The monthly Medicare premium for senior citizens has gone up, once again.

Senior citizens and the disabled will now pay a monthly premium of $88.50 for doctor's visits and other services, starting January, 2006.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is continuing their warnings on the possibility of a major pandemic following the uncontrolled spread of the bird flu.

"While we still have a window of opportunity, we must do everything we can to avert an influenza pandemic, as we simultaneously prepare for a worse-case scenario," says Shigeru Omi, the WHO`s regional director for the Western Pacific.

The monthly Medicare premium for senior citizens has gone up, once again.

Senior citizens and the disabled will now pay a monthly premium of $88.50 for doctor's visits and other services, starting January, 2006.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says warnings to drug companies regarding misleading advertisements have more than tripled in the last year.

Thomas Abrams, head of FDA's Division of Drug Marketing and Communications says, the agency sent 17 warning letters in the 12 months ending in August compared with an average of about four to five letters in recent years.

The World Health Organization's Regional Director for the Western Pacific, Dr. Shigeru Omi is calling for an all out war on the deadly avian influenza and warns of the threat of new emerging diseases.

Dr. Omi says, "While we still have a window of opportunity, we must do everything we can to avert an influenza pandemic as we simultaneously prepare for a worse-case scenario. Avian influenza and the earlier outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) are not the only emerging diseases we can expect to confront in this new century."