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Health - AP

Rob Brant, owner of City Medical Services poses with liquid oxygen and oxygen tanks at his warehouse Tuesday, July 1, 2008 in North Miami Beach, Fla. Medicare is changing the way it pays for wheelchairs, oxygen tanks and other equipment in 10 regions, a move expected to eventually save $1 billion annually but has enraged many suppliers and threatened their existence. Brant was one of the losers. His seven-person company gets about 80 percent of its business from Medicare patients and didn't make the cut in the new bidding process. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Democrats hit GOP on support for Medicare cuts

2 hours, 54 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat, accused Republicans of putting seniors and military families at risk by siding with President Bush against a measure to prevent Medicare cuts.

  • In this Friday, June 13, 2008 file photo, tomatoes ripen on the vine in Hanover County, Va. Since a salmonella scare has caused many customers to shun what's normally a summer favorite, tomato farmers across the nation have had to plow under their fields and leave their crop to rot in packinghouses. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
    FDA reports more cases of salmonella illnesses Sat Jul 5, 11:27 PM ET

    WASHINGTON - The government on Saturday increased the number of people reported being sickened in a record salmonella outbreak in which tomatoes are the leading suspect although investigators are testing other types of fresh produce.

  • Farmers say salmonella scare has hurt tomato sales Fri Jul 4, 7:13 PM ET

    FRESNO, Calif. - Expect fewer slices of red, ripe tomatoes next to the grill this holiday weekend.

  • Haywire brain chemical linked to sudden baby death Thu Jul 3, 5:09 PM ET

    WASHINGTON - Scientists have new evidence that the brain chemical best known for regulating mood also plays a role in the mystifying killer of seemingly healthy babies — sudden infant death syndrome.

  • In this still photo taken from video provided by the New York Civil Liberties Union, Esmin Green lies face down on the floor in the psychiatric ward of the Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y., Thursday, June 19, 2008. Green, 49, had been waiting in the emergency room for nearly 24 hours when she toppled from her chair at 5:32 a.m. and lay writhing, face down on the floor. Security guards and a member of the hospital's staff appeared to notice her prone body, but made no visible attempt to see if she needed help. Within an hour she was dead. (AP Photo/New York Civil Liberties Union)
    Some psych patients wait days in hospital ERs Thu Jul 3, 5:09 PM ET

    NEW YORK - When staffers at a Brooklyn hospital spotted a middle-aged woman lying face-down on a waiting room floor last month, it hardly seemed like cause for alarm.

  • A slice of watermelon is shown at the Gutierrez Produce stand at the Dallas Farmers Market, Tuesday, July 1, 2008, in Dallas. Watermelons contain an ingredient called citrulline that can trigger production of a compound that helps relax the body's blood vessels, similar to what happens when a man takes Viagra, said scientists in Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
    Scientists: Watermelon yields Viagra-like effects Thu Jul 3, 5:48 PM ET

    LUBBOCK, Texas - A slice of cool, fresh watermelon is a juicy way to top off a Fourth of July cookout and one that researchers say has effects similar to Viagra — but don't necessarily expect it to keep the fireworks going all night long.

  • Jingle Luis, a 15-year-old girl from the Philippines who was born with severely clubbed feet, steps in to an elevator at New York's Montefiore Medical Center under the watchful eye of Dr. Terry Amaral, Wednesday July 2, 2008. Doctors took off her post-surgical casts and replaced them with special support braces and her first pair of shoes that allowed her to take her first unaided steps. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
    Filipina with upside-down feet walks for 1st time Thu Jul 3, 5:07 PM ET

    NEW YORK - A Filipino teenager who came to New York so doctors could perform surgery to untwist her severely clubbed feet took her first unaided steps Wednesday in pink-and-white sneakers — the first shoes she's ever worn.

  • Dr. Anju Peters shows where a swarm of mosquitoes attacked her daughter Sonia, 7, last week leading to an outbreak of hives, swelling and a rash Wednesday, July 2, 2008, in Chicago. Heavy rains and warm temperatures that have hit the Midwest are creating ideal conditions for these bugs. (AP Photo\Russel A. Daniels)
    First floods, now pesky mosquitoes for Midwest Wed Jul 2, 5:52 PM ET

    CHICAGO - First came the floods — now the mosquitoes. An explosion of pesky insects are pestering clean-up crews and just about anyone venturing outside in the waterlogged Midwest.

  • FDA panel urges more testing for diabetes drugs Wed Jul 2, 5:29 PM ET

    WASHINGTON - Diabetes drugs should face tougher safety standards that could cost manufacturers millions but protect patients from unforeseen heart risks, a government panel has recommended.

  • In this Friday, June 13, 2008 file photo, farmer Robert Dodd displays some of his tomato crop at his farm in Hanover County, Va. As salmonella cases continue to climb, the government is checking if tainted tomatoes really are to blame for the record outbreak — or if the problem is with another ingredient, or a warehouse that is contaminating newly harvested tomatoes. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
    More than 4,000 Danes may have salmonella Wed Jul 2, 1:55 PM ET

    COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Danish health officials fear more than 4,000 people may be infected with salmonella and are checking everything from refrigerators to credit card receipts to find the source of what may be the worst outbreak in 15 years.

  • Study finds long benefit in illegal mushroom drug Tue Jul 1, 8:59 AM ET

    NEW YORK - In 2002, at a Johns Hopkins University laboratory, a business consultant named Dede Osborn took a psychedelic drug as part of a research project.

  • These undated three-picture combo handout photos provided by the Mayo Clinic show the work of researchers trying to improve breast cancer screening in women with dense breasts, which mammograms don't penetrate well. The left image is a 50-year-old's digital mammogram, showing no problems. The right image is that same woman's MRI, showing what turned out to be an early cancer. In the middle, Mayo Clinic researchers found the same spot with experimental 'molecular breast imaging' that they hope will prove to be a cheaper, easier test than MRI. (AP Photo/Mayo Clinic)
    3-D mammograms, cameras may improve breast exams Mon Jun 30, 9:18 PM ET

    WASHINGTON - Remember peeking through a View-Master? Scientists are using the same concept behind the classic kids' toy to try to see mammograms in 3-D.

  • NJ officials warn of lamp oil poisonings Wed Jul 2, 7:12 PM ET

    TRENTON, N.J. - New Jersey officials have issued a health alert saying six people have been sickened by mistaking lamp oil for apple juice, including one person who died.

  • The Nebraska Beef plant is seen in Omaha, Neb., Wednesday, July 2, 2008. Nebraska Beef Ltd. is recalling nearly 532,000 pounds of ground beef produced in the past two months because the meat has been linked to an outbreak of E. coli illnesses. The federal government said that some of the Omaha-based company's beef was sold by grocer Kroger Co., and investigators traced the meat to Nebraska Beef after 38 people in Ohio and Michigan became ill. Kroger already recalled beef it sold in those states. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
    Kroger expands ground beef recall Wed Jul 2, 6:10 PM ET

    CINCINNATI - The Kroger Co. expanded its voluntary recall of some ground beef products beyond stores in Michigan and parts of Ohio to its stores in more than 20 states on Wednesday.

  • Skeeter advice: Wear repellent, avoid perfumes Wed Jul 2, 3:56 PM ET

    Flooding, heavy rains and summer heat have produced a bumper crop of pesky mosquitoes, particularly in the waterlogged Midwest. Here's how experts recommend avoiding the bugs and treating their bites:

  • WHO: New quick TB test rolled out in Africa Mon Jun 30, 1:58 PM ET

    GENEVA - A new test to quickly diagnose drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis will be rolled out in four African countries this year, the World Health Organization said Monday.

  • Cleveland Clinic hooks up with Weight Watchers Mon Jun 30, 7:32 AM ET

    CLEVELAND - The Cleveland Clinic, highly regarded for its cardiac care, doesn't hire smokers or allow trans-fats on its menus, and now it's joining with a nationally known weight control program to help its employees shape up and slim down.

  • Fast food chains ditch trans fats to meet NYC ban Sun Jun 29, 8:40 PM ET

    Fast food restaurants have been changing their recipes to adapt to New York City's trans fat ban. Here are some of the menu overhauls at major chains:

  • Chef Franco Amati stuffs cannoli shells at the Ferrara Bakery in New York's Little Italy Friday, June 27, 2008 in New York. New York's trans fat ban, the first to be adopted by an American city, is expanding next month to include almost all prepared food sold to the public — in restaurants, bakeries, cafeterias, salad bars, food carts. It initially covered only cooking oils for things like french fries and fried chicken. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
    NYC keeps the cannoli but drops the trans fats Sun Jun 29, 8:39 PM ET

    NEW YORK - Making cannoli is serious business in New York. It's a dessert so tempting that even a hit man in the "Godfather" couldn't leave a box behind.

  • A pile of tomatoes are seen on display at a wholesale produce market in Washington, June 12, 2008. Representatives from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said they are continuing to search for the source of the Salmonella outbreak, after reports of people falling ill from eating Salmonella-tainted tomatoes and that they now have 167 reported cases from 17 states. (Jim Young/Reuters)
    US checks if tomatoes caused Salmonella outbreak Sat Jun 28, 1:05 AM ET

    WASHINGTON - As salmonella cases continue to climb, the government is checking if tainted tomatoes really are to blame for the record outbreak — or if the problem is with another ingredient, or a warehouse that is contaminating newly harvested tomatoes.