News in category: Major Medical

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a common brain change seen in about one in five veterans returning from Iraq and Afganistan. Now researchers are scanning the brain and are able to see subtle traumatic brain injuries - the first step to effective treatment for all kinds of neurological disorders that come from trauma.

The state of Connecticut may be facing a $150 million lawsuit by the family of Charla Nash as it did not enforce the law against owning primates over 50 pounds. Meanwhile Nash revealed what's left of her face on Oprah Wednesday. She doesn't remember the attack by Travis the 200-pound chimp last February.

The CDC now has revised upwards its estimate of the number of people who've died from swine flu to 4,000 when it tallies in those with bacterial infections and pneumonia. Meanwhile a Virginia teen has suffered a serious reaction and critics say we need to tighten up adverse event reporting to get a better handle on the big picture.

BPA exposed factory workers in China experienced a nearly four-fold increased risk of reduced sexual desire, a greater than four-fold increased risk of erection difficulty, and more than seven-fold increased risk of ejaculation difficulty, in this first look at how the plasticizer may be impacting human health.

The vast majority of the $4.5 billion advertising budget for Big Pharma is spent on TV and magazine ads. The drug industry wants to move into the Internet and will seek guidelines and push its case when it meets with the FDA this week.

Yaz and Yasmin oral contraceptives are generating so many lawsuits that the state of New Jersey is considering consolidating them into a class action.

Patient safety was highly controversial on the House floor Saturday night when members shouted "trial lawyer" to one representative. But patient safety is generally agreed to be one key to bringing down health care costs and to save at least 98,000 deaths a year, as emphasized in this AAJ campaign.

A survey of physicians finds many doctors perform unneeded pap smears, ignoring guidelines issued by major medical organizations and adding to health care costs.

The insurance industry is on the hot seat as health care reform clearly points to insurance industry reform. When the Senate version is introduced it will include repealing an act that since 1945 has given insurers the freedom to charge what they want for consumers' health insurance and doctors' medical malpractice insurance.

A new study published in the medical journal Current Eye Research suggests St. John’s wort, an herbal remedy often used as a natural treatment for depression, has been linked to the development of cataracts in humans.

The House just pass health care reform moments ago in a historic change to the way health care is delivered in this country.

Saturday night a historic vote on health care reform is nearing with a few changes - an abortion amendment was added in some last minute wrangling and the Boehner substitute amendment was defeated.

A House vote is expected tonight on HR 3962.

Medical errors are costing Americans at least $17 billion a year, but is not the focus of health care reform. In fact, the Republican version makes it much tougher for those already injured to seek help.

This afternoon there was some agreement when lawmakers voted 242-to-192 to approve a must-pass procedural measure to set up terms for debate of the $1.2 trillion health care reform bill. President Obama visited with lawmakers to urge passage.