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

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

CHICAGO — A drug that delivers a powerful poison to tumors without some of the side effects of traditional treatments can delay the worsening of breast cancer and also appears to substantially prolong lives, according to results of a study presented here Saturday.Besides representing an advance in t

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

Concern over drug-resistant strains of TB is growing, with similar ‘incurable’ TB emerging in Italy and Iran. Doctors in Mumbai said 12 patients had a “totally drug resistant” form of the infection, and three have died.The Indian Health Ministry is investigating the cases and has sent a team of doct

Analysis of espresso coffee from 20 shops found that one was six times stronger than others. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) says too much caffeine can result in miscarriage or a low birth weight. Researchers from Glasgow University tested caffeine levels in espressos bought from High Street coffee

More than 200 researchers investigating colon cancer tumors have found genetic vulnerabilities that could lead to powerful new treatments. The hope is that drugs designed to strike these weak spots will eventually stop a cancer that is now almost inevitably fatal once it has spread.Scientists increa

NICE International launches the Gates Reference Case, a principle-based standardised methodology for good practice in the planning, conduct and reporting of economic evaluation for informing priority setting in health. The Methods for Economic Evaluation Project (MEEP) was establ

This is a post by Amanda Glassman reproduced with permission from the Center for Global DevelopmentCost-effectiveness studies compare the costs and benefits of different interventions with the aim of improving decisions on the allocation of scarce resources for health.  Or, put simply, they allow po

This is a guest post by Moriah Pollock-Hawthorne, Haverford University.I was an intern at NICE International and an American university student with aspirations to become a doctor. In an effort to learn about universal health coverage and experience a single-payer healthcare system in action, I came