Health - AP

WASHINGTON - Alzheimer's patients may soon get the first skin patch to treat the creeping brain degeneration, a novel way to deliver an older drug so that it's easier to take and might even work a little better.

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesia recorded its 42nd human bird flu death on Thursday, bringing the sprawling nation even with neighboring Vietnam as the two worst-hit countries by the virus, a senior health ministry official said Thursday.

WASHINGTON - People taking migraine drugs together with some antidepressants are at risk of a life-threatening condition, health officials warned Wednesday.

WASHINGTON - When they play Chips Ahoy Soccer Shootout and Pop-Tart Slalom, kids aren't just having fun. They also are subjects in marketing efforts to sell food, a study finds.

WASHINGTON - The manufacturers of Prozac and other antidepressants should include prescribing information about an uncommon but life-threatening lung problem that affects babies born to mothers who take the drugs during pregnancy, health officials said Wednesday.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A team of UAB doctors has developed a 25-minute test that physicians can use to determine the competence of dementia patients to handle financial affairs.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysia has suspended the hiring of new foreign doctors due to their incompetence, despite a chronic shortage of physicians in government health facilities, media reported Wednesday.

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco moved closer Tuesday to becoming the nation's first city to provide health care coverage for all its residents.

CHICAGO - Just days after announcing a crackdown on researchers who do not disclose drug company ties, the editor of a prestigious medical journal says she was misled again — this time by the authors of a study linking severe migraines to heart attacks in women.

WASHINGTON - Implantable contraceptives soon will be available again to U.S. women seeking a long-term solution to birth control, with the approval of a matchstick-size rod that can prevent pregnancies for up to three years.

SAN FRANCISCO - The waves were flat at Ocean Beach, but Brian Bennett paddled out anyway. For Bennett, a surfer of 20 years, it didn't matter that he might not catch a single wave on this crisp sunny afternoon with no other surfers in sight. Surfing is what the 34-year-old ad salesman does for exercise.

CHICAGO - Despite horrific medical conditions including triple-digit temperatures, no electricity and useless lifesaving equipment, ethicists and even some doctors caught in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath say there's no way to justify killing a sick or dying patient.

WASHINGTON - President Bush rejected legislation Wednesday that could have multiplied the federal money going into embryonic stem cell research, using the first veto of his presidency to underscore his stand on the emotionally charged, life-and-death issue.

MILWAUKEE - A consumer group, a patent foundation and a stem cell scientist are challenging patents on human embryonic stem cells held by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

WASHINGTON - Stem cell research packs the emotional punch of abortion and assisted suicide for people engaged on both sides but with this difference: So far, most people are on one side of the debate.

WASHINGTON - Meth abuse continues to fuel an increase in crimes like robbery and assault, straining the workload of local police forces despite a drop in the number of meth lab seizures, according to a survey Tuesday.

WASHINGTON - Women who consult with pregnancy resource centers often get misleading information about the health risks associated with having an abortion, according to a report issued Monday by Democrats on the House Government Reform Committee.

HOUSTON - Knees bent and hands above his head, Francis Maloy lay on his back on a narrow, metallic table inside a white chamber, waiting for a giant wheel-like device to bombard the tumor in his chest with protons.

WASHINGTON - A two-in-one test for hepatitis B that should streamline the screening of donated blood and organs received federal approval, health officials said Tuesday.