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Tasmania's swine flu tally continues to rise with two more confirmed cases overnight, bringing the state's total to 34.

ACT residents are being given the chance to have their say on the state of local GP services in a new online survey.

The first and only state-approved grower of medical marijuana in the U.S. will begin dispensing the drug to patients in New Mexico as early as the end of the summer.

Yousef Mohammad, M.D., M.Sc., a professor of neurology at the Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus, explains a new device that's zapping away migraine pain.

NASHVILLE, TN--(Marketwire - June 15, 2009) - SPi, one of the largest medical transcription providers in the United States, announced today the appointment of Mr. Gordon Daniels as Director of Sales for the West Coast Region. Mr. Daniels brings with him over twenty years of experience in the healthcare information industry with the past ten years focused on selling customized transcription solutions to healthcare providers. In his new role, Mr. Daniels will be responsible for expanding SPi's market presence by developing broader and deeper relationships with hospitals, clinics and physician practices across the West Coast.

It's happy hour for Texas wineries. Research now shows that wines produced in the Lone Star State share the anti-cancer traits known to exist in wines from other producing regions. Extracts from two Texas red wines decreased cancer cell growth in a comparable magnitude as other wines previously studied, according to Dr. Susanne Talcott, Texas AgriLife Research food and nutrition scientist.

The headline ''Dream' hospitals unveiled' began a mouth-watering description of the state-of-the-art facilities and equipment envisioned for the new Al Mafraq and Al Ain hospitals.

This is big. This will have more impact than the 1971 ban against tobacco advertising on radio and television. It will eclipse the industry's $206 billion lawsuit settlement with the states in 1998. . . . Lorillard, the No. 2 cigarette manufacturer, issued this statement: 'Congress should not be burdening the FDA with a new responsibility over a multibillion-dollar industry when it is failing presently to preserve its core mission.' Attempting to save the lives of some of the more than 400,000 people killed annually by tobacco-related health problems is the ultimate expression of its mission.

What Is the Doctor's Reaction? We have known that smoking is a danger to health for a very long time. . . . What Changes Can I Make Now? Don't smoke. If you do smoke, quit. We know the health risks of smoking. It causes about one-fifth of all deaths each year in the United States. . . . What Can I Expect Looking to the Future? The FDA finally has the authority to control tobacco products. I think the FDA should make it very difficult to attract young people to cigarettes and chewing tobacco. We need to see a decline in new young smokers. This could save children from the health problems that come from tobacco. I believe we will see strict limits on advertising tobacco to children. I hope we also will see rules limiting tobacco companies from making products designed to appeal to young people. These should all lead to fewer new smokers. In addition, I hope members of Congress will now pass other laws to limit smoking. They could make all workplaces smoke-free. This can protect

Indonesia's kretek cigarettes are almost certain to be banned in the United States after the US Senate passed a strict antismoking bill aimed at cutting the attraction of cigarettes to children. The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, voted through by a Senate committee late on Thursday, has a raft of new measures but includes the kretek prohibition because a US study found they helped to hook children on smoking. If the bill is signed into law by President Barack Obama - as the White House says it will be - US authorities will have the power to impose strict new controls on the making and marketing of tobacco, including banning cloves as a cigarette flavoring along with such flavors as cherry and chocolate. For Indonesian clove cigarette makers, who export about 20 percent of the $500 million worth of kretek sold overseas every year to the United States, this means $100 million a year is likely to go up in smoke. It is especially likely to affect Indonesia's biggest