The government has rejected British Medical Association claims that the NHS is risking patients’ health by rationing drugs and operations.BMA head Dr Mark Porter told the Guardian that financial pressure on the NHS meant its “offer” had shrunk and it was no longer a comprehensive service.Fears patie

STOCKHOLM — Andemariam Beyene sat by the hospital window, the low Arctic sun on his face, and talked about the time he thought he would die.Two and a half years ago doctors in Iceland, where Mr. Beyene was studying to be an engineer, discovered a golf-ball-size tumor growing into his windpipe. Despi

People with highly stressful jobs but little real control over decision making are running a 23% increased risk of a heart attack, according to authoritative research.Many people in today’s world, where the pace of life is fast and money is tight, may consider themselves stressed at work, but the de

(Reuters) – Britain launched a public consultation on Monday to ask whether controversial “three-parent” fertility treatments should be available to families hoping to avoid passing on incurable diseases.The potential treatments, currently only at research stage in laboratories in Britain and the Un

The number of complaints made to the General Medical Council about doctors has risen 23% in the past year, the regulator says.The GMC report showed there were 8,781 in 2011 compared to 7,153 in 2010.The rise is similar to the one the year before and continues a trend which has seen complaints jump b

(Reuters) – Cuts in global funding for Eastern Europe and Central Asia are undermining the fight against tuberculosis (TB) and the AIDS virus, threatening to push already high rates of disease and drug-resistance even higher, experts said on Wednesday.In a report by leading European non-governmental

Up to a million people in the UK have “completely preventable” severe headaches caused by taking too many painkillers, doctors have said.They said some were trapped in a “vicious cycle” of taking pain relief, which then caused even more headaches.The warning came as part of the National Institute fo

We all get headaches from time to time and most of us reach for a painkiller when we do. But guidelines published on Wednesday by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) are warning that painkillers may be exacerbating rather than curing the problem.Solid evidence is hard to

(Reuters Health) – For people conscious about their heart health, a new study suggests it may be best to eat fish instead of taking individual omega-3 fatty acids in supplement form.After reviewing information on the habits and fatty-acid blood levels of more than 20,000 male doctors, researchers fo

A painkiller as powerful as morphine, but without most of the side-effects, has been found in the deadly venom of the black mamba, say French scientists.The predator, which uses neurotoxins to paralyse and kill small animals, is one of the fastest and most dangerous snakes in Africa.However, tests o