ALSO NOTED: AIDS vaccine back at square one; What's behind the FDA's low drug approval rating?; and much more...

> After trying and failing repeatedly to develop an AIDS vaccine, federal officials say they're going back to the drawing board to come up with some new ideas. Report

> Could hip and knee doctors be receiving kickbacks from orthopedic device companies? According to the New York Times, a federal investigation on kickbacks in the orthopedic industry is pointing in the direction of doctors who "receive money as the [orthopedic device] companies' paid consultants." Report

> Although current executives at Emerson Hospital deny any wrongdoing, it certainly looks as if two former executives at the Concord, MA facility were found to have created misleading financial documents. Report

> Is a rising tide of risk aversion at a post-Vioxx FDA behind the agency's anemic approval record? No way, say the FDA's Janet Woodcock. Report

> A hospital looking for a new home doesn't seem to be offering enough compensation to people for theirs. Report

> If you're looking to get high, why not go for a run? Article

And Finally... Dr. Andrew Wakefield and two colleagues will begin their defense today against charges they violated ethics guidelines in the U.K. while developing a 1998 paper that linked autism to vaccines. That study raised a hue and cry around the world that has yet to completely die down, even after a raft of studies now conclude that there is no link. Report

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