Everyone knows that real estate is no bargain in Northern California. It turns out that giving birth ain’t cheap either. New research on the cost of childbirth in the nation’s 30 largest metropolitan areas ranks Sacramento and San Francisco as the two most expensive for both vaginal delivery and cesarean sections. Sacramento is No. 1; […]

Updated July 29. Enhancing mosquito control. Encouraging safe sex. Advising people to minimize travel to infected areas. As public health officials hustle to implement strategies like these to undermine the threat of the Zika virus, one such tactic could exacerbate a different health concern: maintaining the nation’s supply of donated blood. The Food and Drug Administration […]

When it comes to consumers choosing sunscreen, they are often drawn to a product’s scent, texture and, of course, performance, according to a study published Wednesday in JAMA Dermatology. It also found that, in many instances, these sunblocks don’t measure up to the standards recommended by the American Academy of Dermatology. The AAD recommends sun […]

A new study takes a fresh measure of generic drugs’ price advantages, revealing how much more Medicare Part D patients shelled out in copayments for two popular brand-name drugs in 2013. The result: 10.5 times more. Copayments averaged $42 for both Crestor, a cholesterol medication, and Nexium, taken for acid reflux, according to researchers whose […]

Prescription drug prices are up, making policy experts increasingly anxious. But relief could come from a surprising source. Just ask Cheech and Chong. New research published Wednesday found that states that legalized medical marijuana — which is sometimes recommended for symptoms like chronic pain, anxiety or depression — saw declines in the number of Medicare prescriptions for drugs […]

Millions of Californians are newly eligible for a health care benefit that could determine the treatment they receive in their final days — and most don’t know it. Medi-Cal, which covers more than 13 million Californians, and Medicare, with more than 5 million California enrollees, now pay for “advance care planning” discussions with doctors. Advance care […]

Politics are more polarized and acrimonious than ever. But one public health concern — the nation’s epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse — is uniting some unexpected bedfellows. There is Patrick Kennedy, former Democratic congressman from Rhode Island, who has since made a career of advocating for mental health treatment since leaving the House in 2011. […]

Like many parents of children with autism, Braulio De La Cruz sought an expensive therapy called applied behavioral analysis — or ABA — when his son Noah Leonardo was diagnosed last year. Noah, now 3 years old, qualifies for Medicaid coverage because he had been approved for Social Security’s Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, and his […]

Millones de californianos son recién elegibles para un beneficio de cuidado de salud que podría determinar el tratamiento que reciban en sus últimos días de vida – y muchos no lo saben. El Medi-Cal, que cubre a más de 13 millones de californianos, y el Medicare, con más de 5 millones de inscriptos en California, […]

A few years ago, Elizabeth Jaffee, a professor of oncology in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, probably wouldn’t have imagined that she would team up with an aerospace engineer to advance her research on cancer therapies. Advancements in mapping out genetic sequences had already given biomedical researchers a wealth of information to study tumors […]