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The dead fish smell of a popular diabetes drug may cause some people to discontinue its use.

Metformin, an oral drug commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes, generally has few serious side effects, but gastrointestinal upset and nausea are common. Although these effects have been well documented in studies, researchers say one unique characteristic of the pills may have been overlooked as a potential cause of the nausea: their strong fishy odor.

Researchers say adverse reactions to the smell of metformin (sold generically and under the brand name Glucophage), have not been documented in medical literature, but hundreds of postings to message boards on the Internet note the strong fishy smell of the drug.

The debate over making cervical cancer vaccines available to young women is coming to the state Legislature today.

A group of anti-vaccine activists plans to attend this morning's Senate Codes Committee hearing to protest a bill that would let health care professionals give the vaccine to women younger than 18 without parental consent.

The measure, sponsored in the Senate by Liz Krueger and in the Assembly by Amy Paulin -- both Democrats -- aims to protect women against preventable cervical cancer. The legislation also notes that Planned Parenthood clinics have been seeing teenagers coming in and requesting the vaccine.

Krueger said such vaccines have a proven track record. "It has a direct correlation to preventing cancer," she said, adding the legislation wouldn't make such vaccines mandatory.

The virus first struck last spring and returned in the fall. "We still don't know whether there will be a third wave," said health department spokesman John Ricci.

The research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, questions the wisdom of raising co-payments to save money, at least among the elderly.

That might be a way to cut health care costs among younger people, but not for people age 65 and older, Dr. Amal Trivedi of Brown University, who led the study, said in a telephone interview.

"It's a lose-lose proposition for most health plans," Trivedi said.

"Toilet seat dermatitis is one of those legendary conditions... seen in underdeveloped countries, but one that younger paediatricians have not come across in their daily practice," says Bernard Cohen, director of paediatric dermatology at Hopkins Children's.

Analysing cases from the US and India, Cohen and colleagues attributed it to harsh cleaning chemicals and exotic wooden toilet seats, making a comeback as bathroom decor -- especially seats covered with varnishes and paints.

The cervical cancer vaccine will reduce rates of the disease in women under 30 by two thirds within 15 years, experts have predicted.

Based on current uptake rates of the cervical cancer vaccine, cases of the disease will be cut by around 63 per cent by 2025.

The Los Angeles City Council decided Wednesday to prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries next to residences, but rejected a proposal to keep them at least 500 feet away, which would have drastically limited the available locations.

The council, however, put off a vote on the last contentious issue until Tuesday, when it will decide whether dispensaries must be 500 feet or 1,000 feet from so-called sensitive uses, such as schools, parks and religious institutions.

After a monthlong hiatus from the issue, the council had been expected to vote on the ordinance Wednesday.

Joining California, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, Washington has become the latest state to step up efforts to legalize and regulate marijuana.

Legalization bill was introduced in the California and Massachusetts earlier this year. Now states like New Hampshire and Washington have pre-filed their bills for the legislative session that commences in January.

Further, about two dozen states in the nation like Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Wisconsin are considering the bill to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purpose and also to decriminalize possession of small amounts of the herb.

More babies were born to teen mothers in 2007 than the previous year, making it the second year in a row that the teen birth rate has seen an increase, according to the Centers for Disease Control's National Center for Health Statistics.

Teen births increased 5% between 2005 and 2007, the last year for which statistics are available, WebMD.com reports. There had been a 34% drop in births from 1991 to 2005.

In 2007, the birth rate among teens rose 1%, which means 42.5 babies were born for every 1,000 teens aged 15-19, according to WebMD.

World health officials say there's some encouraging data on the HIV front -- the number of people infected with the virus that causes AIDS seems to be mostly stable except for Africa.

United Nations experts say the figure -- about 33 million -- has remained virtually unchanged for the last two years. The number comes with a margin of error of several million people.

Last year, HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 72 percent of all 2.7 million new HIV cases worldwide.