Rhode Island Hospital, based in Providence, has been fined $150,000 by the Rhode Island Department of Health after a surgeon operated on the wrong finger of a patient last month. Among the ramifications, the hospital will have to install video cameras in all of its operating rooms and all surgeries will have to be watched by a clinical professional, not on ...

Low energy, backaches, AWOL periods. Sound familiar? You may need to see your doc, stat! "Harmless" symptoms like these can forecast scary health problems.  

SAN ANTONIO  —  Attorneys for a former Air Force nurse charged with killing three elderly patients by giving them lethal doses of medication say it would be negligent to undertreat pain for the terminally sick in their final days.

The American Heart Association announced today new recommendations for the way CPR is performed. The small change could make a big difference in the lives of people suffering from cardiac arrest, the organization says.

One-half of white women and more than two-thirds of Hispanic women in the United States may be obese by an international standard, researchers said. Lead author Dr. Mahbubur Rahman of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston said current U.S. National Institutes of Health body mass index values may not account for ethnic differences, and almost half of the reproductive-age ...

Kelle Shugrue's 7-year-old son eats fresh fruit and vegetables at his public school, rides his bike along neighborhood paths and walked to school last week as part of a community effort to get kids moving. The Shugrue family lives in Somerville, Mass., a Boston suburb hailed by health advocates for its seven-year investment in programs fighting childhood obesity and encouraging healthful ...

Children on widely used psychiatric drugs can quickly gain an alarming amount of weight; many pack on nearly 20 pounds (9 kilograms) and become obese within just 11 weeks, a study found

NEW YORK – Farrah Fawcett is being treated for anal cancer that has spread to her liver and has been hospitalized for a complication from a routine treatment, a producer who worked with the actress and her doctor said Monday. In separate phone interviews with The Associated Press, Fawcett's producer and her doctor said that Fawcett is in a Los Angeles ...

HERSHEY, Pa. — At Hershey Medical Center, a sophisticated computer program serves as a watchdog for infection outbreaks. With a few mouse clicks on a Web browser, the hospital's infection-control staffers can quickly generate reports with charts and graphs illustrating how many patients within a particular unit are infected, and which lab specimen contained the germs. "It's more for us to ...

For those who are keen to keep fit but low on motivation, a personal trainer is often the best option. But the human version may not be the most effective. Dog owners get more exercise walking their pet than someone with a gym membership, researchers have found. On average they exercise the animal twice a day for 24 minutes each time ...

WASHINGTON — Baby-protecting folic acid is getting renewed attention: Not only does it fight spina bifida and some related abnormalities, new research shows it also may prevent premature birth and heart defects. Now pregnancy specialists are asking if it's time for the government to boost the amount being added to certain foods to help ensure mothers-to-be get enough. But for older ...

THURSDAY, Oct. 14 (HealthDay News) -- One in 36 Hispanic men and one in 106 Hispanic women in the United States are at risk of being diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime. The overall estimated lifetime risk of HIV diagnosis among Hispanics is one in 52, according to a federal government study released Thursday.

Vitamin D - the so-called sunshine vitamin - is the wonder nutrient of the moment. While the vitamin is best known for helping build strong bones and absorb calcium, a vitamin D deficiency can raise the risk of everything from immune disorders to colds and flu, according to recent research. But testing for a vitamin D deficiency may raise more questions ...

(CBS/AP)  Six University Medical Center employees have been suspended while the county investigates claims that a woman was ignored for so long in the emergency room that she went home and gave birth to a premature baby who later died.

LONDON (Reuters) – Putting the clocks back in winter is bad for health, wastes energy and increases pollution, scientists say, and putting an end to the practice in northern areas could bring major health and environmental benefits.

NEW YORK — In scores of schools across the United States, the mop has been the weapon of choice in the fight against swine flu. When hundreds of children fell ill with the virus at a Queens high school last month, authorities promptly closed the building and spent days disinfecting desks and tables and running the ventilation system on full blast. ...

ATLANTA —  Most U.S. hospitals don't do very well when it comes to promoting breast-feeding, according to the first national report to look at the issue.