— Brazil and India are now among the top five governments contributing to research in neglected diseases, which include malaria and tuberculosis, according to a new report. The US placed first with $1.3 billion in funding, while its National Institutes of Health and the Gates Foundation accounted for 60% of the nearly $3 billion total put toward research and product development. (NYTimes)

— GE Healthcare has sued Danish clinician Henrik Thomsen over supposed libelous statements made by him in 2007 regarding their MRI drug, Omniscan. Used to improve contrast in MRI scans, the drug came under fire recently from researchers including Thomsen, who have said it carries a rare and potentially fatal complication in patients with kidney problems. (Guardian)

— A US Department of Health and Human Services report has called for the creation of a national system to monitor the safety of blood, tissue, and organ transplants, along with tracking donors and adverse events among recipients. Concerns over transplant safety, however, might not outweigh concerns over slowing down or not receiving a transplant should the system add more red tape. (Wall Street Journal)

— A study of US births between 1997 and 2003 found that female chemists and biological scientists have an above-average risk of having babies with birth defects. Children born to these women had a higher risk of heart and spinal malformations. (Globe and Mail)

Image by Pavel Tcholakov via Flickr Creative Commons