The firm's survey, released this week, showed 32 percent of workers said they called in sick when they felt fine at least once in the last year, and one in 10 said they did so three times or more.

Women were more likely to take a sick day when they are not sick than men, by 37 to 26 percent, the survey said.

But be careful. The same survey showed 27 percent of hiring managers have fired a worker for calling in sick without a legitimate reason.

"The worst part is, if you lie and they see you out at a sporting event or shopping or you run into somebody you know, then it brings your trustworthiness into question," said Sullivan.

The trick is doing it right, writes Ellie Bishop, author of "The Sick Day Handbook" that is chock-full of tips for taking a not-really-sick day.

She suggests if you're claiming a migraine headache, know there are two kinds, cluster and classic. Claiming Lyme disease is handy, because one symptom is irritability. Conjunctivitis and irritable bowel syndrome are good excuses because no one wants to hear about the symptoms.

HOLD YOUR NOSE

Call in with your excuse to a co-worker early, before the boss arrives, clear your throat for five minutes beforehand and hold your nose as you speak, she suggests.

Never make up anything that might need to be proven, like a doctor's appointment or a trip to a hospital emergency room, she writes.

Only try it two or three times a year and, above all, remember your lie, she adds.

"I think we can get away with a lot more than we think we can," she said.

If you do get caught, Sullivan added, employers tend to be a little bit more understanding than they once were.

"If people just need a mental health day or they just need to get away from the office, I think employers are much more understanding of that than they would have been 10 or 20 years ago," she said.

"That's a trend that has strengthened certainly over the last few years, where people are just more aware of the work-life balance," Sullivan added, "because you tend to have more productive workers and you have happier workers if they're able to maintain that balance between their commitments at the office and their commitments at home."

The CareerBuilder survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive in September among 1,650 workers and 1,150 hiring managers nationwide. CareerBuilder.com is owned by Gannett Co. Inc., Tribune Co. and The McClatchy Co.

Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

Drug stents more likely to clot blood-analysis

Last Updated: 2006-11-29 15:53:58 -0400 (Reuters Health)

CHICAGO - Blood clotting is four to five times more likely to occur in patients getting drug-coated heart devices known as stents, compared to the older bare-metal variety, according to a large data analysis released on Wednesday.

The analysis came one week before a U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel of experts is to meet to discuss stent thrombosis, or potentially fatal blood clotting long after the devices, also known as drug-eluting stents, are implanted.

The Cleveland Clinic analysis of 14 studies with 6,675 patients will likely fuel a growing debate about the safety of drug-coated stents, the tiny wire-mesh devices used to prop open surgically cleared arteries.

Thrombosis, or blood clots, can lead to heart attacks.

The release of the study in the December issue of the American Journal of Medicine said that trials using the stents coated with sirolimus, the drug Johnson & Johnson used on its device, mandated anti-clotting medication for at least two to three months, while stents coated with paclitaxel, the drug Boston Scientific uses, required six months.

"Our analysis found that there is a small, but real hazard of late stent thrombosis with drug-eluting stents more so than with bare-metal stents, likely in the setting of discontinuation of anti-clotting drugs," said Dr. Deepak Bhatt, a Cleveland Clinic official, in a prepared statement.

"This does not mean that drug-eluting stents should not be used, as other studies have shown that they do significantly reduce the need for repeat procedures compared with bare metal stents," added Bhatt, associate director of the clinic's Cardiovascular Coordinating Center and one of the study's authors.

Shares of companies that manufacture drug-coated stents have fallen in recent days amid concern the FDA panel will highlight the risks of the medical devices.

Boston Scientific, which generates a lion's portion of its revenues from stents, and J&J, which recently agreed to acquire stent maker Conor MedSystems, are the only two companies approved to sell drug-coated stents in the United States.

Abbott Laboratories and Medtronic Inc., which sell drug-coated stents outside the United States, are gearing up for U.S. launches in mid-2007 or early 2008.

Shares of Boston Scientific were down 7 cents to $16.00 in early New York Stock Exchange trading, while shares of J&J were off 14 cents at $65.83. Shares of Abbott were up 27 cents to $46.67 and shares of Medtronic were up 10 cents to $52.75.

Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.