A Federal health official said that a lawsuit was "not by any means our first choice as a course of action."

Federal health officials sought yesterday to set the record straight on recent reports about the study.

Nationwide, the number of new cases dropped 5 percent last year, Federal health officials said.

Federal health officials say more than two million American adults have the disease.

Federal health officials have said they are not likely to achieve that goal.

But Federal health officials have said the disease does not spread through kissing.

Federal health officials say the policy change can be made by regulation without any new laws.

Federal health officials sometimes pay for direct comparisons of drugs.

Federal health officials say they do not know the total cost.

Federal health officials at the meeting said the Government had community programs, but they pledged to work more closely with local groups.