Federal health officials have approved a new injectable drug to treat patients who have been exposed to the deadly toxin anthrax. The Food and Drug Administration said it approved Anthim on Friday to treat inhalation anthrax, which can cause serious injury and death. The condition occurs when anthrax bacterial spores are inhaled. Because anthrax is […]

March 22, 2016

It can give you street directions or find the nearest deli, but how helpful is your smartphone’s virtual voice in a health crisis? A study says the answer is often “not very.” Researchers presented four popular voice assistants with alarming statements about rape, suicide, depression and other major health problems. The answers varied widely: In […]

March 15, 2016

The spread of the Zika virus in Latin America is giving a boost to a British biotech firm’s proposal to deploy a genetically modified mosquito to try to stop transmission of the disease. Oxitec has genetically modified the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also transmits dengue and chikungunya, so the males produce offspring that do not […]

March 14, 2016

They’re house calls without the house. Far from the sterile confines of a doctor’s office or hospital, Brett Feldman looks for homeless people where they’re most likely to be found — in wooded encampments, under bridges, along riverbanks, at soup kitchens — and treats them for ailments ranging from diabetes to trench foot, mental illness […]

March 11, 2016

California lawmakers voted Thursday to raise the smoking age from 18 to 21, approving a measure that would make the nation’s most populous state only the second to put legal tobacco products out of the reach of most teenagers. Before it can become law, Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown must sign the legislation, which has already […]

March 11, 2016

Nearly three million boxes of frozen DiGiorno pizzas, Stouffer’s lasagnas and Lean Cuisine meals are being recalled after customers said they found pieces of glass in their food. Nestle USA, the company behind the brands, said no injuries have been reported. The food maker said the glass may have come from the spinach used in […]

March 11, 2016

A Chipotle store in Massachusetts was closed Wednesday after the local health board said an employee there tested positive for norovirus. Richard Berube, director for the health board in Billerica, Massachusetts, said his agency confirmed one case of norovirus, and found two other suspected cases. Chipotle first closed the store Tuesday at the board’s suggestion, […]

March 10, 2016

The recipient of the nation’s first uterus transplant said Monday that she prayed for years to be able to bear a child, and is grateful to the deceased donor’s family and surgeons who’ve given her that chance. Doctors at the Cleveland Clinic said Monday that the 26-year-old woman is recovering well after receiving the uterus […]

March 8, 2016

The average cost for a year’s supply of a prescription drug doubled in just seven years to more than $11,000 — about three-quarters of the average annual Social Security benefit. That’s according to the latest study of price trends for widely-used drugs conducted by AARP, the senior citizens advocacy group. It finds prices for existing […]

February 29, 2016

On a farm in the heart of Hawaii’s ongoing dengue outbreak, coffee grows wild among the ferns, and vanilla vines climb guava trees. It’s hard to know where nature ends and the farm begins, and that’s the way organic farmers there like it. But state efforts to combat the outbreak — and prevent the related […]

February 29, 2016