Chip Off The Old Human: Packed in this whole-genome microarray, or chip, are fragments from genes that make up the human genome. The announcement by Santa Clara company, Affymetrix Inc., marks a step toward using the data to discover new drugs and customize treatment.
Biting The Hand That Feeds Me
Pharmaceutical companies' lavish gifts, and the doctors who can't help but to love them.
HMO's rated by state
The Office of the Patient Advocate's third annual "Quality of Care Report Card"
Male contraceptive trial results in no pregnancies
A practical male contraceptive could be a step closer after researchers said Tuesday that trials prevented pregnancies among 55 couples using it for 12 months. The treatment stops sperm...AP (10/7)
New breast-cancer approach shortens recovery time
Around the country, many breast-cancer doctors are beginning to make a simple change in the timing of chemotherapy that can produce dramatic results. Instead of giving patients cancer treatment every th...AP (10/7)
Health care bill: Work in progress
IN SIGNING a landmark health-insurance bill over the weekend, Gov. Gray Davis declared that expansion of such coverage was not only essential to workers' health but also to "the health of our economy and for the health of this great stat...Chronicle Opinion(10/7)
HEALTHBEAT: Teaching the sick to be more savvy about self-treatment
Pharmacist Stephen Setter regularly asks families of Alzheimer's sufferers what drug they use to help the often agitated patients sleep better. Tylenol PM, many respond -- not knowing, Setter says...AP (10/7)
Employers expected to fight new worker health insurance law
Lynda Gledhill, Christian Berthelsen
Sacramento - Gov. Gray Davis on Sunday signed into law a sweeping health care bill that will require many employers to provide insurance for their workers, but opponents are already working to make sure it never takes effect. Supporters of the law ...Chronicle (10/6)
Support grows for Medicare premium boost Congress' plan would apply to affluent seniors
Washington - With unexpected support from some Democrats, Republican negotiators from the House and the Senate say they are seriously considering a change in Medicare that would require high-income elderly people to pay higher premiums than other ben...NYTimes (10/6)
OAKLAND: Businesses unite to support pot clubs
Rona Marech
As the Oakland City Council revs up to crack down on downtown medical marijuana clubs, some neighborhood merchants are fighting back. The newly formed Uptown Merchants Association -- so far comprising two pot clubs and five businesses ...Chronicle (10/6)
China's moves seem to flout WTO; U.S. groups protest
BEIJING -- Two months ago, China's quarantine inspectors called in diplomats from the U.S., Brazil and Argentina. The topic: soybeans, a booming market for U.S. e...Wall Street Journal (10/6)
Death rate in accidents growing among Hispanic children
Research indicates the number of Hispanic children dying in car accidents is growing. The number of Hispanic and non-Hispanic white children ages 0-19 who died in vehicle accidents between 1992 and 2000, an...AP (10/5)
Data bolster evidence that SARS in children is mild
New SARS data suggest infected pregnant women may be prone to premature childbirth but their babies may face a low risk of developing the disease. A second study bolsters evidence that children w...AP (10/5)
Open enrollment means maximizing benefits, minimizing costs
Open enrollment season for health benefits is quickly approaching and employees who do their homework may be able to save hundreds or even thousands of dollars. The good news ...AP (10/5)
Health insurance bill revives national debate
Tom Abate, Victoria Colliver
When the California Legislature passed SB2 on the last day of its session, lawmakers put the state center stage in a simmering national debate over how to deal with the growing numbers of people without health insurance. SB2, designe...Chronicle (10/5)
Cooling athletes from inside out
Martin Miller
For decades, football players have battled the oppressive and sometimes dangerous heat of summer with cold drinks, cool towels and giant misting machines. Now a handheld device dubbed "the glove" offers athletes a new way to lower body t...LATimes (10/5)
Colleges sign on to Web site aimed at reducing youth suicide
Faced with a growing number of student suicides, some universities are trying to combat the trend by offering depressed students the anonymity of the Internet to seek mental health counseling. More than...AP (10/4)
Heart attack victims usually fail to get best treatment
Almost anywhere else, the ambulance crew would have gathered up Buddy LaRosa in mid-heart attack and roared off to the closest emergency room. They arrived that hot summer afternoon to find ...AP (10/4)
Late-term abortion ban looks headed for Bush's signature
The House approved legislation on Thursday that would enact the first federal ban on an abortion procedure in 30 years. The measure, which passed 281-142, would make it a federa... LATimes (10/3)
The facts about 'Healthy Families'
ONE OF THE clear successes of Gov. Gray Davis' five years in office has been the vast expansion of the state's "Healthy Families" program, which provides health insurance for children of the working poor. That's why it is bizarre tha...Chronicle Opinion (10/3)
AIDS vaccines still elusive, but trials now include humans
The patient's inoculation was as routine as any Dr. Robert Johnston had seen. Roll up the sleeve, a cotton swab of alcohol on the upper arm and a "this shouldn't hurt much." What was in the...AP (10/3)
World Health Organization lowers number of SARS cases in Taiwan
The World Health Organization has drastically lowered the number of reported SARS cases in Taiwan in this year's outbreak, after laboratory tests showed about half had other ailments. The ...AP (10/3)
FDA considers major changes to fight counterfeit drugs
Anti-tampering technology alone won't solve the growing problem of counterfeit drugs, the government says as it looks for options to tighten the security of medicines on their way from factory to ...AP (10/2)
Davis signs women's health, education and tax laws
Legislation on women's health, sex education and the environment were signed into law Thursday by Gov. Gray Davis. One bill would require women patients facing an operation to give consent bef...AP (10/2)
Insurer declines to cover cost of new cholesterol drug
WellPoint Health Networks, the nation's second-largest private health insurer, says it will not reimburse people who use AstraZeneca's new cholesterol drug, Crestor, because of concerns over...AP (10/2)
Medicare agrees to pay for expensive heart device
Federal regulators have agreed to pay part of the cost for HeartMate, a battery-powered pump, to be implanted in Medicare and Medicaid patients with chronic heart failure, manufacturer Thoratec Corp...AP (10/2)
Health bill under attack
Tom Abate
A controversial health insurance bill that awaits Gov. Gray Davis' signature could cost California employers twice as much as opponents had previously estimated, according to a study released Wednesday by an industry group that opposes t...Chronicle (10/2)
VaxGen gets big boost Government gives firm $80.3 million anthrax contract
Bernadette Tansey
Shares in VaxGen Inc. rose Wednesday on news that the Brisbane firm was awarded an $80.3 million government contract to continue development of an anthrax vaccine and scale up manufacturing to 3 million doses. The three-year contrac...Chronicle (10/2)
Barr Labs to buy "morning-after pill" from Women's Capital
Barr Laboratories Inc. said Thursday it agreed to acquire the emergency contraceptive known as Plan B, or the "morning-after pill" and other assets of privately held W...AP (10/2)
CDC looks to California as next year's likely West Nile epicenter
Westward expansion of the West Nile virus has prompted the government to look to California as the possible epicenter of next year's virus season. Officials with the Centers for Disease ...AP (10/2)
FDA takes a new look at silicone implants
More than a decade after the Food and Drug Administration sharply restricted use of silicone breast implants amid concerns about possible long-term health problems, an FDA advisory panel is set to review th...Wall Street Journal (10/2)
Experimental "smart-bomb" lung cancer drug flops
An experimental "smart-bomb" drug failed to extend the lives of lung cancer patients in two pivotal studies, the three companies codeveloping the treatment said Wednesday. Genentech Inc...AP (10/2)
Crews in 28 cities trained for chemical, biological or nuclear attack
Search and rescue teams in 28 cities now have the equipment and training to respond to chemical, biological or nuclear attacks as the government takes steps to prepare for potential terrorist st...AP (10/2)
HMOs rated by state
Victoria Colliver
California's HMOs did a better job this year than last year in immunizing children and managing chronic diseases, but they fared poorer in preventive care and mental health services, according to a state report released Tuesday. The...Chronicle (10/1)
Timing of babies' solid food might affect diabetes risk
Introducing cereal too early or too late in infancy might increase the odds of diabetes in children already at risk for the disease, a study suggests. Another study found a similar risk for intro...AP (9/30)
Hormones may raise risk of ovarian cancer, study says
Estrogen-progestin pills do not reduce the risk of ovarian cancer and might even increase it, according to a study that raises more red flags about a once widely accepted treatment for women going th...AP (9/30)
West Nile-infected crows found in Los Angeles County
Five dead crows found in the suburbs east of Los Angeles were infected with West Nile Virus, county health officials said Tuesday. The discovery in the San Gabriel Valley marked the second ti...AP (9/30)
Aetna launches new physician network
Aetna Inc. on Tuesday announced a new health care plan it says may cut employer costs while offering a large choice of doctors. The Aexcel network will begin Jan. 1 in the Dallas-Fort Wor...AP (9/30)
Lawmakers endorse specific diets
If you can't decide which diet is for you, you're not alone. Lawmakers in Congress don't agree on what you should be eating, either. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, R-Ill., said Tuesday after leading a...AP (9/30)
IVAX gets tentative FDA approval for generic Topamax
Pharmaceutical company IVAX Corp. said Tuesday it has received tentative approval from the Food and Drug Administration for a generic equivalent of anti-epilepsy drug Topamax. Th...AP (9/30)
Nevada lowest among states in efforts to reduce women smokers
Nevada is dead last among all states in efforts to help women quit smoking, according to an advocacy groups's national report card on women and tobacco. While last, Nevada wasn't alone:...AP (9/30)
Plan to distribute AIDS drugs presented to health minister
A special task team presented South Africa's health minister with a plan Tuesday for the distribution of AIDS drugs through the public health system. The delivery of the report co...AP (9/30)
Wal-mart saves cash by regulating health benefits
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is famous for cutting costs everywhere it can. Today a giant target for the world's biggest retailer is the health-care costs of its employees. Wal-Mart makes n...Wall Street Journal (9/30)
Federal government accuses pharmacy benefit company of fraud
The nation's largest pharmacy benefit-management company pressured doctors into prescribing medications made by certain pharmaceutical companies in return for large payments, prosecutors said. ...AP (9/30)
HEALTHBEAT: Lots of work but anti-anthrax options slow to arrive
Consider it an anthrax bloodhound, a drug that can swoop into the body, latch onto deadly toxins spewed by anthrax bacteria and get rid of them. Two years after the anthrax-by-mail attacks, sc...AP (9/30)
West Nile virus battle pits health against hunting
Sabin Russell
Mecca, Riverside County - West Nile virus, a mosquito-borne illness that has killed almost 100 Americans this year, has just a toehold in California -- it is lurking here, in the dried-out desert marshes at the edge of the Salton Sea. Soon, that may change for ... Chronicle (9/29)
Japan opens Africa donor conference with $1 billion pledge
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, opening a major donor conference Monday, pledged $1 billion in new aid for education and health care in Africa. The money, to be dispersed over five years... AP (9/29)
Getting a haircut for a cause
Christopher Heredia
Locks of Love, a national nonprofit organization, is searching for Rapunzels across the nation willing to donate their long tresses to needy children. September is National Alopecia Awareness month, and Locks is asking women,...Chronicle (9/28)
