHINGTON -- White House spokesman Tony Snow, who was treated for colon cancer in 2005, said today he would have surgery on Monday to resect a small growth discovered in his lower abdomen. He cautioned reporters against jumping to conclusions.

March 22, 2007

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- John Edwards, the former senator, announced today that his wife, Elizabeth Edwards, 57, has had a recurrence of breast cancer, a bony metastasis, but he is continuing his campaign to be the Democratic candidate for the presidency. Elizabeth Edwards had a lumpectomy in 2004 and adjuvant chemoradiation. He and his wife called the malignancy treatable. "The campaign goes on," he said.

January 03, 2007

SEATTLE -- Starbucks, the giant coffee shop chain, has announced that it is banning trans fats, climbing aboard the nutritional bandwagon championed by the city of New York and promoted by the American Heart Association.

December 15, 2006

SAN ANTONIO -- The annual incidence of breast cancer has fallen drastically, coinciding with the end of the hormone replacement therapy era, according to SEER data from the National Cancer Institute. After a steady rise during the past 20 years, the incidence dropped 7% from 2002 to 2003, reported investigators at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. The absolute reduction could be as many as 14,000 breast cancer cases per year.