Health

President Bush expects to make health saving accounts a highlight of his State of the Union speech tonight. But how exactly do they work at the consumer level? Helen Palmer has the details.

Johnson&Johnson is likely to escalate the bidding war over Guidant Technologies today. As Helen Palmer reports, the red-hot medical device market makes Guidant attractive, despite its liabilities.

Contradicting advice from the CDC, British researchers today warned people not to take Tamiflu for seasonal flu symptoms for fear indiscriminate use could give rise to a treatment-resistant flu strain that could trigger a pandemic. The warning comes at time when the US has already earmarked $1.8 billion to stockpile Tamiflu, and sales of the drug have sky-rocketed. Helen Palmer has more.

Everyone knows Canada provides free healthcare to all its citizens. So why are a growing number of Canadians coming to the US for medical attention? Steve McNally has the answer.

Helen Palmer reports on the race among drug companies to find a universal flu vaccine to treat a possible outbreak of avian flu.

In this installment of the Job Files, we check in with pharmacist Steve Kaufman.

Repercussions from the South Korean cloning scandal continue to reverberate. This week, Science magazine announced a rare retraction of an article authored by the researcher at the heart of the scandal. Helen Palmer looks at whether the scandal has cooled investor enthusiasm for life sciences ventures.

A new study points to the possibility that erectile dysfunction drugs could help improve cognition in Alzheimer's patients. As Helen Palmer reports, the application could help revive flagging sales of ED drugs.

Eye doctors and dentists are experiencing an end-of-the-year rush of patients, as health care consumers scramble to finish up their flex plan allotments before the year ends. Rachel Dornhelm reports.

Recent problems with a blood sugar monitor are the latest in a series of medical device glitches this year. Helen Palmer looks at what's behind the trend.