FDA warns against cold drugs for kids under 2. Children under 2 years old should not be given over-the-counter cough and cold medicines because they are too dangerous for that age group, US health authorities advised last Thursday. Deaths, convulsions and rapid heart rates have been reported in rare cases in children younger than 2, the Food and Drug Administration said.

Vatican condemns cloned human embryo research. The Vatican last Friday condemned the cloning of human embryos, calling it the ?worst type of exploitation of the human being?. ?This ranks among the most morally illicit acts, ethically speaking,? said Monsignor Elio Sgreccia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, the Vatican department that helps oversee the Church?s position on bioethics issues.

Virus may cause rare but deadly skin cancer. A previously unknown virus may be to blame for a rare but deadly form of skin cancer, opening the prospect of new ways to treat and prevent the condition, scientists declared on Thursday. Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) mainly affects older people and those whose immune system has been compromised by AIDS or organ transplant drugs, raising suspicions that it could have an infectious cause.