Patients with early breast cancer who are socially isolated have a higher risk of dying from their disease, a new study suggests. Women with fewer social ties — to friends, family, community and religious groups, as well as spouses or romantic partners — were 43 percent more likely to see their breast cancer return, 64 […]

A series of studies released Wednesday shed a preliminary light on the Zika virus’ consequences for children infected in the womb. But, experts said, the findings also highlight additional challenges: identifying affected babies and making sure they receive needed follow-up care as they grow. That task could prove complicated, especially as new data emphasizes the […]

Lawmakers have introduced a bill aiming to improve Denti-Cal, California’s dental program for the poor — a program that was subject to a scathing independent audit earlier this year. The proposed legislation, mostly sponsored by Republicans, is among the first public bids for revenue from the statewide tobacco tax that voters approved in November. The bill, […]

As the number of older prisoners soars, more inmates are dying in prison of diseases that afflict the elderly, new data from the Department of Justice show. A total of 3,483 inmates died in state prisons and 444 in federal prisons in 2014, the highest numbers on record since the bureau started counting in 2001, […]

As Colorado’s aid-in-dying law takes effect this month, proponents say they’ll make sure terminally-ill patients have access to a new, affordable drug concoction that will avoid the $3,000 cost of a common lethal sedative that has skyrocketed in price. Officials with Compassion & Choices, an advocacy group, are reaching out to pharmacies statewide to confirm […]

Three senior executives at scope maker Olympus Corp., which is under federal investigation for its role in superbug outbreaks, repeatedly invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when questioned recently about internal company emails. The Tokyo executives declined to answer questions about the correspondence during two days of depositions Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 in […]

When a patient goes to the best hospital, he or she usually hopes for a doctor who is knowledgeable and experienced. Something else to wish for? A woman physician. That’s because female doctors may on average be better than their male counterparts at treating patients in the hospital and keeping them healthy long-term, according to […]

At age 88, Elizabeth Fee looked pregnant, her belly swollen after days of intestinal ailments and nausea. A nurse heard a scream from Fee’s room in a nursing home, and found her retching “like a faucet” before she passed out. The facility where she died in 2012 was affiliated with a respected San Francisco hospital, […]

It took a lot of convincing for John Evard to go to rehab. Seven days into his stay at the Las Vegas Recovery Center, the nausea and aching muscles of opioid withdrawal were finally beginning to fade. “Any sweats?” a nurse asked him as she adjusted his blood pressure cuff. “Last night it was really […]