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

Guidant Considered Warning Docs on Heart-Device Defects: Report

Guidant Corporation, which last year defended its decision not to tell physicians about significant heart-device defects, had drafted a “Dear Doctor” letter to disclose the hazards but decided not to send it, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

The companies proposed letter and other company records, released this week by a Texas state judge, may have significant legal and financial consequences. Since last fall, the U.S. Department of Justice and Food and Drug Administration have been conducting an inquiry into Guidant’s handling of safety issues affecting several now-recalled defibrillators. The revelation could also have implications for Boston Scientific, which completed its acquisition of Guidant in April, the newspaper said.

A spokeswoman for the United States attorney’s office in Minneapolis that’s heading the federal inquiry declined to comment on the investigation, according to the paper’s report. And a spokesman for Boston Scientific said the company would not comment on the Guidant documents, but added that his company recognized the need for more transparent communication with patients and doctors.

Since last fall, the federal inquiry has delved into Guidant’s handling of safety issues affecting several defibrillators that have since been recalled. Two legal experts have said that the type of federal health care statutes under which the company is being investigated could result in civil or criminal charges, the Times reported.

At seo services least seven patients are known to have died in episodes in which Guidant defibrillators failed to work because of an electrical defect. But many experts believe that the number is probably higher because implanted heart devices are rarely examined after a patient’s death to see if they were working properly, the newspaper said.

A defibrillator is an implanted device that senses potentially fatal heart rhythms and corrects them with a timed electrical shock to restore a normal heartbeat.

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FDA Stands Behind Fish Advisory

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reassuring consumers that its 2004 advisory about what Americans need to know about eating fish remains current, despite fears of mercury contamination in the catch.

In a prepared statement, the agency repeated its advisory recommendations that “fish and shellfish are an important part of a healthy diet and can contribute to heart health and children’s proper growth and development. Because of their many healthy benefits we recommend that women and young children include them as a regular part of their diet. However, nearly all fish and shellfish contain traces of mercury.”

The agency also repeated that five of the most commonly eaten fish — shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock and catfish — have low levels of mercury.

Consumer Reports on Tuesday had warned that pregnant women should not eat canned tuna, because a small percentage conta ins levels of methyl mercury as high as fish that the FDA said pregnant women should never eat — shark, swordfish, King Mackerel, or tilefish., according to a report in USA Today.

The FDA said that although some canned tuna may contain higher mercury levels, others are lower, and that scientists took averages into account in the recommendations.

Health experts agree that eating fish is good for student loan calculator most people. But there are concerns that mercury and other pollutants can offset the benefits.

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Angolan Cholera Death Toll Tops 1,500

A cholera outbreak in Angola has claimed 1,576 lives since February, the World Healt