WASHINGTON - People on popular prescription heartburn drugs -- Prilosec, Prevacid and Nexium -- seem more prone to getting a potentially dangerous diarrhea caused by the bug Clostridium difficile, new research shows.

C-diff, as it's known, can cause severe diarrhea and crampy intestinal inflammation called colitis.

Dr. Sandra Dial and colleagues at McGill University in Montreal examined data on more than 18,000 patients in the United Kingdom from 1994 to 2004. During that time, 1,672 cases of C-diff were diagnosed, and the numbers increased from less than 1 per 100,000 in 1994 to 22 per 100,000 last year.

Patients with prescriptions for powerful acid-fighters called proton pump inhibitors, which include Prilosec and Prevacid, were almost three times more likely to be diagnosed with the bug than those not taking the drugs.

Those on less potent prescription drugs called H2 receptor antagonists, which include Pepcid and Zantac, were two times more likely than nonusers to get C-diff infections.

The widely used and heavily promoted drugs reduce levels of gastric acid that can keep C-diff germs at bay. -- Associated Press

Diagnostic drug pulled after deaths

A fairly new drug used to diagnose appendicitis was pulled off the market Monday, after the government linked it to two deaths and other life-threatening side effects. The Food and Drug Administration ordered that NeutroSpec, an imaging agent, be taken off the market -- and warned health workers to immediately stop using any of the drug still on their shelves. There is no risk to anyone who already received NeutroSpec, the FDA stressed. The allergic-type reactions occur within minutes of the drug's injection. -- Associated Press

More say babies weren't wanted

ATLANTA -- More American women are having babies they didn't want, a survey indicates, but federal researchers say they don't know if that means attitudes about abortion are changing.U.S. women of childbearing age who were surveyed in 2002 revealed that 14 percent of their recent births were unwanted at the time of conception, federal researchers said Monday. In a similar 1995 survey, only 9 percent were unwanted at the time of conception. -- Associated Press

Teen smoking low, but Rx abuse up

WASHINGTON -- Cigarette smoking is at its lowest level in a survey of teenagers and use of illicit drugs has been declining, but continuing high rates of abuse for prescription painkillers remain a worry, the government reported Monday.

The decline in drug use is "quite remarkable news," Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said in issuing the agency's annual survey of drug use by children in grades eight, 10 and 12. -- Associated Press

Implants studied after mastectomies

CHICAGO -- Breast implants in women who have undergone mastectomies often result in complications that require more surgery, a study in Denmark has found.

Over a period of up to four years, about one-third developed at least one potentially serious complication, including thick, tight scarring and infections, the researchers reported. Implant ruptures were rare, with only five reported among the 574 Danish women studied.

Overall, about 20 percent of the women studied required surgery to treat the problems, according to the study by Danish Cancer Society researchers and scientists at the International Epidemiology Institute in Rockville, Md. -- Associated press