Health & Safety

A Year And 7,000 Deaths Later, A Look At The Ebola Epidemic

6:02pm December 28, 2014

The first case in the current Ebola outbreak in Africa was found a year ago. Dr. Dan Cooper, a British health worker volunteering at a treatment center in Sierra Leone, describes how things are now.

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Thalidomide Victims In Spain Still Waiting For Compensation

11:07am December 28, 2014

by Lauren Frayer

Five decades on, the battle for justice over birth defects caused by the drug thalidomide continues in only one European country. Victims in Spain are the only ones still left without compensation.

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Tennessee's Medicaid Deal Dodges A Partisan Fight

11:07am December 28, 2014

by Bobby Allyn

An agreement between the Tennessee Hospital Association and Republican Gov. Bill Haslam expands Medicaid without tax dollars, an agreement that could be a blueprint for other states.

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Dr. Ian Crozier stands with a group of survivors and a nurse at the Kenema Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. He contracted Ebola and was on the brink of death, but he survived.

Ebola Survivor: The Best Word For The Virus Is 'Aggression'

11:10am December 27, 2014

by Jason Beaubien

Dr. Ian Crozier was Emory University Hospital's sickest Ebola patient; his kidneys failed and he was on life support. He made a miraculous recovery and says the illness made him a better physician.

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Need a gift for a 20-something kid about to age out of the family's health plan? Juana Rivera (left) discusses insurance options with Fabrizzio Russi, an agent from Sunshine Life and Health Advisors, at the Mall of the Americas in Miami.

Would You Like Health Insurance With Those Stocking Stuffers?

5:06pm December 26, 2014

by April Dembosky

While shoppers rush to the mall to pick up the last neckties and Transformers for Christmas, health officials are trying to pitch them on an unconventional gift this holiday season: health insurance.

Dr. Senga Omeonga pictured outside St. Joseph's Catholic Hospital in Monrovia. Omeonga moved to Liberia from DRC in 2011. He contracted Ebola but survived it.

Ebola Survivor: 'You Feel Like ... Maybe ... A Ghost'

5:06pm December 26, 2014

by Didrik Schanche

Outside St. Joseph's Catholic Hospital in Liberia, Dr. Senga Omeonga muses over the weeks he spent at an Ebola ward — not as a doctor, but as a patient. He says the experience was life-changing.

Military Policy Impedes Research On Traumatic Brain Injuries

4:56pm December 26, 2014

by Quil Lawrence

The U.S. military set up a bank to collect brain tissue samples to better understand battlefield brain injury. But a law that prevents tissue donations from U.S. troops has severely hampered efforts.

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Stringy particles of Ebola virus (blue) bud from a chronically infected cell (yellow-green) in this colorized, scanning electron micrograph.

Mishandling Of Ebola Sample May Have Exposed CDC Technician To Virus

1:54pm December 26, 2014

by Rob Stein

The worker will be monitored for symptoms. Officials are investigating the incident, in which the virus was moved from a high-security lab to a low-security lab at the CDC's headquarters in Atlanta.

Woman pushing man in wheelchair up ascending pulse trace graph.

Health & Safety

Is Your Heart Doctor In? If Not, You Might Not Be Any Worse Off

10:15am December 26, 2014

by Jordan Rau

Researchers find that high-risk heart patients in teaching hospitals fared better when their cardiologists were away at national conventions instead of working at their usual jobs. Why?

Health & Safety

New Blood Donation Rules Would Still Exclude Many Gay Men

8:46am December 26, 2014

by Steven W. Thrasher

The FDA recommends overturning a lifetime ban on blood donations by men who have sex with men. It's the right solution, but it still won't help me donate.