Health News

Yes, Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus. And he's a public health menace. Read More

After weeks of shortages, swine flu vaccine is plentiful enough that nearly half the states now say everyone can get it, not just people in high-risk groups. Read More

Sex researchers who tracked teenage girls in Indianapolis found that half of those studied had at least one sexually transmitted infection within two years of first having sex. Read More

Hundreds of thousands of swine flu shots for children have been recalled because tests indicate the vaccine doses lost some strength, government health officials said Tuesday. Read More

Thirteen patients with healthy new kidneys from what's believed to be the world's largest kidney exchange met the donors who made it happen Tuesday -- including three who are sure to face the question, "Why?" Read More

Malaria cases appear to have been slashed by half in more than a third of countries battling the disease following a renewed push by the United Nations to eradicate it, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. Read More

A decade-long decline in teens' use of pot has stalled and some teen attitudes on how harmful marijuana can be may be softening, according to a federal survey on teen drug use released Monday. Read More

Twenty-six operations put healthy kidneys into 13 desperately ill people: Doctors in the nation's capital just performed a record-setting kidney swap, part of a pioneering effort to expand transplants to patients who too often never qualify. Read More

On the eve of their dual surgeries, Tom Otten of suburban St. Louis tried to ease his nervous wife, Irene, by composing this poem about the impending donation of his left kidney: Read More

It's two weeks before a huge domino kidney exchange, and a worried patient is calling Georgetown University Hospital. Is it really OK that she's lined up to get a kidney from someone two decades older? Read More

As the economy falters and more people go without health insurance, low-income women in at least 20 states are being turned away or put on long waiting lists for free cancer screenings, according to the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network. Read More

Some women with very advanced breast cancer may have a new treatment option. A combination of two drugs that more precisely target tumors significantly extended the lives of women who had stopped responding to other medicines, doctors reported Friday. Read More

In a victory for people with cancer and other serious medical problems, the White House agreed Friday to help close a loophole in the Senate health care bill allowing annual dollar limits on their care. Read More

Health officials say winter flu is just starting to show up in the U.S. while swine flu infections continue to wane. Read More

Federal scientists say AstraZeneca's cholesterol pill Crestor lowers the risk of heart attack, death and stroke in patients without a history of heart disease, though some safety concerns remain. Read More

China's Health Ministry warned Friday that the swine flu outbreak in the country could peak over the next several months, especially as hundreds of millions of people return home for the traditional Chinese New Year. Read More

Drug companies would no longer be able to mine pharmacy records to track which doctors are prescribing their medications, under a proposal unveiled Thursday by two Senate Democrats. Read More

New results from a landmark women's health study raise the exciting possibility that bone-building drugs such as Fosamax and Actonel may help prevent breast cancer. Read More

Federal health advisers are recommending the use of an experimental Gilead Sciences drug to treat a form of lung infection. Read More

Is Mozart good for babies? Read More