Public/Global Health

Alzheimer's drug fails first big clinical trial.

Health law covers same-sex partners' kids.

Study: Readmissions double Medicare patients' care costs [registration required].

Bill Gates says much more work needed to turn tide of AIDS.

Abuse of brain-injured Americans at for-profit center reveals nationwide scandal.

The money will help the global fight against AIDS, the secretary announced at the International AIDS Conference

Airports in New York and Los Angeles would be play the biggest role among U.S. hubs in spreading a pandemic virus, according to a new study.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) used network theory to find which U.S. airports would spread a contagion such as SARS or H1N1 flu most quickly in the initial days of an outbreak.

The study ranked New York's Kennedy International Airport and the Los Angeles International Airport first and second on the list, saying the two would be "global superspreaders" of a deadly virus.

Debate over the healthcare law will rear its head again this week.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) will release a new report assessing the federal spending and revenue expected under the law.

The analysis will take into account the Supreme Court's decision, which upended the cost and coverage picture by making the law's Medicaid expansion optional for states.

President George W. Bush: Extend the success against AIDS to other devastating diseases.

International health panel says treat all HIV infections.

In Washington, HIV testing moves beyond the clinic.

Employers work on health mandate.

Abortion is back on the front burner for Congress.

Home-schooling advocates, including Rick Santorum, say they are worried about “international bureaucrats” telling them how to raise their children.

A coalition of health groups is urging the U.S. Surgeon General to release a report on the health risks of drinking soda.

The push comes as U.S. officials debate strategies to address rising obesity levels and a range of related health problems.

"Once viewed as an occasional treat, sugary drinks have become a routine, daily beverage for tens of millions of Americas," the health groups wrote to federal Health secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Thursday.

Federal regulators have approved their second diet pill in less than a month after waiting more than 10 years to move forward on anti-obesity medication. 

The approval comes as U.S. officials debate how to best address the country's growing obesity crisis.

The newest drug, Vivus Inc.'s "Qsymia," is meant to be taken by patients who are overweight and have at least one weight-related health condition, such as diabetes or high cholesterol.

Vivus said that patients in a clinical trial who took the drug's strongest formulation lost nearly 11 percent of their body weight. 

Chemicals pumped into furniture don’t do much to prevent fires and could be poisonous, a Senate hearing was told Tuesday.

Federal health regulators have officially banned bisphenol-A, or BPA, from baby bottles and "sippy" cups.

The plastic-hardening chemical is present in a wide variety of household items and has been the subject of a long controversy, as some research suggests that it can harm the reproductive and nervous systems of certain animals. Makers of BPA argue that it is safe.

Tuesday's move by the Food and Drug Administration comes after many baby-product manufacturers abandoned the chemical. The American Chemistry Council, a major trade group, also reportedly asked for the rule change.