A television advertisement for a heart stent that promotes the product's potential benefits but seems to play down the medical risks may deceive the public and should be reviewed by federal regulators, according to a commentary in The New England Journal of Medicine. The 60-second ad for the Cypher stent, made by the Cordis subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, fails to warn consumers adequately about the potential dangers of receiving a stent, two cardiologists argued in the essay, to appear in next Thursday's issue but already available online.

Some public health experts are questioning why menthol, the most widely used cigarette flavoring and the most popular cigarette choice of black American smokers, is receiving special protection as Congress attempts to regulate tobacco for the first time. The legislation, which would give the Food and Drug Administration the power to oversee tobacco products, would try to reduce smoking's allure to young people by banning most flavored cigarettes, including clove and cinnamon.