To prevent more Americans from acquiring adult heart problems, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends more cholesterol screening for young people and earlier use of cholesterol-lowering medication.

The recommendation, issued by the academy on Monday, is expected to generate controversy since there is a question on the safety of prescribing cholesterol-lowering drugs for children and on what are the best approaches to prevent heart diseases upon reaching adulthood

A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel of outside medical experts Wednesday said the agency should urge pharmaceutical companies to conduct stricter safety tests before marketing new diabetes drugs.

FDA advisers voted 14-2 that the FDA should require drug makers to show that experimental diabetes drugs don't increase cardiovascular risks. Many diabetes drugs lower blood sugar but they still pose risks for the heart

A nationwide ban on smoking tobacco in enclosed places began here Tuesday, but Dutch cafes and restaurants will permit patrons to smoke marijuana inside their premises.

Some 200 inspectors of the Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority will ensure compliance to the ban by cafes across the country. The inspectors have been trained to detect tobacco and marijuana, which is allowed in licensed coffee shops

Approval of GlaxoSmithKline PLC's cervical cancer vaccine Cervarix is expected to be delayed further after the drug maker decided to submit additional data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Glaxo decided that it will add results from an ongoing phase III study called HPV-008 to its original application in the first half of 2009 and a decision by the FDA is expected six months later. The 2007 application now under consideration included only data from an earlier trial

The Defense Department and the Environmental Protection Agency are in a turf war over the clean up of toxic substances at Fort Meade and two other military bases.

The Pentagon has refused to sign an agreement, required by law, which includes 12 other military areas on the Superfund list of most polluted parts of the U.S. An agreement would have required a remediation plan, schedules and permit the EPA to supervise the work and impose penalties if the Defense Department misses deadlines