March 20, 2012
Scientists have discovered how electroconvulsive or electric shock therapy – a controversial but effective treatment – acts on the brains of severely depressed people and say the finding could help improve diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. (Reuters)
March 19, 2012
Tammy Lessick loved her job as a bookkeeper. But when her son, Dean, was diagnosed with autism, she decided to quit work to take care of him. (ABC News)
March 19, 2012
Self-experimentation is a venerable tradition in science. London surgeon John Hunter deliberately gave himself gonorrhea (and inadvertently, syphilis) in 1767 — and suffered from effects of the diseases in his old age. (LA Times)
March 19, 2012
The Obama administration took another step on Friday to enforce a federal mandate for health insurance coverage of contraceptives, announcing how the new requirement would apply to the many Roman Catholic hospitals, universities and social service agencies that insure themselves. … Read More
March 19, 2012
Women still pay more than men for the same health insurance coverage, according to new research and data from online brokers. (NY Times)
March 19, 2012
The creation of California’s stem cell agency in 2004 was greeted by scientists and patients as a turning point in a field mired in debates about the destruction of embryos and hampered by federal research restrictions. (Washington Post)
March 16, 2012
Canada’s fertility clinics are offering growing numbers of women the chance to freeze their biological clocks by putting eggs — and, in some cases, embryos — into cold storage until they’re ready to have a baby. (Canada)
March 16, 2012
In a graphic new ad campaign announced Thursday, the government is trying to shock smokers into quitting with the sometimes-gruesome stories of people damaged by tobacco products. (Washington Post)
March 16, 2012
Robots have already staked out a place in the health-care world—from surgical droids that can suture a wound better than the human hand to “nanobots” that can swim in the bloodstream. (Wall Street Journal)
March 16, 2012
Sixty-seven years ago, 14-year-old Charlie Follett was living in California’s Sonoma State Home. As he did most days, Follett sat in a field, singing popular songs to himself, enjoying the sunshine and the solitude. (CNN)
March 15, 2012
Spending on genetic tests has reached $5 billion annually and could top $25 billion within a decade, according to an insurance industry study published Monday. (LA Times)
March 15, 2012
Forget geoengineering, the latest proposal in the fight against climate change is bioengineering: genetically modifying humans to require less energy. (Wired UK)
March 15, 2012
A doctor who championed for Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act has died, assisted by the law he fought so hard for a decade earlier. (Fox News)
March 15, 2012
A controversial procedure to limit the growth of severely disabled children to keep them forever small – which ignited a fiery debate about the limits of medical intervention when it was first revealed five years ago – has begun to … Read More
March 14, 2012
A Michigan State University anthropologist who spent more than a year infiltrating the black market for human kidneys has published the first in-depth study describing the often horrific experiences of poor people who were victims of organ trafficking. (Medical News … Read More
March 14, 2012
India’s government has permitted a local company to manufacture a generic copy of a patented cancer drug to make it affordable to Indian patients. (BBC News)
March 14, 2012
Medical research in the U.K. is being jeopardized by activists who have persuaded transport companies to stop importing mice, rats and rabbits for scientific experiments, a former British science minister says. (Washington Post)
March 14, 2012
Controversy continues to swell around the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, better known as DSM-5. A new study suggests the 900-page bible of mental health, scheduled for publication in May 2013, is ripe with … Read More
March 14, 2012
A new generation of bionics which can connect wirelessly with the nervous system and feel are under development. (BBC News)
March 13, 2012
Europe is undermining drug innovation by cutting prices, raising barriers to new medicines and freeloading” off others in Asia and the United States who are more willing to pay, the boss of Pfizer, the world’s largest drugmaker, said. (Reuters)
March 13, 2012
Some of the most widely used prescription drugs, including those to treat cholesterol and high blood pressure, could be available over the counter under a new proposal being weighed by government regulators. (Washington Post)
March 13, 2012
Synthetic biology needs more oversight, and the government needs to put in place regulations specific for this field. That is the bottom line for 111 environmental, watchdog, and other organizations that released a report today with specific recommendations for managing … Read More
March 13, 2012
The Supreme Court in Argentina has ruled that women who have an abortion after being raped will no longer be prosecuted. (BBC News)
March 13, 2012
Poor hospital care poses a risk to the lives of many patients in the developing world, say researchers. (BBC News)
March 12, 2012
Even when couples are grappling with infertility, many men balk at getting their sperm count checked. Now, an over-the-counter product enables them to check their count without a trip to the doctor. (Wall Street Journal)
