No link between abortion, breast cancer confirmed

A Harvard study released Monday supports earlier findings by a panel of experts that having an abortion doesn't increase a woman's risk of getting breast cancer. However, this latest analysis isn't likely to convince all those opposed to abortion. Three states -- Texas, Minnesota and Mississippi -- require doctors to warn women seeking abortions of the purported link to breast cancer "when medically accurate," letting doctors make that determination based on current scientific evidence.

In 2003, a group of scientists convened by the National Cancer Institute concluded abortion did not raise the risk of breast cancer.

Evidence shows that childbearing before age 35 reduces a woman's breast cancer risk, and breast-feeding also helps, said the new study's lead author, Karin Michels of Harvard Medical School. Scientists think breast cells that have gone through a full-term pregnancy gain protection against cancer, she said.

Generic ambien approved
The first generic versions of the insomnia drug Ambien won federal approval Monday.

The Food and Drug Administration said it approved versions of the immediate-release tablets made by 13 drug companies for the short-term treatment of insomnia. A patent held by Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis on the drug, also called zolpidem tartrate, expired Saturday.

The approvals of generic versions of the drug come a month after the FDA asked makers of it and similar sleep aids to beef up warnings about their potential risks. The risks of the sedative-hypnotic drugs include severe allergic reactions and complex sleep-related behaviors such as sleep-driving.