Amid the cacophony of confirmation hearings for Cabinet nominees, President-elect Donald Trump reportedly has settled on former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to fill the final Cabinet-department vacancy: secretary of agriculture. Although consumers may simply think of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) as responsible for overseeing the farming industry, it also plays a key role in […]

Should gun owners have to share information with health professionals about their firearms and whether they’re stored safely at home? This controversial issue gets a nod in the federal health law. Tucked into the Affordable Care Act is a section that protects people from having to disclose information about guns they own to wellness programs and prohibits federal health law […]

Since Arlo was born three months ago his parents, Lindsay Barrick and Jerry Talkington, haven’t gotten much sleep. (Courtesy of Lindsay Barrick) Nationwide, the wholesale infant sleep industry is worth more than $325 million a year, according to figures reported by companies to the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association. Jenny Gold’s story on the industry aired […]

HOUSTON — Donning a protective gown, rubber gloves and a face mask, Dayna Gurley looks like she’s heading into surgery. But Gurley is a medical social worker charged with figuring out why her client, a man who uses more health care services than almost anyone else in Houston, has been in three different hospitals in […]

On a chilly winter morning, dozens of truck driver trainees file into a classroom at the headquarters of Prime Inc., a trucking company based in Springfield, Mo. At the front is Siphiwe Baleka, an energetic former swimming champion in his mid-40s. He delivers grim news about trucker health to the new recruits. “If you haven’t […]

In the seven months since California’s aid-in-dying law took effect, Dr. Lonny Shavelson has helped nearly two dozen terminally ill people end their lives with lethal drugs —  but only, he says, because too few others would. Shavelson, director of a Berkeley, Calif. consulting clinic, said he has heard from more than 200 patients, including […]

African-American women are more likely to be infected with HIV than other women, and many don’t know it. So public health officials and advocates are trying to get the word out about PrEP, pre-exposure prophylaxis. It’s a daily medication that helps prevent HIV infection. “This is all about empowering women, especially black women, by giving […]

Despite a 99 percent failure rate and another major setback last month, Alzheimer’s researchers are plowing ahead with hundreds of experiments — and a boost in federal money — to try to a crack a deadly disease that has flummoxed them for decades. A law passed by Congress in December and signed by President Obama […]

A pesar de una tasa de fracaso de 99% y una gran decepción en diciembre, científicos que investigan el Alzheimer están avanzando con cientos de experimentos -y un gran impulso en dinero federal- para tratar de revertir una enfermedad mortal que los ha desconcertado por décadas. Una ley aprobada por el Congreso en diciembre y […]