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January 22, 2013 Abortion foes say the U.S. Supreme Court's aggressive decision set the issue on the path toward becoming intractable. Others say factors besides the landmark case — including doctors, lawyers, President Nixon and the Catholic Church — more strongly influenced the state of today's debate.

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January 18, 2013 The Food and Drug Administration just approved a flu vaccine made by cells taken from the fall armyworm, an agricultural pest. The cells produce copies of a piece of the flu virus's outer coat that primes the immune system. Conventional vaccines use the whole virus and take longer to produce.

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January 16, 2013 Smartphone apps that assess moles for skin cancer risk missed threatening moles one-third of the time, say dermatologists who tested some of the apps. The apps could give people a false sense of security about their skin.

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January 16, 2013 Zach Sayne, who died this month at age 25 in Alabama, never made it home to Georgia where his mother hoped he would be cared for. The story of why she couldn't move him there shows the bureaucratic traps, underfunding and lack of choices that plague state Medicaid programs.

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January 16, 2013 Canadian scientists have developed a synthetic stool that successfully treated two patients with a severe form of diarrhea. The researchers call the concoction RePOOPulate, and they produce it using a machine that recreates conditions in the colon.

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January 15, 2013 The boards that license and discipline doctors are watching what they post online. Guaranteed cancer cures and photos of drunken debauchery are definite no-nos. A picture of a doctor holding a drink at an office party might raise an eyebrow but probably wouldn't trigger an investigation.

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January 14, 2013 People expect coughs to last about half as long as they actually do. This misconception may lead patients to ask their doctors for antibiotics to treat cases of bronchitis that would go away without treatment.

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January 14, 2013 Figuring out when an athlete with damaged knee ligaments can get back in action is an inexact art at best. Doctors have various ways to mend a busted knee, but the results, like car mileage, can vary.

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January 11, 2013 Anthrax spores and gluten are health problems on a very different scale. But researchers believe they both could be vulnerable to thoughtfully designed enzymes. Computerized tools funded by the Defense Department to develop countermeasures for chemical and biological attacks may help with a treatment for celiac disease.

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January 10, 2013 Neuroscientists have found that bilingual seniors were better at certain skills that can fade with age than their monolingual peers, which could help protect them against Alzheimer's disease. But the researchers don't know whether learning a second language in adulthood would provide the same benefit.

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January 7, 2013 Two decades ago, about 10 percent of pregnancies in the U.S. lasted 42 weeks or longer. Today, about 5 percent last that long. What happened?

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January 7, 2013 KHNOver the past decade, colleges and universities across the country have seen an influx of students with mental health needs. Some campus health centers are exploring new systems to help meet the growing demand for services.

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January 4, 2013 Developed by British researchers, Larry the robot has helped scientists see that a little vomit can go a long way. He vomits on command. And his barf can be tagged with fluorescent dye that makes it easy for scientists to track.

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January 3, 2013 People generally fail to appreciate how much their personality and values will change in the years ahead — even though they recognize that they have changed in the past, according to fresh research.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

January 3, 2013 Too many women who don't need regular Pap tests are still getting them. Other women who could benefit from the tests aren't getting them, often those are women without health insurance.

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