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Risky sexual behavior among Americans is putting the public’s health at risk, according to a new CDC study. Researchers found that the rates of early death and disability attributed to sexual behavior in the U.S. are triple those of any other industrialized country, and women bear the brunt of this public health burden.

Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union are appealing the conviction of an Easton woman who was accused of endangering a child by using cocaine while she was pregnant. Kelly Cruz, 30, was found guilty of a reckless endangerment charge Aug. 5 after waiving her right to a jury trial. She was ordered to serve 2 1/2 years in prison. Cruz was charged in February, about a month after giving birth to a premature baby boy who tested positive for cocaine. Defense attorneys had sought an acquittal, arguing there was never a risk of harm to another person -- because...

Two young people have died in Idaho, each suspected of trying to catch a buzz by cutting off the blood supply to their brains. Also in recent weeks, a college student in Kentucky and another youth in Michigan have fallen to their deaths while "surfing" atop moving vehicles. Dangerous activities like these aren't new, but experts say today's teens are increasingly likely to try them - and to take more risks than previous generations. "It's certainly part of the teenage psyche - but we're seeing an enormous amount of it of late," says Frank Farley, a psychologist at Temple University...

Accused HIV spreader puts Atlanta's gay community on edge The Associated Press - ATLANTA Garry Wayne Carriker was a fourth-year medical student with a charming style that he worked to his advantage around the city's bustling gay scene. But just months after he would have graduated from Emory University Medical School, Carriker's career is on hold as he sits in jail, awaiting trial on sex-crime charges that have put Atlanta's gay community on edge. His crime? Police say the 26-year-old knew he had the HIV virus but went ahead with unprotected consensual sex with another man without warning him. And...

University of Arizona researchers discovered that the recreational use of drugs such as Cialis, Levitra and Viagra by gay men increases the chances they'll have sex without a condom by as much as 600%. As a result, those men were also twice as likely to be diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease. And half mixed the prescription medication with an illegal drug, including ecstasy and methamphetamine.

A Massachusetts court has recently had to resolve the question, as a matter of tort law, what duty of care a pair of non-married adults owe to each other for injuries resulting from consensual sex between them. I'll leave the details of the case for those with strong stomachs who are willing to read the opinion found in the preceding link. In summary, however, the plaintiff (male) was injured when the defendant (female) changed her position during the middle of intercourse. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendant, finding that, as a matter of law, there...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it plans to go ahead with a new guideline that recommends that men who've had sex with other men within the past five years be rejected as anonymous sperm donors. The FDA has rejected criticism that the move stigmatizes all gay men and that the restriction should apply to all men -- gay or straight -- who've engaged in high-risk sexual behavior. The FDA says gay men collectively pose a higher-than-average risk of carrying HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, the Associated Press reported. It's not clear whether the FDA guideline will have...

Health officials have worried for years about the high rate of HIV among African Americans. Now the federal Centers for Disease Control is examining how one group, known as men on the "down low," could be spreading the disease among black women.

Dr. Gail Wyatt has a message for black women: We need to change our views and actions regarding sexuality. Or die. Nearly three-quarters of America's new cases of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, are African-American women. Black women between 25 and 44 are 13 times more likely to die of the disease than white women of the same age. It is one of the most underreported news stories of this new decade, and sadly, more women will die before we pay attention. Black women and their sexuality are the focus of Wyatt's research since she conducted the first study...

Study: Abstinence May Lead to Risky Acts 1 hour, 35 minutes ago U.S. National - AP By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Teens who pledge to remain virgins until marriage are more likely to take chances with other kinds of sex that increase the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, a study of 12,000 adolescents suggests. The report by Yale and Columbia University researchers could help explain their earlier findings that teens who pledged abstinence are just as likely to have STDs as their peers. The latest study, published in the April issue of the Journal of...

A new survey by the Partnership for a Drug Free America has found that 12 percent of today's parents have never talked to their kids about drugs and the risks they pose. That's twice as many as just six years ago. At the same time, parents are significantly underestimating their kids' use of and exposure to drugs in schools and communities. This phenomenon is raising alarms in the drug-prevention community, primarily because statistics show that kids whose parents talk with them regularly about drugs are 50 percent less likely to use them. But it's also because this generation of children...

After all the thousands of AIDS deaths and all the years of "Safe Sex Is Hot Sex" prevention messages, it has come down to this: many gay men who know the rules of engagement in the age of AIDS are not using condoms. As news of a potentially virulent strain of H.I.V. settles in, gay activists and AIDS prevention workers say they are dismayed and angry that the 25-year-old battle against the disease might have to begin all over again. While many are calling for a renewed commitment to prevention efforts and free condoms, some veterans of the war on...

--- Fire Smokers, Hire Fat Homosexuals By Pete Fisher Feb 11, 2005 We have recently seen some companies such as the one in Lansing, Michigan fire employees for smoking cigarettes. The reason they used was the higher insurance rates imposed for those who engaged in a high risk lifestyle. We have seen a trend on smoking bans nationwide and worldwide over the past 3 decades from businesses to bars, airports and public outdoor areas. And I really do not mind most of them, smoker or not, people who do not smoke should not be forced to inhale fumes in a...

NEW YORK : Two New York men have been diagnosed with a rare sexually transmitted disease that has recently been making inroads among gay and bisexual men in Europe. The disease, a rare form of chlamydia known as lymphogranuloma venereum, or LGV, can cause serious illness, permanent disfigurement and fuel the spread of AIDS, according to New York health officials. "LGV is a serious condition and its emergence in New York City reflects continuing high levels of unsafe sexual activity among men who have sex with men," said the city's health commissioner Thomas Frieden. "It is also critical for gay...

With the big flap over so-called "gay marriage" temporarily on the back burner--now that their fearless but feckless leader John Kerry has gone down in flames, and with the first government-sanctioned same-sex unions already ending nastily in divorce courts and bitter custody battles--this just might be an opportune moment to discuss some rarely mentioned health problems inherent within the allegedly avant garde homosexual lifestyle. Some would say it is a known fact that most homosexuals, and especially gay men, are promiscuous. Their rhetoric is carefully crafted to give the impression they are in "committed, caring relationships" while research suggests that...

Approximately one out of six gay men use Viagra recreationally, and are more likely to do so if they are also using illegal drugs, new research indicates. U.S. investigators Richard Crosby of the University of Kentucky in Lexington and his co-author R. J. DiClemente found that men who experimented with cocaine and ecstasy were nearly three times more likely to have used Viagra without a prescription in the previous three months. However, the authors caution that the men included in the study were all attending a sex resort. Nevertheless, the results raise concerns, Crosby and DiClemente write. Taking Viagra may...

Psychoanalyst comments on gay "bug chasing." http://www.narth.com/docs/deathwish.html

The advent of "poke and stick" parties is causing a stir as more of our nation's youth are choosing to have their new tattoo or piercing done by a teenage friend, rather than a professional. Since these parties could be happening in your community, the Pennsylvania Medical Society cautions that this fad not only may violate a new state law, but it also could spread infectious diseases, like HIV and hepatitis. The organization's member doctors recommend that parents and teens carefully consider safety measures to protect themselves from serious health consequences. The ancient arts of tattooing and body piercing appear...

The men begin parking along the quiet residential street in Redford around 9 on Saturday nights — and the last leave around 6 Sunday mornings. In the intervening hours, some 40 to 85 men pay $12 to engage in orgy-style sex in the basement and ground-floor rooms of the ranch-style home. There are few rules. "Don’t ask, don’t tell" is the typical approach to the question of HIV status. And condoms are rarely used. That’s the point at a "bareback" party.

Gay and lesbian youth, like older LGBT people, may be 40 to 60 percent more likely than their straight peers to smoke cigarettes, according to data presented last week at a conference of gay and lesbian medical professionals. In a survey of over 12,000 students in grades 7-12, about 8 percent of the respondents indicated having same-sex attractions or same-sex relationships. Of those, nearly 45 percent of females and 35 percent of males reported smoking. Among those who did not report same-sex attractions, 29 percent -- both males and females -- were smokers. The survey was conducted by the National...