Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Silicone Implants Linked to High Platinum Levels in Women: Study

High and potentially dangerous levels of the metal platinum were found in the bodies of women who’d had silicone gel breast implants for many years, according to research published this week in the journal Analytical Chemistry, published by the American Chemical Society.

The findings were released just as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration appears poised to allow silicone implants back on the market, the Washington Post reported.

Platinum is used in the implants as a catalyst to transform the silicone into a gel-like form.

The companies study found high levels of platinum salts in the hair, urine and breast milk of 16 women who’d had silicone gel implants for an average of 14 years. The researchers concluded that the platinum in the women’s bodies was in a form that made it a potential source of toxic or severe allergic reactions.

The FDA is “carefully reviewing the article, and we don’t know how long that will take,” spokeswoman Susan Cruzan told the Post.

Last year, the agency deemed two applications to sell silicone gel implants to be “approvable,” but the FDA has not yet given final approval to those applications.

“This is the first time the research has found platinum in this possibly harmful form in implanted women,” Marlene Keeling, president of Chemically Associated Neurological Disorders, told the Post. The Houston nonprofit group helped fund the research, and Keeling has filed a citizen’s petition with the FDA requesting that the two applications be delayed until further research is conducted into the platinum issue.

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OTC Diet Drug Moves Closer to Market

An over-the-counter (OTC) version of the prescription diet drug Xenical received an “approvable” letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, drug company GlaxoSmithKline said Friday.

The company is confident that the OTC product — with the proposed name Alli — could be in U.S. drugstores later this year, following further discussions with the FDA, Steven L. Burton, vice president of weight control products for Glaxo’s consumer health division, told The New York Times.

That would make this drug the first FDA-approved weight-loss product sold without a doctor’s prescription. The drug works by blocking fat absorption.

In January, an FDA advisory panel voted 11 to 3 that the lower-dose version of Xenical could be sold without a prescription. The OTC version would be cheaper than Xenical, which costs about $2 a pill, The Times reported.

Clinical seo tips studies of the OTC version found that people who used the drug lost an average of five to six additional pounds over six months, compared to people on similar diets who did not take the drug.

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Norovirus Outbreak Kills 2 at Washington Retirement Home

Two people have died and more than 40 residents and staff at a Vancouver, Wash.-retirement home are sick after an outbreak of norovirus.

One patient died late Wednesday and the other Thursday morning.

The 180 residents of the Cascade Inn have been asked to remain in their rooms and their friends and families are being urged not to visit them. All social activities have been cancelled, the Associated Press reported.

Norovirus is common and includes symptoms such as diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.

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Healthcare Worker Shortages seo services Threaten 57 Countries: WHO

Many countries are vulnerable to disease outbreaks, such as a potential bird flu pandemic, because they lack enough doctors, nurses and midwives, the World