The rate of new cancer cases finally may be inching down - cautiously optimistic news but a gain that specialists worry could be derailed by economic turmoil. Death rates from cancer have been dropping slowly for years, thanks to earlier detection and better treatments. ...more

November 25, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A University of Alabama at Birmingham study showed highway traffic deaths for older drivers in Florida dropped 17 percent after the state passed a law requiring vision tests for people age 80 and older. In Georgia and Alabama, where such tests are not required, the death rates remained unchanged. ...more

November 11, 2008

Federal researchers are warning that warming temperatures could soon cause California's giant sequoia trees to die off more quickly unless forest managers plan with an eye toward climate change and the impact of a longer, harsher wildfire season. ...more

September 6, 2008

Numerous media reports followed a federal task force's announcement this month that there is insufficient medical evidence to assess the risks and benefits of prostate cancer screening in men younger than 75 and that doctors should stop testing men over age 75, ...more

September 2, 2008

Bypass surgery remains the best option for heart patients with more than one clogged artery, according to the first big study to compare bypass with drug-coated stents. ...more

January 24, 2008

Officials are attributing an 80 percent increase in deaths from child abuse and neglect in Florida last year mainly to changes in reporting criteria including the addition of drowning victims. ...more

December 16, 2007

Good news on the cancer front: Death rates are dropping faster than ever, thanks to new progress against colorectal cancer. ...more

October 15, 2007

The number of deaths in the United States rose in 2005 after a sharp decline the year earlier, a disappointing reversal that suggests the 2004 numbers were a fluke. Cancer deaths were also up. ...more

September 13, 2007

Cutting the grueling work hours of doctors-in-training had little effect on reducing patient deaths, according to two large studies. ...more

September 5, 2007