WRAL.com - AP Health News

Obama says it's now Senate's turn on health care

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:56:12 -0500

President Barack Obama said Sunday it was time for the Senate to "take the baton" on health care reform after the House passed its plan for overhauling the nation's health care system.

Expanding drug treatment: Is US ready to step up?

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:33:14 -0500

Based on the rhetoric, America's war on drugs seems poised to shift into a more enlightened phase where treatment of addicts gains favor over imprisonment of low-level offenders. Questions abound, however, about the nation's readiness to turn the talk into reality.

Alaska island village hit by suspected swine flu

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:06:05 -0500

Suspected swine flu is sweeping a traditional Eskimo whaling village on a remote Alaska island - prompting an urgent medical mission to deliver help.

In Europe, most swine flu shots by invitation only

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:56:08 -0500

In Britain, there are no long lines of people seeking swine flu vaccine. Doctor's offices aren't swamped with desperate calls. And there are no cries of injustice that the vaccine is going to wealthy corporations or healthy people who don't really need it.

Poll: One-third able to get swine flu vaccine

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:30:19 -0500

Only about a third of adults who have tried to get a swine flu vaccine have been able to get it, according to a new national poll released Friday.

FDA warns Web companies not to sell flavored cigs

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:08:17 -0500

The Food and Drug Administration said Friday that it has warned several companies to stop selling banned flavored cigarettes to U.S. consumers online.

Goldman Sachs, Citigroup got swine flu vaccine

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:50:15 -0500

Some of New York's biggest companies, including Wall Street giants Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, received doses of swine flu vaccine for at-risk employees, drawing criticism that the hard-to-find vaccine is going first to the privileged.

New gene therapy halts 2 boys' rare brain disease

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:13:07 -0500

French scientists mixed gene therapy and bone marrow transplants in two boys to seemingly halt a brain disease that can kill by adolescence. The surprise ingredient: They disabled the HIV virus so it couldn't cause AIDS, and then used it to carry in the healthy new gene.

WHO: Swine flu virus is top strain worldwide

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:51:15 -0500

The World Health Organization's flu chief said the swine flu virus has now become the predominant flu strain worldwide.

Old method of heart bypass better than 'off-pump'

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:00:23 -0500

It seemed like a great idea - doing bypass surgery while the heart is still beating, sparing patients the complications that can come from going on a heart-lung machine. Now the first big test of this method has produced a surprise: Bypass has fewer problems and is more successful done the old way.