A transplant surgeon accused of hastening the death of a man so his organs could be harvested has been ordered to trial on one count of felony dependent adult abuse, but two other felony charges involving administration of drugs to the dying man were dismissed.

Nearly half the adults in metropolitan Huntington, W.Va., are obese - an astounding percentage, far bigger than the average in a country with a well-known weight problem.

Fortis, now known as Assurant Health, used algorithms to target policyholders with HIV, revoking their insurance shortly after diagnosis. The insurance company was ordered to pay $10 million.

Some workers soon will be able to pick a new type of insurance that offers free care for some illnesses, such as diabetes or depression, but requires hefty extra fees for treatments deemed overused.

New research shows more patients who got drug-coated stents right after suffering a heart attack later died from heart-related problems than those who received older, cheaper bare-metal stents.

A sharply divided Georgia Supreme Court on Monday upheld a key part of a sweeping 2005 law that made it more difficult for patients to win medical malpractice cases involving emergency health care providers.

It took lawmakers a year to shape President Barack Obama's health care bill. If it finally passes Congress, it'll take the better part of a decade to write the user manual for consumers and doctors, employers and insurance companies.

President Barack Obama, to help pay for his health care overhaul package, is proposing that high-income Americans pay Medicare taxes on the money they make on their investments. Here are some basic questions and answers about this little-discussed provision that could affect millions of people.

Medicare will stop paying the costs of treating infections, falls, objects left in surgical patients and other things that happen in hospitals that could have been prevented.

Too much cancer screening, too many heart tests, too many cesarean sections. A spate of recent reports suggest that too many Americans - maybe even President Barack Obama - are being overtreated.

Seeking quick cash in a tanking economy, would-be sellers of sperm, eggs, blood plasma and even human hair are filling waiting rooms and swamping agencies with inquiries.

Doctors, nurses and other health care workers are increasingly tapping their literary sides to better understand their patients.

A breakthrough organ transplant technique could free many patients from having to take anti-rejection drugs, doctors said Wednesday.

When it comes to health insurance, what you don't know can hurt you so the best time to make sure you're really covered is before you become ill. Taking some simple measures now can prevent problems later.

The state of Washington says 63 suicide prescriptions were dispensed during the first nine months of the state's "death with dignity" act to people between the ages of 48 and 95.

A congressman says he and 11 other Democrats will vote against the overhaul bill unless a provision subsidizing abortion is removed.

Bunny Olenick, 87, thought she had planned for everything. She had a living will, an advance directive and had named her sons as health care proxies. But a massive stroke left her family facing complex questions that show the challenges of dying in America.

One in 3 Americans has a living will, a study found, but many are not honored. Living wills may be asking the wrong questions, some experts say.

Members of Congress wouldn't take part in the insurance marketplaces to be set up by House and Senate bills. Msnbc.com fact-checks this claim - and more.

President Obama believes the government should be 'an honest broker' between patients and doctors. Msnbc.com fact-checks this claim - and more.

A third of young U.S. adults -- nearly 13 million people -- had no health insurance coverage in 2008, according to a government report released on Wednesday.

Catholic hospitals and nursing homes must grapple with a revised ethical and religious directive from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on use of artificial nutrition and hydration.

Doctors have steadily cut their work hours over the past decade, a new study finds, something that experts say may only worsen the health care situation.

People who are walking disaster areas - the types who bounce checks monthly, miss flights and vomit on the boss at the company picnic - are the same people who have poor reasoning skills, new research shows.

A series of gentle head and neck movements known as the canalith repositioning procedure is the best way to treat vertigo, according to the American Academy of Neurology.

A pair of experts on aging have mounted something of a crusade against the inappropriate prescription of human growth hormone for weight-loss or anti-aging claims, urging the government to step up regulations.

Your pharmacist may be changing your medication without your knowledge - and what you don't know could hurt you. Here's how to stay safe.

Millions of seniors who signed up for popular private health plans through Medicare are premium increases of 14 percent this year - another sign that spiraling costs are a problem even for those with solid insurance.

Many questions and claims are swirling around health care reform. It's time to sort the scare tactics from reality, writes bioethicist Arthur Caplan, Ph.D.

Opinion: Genetic testing of parents and, in some cases, embryos, means fewer are born with Down syndrome and cystic fibrosis, but it also raises some difficult ethical challenges.

Eye-popping health insurance premium increases of up to 39 percent are not an exception but a worrisome sign of the times, the Obama administration said in a report Thursday.

Many people whose doctors start them on medications for conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure may never fill those prescriptions, a new study suggests.

What could be worse for Americans than health care overhaul? No health care overhaul.

Consumers in at least four states who buy their own health insurance are getting hit with premium increases of 15 percent or more - and people in other states could see the same thing.

The Food and Drug Administration approved an implantable computer chip that can pass a patient's medical details to doctors, speeding care.

As health care reform gains steam in the United States, it's clear that a key part of any change will be to require nearly everyone in the country to have health insurance. Whether it's provided by employers or the government, or purchased privately, so-called insurance "mandates" will affect most families in America.

From 'bending the cost curve' to 'uncompensated care,' here's your guide to the buzz words that you'll need to know to follow the debate over overhauling health insurance.

The prognosis for universal health care in California is grim this year, and experts say a failure could set back similar efforts nationwide for years to come.

With health care legislation stalled, Republicans are touting their own remedies, including allowing Americans to buy health coverage across state lines. Currently, consumers can buy policies only from insurers licensed by the states in which they live.

Men who bottle up their anger at being unfairly treated at work are up to five times more likely to suffer a heart attack, or even die from one, than those who let their frustration show, a Swedish study has found.

At a fashionable eatery, I asked for tap water. Eyeballs rolled, but I was right in my request. Why? Because it's time for those of us who care about the environment and are concerned about global warming to stop buying and drinking bottled water.

A dozen years ago, a physician named Dr. Andrew Wakefield published a paper in the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet that did immeasurable harm to children.

Can someone be too old to be a parent? A number of cases last year of single women in their midfifties having children raised this question. The question looks pretty straightforward, but it isn't.

In an effort to reduce the ranks of the uninsured, Congress is proposing to expand Medicaid for the poorest Americans, and to provide subsidies to millions of others to help buy private coverage. But a sizeable number of those who would qualify for subsidies could still find health care unaffordable.

Higher Medicare copays, sometimes just a few dollars more, led to fewer doctors visits and to more and longer hospital stays, a large new study reveals.

Colorado lawmakers have an unlikely ally in their first attempt to curb the state's booming medical marijuana industry: owners of the some of the shops that sell pot.

Nearly anyone who has worked in a hospital can recount a tale of bad behavior, from doctors having tantrums to hurling needles.New rules will try to force hospitals to shape up their ways.

Federal health officials are announcing a recall of 2 million needles because of a risk they can push bits of silicone into patients' bodies.

The Los Angeles City Council has given final approved to an ordinance that will close hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries.

Fears about President Barack Obama's health care overhaul increased significantly in December, according to a new poll released as the legislation's future hangs in doubt.

A growing number of U.S. doctors are enacting their own brand of health reform, with some dumping insurance companies altogether and others forcing patients to pay thousands of dollars in cash to keep the care they're accustomed to. Msnbc.com's JoNel Aleccia reports.

Opinion: One sure sign that something is very broken in America's health care system is the rise of so-called "boutique" or "concierge" medical practices, where doctors charge patients an extra fee to be seen, writes bioethicist Arthur Caplan, Ph.D.

A Pennsylvania Health Department report says a nurse twice called the name of a Philadelphia man who died of a heart attack in a hospital waiting room but never went to look for him.

A unanimous California Supreme Court has struck down a law that sought to impose limits on the amount of marijuana a medical patient can legally possess.

Canada will soon announce steps to restrict Internet pharmacies from selling prescription drugs to U.S. consumers, officials said Thursday.

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered a research company to supply an experimental drug to a 16-year-old Minnesota boy who is terminally ill with a rare form of muscular dystrophy.

Call 911 and you expect the medical cavalry to race to your rescue, sirens blaring. But America's ambulance system needs emergency help of its own.

Health care proposals in Congress lack easy-to-sell benefits, which became victims of the lengthy process of trying to win over wavering lawmakers, appeasing powerful special-interest groups and addressing concerns about the heavily burdened Treasury.

Drugmakers appear to be focusing more on research into treatments for rare diseases, according to a survey by Tufts University.

For months, members of Congress have been designing blueprints for an overhaul of the nation's insurance system. While virtually all Democrats and many Republicans agree on certain basics, the plans differ in some important ways.

How a Virginia family got permission to get out-of-network treatment for one son's heart defect, and still ended up drowning in debt.

Health care officials say California is set to become the first state to limit the time patients must wait to see a doctor. Regulations to be announced Wednesday require family practitioners to see patients seeking an appointment within 10 business days.

As House and Senate negotiators work to reconcile the differences in their health bills, a tax on high-cost insurance policies could be included in the final legislation. Here is a brief guide to these types of insurance plans.

The fight over whether states or the federal government will have more clout in a proposed health insurance marketplace is escalating - and the outcome has big implications for consumers.

Use of electronic records, spurred by the insurance reform bill, will improve medical practice. Msnbc.com fact-checks this claim - and more.

Doctors worried about their reputations are trying to fight back against bad Web site reviews, requiring patients to sign contracts - critics call them "gag orders" - promising not to post comments to public sites. But the move may be backfiring.

Federal health regulators have issued warning letters to Eli Lilly, Bayer, Amylin and Cephanol for making inaccurate or incomplete statements while promoting their drugs.

The Food and Drug Administration is launching a new Web site explaining its operations to consumers as part of a broader effort to rebrand itself as a more accessible agency.

Prices on a growing number of prescription medications have ballooned in recent years as consolidation in the drug industry leaves less competition for niche medications.

In an effort to reduce the ranks of the uninsured, Congress is proposing to expand Medicaid for the poorest Americans, and to provide subsidies to millions of others to help buy private coverage. But a sizeable number of those who would qualify for subsidies could still find health care unaffordable.

House and Senate Democrats intend to bypass the traditional format when they negotiate a final compromise on health care legislation.

In case the prospect of nearly $4,000 in prescription assistance isn't enough to perk up low-income seniors, the government is using '60s singer Chubby Checker to publicize "the twist" in the Medicare drug program.

House and Senate Democrats intend to bypass the traditional format when they negotiate a final compromise on health care legislation.

For 17 years, Stan Brock has piloted a nonprofit called Remote Area Medical, offering free health care to the uninsured, the underinsured and the desperate.

About 10 years ago the government set some lofty health goals for the nation to reach by 2010. So how did we do? By many measures, not so hot. But the nation has made at least some progress on many other goals.

Another lawsuit has been filed against a Las Vegas hospital, alleging emergency room personnel failed to treat a pregnant woman in labor.

Mild electric shocks supplied by a portable device, a process called TENS, have been used for years to treat chronic low-back pain. Problem is, it doesn't work, a new study concludes.

The Senior Medicare Patrol is one of the least-known forces in the government's effort to eliminate fraud, which drains billions of dollars a year. The 4,700volunteers have been credited with saving taxpayers more than $100 million since 1997

Most people don't buy long-term care insurance. They simply don't want to think about moving into an assisted living center or hiring a stranger to bathe them.

Now that the Senate has passed a hotly debated health care bill, Congress is headed to the next level of negotiation. Here's where things stand and how you might be affected.

At the start of the decade, high-tech issues like cloning dominated the bioethical landscape. As we enter 2010, mundane questions are overshadowing the discourse: health reform, coping with the flu and what to do about obesity.

Jubilant Democrats are ready to push a health care overhaul bill past one last 60-vote hurdle to final Christmas Eve passage, and Republicans concede they're powerless to stop it.

Health care providers are rolling out a different sort of stocking stuffer: Gift cards that can be used to pay bills and insurance premiums or for specific services at eye doctors and dentist offices.

Americans will feel the pain before the gain from the health care overhaul Democrats are close to pushing through Congress.

Emergency health alerts for the Facebook generation? The nation's ambulance crews are pushing a virtual medical ID system to rapidly learn a patient's health history during a crisis - and which can immediately text-message loved ones that the person is headed for a hospital.

Families at Fisher House live in a world full of medical appointments, crying babies, and small accomplishments as the wounded learn to adjust to life-changing injuries.

Emergency health alerts for the Facebook generation? The nation's ambulance crews are pushing a virtual medical ID system to rapidly learn a patient's health history during a crisis - and that will text-messages loved ones that the person is headed for a hospital.

President Barack Obama warned the country's insurance industry was determined to thwart a big improvement in patients' rights as it lobbies against his healthcare reforms.

A growing number of U.S. doctors are enacting their own brand of health reform, with some dumping insurance companies altogether and others forcing patients to pay thousands of dollars in cash to keep the care they're accustomed to. Msnbc.com's JoNel Aleccia reports.

Any slacker living over his parents' garage can make pot brownies. Gourmet chefs are taking the art of cooking with marijuana to a higher level.

As health care reform gains steam in the United States, it's clear that a key part of any change will be to require nearly everyone in the country to have health insurance. Whether it's provided by employers or the government, or purchased privately, so-called insurance "mandates" will affect most families in America.

In a country with dwindling health benefits and rising ranks of uninsured, where the rule is to fly first and ask questions later, some patients are finding emergency air flights may save their lives, but also contribute to medical debt they can't pay.

In a country with dwindling health benefits and rising ranks of uninsured, where the rule is to fly first and ask questions later, some patients are finding emergency air flights may save their lives, but also contribute to medical debt they can't pay.

Opinion: One sure sign that something is very broken in America's health care system is the rise of so-called "boutique" or "concierge" medical practices, where doctors charge patients an extra fee to be seen, writes bioethicist Arthur Caplan, Ph.D.