GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has agreed to pay in excess of $1 billion to settle hundreds of lawsuits over claims of birth defects linked to Paxil, said Fierce Pharma. The $1 billion is from the drug maker’s $2.4 billion legal expense budget and will pay about $1.2 million to each of the families whose children were born with birth defects following their mothers’ use of Paxil during pregnancy, said Fierce Pharma.

Women given radiotherapy to treat cancer during childhood may be at a higher risk of suffering a stillbirth or baby dying, a study says.

Researchers from Vanderbilt University in the US looked at nearly 5,000 pregnancies involving a parent who had survived childhood cancer.

They found high doses of radiation to the pelvis raised the risk for women, but not men, the Lancet reported.

Swimming pools can give you cancer, because disinfectants in the water react with sunscreen, sweat, and skin to form a toxic cocktail of chemicals, a study has suggested.

The disinfectant used to keep pool water free from disease can also react with swimmers' urine and hair to cause conditions including asthma and bladder cancer.

Hundreds of leftover IVF embryos from British couples have been given away to other people without their knowledge or explicit consent, in a controversial scheme at a clinic in Spain, it can be disclosed.

Hundreds of British couples could have children that are biologically theirs living with other parents around Europe or across the world without knowing, it has emerged.

A new Boston University School of Public Health study has found a potential link between polyfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFCs) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)—a neurodevelopmental disorder—in children, wrote Science Daily. PFCs are ubiquitous industrial compounds found in a wide range of consumer products.

Some 300 people demonstrated Tuesday outside the European Patent Office in Germany as it chewed over a landmark case involving broccoli and tomatoes that campaigners say is of vital importance.

The EPO in 2002 awarded a patent to a British firm for a method to increase levels of a substance in broccoli that could potentially help prevent cancer.

Dr. Mary Newport sees the symptoms more and more in the babies she treats: oddly stiff limbs, severe tremors, vomiting, diarrhea, insomnia, crying that never stops.

The common denominator: Their mothers were taking prescription drugs, mostly painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin, and antianxiety drugs like Xanax during pregnancy.

One day your annual flu shot could come in the mail.

At least that's the hope of researchers developing a new method of vaccine delivery that people could even use at home: a patch with microneedles.

Microneedles?