Newsday.com - Health News/Science News

SPECIAL REPORT
A guide to the Medicare maze
If life were a cartoon, spirals might swirl these days in the eyes of seniors trying to make sense out of Medicare's new drug plans.

• Podcast: Medicare Part D
• Saul Friedman | Talk Back

• Hormone Offers Promise of Youth, Risks

• Tests: Egyptian Woman Died of Bird Flu

• Food Industry a Target in Obesity Fight

• Smallpox Drill Held at White House Complex

Newsday Health and Science Writers

Curtis L. Taylor	Bryn Nelson
Delthia Ricks	Jamie Talan

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Blog: Newsday's Bryn Nelson

More Health/Science

A focus on bird flu misses the big issue
Avian flu is gradually circling the globe, carried by migratory birds. It has caused the death of thousands of domestic fowl and the culling of millions more, and will almost certainly reach the United States in the relatively near future. As of this writing, there were 175 confirmed human infections and 95 deaths, mainly in China and Southeast Asia.

A Guide to THE MAZE
If life were a cartoon, spirals might swirl these days in the eyes of seniors trying to make sense out of Medicare's new drug plans.

COMPANY-SPONSORED PLANS
Retiree drug coverage far from a sure bet
Armed with a primer from the Medicare Rights Center, David Cox logged onto the Medicare Web site to find the best Part D insurance plan for him. Though he found the site "slow as a glacier" and confusing in parts, he eventually came up with a plan to cover his blood pressure and prostate drugs.

PRESCRIPTION HURDLES
Need brand-name drug? Generic may come first
So you've checked all the insurance plans that offer the new Medicare Part D prescription coverage to New Yorkers.

Weighing Atkins' risks
The Atkins weight-loss plan can prove life-threatening for those who follow it to the letter because it substantially alters the chemical composition of blood, forcing it to become more acidic, New York doctors have found in a patient's unusual case study.

More Stories

• Rx for GenX: Plan and save - now

• Company reports 11 deaths in Aricept study

• Oceans' trend isn't cool

• Patients' fear boosts antiviral sales

• 'Prisoner' of Part D

AP Health

• Hormone Offers Promise of Youth, Risks (8:05AM EST)

• Key Events in Food Industrialization (Mar 18)

• Ugandans Report Mixed Message on AIDS Plan (Mar 18)

• Food Industry a Target in Obesity Fight (12:00AM EST)

• Tests Show Egyptian Woman Dies of Bird Flu (Mar 18)