AllHealthcare

The University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics has warned 53 patients that they have an "extremely small" risk of contracting a rare fatal brain disorder because of the instruments that were used in their operations. The instruments were used in a June 11 surgery on a woman who died Tuesday of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. In a news conference Friday, hospital officials said ...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A New Zealand biotech company began a trial Thursday of an experimental treatment for diabetes in which cells from newborn pigs will be implanted into eight human volunteers. Living Cell Technologies hopes the cells may be able to delay the effects of Type 1 diabetes, including blindness, premature coronary illness and limb amputation resulting from poor blood ...

STUART, Fla. - All sides agree on one thing in the case of a South Florida hospital that secretly repatriated a seriously brain injured patient back to Guatemala. During the early hours of a steamy July 2003 morning, Martin Memorial Medical Center chartered a private plane and sent Luis Jimenez back to the Central American country without telling his relatives in ...

WASHINGTON - Federal health officials said Wednesday they have found cancer-causing ingredients in electronic cigarettes, despite manufacturers' claims the products are safer than tobacco cigarettes. The Food and Drug Administration said testing of products from two leading electronic cigarette makers turned up several toxic chemicals, including a key ingredient in antifreeze. "Little is known about these products, including how much nicotine ...

WASHINGTON - The government called Wednesday for several thousand volunteers to start rolling up their sleeves for the first swine flu shots, in a race to test whether a new vaccine really will protect against the virus before its expected rebound in the fall. The first shots should go into volunteers' arms by the second week of August. A network of ...

DANBURY, Conn. - Health insurance and doctors were unthinkable luxuries for George Anderson of Redding, laid off nearly a year ago when his book distribution company filed for bankruptcy. Like countless others stripped of health insurance because of the recession, Anderson and his family were forced to turn to a free health clinic. In all, about 4 million Americans are expected ...

DETROIT - When a treatment goes wrong at a U.S. hospital, fear of a lawsuit usually means "never daring to say you're sorry." That's not the way it works at the University of Michigan Health System, where lawyers and doctors say admitting mistakes up front and offering compensation before being sued have brought about remarkable savings in money, time and feelings. ...

CHICAGO - Researchers for the first time have linked air pollution exposure before birth with lower IQ scores in childhood, bolstering evidence that smog may harm the developing brain. The results are in a study of 249 children of New York City women who wore backpack air monitors for 48 hours during the last few months of pregnancy. They lived in ...

CAPE TOWN, South Africa - South Africa is launching clinical trials of the first AIDS vaccines created by a developing country, a feat by scientists who forged ahead even when some of their political leaders shocked the world with unscientific pronouncements about the disease. Trials to test the safety in humans of the vaccines begin this month on 36 healthy volunteers, ...

A Paterson, N.J. woman suing a midwife for alleged negligence in the birth of her son -- now afflicted with brain damage -- testified Monday about her 24 harrowing hours in labor and disagreements between the midwife and a doctor while she was in the delivery room. Stephanie Villalta testified under questioning by her attorney, Timothy Barnes, that a doctor had ...

With the number of uninsured rising daily, a prominent South Miami radiologist is offering free mammogram screenings for women who have lost their jobs and health insurance. "In the spirit of Barack Obama, we need to volunteer to help our country, " said Nilza Kallos, who operates the Breast Health Center and Diagnostic Ultrasound. [widget:1048] She challenged other physicians to make ...

A study conducted by the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business estimated that poor communications in the nation's hospitals costs the system $12 billion a year. This number represents about $4 million for a 500-bed hospital. The failures in the internal communication systems of hospitals in the study included the ability to easily find out who is on ...

WASHINGTON - House Democrats on Tuesday rolled out a far-reaching $1.5 trillion plan that for the first time would make health care a right and a responsibility for all Americans, with medical providers, employers and the wealthiest picking up most of the tab. The federal government would be responsible for ensuring that every person, regardless of income or the state of ...

Writing college term papers take the time of most students. These college paper requirements are common in students' stay in a university. Thus, it becomes inevitable for anyone seeking a major degree to write his or her own academic paper.   With the growing pressure to deliver, students are sometimes tempted to hire the services of freelance college paper writers ...

At his Doctors Express center in Towson, Md., Dr. Scott Burger has spent the last three years tending to the community's night-time fevers and weekend hurts. Now, the former emergency room physician wants to take the center's model nationwide, doing for urgent health care what, say, Papa John's did for pizza -- making sure the public can find it anywhere and ...

BAYOU LA BATRE, Ala. - Battered and flooded by Hurricane Katrina, this coastal Alabama fishing village was in wreckage four years ago when Dr. Regina Benjamin began assessing her patients' needs. Trouble was, her little health clinic had been flooded and they couldn't come to see her. So she went to them. She could be seen "going door-to-door in all that ...

Because of its size and cost, Medicaid has been called the "workhorse" of the U.S. health system. Now it's front and center in the debate on overhauling the U.S health system and expanding coverage to the uninsured. With 60 million enrollees, Medicaid dwarfs other insurance programs, including its cousin, Medicare, which covers 44 million elderly and disabled people. Do you ...

CHICAGO - Sleepless people sometimes use the Internet to get through the night. Now a small study shows promising results for insomniacs with nine weeks of Internet-based therapy. No human therapist is involved. The Internet software gives advice, even specific bedtimes, based on users' sleep diaries. Patients learn better sleep habits - like avoiding daytime naps - through stories, quizzes and ...

MADRID - A glaring medical error claimed the life of a baby born prematurely to a woman who was the first person in Spain to die of swine flu, a hospital official said Monday. The infant boy was delivered June 29 via Cesarean section as his 28-week-pregnant mother's condition worsened. The 20-year-old Moroccan woman died the next day, and doctors later ...

TOKYO - Japan passed a law Monday that will allow children to receive organ transplants for the first time, reversing a ban that doomed many young patients or forced them to seek medical care abroad. The new law also allows children, defined as those under 15, who are declared brain dead to donate organs - a sea change in this country, ...