The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday said it has contacted the representative office of France in Taiwan and the importer of bottled water that tested positive for herbicide residue, asking for detailed reports in three days.

The Center for Pharmaceutical Regulatory Science has been officially set up at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) to promote the administration and education of pharmaceutical regulation in Taiwan, the university announced March 25.

A pharmaceutical for hepatitis B was the top-selling drug in Taiwan last year, while those for hypertension and high blood sugar constituted the highest aggregate amount.

A research team at central Taiwan's Hungkuang University, has succeeded in finding four strains of lactic acid bacteria that may be effective in treating fatty liver, a condition that affects people who are obese or drink a lot of alcohol, the team leader said Friday.

Antibiotic resistance poses a catastrophic threat to medicine and could mean patients having minor surgery risk dying from infections that can no longer be treated, Britain's top health official said on Monday.

The Council of Agriculture (COA) and the Department of Health (DOH) will negotiate within one week to determine the categories of medicines designed for humans that can be given to animals, COA officials said yesterday

The Department of Health (DOH) will conduct random checks on shipments of infant milk powder products from New Zealand to see if dairy products from that country that are tainted with a potentially hazardous substance have entered the island, DOH officials said yesterday.

Local health authorities yesterday demanded the New Zealand government and importers of that country's milk provide information on their products after a U.S. newspaper reported that a toxic substance was found in New Zealand dairy products.

Taking at least one aspirin every week is linked to the development of age-related vision loss, according to an Australian study that looked at information collected over 15 years.

Delegations from some 140 countries agreed Saturday to adopt a ground-breaking treaty limiting the use and emission of health-hazardous mercury, the U.N. said, although environmental activists lamented it did not go far enough.