Utilizing oils, often recommended in folk remedies, to soothe various ailments for infants can put them at risk for pneumonia.

A report written in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine said that the cultural practice of giving children mineral or vegetable oil (as well as other oil) puts them at risk for lipoid pneumonia. This type of pneumonia occurs when fatty substances make their way into the lung area

Federal health advisers are investigating the deaths of 12 Japanese children who took Tamiflu, as well as seven other drugs.

No deaths have yet been attributed to Tamiflu in the U.S. or Europe

Researchers report that nurse practitioners and physician assistants offer the same quality of care for HIV patients as doctors specializing in the disease -- and may do a better job than doctors who are not specialists.

Their study of 68 HIV clinics in the U.S. found that nurse practitioners and physician assistants generally outperformed generalist doctors in the eight quality-of-care measures the researchers considered, Reuters reports

Regulators are monitoring the antiviral Tamiflu after reports from Japan that two teenagers who had taken the drug committed suicide.

The European Medicines Evaluation Agency finds no evidence directly linking Tamiflu and the teenagers' suicides. However, the flu itself could lead to delusions

In light of the Vioxx scandal, researchers are questioning the way that medical treatments and products are being tested.

Failure to identify medical safety problems could be prevented if medical researchers changed the way they evaluate new medicines, medical devices and other treatments, according to a new paper in the journal Health Affairs