Friday Extra, Extra!

Women Face Greatest Threat of Violence at Home, Study Finds: The International Herald Tribune reports on the results of a new study on violence against women published in the The Lancet, a British medical journal: “Violence against women by their live-in spouses or partners is a widespread phenomenon, both in the developed and developing world, as well as in rural and urban areas, the most comprehensive and scientific international study on the topic has confirmed. In interviews with nearly 25,000 women at 15 sites in 10 countries, researchers from the World Health Organization found that rates of partner violence ranged from a low of 15 percent in Yokohama, Japan, to a high of 71 percent in rural Ethiopia.”

Dangerous Trends, Innovative Responses: Women’s eNews is running an eight-part series around issues related to domestic violence. First up: “Hi-Tech Stalking Devices Extend Abusers Reach,” Marie Tessier’s story on a Seattle woman who was stalked by her estranged husband shows how controlling personalities can use cell phones, spyware and GPS technologies to terrorize their victims. Mary Kay provided grant funding for the series. Resources for women and reporters can be found here.

Counterfeit Drugs: Infected with Greed: “Counterfeit pharmaceuticals are flooding hospitals, Web sites, pharmacies and street markets around the world. Visibly indistinguishable from life-saving medicine, the pharmafakes plague the developing world, affecting millions of people and undermining confidence in public health,” writes Terry J. Allen in In These Times.

Jury Says Wyeth Drug Caused Breast Cancer: “A Philadelphia jury found Wednesday that Wyeth’s Prempro hormone-therapy drug was a significant cause of breast cancer in a 66-year-old woman and awarded $1.5 million in compensatory damages. The verdict in state court, reached on the sixth day of jury deliberations, was Wyeth’s first loss in litigation involving about 5,000 lawsuits claiming that Prempro and a related drug caused breast cancer and other diseases. Many of the suits were prompted by government studies showing a link between the drugs and increased risk for the diseases.”

The Kaiser Family Foundation has published an updated fact sheet (PDF), “Sexual Health Statistics for Teenagers and Young Adults in the United States,” which covers a broad range of sexual health topics facing teens, including general sexual activity; sexual partners and relationships; sex, substance abuse and violence; pregnancy; contraception and protection; STDs; access to health care services; and communication. The last update was January 2005.

Perchlorate Linked to Thyroid Deficiency in Women: “Many women exposed to perchlorate, the rocket fuel chemical that has contaminated hundreds of Southern California water wells, have suppressed thyroid function, which can lead to health problems in them and abnormal brain development in their offspring, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published Wednesday.”

Forget Pink, Think Red: Lucinda Marshall catches an advertising faux pas at Yahoo’s Breast Cancer Awareness page.