By: CHARLES ORNSTEIN, RYANN GROCHOWSKI JONES, MIKE TIGAS Doctors have long disputed the accusation that the payments they receive from pharmaceutical companies have any relationship to how they prescribe drugs. There’s been little evidence to settle the matter, until now. [Read more…] Source:… Continue Reading
Source: NPR Write-up here.
By: Julie Appleby Health insurance isn’t simple. Neither are government regulations. Put the two together and things can get confusing fast. So it’s not surprising that federal regulators took a stab at making things a bit more straightforward for consumers in… Continue Reading
By: Jenny Gold In March 2010, Pam Lipp received the call she’d been dreading for months. She figured it would come from one of three places: the police, the hospital or the morgue. Instead, it was her husband, Doug, saying that… Continue Reading
By: Ana Swanson Daylight saving time in the United States is actually pretty complex. Sure, we all know that we “spring forward” and “fall back” with the seasons. But whether these changes actually end up making daylight hours coincide more closely… Continue Reading
By: Michelle Andrews If you’re uninsured, you may have questions about possible penalties for not having coverage. The fine may be bigger than you expect. Here are the details: [Read more…] Source: Kaiser Health News
By: GINA KOLATA Alzheimer’s disease is not just a random occurrence. It results from a mutated gene that is passed down from parent to child. If you inherit the mutated gene, Alzheimer’s will emerge at around age 50 — with absolute… Continue Reading
By: Melissa Healy Researchers are nurturing a growing suspicion that body mass index, the height-weight calculation that distinguishes those with “normal healthy weight” from the overweight and obese, is not the whole picture when it comes to telling who is healthy… Continue Reading
By: Patti Neighmond Though the majority of Americans have a primary care doctor, a large number also seek treatment at urgent care centers, statistics show. For many people, the centers have become a bridge between the primary care doctor’s office and… Continue Reading
By: Emily Mullin In the United States, a rare disease is defined as one that affects fewer than 200,000 people. Because rare diseases affect such small populations and because they are so diverse, it is difficult to conduct the clinical trials… Continue Reading