Patients' blood may heal wounds faster

May 22, 2007

Skin wounds treated with a gel made from a patient's own blood platelets healed faster , researchers said in a study showing how doctors may be able to harness the body's innate healing ability. Skin wounds treated with this gel healed about 10 percent faster than wounds in the same people treated with only an antibiotic ointment, a study in yesterday's Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery showed. The researchers cautioned that it was a small pilot study -- only eight people were examined -- but said the concept could change the way doctors deal with wounds, from surgical incisions to, potentially, internal injuries. (Reuters)

California

SAN BERNARDINO -- The trial of a former sheriff's deputy charged in the videotaped shooting of an Iraq war veteran was delayed yesterday because the defense attorney's wife was in labor. Opening statements were rescheduled for May 29. Former San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy Ivory Webb Jr., 46, has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of attempted voluntary manslaughter and assault with a firearm. If convicted, he could face more than 18 years in prison. The video was aired repeatedly on TV. (AP)

Georgia/Florida

Almost 240 fires in Georgia and Florida are blazing on more than a half-million acres, at an estimated cost in Georgia alone of almost $32 million, state officials said. Of three fire areas in Georgia, one is 85 percent contained and has an estimated cost of $14.4 million. A second is less than half contained, with a price tag of $12.9 million, and the last, which cost $4.6 million, is 90 percent contained, Daniel Westcot, a public information officer at the Joint Information Center on the fires, said in a phone interview yesterday. The flames are consuming wetlands drained by the Suwanee River, including Georgia's Okeefenokee Swamp, and extending into both states, said Jim Brenner, fire behavior analyst for Florida's Division of Forestry. (Bloomberg)

Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA -- The former president of a struggling museum was charged yesterday with mail fraud and tax evasion for allegedly skimming more than $1.5 million for home improvements, artwork, and other lavish trappings. John S. Carter, 57, of Osterville, Mass., submitted false invoices to get the Independence Seaport Museum to pay for that and more, including jewelry, electronics, clothing, and an $1,800 espresso machine, US Attorney Patrick Meehan said. Carter, who was fired last year after 17 years on the job, also kept the proceeds from the sale of a rare boat that had been donated to the museum, officials said. (AP)