Reuters
Health - Reuters

Healthcare workers at a hospital. A Belgian man thought to have been in a coma for 23 years has told of his "second birth" after doctors realised he was in fact conscious, a German weekly reported Monday.(AFP/File/Simon Maina)

Healthcare reform faces challenges in Senate

Mon Nov 23, 11:47 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's U.S. healthcare overhaul plan has cleared an important Senate hurdle but lawmakers warned on Sunday of challenges ahead in winning support for passage, even among Obama's own Democrats.

  • A young child is vaccinated against the H1N1 virus in Schiedam November 23, 2009. Vaccination programmes against H1N1 have started in many European countries in recent weeks to try to halt the spread of the virus, which is commonly known as swine flu and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in June. The number of H1N1 swine flu deaths in Europe has doubled almost every two weeks since the middle of October and 169 people died of the virus in the past week, disease surveillance experts said on Monday. REUTERS/Jerry Lampen (NETHERLANDS ENVIRONMENT HEALTH SOCIETY)
    Swine flu may have hit one peak; more to come Mon Nov 23, 12:00 PM ET

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The pandemic of swine flu may be hitting a peak in the Northern Hemisphere, global health officials said on Friday, but they cautioned it was far from over.

  • Vioxx risks could have been detected earlier: study 2 hours, 16 minutes ago

    CHICAGO (Reuters) - Heart risks from taking Merck & Co Inc's painkiller Vioxx could have been detected more than three years before the company withdrew the drug from the market in September 2004, had the data been openly available, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

  • Health care reform may hurt hospital credit Mon Nov 23, 2:45 PM ET

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - High-cost urban U.S. hospitals may face debt rating downgrades if large cuts to Medicare funding are implemented as part of U.S. health care reform, Moody's Investors Service said on Monday.

  • Psychotropic drugs boost fall risk in the elderly 2 hours, 28 minutes ago

    NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new analysis of studies including nearly 80,000 people aged 60 and older confirms that certain types of widely prescribed drugs, such as antidepressants and sedatives, can increase their risk of falling.

  • Bottles of the prescription arthritis and pain medication VIOXX sit on a shelf at a New York City Pharmacy after Merc Research Laboratories announced a worldwide voluntary withdrawal of the drug September 30, 2004. REUTERS/Mike Segar
    Texas court tosses state Vioxx suit against Merck 2 hours, 46 minutes ago

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Texas court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the state against drugmaker Merck & Co that sought a refund for money spent on the withdrawn Vioxx pain treatment, the company said on Monday.

  • Don't kiss Santa, he may have the flu: Hungary government Mon Nov 23, 4:22 PM ET

    BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Santa Claus should avoid kissing children and shaking their hands to prevent spreading the flu and should get vaccinated against the illness, Hungary's state health authority said.

  • The French family from Young's Point waits for H1N1 vaccinations, administered by Peterborough Health Unit, held at a branch of Royal Canadian Legion in rural Lakefield Ontario, October 29, 2009. REUTERS/Fred Thornhill
    Canada stops use of one batch of flu vaccine Mon Nov 23, 12:55 PM ET

    WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - Some Canadian provinces have stopped using a particular batch of the H1N1 flu vaccine after six people experienced severe allergic reactions, the country's health agency said on Monday.

  • Los Angeles gets tough on medical marijuana shops Fri Nov 20, 9:29 PM ET

    LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Past the security man and his pit bull and through a haze of eye-watering smoke, two youths load up a pipe next to a row of shiny glass jars with two dozen varieties of marijuana bud displayed like candy.

  • Funeral workers risk cancer from formaldehyde Fri Nov 20, 4:58 PM ET

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Morticians who use formaldehyde to embalm bodies have a higher risk of leukemia, researchers reported on Friday.

  • Did U.S. make mistake in skipping vaccine additive? Fri Nov 20, 12:36 PM ET

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As U.S. health officials struggle to vaccinate tens of millions of Americans against the pandemic of swine flu, some are looking regretfully at one easy way to instantly double or triple the number of doses available -- by using an immune booster called an adjuvant.

  • Nurse Margaret England of the Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice draws some H1N1 vaccine during a swine flu clinic in Montpelier, Vt., Monday, Nov. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
    H1N1 flu spreading east, peaking in some areas: WHO Fri Nov 20, 12:40 PM ET

    GENEVA (Reuters) - The H1N1 flu is moving eastwards across Europe and Asia after appearing to peak in parts of western Europe and the United States, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

  • Eat and drink your way to a healthy colon? Fri Nov 20, 3:55 PM ET

    NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Eating fruits and vegetables, and drinking tea and red wine may offer overweight men and normal weight women some protection from colon and rectal cancers, hint study findings from the Netherlands.

  • Exercise important in teens' blood pressure control Fri Nov 20, 2:15 PM ET

    NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Regular exercise may help keep teenagers'

  • New guidelines push back age for Pap smears Fri Nov 20, 8:46 AM ET

    CHICAGO (Reuters) - Women in the United States should start cervical cancer screening at age 21 and most do not need an annual Pap smear, according to new guidelines issued on Friday that aim to reduce the risk of unnecessary treatment.