New sunscreen rules blasted by watchdog group
FDA sunscreen labels plan not strong enough to protect Americans from sun damage and skin cancer, group says
/ istockphoto(CBS) A prominent health advocacy group is shining a harsh light on the FDA's new rules for sunscreen labels.
The rules - which come after decades of deliberation - are intended to help eliminate misleading claims about sun protection factors, water resistance, and cancer and wrinkle prevention, as CBS News reported on Tuesday.
Continue »Can aneurysms be treated with glue?
Onyx, the glue-like solution some doctors are using on patients with a ruptured aneurysm
/ CBS(CBS) Doctors and patients are bursting with excitement over an innovative new treatment for aneurysms - those potentially deadly weakened portions of blood vessel walls.
It's basically glue.
PICTURES: Brain bleed: 8 things that trigger ruptured aneurysms
Continue »Vaccine summit nets $4 billion: Will it work?
Bill Gates speaks at the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization conference in London June 13, 2011.
/ AP(CBS/AP) "For the first time in history, children in developing countries will receive the same vaccines against diarrhea and pneumonia as children in rich countries."
That was the victorious message Bill Gates delivered after a global vaccine summit held in London, on June 13.
His foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, along with other international donors, pledged more than $4 billion to buy vaccines to protect millions of children from diseases like measles and yellow fever, in addition to pneumonia.
Continue »Vaccines could save millions of lives by 2015
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(CBS) Six million. That's how many lives could be saved if the world's poorest countries did a better job of vaccinating their citizens against preventable diseases like tetanus, measles, whooping cough, and influenza.
Continue »Most kids get vaccinated despite parents' fears
Vaccines scare some parents, though evidence suggests they are safe
/ istockphotoMost American kids are now getting recommended vaccines, according to a new survey. Does that mean the controversy surrounding childhood vaccines has died down?
Not even close.
PICTURES: 10 deadly myths about childhood vaccines
Although 95 percent of parents say they vaccinate their kids, most say they worry that the vaccines are unsafe.
Continue »Jack Kevorkian dead, but suicide debate lives on
Jack Kevorkian addresses an audience at Wayne State University in Detroit on November 29, 2007.
/ AP(CBS/AP) Jack Kevorkian has died, but the cause he long championed - physician-assisted suicide - lives on.
The ghoulish-but-folksy physician died Friday not by his own hand but at a hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., where he was being treated for pneumonia and kidney problems. He was 83.
Continue »War on drugs fails, time to legalize marijuana?
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(CBS/AP) Failure. That's the word a high-level international panel is using to describe the decades-long global war on drugs.
The Global Commission on Drug Policy panel issued a report that said, "Political leaders and public figures should have the courage to articulate publicly what many of them acknowledge privately: that the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that repressive strategies will not solve the drug problem, and that the war on drugs has not, and cannot, be won."
Continue »Should docs be paid to be blunt about obesity?
English plan would use financial incentives to encourage doctors to tell patients they're fat and enroll them in weight-loss programs
/ istockphoto(CBS) "You're fat, and you need to lose weight." Doctors who talk to their obese patients about their weight stand to boost their earnings, if England enacts a new plan proposed by its health insurance agency.
Continue »IBM Watson supercomputer turns to medicine
IBM's Watson supercomputer being groomed for medicine after faring well on "Jeopardy!"
/ AP Photo(CBS/AP) After battling the flesh-and-blood know-it-alls on "Jeopardy!," IBM supercomputer Watson is getting ready for its next big challenge - helping doctors navigate the increasingly complex world of medicine.
Watson is being groomed to be a bedside medical tool - digesting medical textbooks, journals, treatment guidelines as well as information from patients' blogs to diagnose illnesses quickly and accurately.
Continue »Will circumcision be banned in San Francisco?
A circumcision ban is making its way to San Francisco ballots
/ istockphoto Voters in San Francisco will soon be able to weigh in, as a measure to ban male circumcision is on the ballot for the upcoming November election.
What's it like to eat 25,000 Big Macs?
Don Gorske savors his 25,000th Big Mac
/ AP(CBS/AP) Fast food restaurants get lots of criticism for serving up fatty, salty, calorie-dense fare. But Don Gorske has no complaints. The 57-year-old retired prison guard was just honored at his hometown McDonalds for eating his 25,000th Big Mac - a feat that took him 39 years to accomplish.
What's killing off America's emergency rooms?
Emergency departments are closing their doors in the U.S.
/ istockphoto(CBS) Americans often take for granted that there's a hospital nearby in case they need urgent medical attention. But with the rising cost of emergency care, that may no longer be the case.
A new study shows that from 1990 to 2009, the number of emergency rooms in the U.S. plummeted from 2,446 to 1,779 - a 27-percent decline. That number includes only ERs in non-rural areas, since rural ERs typically receive federal funding that keeps them open.
Continue »Can blood test tell how long you have to live?
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(CBS) How long will you live?
That question may no longer be an idle one, as scientists say they've come up with a simple blood test that reveals your "biological age," permitting a reasonable estimate of just how soon you're likely to encounter the grim reaper.
Continue »Bizarre skin ailment all in the mind, study says
Morgellons has no physical basis, researchers say
/ istockphoto(CBS) It's all in their minds.
That's what doctors are saying about people with Morgellons disease, who claim to be infested with mysterious parasites that trigger itching, rashes, and creepy-crawly sensations in the skin.
Continue »Is it fair for docs to turn away fat patients?
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CBS) No fatties allowed! That seems to be the policy of some doctors in Florida - and medical ethicists are crying foul.
In a poll of 105 obstetrics-gynecology practices in South Florida, 15 said they refuse to treat even healthy patients who exceed certain weight cut-offs. Some practices set the cut-off at 200 pounds.
Continue »