Daily News Channel
In the wake of Michael Jackson’s memorial service, the key question of how the pop superstar died remains unanswered, awaiting an official report from the Los Angeles County coroner. But other mysteries abound, particularly related to Jackson’s appearance, which changed dramatically from his early adulthood. His features changed, and the color of his skin lightened significantly over the last two decades of his life
A month ago, Britain’s Health Secretary Andy Burnham issued a statement urging British citizens not to panic despite a surge in cases of H1N1 influenza virus in the country. Now it seems health officials have the opposite problem, and are urging parents not to hold “swine flu parties” which some people believe will build up children’s immunity by infecting them with the virus. Parents in Britain have long held “chicken pox parties” at the beginning of summer so that children can catch the disease at a convenient time
Two popular anti-smoking drugs will now carry warnings about the risk of severe mental health problems, the Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday.
Honey has been used to treat wounds since ancient times, but recent years have seen a surge of medical interest in the sticky stuff. Manuka honey has been the subject of particular interest, with the results of a study just published by Sydney University finding that it has powerful antibacterial properties, and is even effective against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Health experts are warning parents against holding "swine flu parties" in the hope of infecting their children with the H1N1 virus. Talk of swine flu parties has emerged on Internet forums. The idea is that exposing a child to the H1N1 virus while it remains relatively mild will give the child immunity if the virus returns in a more virulent form later on.
Late Thursday afternoon, after nearly two hours of speculation, the Los Angeles coroner confirmed that Michael Jackson had died, apparently of cardiac arrest. Hundreds of fans gathered around UCLA Medical Center, where the 50-year-old “King of Pop” had been rushed reportedly after collapsing at home. Jackson’s sudden death raised immediate questions about the singer’s health history
Tess Sosa and her daughter have had a hard time forgetting US Airways Flight 1549’s emergency landing in New York City’s Hudson River in January. Sosa and Sophia, 4, have needed therapy, and the Sosas have had to pay out of their own pockets because US Airways’ insurer says only three counseling sessions are covered. The family has private insurance and large deductible.
President Obama sharpened his language on Iran and stressed the urgency of overhauling the health care system at his news conference Tuesday. “The United States and the international community have been appalled and outraged by the threats, beatings and imprisonments of the last few days
To get a sense of just how dysfunctional American health care is, members of Congress don’t need to look further than their local emergency department . The overcrowding in EDs is so bad these days that patients who walk in with “immediate” needs, meaning the most severe on a clinical scale, wait an average of 28 minutes to see a doctor, according to a Government Accountability Office report released in May. That’s 27 minutes more than the recommended wait time for such conditions.
Whether or not health care reform actually passes in the end, this may be remembered as the week that the reality of the challenge such a massive overhaul poses finally dawned on lawmakers. And that reality is this: It’s all about the dollars. Coming up with a bill that doesn’t add to the deficit is turning out to be even harder than members of Congress thought it would be