DURHAM, N.C. -- Cancer patients are not waiting longer for chemotherapy, nor are they traveling greater distances to receive treatment, despite predictions of access issues when Medicare reduced payment for infusion therapy.

NEW YORK -- Subclinical hypothyroidism may modestly increase the risk of heart failure, researchers found.

DUNDEE, Scotland -- A five-month course of the ACE inhibitor perindopril (Aceon) was equivalent to six months of exercise training for elderly patients with mobility problems, researchers here found.

Take this MedPage Today poll that looks at creation of a behind-the-counter drug dispensing category that would involve pharmacists more heavily in direct patient counseling.

SAN DIEGO -- Once stereotyped as wasting away, HIV patients have joined the rest of America in fighting the battle of the bulge, according to results of a study reported here.

LILLE, France -- Older treatment-naïve stages II or III multiple myeloma patients have a survival advantage when thalidomide (Thalomid) is added to standard therapy, researchers found in a randomized trial.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Patients seem more skeptical than their doctors do on the safety of menstrual suppression with continuous-use oral contraceptives, but the women like the idea, survey results suggested

LONDON -- For treating agitation in Alzheimer's disease, the cholinesterase inhibitor donepezil (Aricept) was no better than placebo, found a multicenter study.

SEATTLE -- Fetal cells that enter the mother's circulation during pregnancy may contribute to a reduced risk of future breast cancer, according to a preliminary study.

TORONTO -- Drug-eluting stents are associated with a lower three-year mortality rate than bare-metal devices, according to registry data here.

WASHINGTON -- Senator Pete Domenici (R, N.M.), who has announced that he will not seek re-election next year, has been diagnosed with frontotemporal lobar degeneration.

NUTHETAL, Germany -- An onion a day may help fend off pancreatic cancer, but apples were a bust, found investigators studying the cancer-fighting role of flavonols.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA will convene a public hearing next month to consider formalizing a dispensing category that would make drugs available without a prescription, but only after consultation with a pharmacist.

PHILADELPHIA -- There's a first time for every biting dog, and the animals that bite children may show warning signs, according to investigators here.

BOSTON -- The Gleason score of 7 for localized prostate cancer may be a moving prognostic target, according to investigators here.

MADISON, Wis. -- CT colonography, the noninvasive heir presumptive to optical colonoscopy, has won a clinical round here, equaling the older technique for detection of developing neoplasia in a study of more than 6,000 patients.

WASHINGTON -- The AMA said it was "deeply disappointed" with President Bush's veto of the SCHIP reauthorization, and the American Academy of Pediatrics called the action "hurtful to children."

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Many liver biopsies to diagnose liver fibrosis and cirrhosis may soon be supplanted by non-invasive imaging techniques, researchers here said.

WASHINGTON -- Most Medicare patients will pay .90 more per month in Part B premiums next year -- to .40.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA has clarified reports by some major media suggesting that the agency has plans for new regulations on over-the-counter cough and cold medications for children.