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Human testing of toxins okay with limits - panel

The EPA should be allowed to use data from studies in which humans are intentionally dosed with pesticides and other toxic substances, as long as strict scientific and ethical standards are met, a National Academy of Sciences report has concluded.

The report, released Thursday, was requested by the Bush administration in 2001 after environmental advocacy groups revealed in the late 1990s that companies were testing pesticides on humans.

Michael R. Taylor, a chairman of the academy's scientific panel, said that if human studies would increase the accuracy of the agency's decisions, they should be conducted, "but only if we have an assurance that the participants of the study will not be harmed."

The academy's report lays out criteria for what types of human pesticide studies the environmental agency should be allowed to accept. While initially prompted by pesticides testing, the panel said that the recommendations were more broadly directed at all EPA toxic regulations, including air pollutants and water pollutants.

The report recommended that the agency only accept studies grounded in animal research, indicating that the procedures were safe. The agency should also establish an advisory board to review the studies, the panel said.

The report also addressed the delicate issue of paying human subjects, recommending that the payments should neither be so high as to entice subjects unduly or so low that only the poor were willing to participate. It also recommended that the EPA study the issue of whether additional compensation should be given for human subjects who are injured in studies.

The government on Thursday urged hospitals to cut charges for uninsured patients, rejecting hospitals' argument that they are constrained by federal rules.

Uninsured patients often are charged the full retail price for medical procedures, unlike members of private and government health plans that negotiate steep discounts for hospital care.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said there are no legal impediments to offering similar relief to the uninsured, regardless of their income.

"Nothing in the Medicare program rules or regulations prohibit such discounts," Thompson wrote Richard J. Davidson, president of the American Hospital Association, which represents nearly 5,000 hospitals.

TORONTO - Canadian officials are testing samples of a low-risk bird flu virus that has been detected on a British Columbia farm to determine if the strain is one that kills almost all infected poultry.

The H-7 avian flu has been contained on the farm, Canadian Health Minister Pierre Pettigrew said.

"It's isolated at this time. There's no link with human health at this moment," Pettigrew said.

Officials said the virus does not affect humans and is different from the deadly H5N1 strain that has killed 22 people in Thailand and Vietnam and forced officials to slaughter millions of poultry in a bid at containment.

It is not currently known if the strain in the Canadian outbreak is a form of influenza viruses that kills virtually all infected chickens. Test results to determine the exact type of flu strain will be available today, an Agriculture Canada official said.