What was once thought to be necessary tools in the fight against an epidemic have now gone to waste.

Hundreds of thousands of flu shots ordered from Europe last year amid fears of a nationwide shortage have now expired and may go to waste, potentially costing taxpayers millions of dollars, officials say Wednesday in an Associated Press report

Christina Ficara - All Headline News Staff Reporter

Safura Abdool Karim interviewed 120 of her former schoolmates for a science project about whether they suffered problems after playing computer games

Two independent British studies have come to the same conclusion, that taking supplements of vitamin D and calcium, alone or together, to prevent broken bones is inneffective and likely a waste of time and money. The news is discouraging to senior citizens who struggle to fend off the devastating side effects of osteoporosis and debilitating fractures. In the first study, whose results are published in The Lancet April 27, split 5,292 subjects aged 70+, who had suffered a fracture in the previous 10 years, into groups that were given daily doses of vitamin D3, calcium, a combination of both or placebos. The test subjects were followed over two to five years to see if people getting the supplements had fewer new bone fractures. But the study concluded that there was no real difference in rate of new fractures between the groups. The study did not consider those who take calcium in combination with bisphosphonates. The second trial results, which are published in the British Medical Journal, examined 3,314 UK women aged 70+ with one or more risk factors for potential hip fractures. The women were followed for 18 to 42 months to see if one group had higher incidence of news hip fractures. The researchers found no statistically significant difference between the two groups

Congressman Smith (R-NJ) commended the Institute of Medicine (IOM) for their groundbreaking report "Cord Blood: Establishing a National Hematopoeitic Stem Cell Bank Program," released today. "Creating a national network of cord blood stem cell banks will turn medical waste into medical miracles for thousands of patients who otherwise have no hope to recover from lethal diseases," said Congressman Smith. Cord blood stem cells have revolutionized medicine treating about 2,000 people for cancers, genetic diseases, and other conditions. Recent research suggests that human stem cells, based on cord blood stem cells, may lead to treatments of many crippling conditions, including Parkinson's, diabetes, and heart disease. Congressman Smith is the author of the "Cord Blood Stem Cell Act of 2005," HR 956. The 37 bipartisan sponsored bill would generate a nationally joined network of umbilical cord banks and enable $15 million of federal funds during Fiscal Year 2006 and allot $30 million in 2007 to subsidize the collection, processing, testing, freezing and storing of cord blood stem cell units that would in turn be used in transplantation treatments. "This IOM study will provide additional momentum to the passage of the "Cord Blood Stem Cell Act of 2005" so that the cord blood stem cell network can be authorized by Congress and additional funding can be authorized to scale up this network as soon as possible," said Smith. "But this is so urgent that administrative action needs to be taken while Congress moves the bill through the legislative process." The IOM report backs the provisions in "Cord Blood Stem Cell Act of 2005," but there are more items in the report that need immediate action. "The FDA needs to reflect these medical breakthroughs and immediately license cord blood stem cells so that transplant physicians have the confidence that every cord blood stem cell unit in the national network is of the highest quality," said Smith. "The Department of Health and Human Services also needs to start the process of setting up the cord blood stem cell network structure suggested in this IOM study. Congress has already appropriated the money, and this work can be started today