Pharmaceuticals have improved and extended the lives of millions of people. But the many advances over the past couple of decades haven’t come without controversy, much of it centering on the massive profits the industry makes on blockbuster drugs. (Wall Street Journal)

Heart disease is the biggest killer in the country. But an argument is raging about a popular way of preventing it. (Wall Street Journal)

A nationwide penny-per-ounce excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages would reduce consumption of the beverages by 15% and save an estimated $17 billion in medical costs over 10 years, says a study in the January Health Affairs. (American Medical News)

Health care access — as measured by the ease and timeliness with which people obtain medical services — is a key indicator of quality of care. Some people have high-quality care, with round-the-clock access to doctors. (TIME)

The nation’s second-largest health insurer is shaking up its approach to paying doctors, putting a major investment behind the idea that spending more for better primary care can save money down the road. (Wall Street Journal)

For 17-year-old Nathan Stiles, his senior year was supposed to be the best yet. (CNN)

DNA sequencing has identified difficult-to-diagnose diseases in humans – the first time the technology has been used in a clinic. (New Scientist)

Kristy Bryner worries her 80-year-old mom might slip and fall when she picks up the newspaper, or that she’ll get in an accident when she drives to the grocery store. What if she has a medical emergency and no one’s there to help? What if, like her father, her mother slips into a fog of dementia? (Washington Post)

Plastic surgeon Dr. Maria Siemionow, PhD, asks one to imagine what it’s like to live without a face, with no nose, lips or eyelids. (American Medical News)

Growing up, Khrys Vaughan always believed that she had inherited her looks and mannerisms from her father, and that her appreciation for tradition and old-fashioned gentility stemmed from her parents’ Southern roots. But those facets of her self-image crumbled when she was told, at age 42, that she had been adopted. (NY Times)

Scientists have successfully replicated Alzheimer’s disease neurons with stem cells for the first time in a landmark, multi-year study – an achievement that may lead to critical new understanding of the disease, the scientists said. (Fox News)

The Food and Drug Administration is giving pharmaceutical companies some rules for how they interact with consumers on social media. But the companies say they need a lot more clarification from the FDA before they’re comfortable getting back online again. (American Medical News)

More twins are being born in the United States than ever before. (NY Times)

When does a broken heart become a diagnosis? In a bitter skirmish over the definition of depression, a new report contends that a proposed change to the diagnosis would characterize grieving as a disorder and greatly increase the number of people treated for it. (NY Times)

Tiny substances called nanomaterials have moved into the marketplace over the last decade, in products as varied as cosmetics, clothing and paint. (NY Times)

The pharmaceutical industry won approval to market a record number of new drugs for rare diseases last year, as a combination of scientific innovation and business opportunity spurred new treatments for diseases long-ignored by drug companies. (Washington Post)

About 40 percent of in vitro fertilizations in the United States involve the transfer of three or more embryos, and more than 20 percent of pregnancies from IVF procedures result in multiple births. The health risks and expenses of these pregnancies are enormous. (NY Times)

The specialist will see you now — and it’s one of the reasons that medical care has become more expensive. (NY Times)

The first published results of trials using cells derived from human embryonic stem cells appear to show they have passed an initial safety hurdle. (Medical News Today)

Does former rugby player Tony Nicklinson deserve the right to die? Seven years after suffering a paralyzing stroke that left him immobile and unable to speak, the 57-year-old recently asked Britain’s High Court to allow a doctor to give him a lethal injection without facing any penalty. (CBS News)

Recent headlines offered a fresh example of how the health care system subjects people to too many medical tests — this time research showing millions of older women don’t need their bones checked for osteoporosis nearly so often. (Washington Post)