Studies spotlight problems in FDA device approvals
4:00
Two new studies find shortfalls in the Food and Drug Administration's approval process for heart devices such as pacemakers and stents. Safety targets often weren't clearly spelled out in the research submitted by...
Health bills nudge US on long-term care insurance
9:34
Most people don't buy long-term care insurance. They simply don't want to think about moving into an assisted living center or hiring a stranger to bathe them. Seven years ago, Robert Myers of suburban Chicago did buy...
Now hear this: Swim-proof hearing aids to get test
5:03
They're not your grandpa's hearing aids. Today's newest models range from the completely invisible _ it sits deep in the ear canal for months at a time _ to Bluetooth-enabled gadgets that open cell phones and iPods for...
Pressure rises to stop antibiotics in agriculture
2:47
The mystery started the day farmer Russ Kremer got between a jealous boar and a sow in heat. The boar gored Kremer in the knee with a razor-sharp tusk. The burly pig farmer shrugged it off, figuring: "You pour the...
China plant shuts after children poisoned by lead
10:44
Chinese authorities Monday started administering health checks on all children living near a battery factory in the south of the country and closed the plant after more than 40 children were found with lead poisoning. ...
First case of highly drug-resistant TB found in US
8:14
It started with a cough, an autumn hack that refused to go away. Then came the fevers. They bathed and chilled the skinny frame of Oswaldo Juarez, a 19-year-old Peruvian visiting to study English. His lungs clattered,...
Little boy's big legacy teaches others how to live
9:23
The disarming smile of a 4-year-old boy with a buzz cut brightens an otherwise drab newspaper page, where whole lives are summed up in three inches of tiny newsprint. Danny Stanton's death notice first makes you wonder...
Study: Vaccine means more holiday hugs, fewer bugs
5:04
More hugs, fewer bugs. Holiday visits have become safer for grandparents thanks to a childhood vaccine that has dramatically curbed infections spread by kids, a new study finds. For years, serious bacterial infections...
Study: Swine flu poses a threat to new moms
5:03
Swine flu is not only dangerous to pregnant women, but it's a threat to new mothers too, the first study to document this risk shows. An analysis of pregnant women and new mothers who were hospitalized with swine flu in...
Nasal swine flu vaccine recalled over potency
7:14
Drugmaker MedImmune is recalling nearly 5 million doses of swine flu vaccine because the nasal spray appears to lose strength over time, federal health officials announced Tuesday. The vaccine recall is the second this...
AP Enterprise: Feds mull regulating drugs in water
4:14
Federal regulators under President Barack Obama have sharply shifted course on long-standing policy toward pharmaceutical residues in the nation's drinking water, taking a critical first step toward regulating some of...
'Invisible bracelet' for emergency health alerts?
10:32
Emergency health alerts for the Facebook generation? The nation's ambulance crews are pushing a virtual medical ID system to rapidly learn a patient's health history during a crisis _ and which can immediately...
Study: Sticking with heart rehab boosts survival
4:00
If you've had a heart attack or a bypass operation, there's an easy way to help prevent another one: stick with rehab. People who get all 36 sessions of cardiac rehabilitation that most Medicare plans cover are less...
'Invisible bracelet' for emergency health alerts?
3:55
Emergency health alerts for the Facebook generation? The nation's ambulance crews are pushing a virtual medical ID system to rapidly learn a patient's health history during a crisis _ and which can immediately...
What's in health care proposals for 5 Americans
12:20
As Congress gets closer to a final health care bill, many Americans want to know: What's in it for me? The answer is: It depends. On your age and household income. Whether you own a business and whether it's big or...
What's in health care proposals for 5 Americans
12:29
As Congress gets closer to a final health care bill, many Americans want to know: What's in it for me? The answer is: It depends. On your age and household income. Whether you own a business and whether it's big or...
CDC: Rare infection passed on by Miss. organ donor
12:22
An extremely rare infection has been passed from an organ donor to at least one recipient in what is thought to be the first human-to-human transfer of the amoeba, medical officials said Friday. Four people in three...
Report finds poor ethics policing at CDC
5:39
The government's top public health agency frequently failed to police its outside experts for conflicts of interest, according to a new government report released Friday. The report looked at how well the Centers for...
New CDC estimate: 1 in 110 children have autism
5:28
About 1 in 110 children have autism, according to the government's latest estimate released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's a small change from a 1 in 100 preliminary estimate that CDC...
Morning-after pill in Austria prescription-free
12:46
Austria's health ministry says the contraceptive morning-after pill is now available in pharmacies without a prescription. The ministry said Friday that women of all ages can now buy the pill _ which prevents a...
More vaccine has US urging swine flu shots for all
1:46
A flu shot for the holidays? Finally, the nation's supply of swine flu vaccine will reach 100 million doses by week's end, opening the way for everyone, not just those at highest risk, to get protected. For people...
Swine flu vaccine now plentiful in half the states
9:19
After weeks of shortages, swine flu vaccine is plentiful enough that nearly half the states now say everyone can get it, not just people in high-risk groups. But the good news comes with a challenge for health...
Study: Too much drinkable gold for king's mistress
8:46
A British medical journal has published findings saying a mistress of 16th-century French King Henry II may have died from consuming too much drinkable gold. When French experts dug up the remains of Diane de Poitiers...
WHO to send swine flu vaccine to poor countries
8:32
The World Health Organization plans to start shipping swine flu vaccine to Azerbaijan, Afghanistan and Mongolia in the next few weeks, flu chief Keiji Fukuda said Thursday. Another 32 developing countries are in line...
Health expert: Santa needs a carrot, not a cookie
7:01
Yes, Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus. And he's a public health menace. Public health expert Nathan Grills of Monash University in Australia says the beloved Christmas icon should ditch his sleigh and start...
Swine flu vaccine now plentiful in half the states
6:23
After weeks of shortages, swine flu vaccine is plentiful enough that nearly half the states now say everyone can get it, not just people in high-risk groups. But the good news comes with a challenge for health...
Study: Some Indianapolis teens have high STD risk
11:38
Sex researchers who tracked teenage girls in Indianapolis found that half of those studied had at least one sexually transmitted infection within two years of first having sex. The Indiana University School of Medicine...
Kids' Swine flu shots recalled; not strong enough
6:54
Hundreds of thousands of swine flu shots for children have been recalled because tests indicate the vaccine doses lost some strength, government health officials said Tuesday. The shots, made by Sanofi Pasteur, were...
Patients meet donors from largest-ever kidney swap
3:24
Thirteen patients with healthy new kidneys from what's believed to be the world's largest kidney exchange met the donors who made it happen Tuesday _ including three who are sure to face the question, "Why?" A hospice...
Malaria cases likely half in third of countries
5:41
Malaria cases appear to have been slashed by half in more than a third of countries battling the disease following a renewed push by the United Nations to eradicate it, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. In a...
26 operations, 13 kidneys: hope to few with little
10:42
Twenty-six operations put healthy kidneys into 13 desperately ill people: Doctors in the nation's capital just performed a record-setting kidney swap, part of a pioneering effort to expand transplants to patients who...
Kidney donor's night-before-surgery poem
3:20
On the eve of their dual surgeries, Tom Otten of suburban St. Louis tried to ease his nervous wife, Irene, by composing this poem about the impending donation of his left kidney: 'Twas the night before surgery and all...
Nurses are key to matchmaking in kidney swap
3:18
It's two weeks before a huge domino kidney exchange, and a worried patient is calling Georgetown University Hospital. Is it really OK that she's lined up to get a kidney from someone two decades older? Meet the...
Poor being turned away from free cancer screenings
11:51
As the economy falters and more people go without health insurance, low-income women in at least 20 states are being turned away or put on long waiting lists for free cancer screenings, according to the American Cancer...
Novel drug combo improves breast cancer survival
8:36
Some women with very advanced breast cancer may have a new treatment option. A combination of two drugs that more precisely target tumors significantly extended the lives of women who had stopped responding to other...
CDC: Fewer states seeing widespread swine flu
12:05
Health officials say winter flu is just starting to show up in the U.S. while swine flu infections continue to wane. Swine flu was widespread in only 14 states last week _ mostly in the Northeast. That's down from 25...
FDA confirms benefits of Crestor in more patients
11:28
Federal scientists say AstraZeneca's cholesterol pill Crestor lowers the risk of heart attack, death and stroke in patients without a history of heart disease, though some safety concerns remain. In documents posted...
Chinese health officials step up flu prevention
4:25
China's Health Ministry warned Friday that the swine flu outbreak in the country could peak over the next several months, especially as hundreds of millions of people return home for the traditional Chinese New Year. ...
CDC: About 1 in 6 Americans have had swine flu
5:48
Swine flu has sickened about 50 million Americans, and killed about 10,000, according to new estimates released by federal health officials on Thursday. That means about 1 in 6 Americans have had the illness, said Dr....
Studies: Bone drugs may help prevent breast cancer
5:00
New results from a landmark women's health study raise the exciting possibility that bone-building drugs such as Fosamax and Actonel may help prevent breast cancer. Women who already were using these medicines when the...
Ho-ho-healthy? Parents struggle to watch kid diets
4:07
Pam Vetter's 15-year-old son balked when she told him she was opting for a healthier holiday season this year: fish rather than turkey, fewer carbs and sweets. He threatened to purchase a turkey, stuffing, potatoes and...
FDA panel backs inhalable drug for lung infection
3:50
Federal health advisers are recommending the use of an experimental Gilead Sciences drug to treat a form of lung infection. A Food and Drug Administration panel voted 15-2 in favor of the safety and effectiveness of...
Mozart's music may help preemies gain weight
1:12
Is Mozart good for babies? A group of Israeli doctors have plunged into this long-running debate with a small study that found the soothing sounds of the 18th century composer may help premature babies grow faster. ...
Britain: Swine flu less deadly than first thought
12:36
Swine flu is far less dangerous than originally feared, British officials said Thursday _ about 100 times less lethal than the 1918 Spanish flu. To determine how deadly the virus is, the British health department...
Netherlands reports 6 human deaths from Q fever
9:42
The Dutch government said Thursday it will vaccinate all goats and sheep in the country against Q fever and kill many pregnant goats to rein in an outbreak that has caused the deaths of six people in 2009. Q fever is a...
Drug-resistant swine flu cluster on Vietnam train
5:35
Health officials in Vietnam are reporting what appears to be the largest cluster yet of Tamiflu-resistant swine flu cases _ seven people who traveled together on a long train ride. Six were from a group of students,...
WHO: Smoking kills 5 million every year
8:58
Tobacco use kills at least 5 million people every year, a figure that could rise if countries don't take stronger measures to combat smoking, the World Health Organization said Wednesday. In a new report on tobacco use...
GAO: FDA yet to make safety changes post-Vioxx
6:59
The Food and Drug Administration still hasn't restructured its staff to better monitor drug safety, more than three years after experts recommended key changes in the wake of the Vioxx scandal. That's according to...
Swine flu toll includes a few pets
3:22
A handful of pets have been sickened with swine flu in recent weeks, but here are doctors' orders: Wash your hands and don't panic. The virus, also known as H1N1, has been diagnosed in only a few cats and ferrets since...
British researchers: little evidence Tamiflu works
2:54
British researchers say there is little evidence Tamiflu stops complications in healthy people who catch the flu, though public health officials contend the swine flu drug reduces flu hospitalizations and deaths. ...