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In so doing, WellPoint Health Networks, based in Thousand Oaks, is essentially asking the federal government to take the unprecedented step of prematurely stripping the drugs of their patent protection, which shields drug makers from... . . . Press Democrat, The (Santa Rosa, CA) , DRY WEATHER HELPS ALLERGY SEASON GET OFF TO CRYING START WITHOUT MORE RAIN, POLLEN PROLIFERATION COULD BE SHORT LIVED Pass the Kleenex. The season of sneezing has arrived earlier than usual in Sonoma County because of scant rainfall this spring.``People are coming to our office because they are just miserable from the proliferation of pollen,'' Santa Rosa allergist Dr. Michael tin said Wednesday. ``With their red noses and swollen eyes, they are the perfect caricature of someone suffering from allergies.'' Usually there are continuing rain showers in... . Charlotte Observer, The (NC) , GOT ALLERGIES? DON'T GO TO ARIZONA Terri Cast slumps in the chair of her d or's office, nine dots the color of roses blossoming across her arm. "I itch. I itch!" she complains, jutting a finger at one spreading splotch, demanding to know what it is.Across the hall, Lonnie Kelly sits amazingly still as a d or thrusts an instrument up her nose and asks, "Still having the allergies?" "Oh, yeah," she responds, her watery eyes shooting him a... . Capital Times, The (Madison, WI) , FOUR LEEDS KIDS WIN BIG WITH ALLERGY SCAN DEVICE A team of Leeds Elementary School students has won a national science contest with a device that would simplify life for allergy sufferers.Drawings and a short video submitted by fourth and fifth graders Kallie Harrier, Anna Hagen, Amanda Treinen and Teague Harvey showed how a hand held ``AllerScan'' could be used to determine the content of restaurant and packaged grocery store food. In recent months, an estimated , such projects have been submitted to the... . Chicago Sun Times , Ah choo alert Allergy sufferers bracing for ragweed season Taking a deep, clean breath is going to get a lot tougher for allergy sufferers already facing higher mold and pollen counts this year. The dreaded ragweed plant is about to release its pollen.And once it hits the area this weekend, sufferers are expected to join the already inflated ranks of sneezing, wheezing, teary eyed patients in d ors' waiting rooms."I've seen patients this year who haven't been in for a couple of... . Money , DON'T PAY THROUGH THE NOSE FOR ALLERGY DRUGS YOU DON'T NEED If you're among the million Americans who suffer from hay fever, here's news that will really make you reach for the tissues. Those expensive prescription drugs you may be taking are likely to be no more effective than some over the counter pills costing a twelfth as much. Worse, some of the most frequently prescribed medications can actually be harmful. In , the Food and Drug Administration announced it intends to pull the popular prescription allergy drug... . Virginian Pilot, The (Norfolk, VA) , FDA APPROVES MEDICINE TO PREVENT ALLERGY ATTACKS< Allergy sufferers will soon be able to buy the nation's first nonprescription medicine that promises to prevent, not just suppress, their sniffles.The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved the prescription Nasalcrom nasal spray to be sold over the counter. McNeil Consumer Products says the nonprescription Nasalcrom will be on drugstore shelves before spring. Until now, Nasalcrom had competed with the somewhat riskier nasal steroids d ors typically prescribe to... . Virginian Pilot, The (Norfolk, VA) , AH CHOO! WARM, WET WEATHER HAS CREATED A MORE UNCOMFORTABLE FALL THAN USUAL FOR ALLERGY SUFFERERS. You're sneezing. Your nose runs. Your eyes itch. Summer's over, for heaven's sake! So why do your allergies make you feel so rotten?

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