Even in health care systems in which doctors do not bill for each test they administer, the use of diagnostic imaging like CT and PET scans has soared, as has patients’ radiation exposure, a new study has found.The study, published online on Tuesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association

“Health donors, policymakers, and practitioners continuously make life-and-death decisions about which type of patients receive what interventions, when, and at what cost. These decisions—as consequential as they are— often result from ad hoc, nontransparent processes driven more by inertia

A federal health official’s ruling has cleared the way for 50 different types of cancer to be added to the list of sicknesses covered by a $4.3 billion fund set up to compensate and treat people exposed to the toxic smoke, dust and fumes in the months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.The

For the first time, researchers have determined virtually the entire genome of a fetus using only a blood sample from the pregnant woman and a saliva specimen from the father.The accomplishment heralds an era in which parents might find it easier to know the complete DNA blueprint of a child months

Doctors were told last month that we should stop doing so many screenings for prostate cancer with the prostate-specific antigen test. We learned that sigmoidoscopy is a cheaper, easier and effective alternative to colonoscopy for colon cancer screening. And a study I led turned up strong evidence t

HUMAN genome sequencing is already helping researchers find new treatments for illness. Now an unusual case study suggests that the benefits of sequencing may be enhanced in combination with detailed blood tests.The case involves Michael Snyder, a geneticist who was both the lead author and the subj

CHICAGO — Taking periodic breaks from a commonly used treatment for prostate cancer could shorten men’s lives, researchers reported here on SaturdayIn a large study, intermittent hormonal therapy proved to be less effective than continuous therapy for certain men with metastatic prostate cancer.The

Doctors often order tests and recommend drugs or procedures when they shouldn’t — sometimes even when they know they shouldn’t. The problem has become so serious that such groups as the American College of Physicians, the ABIM Foundation, the National Physicians Alliance and a coalition of medical s

The debate over the price of the vaccine against HPV has become intense When it comes to making the shot against cervical cancer the national vaccine programme, which means girls between the ages of 12-18 will receive it free, price is the matter.The debate over the price of the vaccine against Huma