An advisory by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force for healthy men to no longer undergo PSA testing for prostate cancer was among the most important healthcare-related stories in 2011, according to a list compiled by USA Today (http://usat.ly/uRJkA9).

The USPSTF based its ruling on findings that the tests do not save lives but cause damaging or uncomfortable side effects.

The list also includes:

• The FDA's decision to revoke the approval of Avastin to treat breast cancer. (http://news.nurse.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011111280011)

• The largest measles outbreak in the United States in 15 years, with more than 220 cases. (http://news.nurse.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011106060003)

• The effects of shortages of more than 200 drugs, according to the FDA. (http://news.nurse.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011112190008)

• A CDC advisory panel's recommendation to vaccinate boys, as well as girls, for human papillomavirus. (http://news.nurse.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011110310029)

• Issues with foodborne illnesses — a salmonella outbreak stemming from ground turkey that caused 77 illnesses in 26 states (http://news.nurse.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011106200008); and, more gravely, an outbreak from tainted cantaloupes that caused 29 deaths and 139 illnesses, making it the nation's deadliest illness outbreak since 1924. (http://news.nurse.com/article/20110914/NATIONAL02/109190027/-1/frontpage)

• The FDA's decision to require tobacco companies to use new images graphically depicting the dangers of smoking on packages of cigarettes (http://news.nurse.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011107040004). A federal judge's subsequent ruling prohibiting the use of the graphics is under appeal by the Obama administration.

• Results of a study showing early treatment with antiretroviral therapy can reduce HIV sexual transmission in heterosexual couples by at least 96%. (http://news.nurse.com/article/20110512/NATIONAL02/105230010)