Health Highlights: Oct. 13, 2009

• Senate Finance Committee Votes On Health Care Reform Bill
• Aspirin Overdoses May Have Caused Some 1918 Pandemic Deaths
• Teen 'Grows' New Cheekbones
• Death Caused By Improper Relenza Use: Drug Maker
• Adult Stem Cells Used to Create Jaw Joint

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

Senate Finance Committee Votes On Health Care Reform Bill

A crucial vote on U.S. health care reform was to be held Tuesday by the Senate Finance Committee.

The Democrats hold a 13-10 majority on the committee, which ensures passage of a 10-year, $829-billion plan bill that requires nearly all Americans to purchase health insurance and introduces numerous other changes, the Associated Press reported.

Senate Finance Committee support of the bill, which Republicans oppose, would represent a significant advance in President Barack Obama's efforts to overhaul the nation's $2.5 trillion health system. Four other congressional committees passed legislation before August. For months, attention has focused on the Finance Committee, the remaining one.

Even after the Finance Committee's approval, much more work has to be done before the bill could arrive on Obama's desk, the AP reported.

Along with making health insurance mandatory, the bill would force insurance companies to accept all applicants, and consumers could look for insurance within new state marketplaces called exchanges. There are consumer protections such as limits on copays and deductibles, and lower-income families would receive federal subsidies to help them purchase coverage.

Employers wouldn't have to provide coverage for their workers, but they'd have to pay a penalty for each worker who sough insurance with government subsidies, the AP reported. Medicare would be expanded. The cost of the bill would be covered by new taxes on insurance companies and others, along with cuts to Medicare providers.

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Aspirin Overdoses May Have Caused Some 1918 Pandemic Deaths

A researcher suggests that aspirin overdoses may have caused some deaths during the 1918 flu pandemic, which killed more than 50 million people worldwide.

Dr. Karen M. Starko said that high doses of aspirin -- amounts considered unsafe today -- were used to treat patients in the pandemic. She also noted that doctors may have had difficulty distinguishing symptoms of aspirin overdose from those of the flu, especially among patients who died soon after they became ill, The New York Times reported.

At the time, aspirin packages didn't have any warnings about toxicity and included few instructions for use. Federal officials recommended aspirin as a symptomatic treatment for the flu, and the U.S. military purchased large quantities of the drug.

During the pandemic, the Journal of the American Medical Association suggested an aspirin dose of 1,000 milligrams every three hours. That's the equivalent of 25 standard 325-milligram aspirin tablets in 24 hours, about twice the daily dosage considered safe today, the Times reported.

The research, which appears in the Nov. 1 issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, is "intriguing," said Peter A. Chyka, a professor of pharmacy at the University of Tennessee.

"In the context of what we know today about aspirin and aspirin-like products, Starko has made an interesting effort to put this together," he told The Times. "There are things other than flu that can complicate a disease like this."

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Teen 'Grows' New Cheekbones

Donor bone and stem cells were used to grow new cheekbones in an American teen with a rare genetic disorder called Treacher Collins syndrome, in which bones in the face don't develop.

This successful procedure could help other patients with similar genetic conditions or those who've lost bone due to traumatic injuries, said doctors at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center who operated for eight hours on 15-year-old Brad Guilkey, ABC News reported.

Cadaver bone was implanted into Brad's face and then the teen's own stem cells were injected into the donor bone. The experimental procedure was performed in May and Brad now has solid bone in his cheeks.