White House at odds with bishops over abortion
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House is on a collision course with Catholic bishops in an intractable dispute over abortion that could blow up the fragile political coalition behind President Barack Obama's health care overhaul....
11/20/2009 04:29:16pm
Guidelines for cancer screening differ by group
Several doctors groups and advocacy groups set guidelines for cancer screening, and they update that advice periodically as new information emerges. Sometimes they agree, sometimes they don't. Last year, a number of groups got together and issued consensus guidelines for colon cancer....
11/20/2009 04:24:32pm
Military experiment seeks to predict PTSD
TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. (AP) -- Two days before shipping off to war, Marine Pfc. Jesse Sheets sat inside a trailer in the Mojave Desert, his gaze fixed on a computer that flashed a rhythmic pulse of contrasting images....
11/20/2009 02:50:15pm
Tamiflu-resistant swine flu cluster reported in NC
ATLANTA (AP) -- Health officials say four people in North Carolina have tested positive for a type of swine flu that's resistant to the drug Tamiflu....
11/20/2009 02:32:09pm
Correction: Plavix story
WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a Nov. 17 story about drug interactions between heartburn medications and the blood thinner Plavix, The Associated Press misidentified Johnson & Johnson's Mylanta as part of the H-2 blocker drug family. Mylanta is an antacid....
11/20/2009 10:32:45am
Cost of child vaccines fall, more kids saved
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- Babies squirmed and wailed as needles plunged into their chubby thighs at a public health clinic on the outskirts of Hanoi on Friday. Like little ones everywhere, the reaction to the sting was never pretty....
11/20/2009 10:23:26am
AP IMPACT: Gripes about swine flu vaccine abound
ATLANTA (AP) -- When the nation's swine flu vaccination program began in early October, health officials predicted it was going to be "messy." They were right....
11/20/2009 09:51:16am
China to punish those concealing swine flu info
BEIJING (AP) -- China's health ministry said it will punish officials who underreport cases of swine flu after a doctor famous for exposing the extent of the 2003 SARS epidemic said he believes the true number of swine flu deaths is being covered up....
11/20/2009 12:44:33am
US survey shows southern counties most obese
ATLANTA (AP) -- The first county-by-county survey of obesity reflects past studies that show the rate of obesity is highest in the Southeast and Appalachia. High rates of obesity and diabetes were reported in more than 80 percent of counties in the Appalachian region that includes Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia, according to the new research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention....
11/19/2009 09:31:09pm
FDA panel backs safety, benefits of Spiriva
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal health experts on Thursday brushed off lingering safety questions about a popular inhaler drug and suggested it carry bolder benefit claims....
11/19/2009 03:45:32pm
Experts say radical measures won't stop swine flu
LONDON (AP) -- Health experts say extraordinary measures against swine flu - most notably quarantines imposed by China, where entire planeloads of passengers were isolated if one traveler had symptoms - have failed to contain the disease....
11/19/2009 11:25:28am
Task force doctor stands by mammogram advice
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A member of the independent panel whose new mammogram recommendations have led to confusion defended the task force's report, saying Thursday that it was based on the most up-to-date, accurate information available....
11/19/2009 08:52:17am
Michelle Obama visits Va. school, tours garden
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) -- First Lady Michelle Obama received a few gardening tips from students Wednesday as she toured a Virginia elementary school's vegetable garden....
11/18/2009 01:58:17pm
Study: CT scans rule out heart attacks faster
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- A CT scan - a kind of super X-ray - provides a faster, cheaper way to diagnose a heart attack when someone goes to the emergency room with chest pains, a new study suggests....
11/18/2009 01:51:29pm
Ex-Kiss drummer: Breast cancer not just for women
SPRING LAKE, N.J. (AP) -- Lying in bed one night in 2007, Peter Criss felt something strange: a small lump on his left breast....
11/18/2009 10:32:38am
Study: New device boosts heart failure survival
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- For the first time, a miniature heart pump shows the potential to become a widely used, permanent treatment for many older people with severe heart failure. But can we afford it?...
11/17/2009 09:55:29pm
Don't blame fast food: Mummies had heart disease
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- You can't blame this one on McDonald's: Researchers have found signs of heart disease in 3,500-year-old mummies....
11/17/2009 09:32:53pm
FDA says heartburn drugs can interfere with Plavix
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal health officials said Tuesday a popular variety of heartburn medications can interfere with the blood thinner Plavix, a drug taken by millions of Americans to reduce risks of heart attack and stroke....
11/17/2009 05:23:47pm
Going high-tech to track Alzheimer's patients
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Tom Dougherty jokes that he takes "get-lost walks." To his wife, Cleo, it's a constant fear: When will his Alzheimer's get bad enough that she has to end his 4-mile daily strolls?...
11/17/2009 03:06:53am
Study: Injured uninsured more likely to die in ER
CHICAGO (AP) -- Uninsured patients with traumatic injuries, such as car crashes, falls and gunshot wounds, were almost twice as likely to die in the hospital as similarly injured patients with health insurance, according to a troubling new study....
11/16/2009 04:00:43pm
Sexually spread diseases up, better testing cited
ATLANTA (AP) -- Sexually spread diseases continue to rise, with reported chlamydia cases setting yet another record in 2008, government health officials said Monday....
11/16/2009 10:24:00am
Study raises new questions about Merck pill Zetia
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- A new study raises fresh concerns about Zetia and its cousin, Vytorin - drugs still taken by millions of Americans to lower cholesterol, despite questions raised last year about how well they work....
11/16/2009 08:20:53am
China investigates 2 deaths after flu vaccinations
BEIJING (AP) -- Two people in China who received swine flu vaccinations died in the past week but at least one death appears unrelated to the vaccine and the other was being investigated....
11/14/2009 01:47:03am
FDA finds bits of steel, rubber in Genzyme drugs
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal health regulators have found tiny particles of trash in drugs made by Genzyme, the second time this year the biotechnology company has been cited for contamination issues....
11/13/2009 05:54:50pm
FDA approves new drug for heavy menstrual bleeding
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal health officials have approved a new drug as the first non-hormonal treatment for heavy menstrual bleeding....
11/13/2009 03:53:13pm
FDA questions safety of alcoholic energy drinks
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Food and Drug Administration is challenging makers of alcohol-infused energy drinks to prove their beverages are safe, citing complaints that the products can cause risky behavior and injury....
11/13/2009 03:16:17pm
WHO: Keep flu in mind when holding mass gatherings
GENEVA (AP) -- Organizers of big sporting and cultural events should take steps to prevent the spread of swine flu, especially if local health systems aren't prepared to handle mass gatherings, the World Health Organization said Friday....
11/13/2009 01:35:07pm
US adult smoking rate rises slightly
ATLANTA (AP) -- Cigarette smoking rose slightly for the first time in almost 15 years, dashing health officials' hopes that the U.S. smoking rate had moved permanently below 20 percent....
11/12/2009 06:41:55pm
US reports largest mumps outbreak in 3 years
ATLANTA (AP) -- U.S. health officials say the largest U.S. outbreak of mumps in three years is occurring in New York and New Jersey....
11/12/2009 06:39:43pm
WHO: Give at-risk groups anti-flu drugs early
GENEVA (AP) -- Doctors should give anti-viral drugs to pregnant women, young children and other at-risk groups as soon as they show clinical symptoms of swine flu to prevent them developing serious complications, the World Health Organization said Thursday....
11/12/2009 11:20:53am
Review: Reports on Pfizer drug studies misleading
Analysis of a dozen published studies testing possible new uses for a Pfizer Inc. epilepsy drug found that reporting of the results was often misleading, indicating the medicine worked better than internal company documents showed....
11/11/2009 06:54:19pm
UN says hunger stunts some 200 million children
ROME (AP) -- Nearly 200 million children in poor countries have stunted growth because of insufficient nutrition, according to a new report published by UNICEF Wednesday before a three-day international summit on the problem of world hunger....
11/11/2009 05:29:48pm
Study: Kidney angioplasty brings risks, no benefit
If you're among the hundreds of thousands of Americans with clogged kidney arteries, you might want to consider trying medicines before rushing into angioplasty to open them up. The pricey procedure is no more effective and carries surprisingly big risks, a study found....
11/11/2009 05:00:16pm
US health care sector is a fairly green giant
CHICAGO (AP) -- Health care, a giant in the U.S. economy, may be a gentle giant when it comes to greenhouse gases....
11/10/2009 04:08:07pm
AMA votes to seek repeal of 'don't ask,don't tell'
CHICAGO (AP) -- The American Medical Association on Tuesday voted to oppose the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, and declared that gay marriage bans contribute to health disparities....
11/10/2009 03:20:17pm
Experts: Placebo power behind many natural cures
EDITOR'S NOTE: Ten years and $2.5 billion in research have found no cures from alternative medicine. Yet these mostly unproven treatments are now mainstream and used by more than a third of all Americans. This is one in an occasional Associated Press series on their use and potential risks....
11/10/2009 03:16:11pm
UK starts study on using human DNA in animals
LONDON (AP) -- British scientists begin a new study on Tuesday to consider how human DNA is used in animal experiments and to determine what the boundaries of such controversial science might be....
11/10/2009 07:29:24am
Scanning invisible damage of PTSD, brain blasts
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Powerful scans are letting doctors watch just how the brain changes in veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and concussion-like brain injuries - signature damage of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars....
11/10/2009 03:02:45am
WHO: AIDS leading cause of death, disease in women
GENEVA (AP) -- In its first study of women's health around the globe, the World Health Organization said Monday that the AIDS virus is the leading cause of death and disease among women between the ages of 15 and 44....
11/09/2009 03:39:35pm
Lawmaker wants probe of E. coli and school lunches
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee wants an investigation into the risk of deadly E. coli getting into school lunches....
11/09/2009 11:46:05am
Debate over swine flu shots in Germany
BERLIN (AP) -- A debate over two different swine flu vaccines overshadowed Germany's launch of a public inoculation program against the pandemic on Monday....
10/26/2009 03:10:09pm
