Medical Treatments

These two normal mammograms show the difference between a breast with dense tissue, left, and one that is less dense. The dense tissue reads as white, the same color as breast cancer on a mammogram.

Letters Telling Women About Breast Density Are Often Too Darn Dense

3:25pm April 26, 2016

by Patti Neighmond

Half of states require that women who get mammograms be notified if they have dense breasts because they increase cancer risk. But the letters are often jargony and hard to understand, a study finds.

One Silicon Valley startup that encouraged its employees to think about work 24/7 found they missed market signals, tanked deals and became too irritable to build crucial working relationships.

Many Grouchy, Error-Prone Workers Just Need More Sleep

11:31am April 26, 2016

by Yuki Noguchi

Sleep researchers say about 30 percent of employees at big firms are so tired they're making as many mistakes as if they were coming to work drunk. Some offices now have "napping pods."

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Pastoral Medicine Credentials Raise Questions In Texas

8:22am April 25, 2016

by Lauren Silverman

They're called doctors of pastoral medicine and tout certificates to prove it. But they don't have real medical degrees, and critics worry that patients don't understand what those titles really mean.

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Earlier this week, NIH temporarily halted work in the cell therapy lab of Dr. Steven Rosenberg, chief of surgery at the National Cancer Institute, pending a review of safety standards there.

Task Force Calls For More Safety Oversight At NIH Research Hospital

2:10pm April 22, 2016

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

NIH Director Francis Collins has stopped research at two leading labs for now. But an independent board of experts wants even more oversight to ensure that patient safety is the top priority.

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If you need to reach for a top-shelf medicine, some marketplace plans are making it more affordable.

Health & Safety

More Marketplace Health Plans Ease Access To Some Expensive Drugs

12:21pm April 22, 2016

by Michelle Andrews

Complaints from patient groups and increased regulatory oversight appear to be leading to changes in the way some marketplace health plans cover expensive drugs.

Electric Currents And An 'Emotional Awakening' For One Man With Autism

11:27am April 22, 2016

Switched On author John Elder Robison says the emotional empathy he gained after receiving transcranial magnetic stimulation was intense. "It's like I lost a protective shield," he says.

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Employees at all Lowe's home improvement stores, including this one in South San Francisco, Calif., are eligible to have certain surgeries paid for by the company at selected hospitals.

Some Firms Save Money By Offering Employees Free Surgery

5:39pm April 20, 2016

by Michael Tomsic

The idea is this: Negotiate a flat price with a few hospitals to cover surgery, physical therapy and certain other treatments. Companies save money and hospitals gain patients.

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The Clinical Center on the campus of the National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, Md., is an internationally renowned hospital where patients are also research subjects.

NIH Halts Some Research Amid Concerns Over Contamination And Safety

6:54pm April 19, 2016

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

The National Institutes of Health shut down some clinical trials and two production facilities over concerns that safety rules haven't been followed, but it says no patients appear to have been hurt.

When Erika Stallings was 22, she found out that she might have a genetic mutation that greatly increased her risk of cancer.

More People Seek Genetic Testing, But There Aren't Enough Counselors

4:03pm April 18, 2016

by Todd Bookman

After Angelina Jolie disclosed her genetic predisposition for breast cancer, demand for genetic tests went up. Counselors help interpret those tests, and demand for their services has increased, too.

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Health & Safety

Napster's Sean Parker Invests $250 Million In Immunotherapy Research

5:14pm April 16, 2016

The tech superstar, who's also known for his role in helping shape Facebook, has drawn more than 300 scientists to this area. Jeff Bluestone, head of the new endeavor, discusses the effort.