Health & Safety

Private Investors Eagerly Enter Addiction Treatment Business

6:41pm April 07, 2016

by Deborah Becker

The cry for more substance abuse treatment beds has not missed the ears of some private investors. They're eager to get in on the estimated $35 billion treatment business.

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Dr. Hong Jung Geun, chief surgeon at Metro Plastic Surgery Clinic in Seoul (left), performs a pro-bono scar removal procedure on a former North Korean.

How S. Korea's Plastic Surgeons Are Helping Scarred N. Korean Defectors

6:38pm April 07, 2016

by Elise Hu

Assimilating into South Korean society is rarely easy for North Korean defectors. Top plastic surgeons are volunteering their services to help minimize the scars they bear from painful, abusive pasts.

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A view of the lush Samoan vegetation in American Samoa, Tutuila Island.

Is Samoa's Obesity Epidemic A Harbinger For Other Developing Nations?

6:02pm April 07, 2016

by Maanvi Singh

Obesity and Type 2 diabetes are becoming more common all over the world. But the tiny Samoan islands now have the highest rates. An epidemiologist blames changes in diet brought on by globalization.

As regions of the world climb out of poverty, people eat more of whatever they'd been traditionally eating. Above: a scene from the market in Delhi, India.

A Global Alarm About Diabetes — And Don't Blame It All On Fast Food

4:07pm April 07, 2016

by Susan Brink

The results of the first coordinated global look at the disease show a dramatic increase, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

Nadja Bezerra carries her 4-month-old daughter, Alice, who was born with microcephaly, in Recife, Brazil.

How To Fight Zika When Your Country Is In Trouble: Improvise

3:17pm April 07, 2016

by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro

Brazil's political and economic meltdown creates challenges for doctors trying to get a handle on the outbreak.

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If Carl Manlan had $2 billion, he'd invest in building a cocoa plant in Ghana to create jobs.

A Silver Lining In The Panama Papers

11:48am April 07, 2016

by Malaka Gharib

Why Africans are breathing a quiet sigh of relief in the wake of the scandal. And one man's dream of what he would do with $2 billion. It involves cocoa.

Asafa Powell of Jamaica was barred from competition after testing positive for the stimulant oxilofrine.

Some Fat-Burning Supplements Contain Banned Stimulant Drug

9:33am April 07, 2016

by Katherine Hobson

Some supplements sold to improve workouts contain a stimulant that's been banned and may pose health risks, according to tests. The Food and Drug Administration has warned seven manufacturers.

The entrance to Sutter Davis Hospital in Davis, Calif. Sutter Health has hospitals in more than 100 communities in Northern California; it reported $11 billion in revenue last year, with an operating profit of $287 million.

Big California Firms Take On Health Care Giant Over Cost of Care

9:23am April 07, 2016

by Chad Terhune

Sutter Health's network has 24 hospitals and more than 5,000 doctors in Northern California — a huge share of the health care market. Big employers say Sutter has too much clout in setting prices.

Fewer than half of the low-income children eligible for dental care in California actually get checkups or other treatment.

California's Dental Safety Net Fails Most Clients, Report Says

6:38pm April 06, 2016

by David Gorn

Millions of children and adults are eligible for subsidized dental care in California. But the state's program is underfunded and many families can't find a dentist who participates, a report finds.

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed quit his job at Shell Oil more than 40 years ago to focus on helping the ultra-poor, like these women in a village in Bangladesh.

Meet The Most Influential Poverty Fighter You've Never Heard Of

5:54pm April 06, 2016

by Nurith Aizenman

He was an accountant for Big Oil. Then came the cyclone of 1970. Sir Fazle Hasan Abed found a new calling — and came up with an idea that could be key to ending extreme poverty.