Health and Medicine

With a new chairman, Jonathan Thomas, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine claims it has turned a page. Thomas has vowed to be aggressive in avoiding conflicts in dispersing millions of public dollars for stem cell research.

Q: I had colon cancer and have had trouble buying health insurance ever since. Under Obamacare, will insurance companies still be allowed to refuse me because of my medical history?

El Dorado County health officials are warning residents and visitors to stay away from chipmunks and squirrels because of renewed fears of the plague.

Nevada's largest psychiatric facility should hire more staff and shore up discharge protocols to guard against practices that resulted in some patients being bused alone out of state, with no shelter or family waiting at their destination, two consultants hired by the state concluded in a report Thursday.

California's newly created health exchange announced the bottom line on its insurance policies and rates Thursday, bringing sharper focus to family impacts of next year's health care overhaul.

The beverage industry is in a real bind. On one hand, the major drink manufacturers that produce soda, energy drinks, sweet teas and sports drinks are an American success story. They have made some of the most iconic products in the world and have developed some of the most ingenious ad campaigns. They have found ways to sell their products everywhere, increase portion sizes, keep prices low, and expand product lines in response to changing consumer tastes.

CONTINUING through June 17 - Grief and Loss, Healing through Yoga. Participants explore their grief through the use of basic yoga postures, discussion and education

Two interesting studies have come up over the past month on heart attacks. Scientists have found a temporary condition that can quadruple your chance of having a heart attack. Scientists have found that job stress leads to more heart attacks, but there is a treatment that can reduce job stress-related heart attacks by 50 percent.

As non-emergency surgeries were postponed and fill-in medical technicians were brought in from out of state, thousands of employees walked off the job Tuesday at the UC Davis Medical Center and four other University of California hospitals.

A loophole in California's upcoming health care overhaul could be exploited by families gaming the system or responding to hardship in a way that doctors say could leave a pile of unpaid bills.

A Sacramento judge Monday refused to stop a strike today by thousands of employees at the UC Davis Medical Center and four other UC hospitals – but ordered a limited number of critical care employees to stay on the job.

A group of 225 bicycle riders and crew raised $330,000 for 11 AIDS research and related groups during a four-day trip in Northern California.

Multiple agencies, including the Los Angeles city attorney's office, are investigating whether Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada's primary public mental health facility, has been systematically dumping patients across state lines for years.

Becoming an American can be bad for your health.

Sacramento's UC Davis Medical Center and four other large University of California hospitals have begun canceling elective surgeries because of a two-day strike planned by some workers next week.

Millions of Californians who contact the state's new health exchange to buy insurance will be given the opportunity to register to vote, too, a move that some Republicans fear could benefit Democrats.

UC Davis researchers have discovered swine flu in California elephant seals, but the marine mammals don't exhibit any large runny noses.

MONDAYS through June 17 - Grief and Loss, Healing through Yoga, exploring grief through basic yoga postures, discussion and education. 6-8 p.m. Mondays. Yolo Hospice Offices, 1909 Galileo Court, Ste. A, Davis. Free. (530) 601-5756. Registration required.

Telemedicine has been around for more than a decade, but the launch last week of RP-VITA – a fourth-generation telemedicine robot – aims to revolutionize the industry.

Alameda Health System of Oakland says it has signed a letter of intent with Sacramento's Sutter Health to take over Sutter's San Leandro Hospital.

One of the defining moments in the history of breast cancer occurred in 1974 when first lady Betty Ford spoke openly about her mastectomy, lifting a veil of secrecy from the disease and ushering in a new era of breast cancer awareness.

San Francisco-based Dignity Health's imminent departure from the outpatient lab business will result in 148 layoffs in the Sacramento area next month.

The UC Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities and the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency have a million reasons to celebrate after the state agency overseeing a federal health care overhaul Tuesday announced 48 winners of education and outreach grants.

In a report that undercuts years of public health warnings, a prestigious group convened by the government says there is no good reason based on health outcomes for many Americans to drive their sodium consumption down to the very low levels recommended in national dietary guidelines.

Sacramento area residents are invited today to attend the premiere of "The Chain," a short documentary about events set in motion by a kidney donor and the "chain" of transplants sparked by her donation.

The federal government has certified the Service Employees International Union's recent election victory at Kaiser Permanente, the union announced Monday, capping a bitter fight with an upstart union.

A new Senate report is calling for more regulation of California's substance abuse counselors amid disclosures that sex offenders and other convicted criminals are working in the industry.

About 13,500 people – clad in white and pink T-shirts – descended on Cal Expo on Saturday for the 17th annual Komen Race for the Cure.

Hushed and dimly lit, the region's five advanced-level NICUs are an especially poignant Mother's Day setting for first-time mothers such as Annie Bollinger.

With the rate of Alzheimer's disease projected to rise as baby boomers age, more people will face the problem of caring for loved ones with dementia.