Pfizer halts trial of heart drug after deaths: The drug giant Pfizer has stopped the trial of its drug torcetrapid, which is designed to increase HDL cholesterol concentrations, after scientists monitoring the trial noted that 82 people taking the drug along with the company's statin, atorvastatin (Lipitor), had died, whereas 51 people taking Lipitor alone had died. Pfizer had been expected to apply for a licence for torcetrapid next year.
England will go smoke free on 1 July: Smoking will be banned in all enclosed public places and workplaces in England, including offices, factories, shops, pubs, restaurants, membership clubs, and public transport, from 1 July 2007. Indoor smoking rooms at workplaces will no longer be allowed.
Italian minister supports patient's right to die: Emma Bonino, Italy's minister for international commerce and European Union policies, said this week that she has started a hunger strike in support of terminally ill Piergiorgio Welby's request for euthanasia (BMJ 2006;333:719).
Dutch doctors want reproduction rules liberalised: Leading Dutch gynaecologists are calling for the Netherlands' upper age limit on women becoming pregnant through egg donation to be raised from 45 to 50. They argue that there are no hard medical reasons for maintaining the limit set in 1997 and that length of pregnancy and average birth weight at this age are similar to those of younger women (Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde 2006;150:2591-5).
Bicentenary award spotlights slavery in Sudan: The charity Anti-Slavery International is marking the bicentenary of Britain's abolition of the slave trade with an award to the “modern day abolitionist” James Aguer for his work in Sudan, where thousands were enslaved during the civil war. It hopes the award “will allow the problem to be raised up the public agenda.”
Cambridge University launches institute to study wellbeing: The Well-being Institute has been founded at the University of Cambridge to investigate and provide an evidence based understanding of how people “thrive and flourish.” A multidisciplinary team will conduct research across the health, education, industrial, and commercial sectors. See www.cambridgewellbeing.org.