medical

A year after President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law, many Americans are still struggling to get their insurance to cover basic medical treatments. And now, they are increasingly exploring less expensive alternatives to traditional Western medicine -- like acupuncture.

Millions of Americans not only lost their jobs in the Great Recession, but also their health insurance, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report. Many are skipping health care or falling into debt to pay medical bills as a result.

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved the first new drug to treat lupus in 56 years. It's not terribly effective: It only worked for 35% of the patients tested. But experts say the approval could prompt the development of more effective drugs.

In an update Tuesday, Pfizer said it is discontinuing 15 of the projects in its development pipeline. The news comes a month after the world's largest pharmaceutical company announced large research and development cuts were on the way.

Whistleblowing firm Ven-A-Care has recovered $2 billion for taxpayers by suing drug companies that overcharge the government and create windfalls for participating pharmacies. It also has made $380 million for itself. What's the problem with that?

It's hard to make huge changes in your spending habits all at once. To reach your new year's resolution to manage your finances better, try small steps instead. Financial experts offer 10 easy suggestions that could help you spend less and save more in 2011.

Abbott Laboratories is recalling roughly 359 million blood-sugar test strips for diabetics after the strips turned out to yield falsely low readings.

For the fifth time this year, Congress has voted to postpone steep Medicare pay cuts for doctors. The latest vote gives doctors a year's reprieve from the 25% pay cut, which some have said would keep them from accepting new Medicare patients.

An Israel-based company plans to launch a device in January that uses motors and sensors to help paralyzed patients stand, walk and, in some cases, climb stairs, the Associated Press reported Thursday.

As health-care costs skyrocket, the ranks of uninsured Americans are growing at their fastest rate ever. A new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities finds that 50.7 million people, or 16.7% of the population, had no health coverage in 2009, up from 46.4 million, or 15.4%, in 2008.