Health A-Z News, Features & Updates

As the baby boom generation ages, the nation is facing an unprecedented explosion in its elderly population.

Eeport details ER overflow, as a nursing shortage threatens to worsen.

Experts Urge Family Members to Discuss Their Wishes for End-of-Life

Taking a key early step in the annual Washington budget negotiations dance, the administration Monday officially delivered to Congress hundreds of pages of documents containing its proposals for national spending for 2002.

Drug company spending on direct-to-consumer advertising rocketed 39% last year, and experts predict it's not going to slow down.

Two years ago, a blue-ribbon panel committee dropped a bombshell -- the news that up to 98, 000 Americans die annually from medical errors.

Open Discussion is Important

Whether you're new in town, your insurance coverage has changed, or you're facing a health concern that calls for a specialist, chances are that you'll be looking for a new doctor at some point.

The frustrations confronting patients and doctors.

President-elect Bush's pick to head the nation's health and human services department is being criticized for his relations with the tobacco industry.

In the 19th century, the tools of progress were coal, oil, and steel. In the 21st century, they will be atoms, microscopic tubes carrying drugs, and miniature disease-fighting robots, say small-thinking scientists with big ideas.

Few medical or scientific issues have stirred up more controversy in recent years than the idea of using cells and tissue from human embryos in medical research.

Battling a rare genetic disorder called pseudoxanthoma elasticum, or PXE.

You're a working woman in a physically demanding job. And, you're expecting a baby. What are your workplace rights?

I predicted at the start of the year that Congress would not enact any significant health care legislation this year. While there is still time for Congress to prove me wrong, I think my prediction will hold up.

Should schools have the right to test your kids for drugs? One father said no -- and his decision has embroiled him in a high-stakes legal battle over constitutional rights.

Thousands of Americans are crossing the border to get the best deal on their prescriptions.

As more Americans trek to Canada or Mexico to buy critical prescription drugs they cannot afford here, some U.S. doctors have a devised a system they say will help.

Making Your Last Wishes Known

Marshall Klavan wanted to die. His physicians wanted him to live. Who had the right to decide?

Laws in every state have made it clear: You have the fundamental right to make a decision in advance about whether to accept or refuse medical treatment if you become gravely ill.

Once tossed in the trash, umbilical cord blood is now worth big money, thanks to medical discoveries and entrepreneurial efforts like private for-profit blood banks.

Nothing can be more frustrating or confusing than to show up at your doctor's office with symptoms of a health problem, only to be told you can't get the diagnostic test you want, a referral to a specialist, or a specific medical treatment.

The agreement reached last month in the lawsuit brought by the State of Texas against Aetna U.S. Healthcare may have solved the company's problems there, but two other key states, New York and Connecticut, are moving forward with probes aimed at reviewing the insurance giant's practices.

Here are some situations that might lead you to suspect your doctor is not listening -- and how to find out if you're correct.

Any time you have a very serious or life-threatening disease is a situation that demands a second opinion.

The key to health may be knowing when to talk and when to listen.

How can you minimize complications in the delivery room, the operating room, or the doctor's office? Find a doctor who will be open with you.

The high costs of delivering high-risk care are driving many ob-gyns to leave obstetrical practice.

Shopping for prescription drugs at a legitimate online site is not much different from buying books or sporting goods over the Internet, although you do need your doctor's permission.

Industry and consumer studies show that, compared with filling prescriptions at the corner drug store, ordering drugs online can cut costs considerably.

Online prescriptions are easy to get. But beware: The drug you buy without medical supervision could be your undoing

Drug companies offer a variety of patient assistance programs, but finding out about them, and learning whether you qualify, is often difficult.

A look at the ignorance of residents (trainees) and practicing physicians regarding guidelines concerning their contacts with drug companies.

All they wanted was to watch their two granddaughters grow up, and all she wanted to do was build a family. Yet this seemingly ordinary dispute has become a landmark legal case that raises tough questions about the limits of grandparenting.

If it weren't for his few daily tokes from marijuana cigarettes, Kiyoshi Kuromiya believes he would no longer be alive

The High-Tech Disease of an Overproductive Age?

Does stem cell research result in the destruction of life, or is it the harbinger of a lifesaving scientific tool?

Union membership, which has been steadily declining in the manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy, might be poised to gain some new ground in the health care industry.

Find out the history behind the most popular vitamin supplements.

Although convenient, the proliferation of Internet prescription sites is sounding alarm bells for health professionals nationwide because of a lack of standards - even illegal practices.

Now, you can also go online to buy travel insurance, selecting from options that include medical coverage and evacuation and trip-cancellation insurance.

Under managed care, a primary care provider (PCP) wields considerable power. He or she is the gatekeeper who holds the keys to the specialized medical care you may need.

What is non-surgical treatment for Dupuytren’s contracture really like? We’ll show you.

Learn more about Dupuytren’s contracture (DC), a hand condition caused by collagen buildup under the skin.

Find out how to treat this hand condition without surgery.