Putting paid to killer hormones

The Australian government might set a precedent by compensating people treated with hormones from human pituitary glands, which have been linked to deaths from the rare Creutzfeldt Jakob disease -- the human form of the mad cow disease. This follows the report of an independent inquiry, which found fault with the government's administration of the Australian Human Pituitary Hormone Programme. So far, 4 Australian women treated for infertility with pituitary hormones have died.

The report said that the knowledge that the disease could be transmitted through pituitary hormones was available since the late '60s, but it was not passed on to doctors providing the treatment.