Your Health

An economist has ideas for making the market for organ donations more efficient.

How An Economist Helped Patients Find The Right Kidney Donors

2:18pm June 12, 2015

by Nancy Shute

If you've got a life-threatening medical condition, your first call might not be to an economist. But Alvin Roth used a theory about matching markets to help connect kidney patients and donors.

In front of the emergency room at the Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, medical workers care for a man suspected of having the Middle Respiratory syndrome on Monday.

As MERS Outbreak Surges, Genetic Tests Show Virus Hasn't Mutated

10:25am June 12, 2015

by Michaeleen Doucleff

So the spread of the Middle East respiratory syndrome in South Korea is probably due to other factors, such as a delayed response to the outbreak and poor infection control at hospitals.

"Nearly 1 in 3 uninsured Americans have already been covered — more than 16 million people -– driving our uninsured rate to its lowest level ever," President Obama told a cheering crowd at the Catholic Health Association's annual conference Tuesday.

Health & Safety

The Uninsured Rate Is Low, But Proving It's The Lowest Ever Is Tricky

10:00am June 12, 2015

by Julie Rovner

President Obama hails the Affordable Care Act for driving the uninsured rate "to its lowest level ever." But changes in how the rate has been measured make historical claims difficult.

The FDA requires tanning machines to bear a label explaining the risks, but the messages are not particularly attention-grabbing.

Should Tanning Bed Warnings Take A Cue From Graphic Cigarette Labels?

12:13am June 12, 2015

by Katherine Hobson

Graphic images showing the effects of melanoma, combined with photos promoting the positives of avoiding indoor tanning, were more persuasive than standard text warnings.

A Stanford University study explored the medical records of millions of people looking for patterns. People taking proton-pump inhibitors for chronic heartburn seemed to be at somewhat higher risk of having a heart attack than people not taking the pills.

Data Dive Suggests Link Between Heartburn Drugs And Heart Attacks

1:19pm June 11, 2015

by Richard Harris

The drugs are proton-pump inhibitors, including Prilosec, Nexium and Prevacid. But the study doesn't show cause and effect. Other factors — diet, drink or tobacco — may play a role.

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Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell talks before a Capitol Hill hearing Wednesday with Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., as Rep. Pat Meehan, R-Pa., looks on.

Health & Safety

If Obamacare Subsidies Disappear, States And Congress Will Bear Burden For Fix

11:08am June 11, 2015

More than 6 million people could lose income-related subsidies if the Supreme Court strikes them down for coverage bought through the federal exchange, HealthCare.gov.

Do Creativity And Schizophrenia Share A Small Genetic Link? Maybe

5:31pm June 09, 2015

by Angus Chen

The notion goes back to the ancients — that minds given to flights of fancy are on the healthy side of a spectrum that includes what we today call psychosis. An Icelandic gene study offers new clues.

To Beat Insomnia, Try Therapy For The Underlying Cause Instead Of Pills

2:47pm June 09, 2015

by Maanvi Singh

A review of the medical evidence finds that therapy can break the cycle of chronic sleeplessness by addressing the anxieties that cause many people to stay awake.

People protesting against the Affordable Care Act rallied outside the Supreme Court in March, before arguments in the second major challenge to the law.

5 Questions Answered On The Legal Challenge To Obamacare Subsidies

3:09pm June 08, 2015

by Julie Rovner

If the court rules against the Obama administration, health insurance subsidies could be eliminated for more than 6 million people in states that use HealthCare.gov, the federal exchange website.

The experimental drug flibanserin, made by Sprout Pharmaceuticals, is at the center of a regulatory controversy.

Health & Safety

Advisers To FDA Recommend Agency Approve Drug To Boost Female Libido

4:13pm June 05, 2015

by Rob Stein

Proponents claim the Food and Drug Administration is applying a double standard to its review of a drug some call the female Viagra. Critics say flibanserin hasn't been proved safe or effective.

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