By James Gerstenzang, Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON — In some of its most comprehensive work in three years on the dangers of tobacco, the federal government said today that smoking is increasingly a habit of the poorest Americans, and that tobacco use harms nearly every human organ. Forty years after the publication of the groundbreaking surgeon general’s study that alerted Americans to the cancer risk of cigarettes, the current surgeon general, Richard H. Carmona, issued a new report that found…

Lung Association Applauds U.S. For Signing Global Tobacco Treaty Urges Bush Administration to Submit to Senate for Ratification New York, NY (May 11, 2004) – The American Lung Association today applauded the U.S. government for taking the important step of signing the world’s first treaty aimed at curbing the death and disease caused by tobacco use and urged the Administration to quickly submit it to the Senate for ratification. “Signing the treaty is good public relations; ratifying it will be…

The Texas Department of Health (TDH) has issued an advisory asking Texas doctors and others to be alert for possible cases of measles, especially along the state’s border with Mexico. Mexico has recorded 64 measles cases this year, including a recent case in Ciudad Acuña across the border from Del Rio, and 44 cases last year. There have been no confirmed cases of measles in Texas since 2002 when one case contracted in China was recorded. The TDH advisory recommends…