Health and medicine

Inmates with serious mental illnesses deemed incompetent to stand trial are languishing in California jail cells for months as they wait for state hospital beds to open up, according to advocates, jail officials and family members.

Hours after a needle fed another round of toxic chemotherapy into her veins, Sandra Knott wondered aloud whether she would survive to don the crisp uniform of a state correctional officer again.

Even with affordable health care a bit of an oxymoron these days, no one in Yolo County seems to mind that the proverbial wrecking ball is poised over the Peterson Clinic, a valued community health clinic in Woodland.

Community Dental Services, a managed-care dental plan with about 16,000 Medi-Cal members in Sacramento and Los Angeles counties, will cease operations and transfer its enrollees to Liberty Dental Plan on June 1, state officials announced Friday.

Officials are predicting a busy mosquito season for Yolo County because mosquitoes infected with the West Nile virus have been trapped in Davis more than a month ahead of schedule.

The CALSTAR air ambulance company at McClellan Park in North Highlands has added a large, high-flying patient transport plane to its fleet.

Benefit concert for Full Circle Treatment Circle, blood pressure screening and Spring Power of Pink fashion show

Rancho Cordova-based medical equipment firm ThermoGenesis Corp. said its AXP AutoXPress system has been approved by regulatory authorities in Thailand, clearing the way for commercial activities there later this year.

With a sense of urgency, Sacramento and Solano County officials were tracking down the parents of 35 babies Tuesday, warning them that the infants had been exposed to tuberculosis while housed in two hospital neonatal intensive care units.

ALS. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It's a fatal neurodegenerative disease that can strike anyone, usually between the age of 40 and 70.

Dr. Ernie Bodai's pace is unrelenting. At 61, the Hungarian-born surgeon is actively promoting his global breast cancer stamp, campaigning for a tobacco tax on the June ballot and still treating patients as director of Kaiser Permanente's breast surgical services.

Medical marijuana advocates Saturday opened a three-day event to rally support to regulate a legal dispensary industry in California, spurred on by videotaped messages from two members of Congress who recently pushed an amendment to deny funds for federal raids on cannabis businesses.

Supporters of a proposal to give state regulators power to reject health insurance rate increases say they are submitting 800,000 voter signatures to election officials in hopes of qualifying for the November ballot.

The stage is set for an immense political clash over regulation of health insurance with multibillion-dollar stakes and an impact on virtually every Californian.

Last summer our family was enjoying a nice, relaxing day in the backyard of good friends. The kids were getting ready for a dip in the pool.

In the eight years since the "May Is Bike Month" campaign began, area cyclists have ridden millions of miles while demonstrating that bikes are, among other things, an easy solution to complex problems.

Healthcorps Highway to Health Festival 2012 and more

The Institute of Medicine, which offers advice to the government on health issues, released a 478-page report last week that evaluated the "obesogenic" nature of our nation.

Since he took office early last year, state Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has made health care reform his top priority.

Roughly 18,000 people attended Saturday's Komen Race for the Cure at Cal Expo, the first since the national organization's ill-fated January decision to stop giving funds to Planned Parenthood – a move it later rescinded.

Kaiser Permanente said its Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. and subsidiaries reported net income of $770 million in this year's first quarter, a 16 percent drop from the $921 million reported for the first three months of 2011.

At 66 and desperately ill with the recurrence of an aggressive form of non- Hodgkins lymphoma, Davis artist Gay Powers needed to move closer to the Sutter Cancer Center in Sacramento to prepare for the stem-cell transplant that doctors say is her best hope.

The Assembly approved legislation Thursday requiring parents to receive counseling about the risks and potential benefits of vaccinations to prevent communicable diseases before opting out of their children receiving the medicine.

Under pressure from health advocates, Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday removed a controversial physician from a state health board after she appeared in an industry-funded ad against a tobacco tax hike on the June ballot.

Robert Hulse loves his pizza and movie nights.

Let's assume you're behind in your training, that spring sprung on you before you knew it and you're not as trim and fit as you had hoped.

Smoking is not good for you. I think we all can agree on that. It's bad for your lungs, leaves you prone to chronic respiratory infections, lung cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Commercial Internet sites have some important lessons to offer for the practice of medicine.

Coping with aging. Learn how to cope with aging by embracing life at your own pace.

Almost 16 percent of Sacramento County residents have a limited or uncertain ability to get nutritionally adequate and safe food, according to a new study funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Sierra Health Foundation.