The controversial health reform law faced a Supreme Court challenge and threats of repeal during the election. It survived, and despite ongoing resistance, will guarantee that all Americans for the first time can get health insurance.
After more than a decade of false starts, the FDA approved two new prescription diet drugs. The pills aren't for everyone and there are side effects. But the agency saw a need for extra help in curbing the nation's obesity crisis.
A record number of deaths from West Nile virus. Mice transmitting hantavirus. Fleas carrying the plague. A bacteria that eats your flesh. This horror–movie–like roster of diseases was all too real — often with deadly results.
Getting a PSA test for prostate cancer was a rite of passage for men of a certain age. That changed this year when a U.S. panel said men no longer needed the test. An angry backlash erupted, and the controversy continues.
Contaminated steroid injections from a now–closed compounding pharmacy caused a rare type of meningitis that led to deaths and serious illness while worsening a nationwide shortage of critical drugs.
Even if you exercise, you may have what's being called "sitting disease." New studies show that too much sitting can seriously harm your health in multiple ways – and may even shorten your life.
A recall of the popular painkiller in January spurred a frenzied search by fans willing to spend more than $175 for it on eBay. Production problems kept some versions off store shelves until late 2012, while others will return in 2013.
The popularity of designer drugs such as bath salts, K2, and Spice spurred an increase in calls to poison control centers and ER visits. Banning the drugs is complicated, as drug makers skirt new laws by using different chemicals.
Even at a young age, some overweight children and teens are facing health problems normally seen in adults decades later. They include kidney disease, gallstones, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes.
Peanut butter tainted with salmonella, pink slime, and energy drinks vied for top billing among this year's list of food and drink villains.
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