Free Republic

Only half of the people in the United States who most need immediate treatment for H1N1 swine flu are actually seeking it, even as the virus spreads at unprecedented speed, U.S. health officials said on Friday. The latest count shows 114 children have been killed by the virus in the United States since April, during a time when there is usually virtually no influenza, said U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Thomas Frieden. H1N1 is widespread, he said, and case counts continue to rise in most states. "One of the things that we have been surprised to...

I learned a lot about the cost of health care when I had a hybrid general surgery practice in California 's rural San Joaquin Valley. My practice consisted of uninsured women with breast cancer combined with a smaller percentage of cosmetic patients whose cash payments for "vanity care" subsidized the treatment of women unable to pay for needed medical treatment. Although patients seeking cosmetic services tend to be healthy, I evaluated them like any other patient. I asked about medical history, allergies, medications and genetic disorders. Upon questioning Sherry S., a pretty 46-year-old seeking wrinkle relief, I learned that four...

While the people die, Minister of Health is working in the campaign of continuity Although you may not believe in public hospitals the first requirement for treatment is not sick. And the first question asked him is: "do you agree with the fourth ballot box?". Those who claim to be against President Zelaya and continuity of a dictatorship in Honduras, inevitably have to turn around and go home or seek care at a private clinic. This was the sad experience he had Saris Elda Herrera, who came to the hospital in Tela, Atlantida, to seek medical services for an intestinal...

An unlicensed intravenous form of the antiviral drug Relenza saved the life of a woman with a severe illness resulting from infection by the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus, British doctors reported today in the journal Lancet. Dr. Michael Kidd and Dr. Mervyn Singer of the University College London Hospitals were treating the virus, commonly known as swine flu, in a 22-year-old woman who had contracted it after undergoing chemotherapy for Hodgkin's disease. The woman had increasing shortness of breath, build-up of fluid in both lungs and was progressively deteriorating. Physicians had given her Tamiflu and Relenza, which is normally given...

President Barack Obama said he would be okay with illegal immigrants being treated in emergency rooms in some situations under his health care plan.

NEW YORK – The American Psychological Association declared Wednesday that mental health professionals should not tell gay clients they can become straight through therapy or other treatments. Instead, the APA urged therapists to consider multiple options — that could range from celibacy to switching churches — for helping clients whose sexual orientation and religious faith conflict. In a resolution adopted on a 125-to-4 vote by the APA's governing council, and in a comprehensive report based on two years of research, the 150,000-member association put itself firmly on record in opposition of so-called "reparative therapy" which seeks to change sexual orientation....

WASHINGTON, July 29, 2009 – Renovations have begun on a water treatment plant near the villages of Hitaween and Adamiyah, Iraq. Army Lt. Col. Mark Solomons, commander of the 1st Infantry Division’s 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, receives a tour of the Hitaween, Iraq, water treatment plant, July 27, 2009. Coalition forces are funding some renovations to the facility, which will be carried out by Iraqi contractors. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Joshua Risner  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The sparsely populated, rural patch of land west of Baghdad relies heavily on the facility...

Both cancer and obesity kill hundreds of thousands of patients each year, but they have more than the Grim Reaper in common. Tumors and excess fat are both unhealthy accumulations of tissue that require elaborate networks of blood vessels to feed them. Now Zafgen, a biopharmaceutical startup based in Cambridge, MA, is attacking obesity the way that cancer researchers have been attacking tumors for decades: using drugs that interfere with its blood supply. "It's a very interesting and exciting concept," says Rakesh Jain, director of the Edwin L. Steele Laboratory for Tumor Biology, at Massachusetts General Hospital, who has no...

New approach offers more pleasant light of traditional bulbs without the energy guilt Thanks to a bit of ingenuity, Chunlei Guo, associate professor of optics at the University of Rochester, and his assistant Anatoliy Vorobyev have been able to squeeze out fluorescent-like energy performance from an incandescent light bulb. The breakthrough boils down to a laser treatment of the bulb's tungsten filament, a processing step which could one day become a standard in the light bulb industry.

CAMP BUCCA, Iraq, May 28, 2009 – Air Force Airman 1st Class Alberto Lopez knew the guy was hiding something. An airman with 887th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron searches a detainee before a visit with his family at the theater internment facility’s visitation center at Camp Bucca, Iraq, May 12, 2009. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Thomas J. Doscher   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. He could feel it. The detainee was giving off "the vibe" that three months of working the visitation center at the theater internment facility here had taught the airman to detect....

Health and Human Service Undersecretary Mortimer Graves cited figures on iatrogenic morbidity and mortality in rebuttal of criticism that national health care would increase delays in treatment. “While, in theory, the extra caution and review that will accompany the President’s reform of health care could cause additional deaths and suffering, the fact is, doctor error killed nearly 100,000 people last year,” Graves said. “It seems to me that when it comes to medicine, haste makes waste. If government intervention impedes access to physicians by elongating the process, less damage will be done.” Graves also contended that “in 90% of cases,...

BAGHDAD — A joint inspection conducted by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense’s Human Rights Directorate, Ministry of Defense Advisory Team from the Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq, and the Multi-National Corp - Iraq’s Provost Marshal Office concluded that 19 detainees are being held in satisfactory conditions at the Iraqi Army 17th Division Headquarter based in Mahmudiyah. The team visited one detention facility run by the division’s headquarter and another facility operated by the division’s brigade during the inspection. Living conditions were commendable at both facilities and detainees had access to an outside exercise area, decent latrines and showers, and...

Covertly slipped into GL Obama’s faux “stimulus bill” last weekend—by leftist Democrats—was the Socialist Universal Healthcare program. Contained within the bill is the provision that doctors will now be forced to report any and all of their patient treatments to the federal government for approval to treat. Also contained within this portion of Obama’s non-stimulus bill is the rationing of healthcare services to senior US citizens and the withholding of potentially life-saving measures. As Democrat Tom Daschle wrote in his book “Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis” senior citizens “should be more accepting of the conditions that...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17, 2008 – Defense officials will take action if an upcoming congressional report on the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody yields new information, a Pentagon spokesman said. "We'll look at the report in detail. If there is any new information in there that we feel we need to address, we will certainly act upon it," Bryan Whitman told reporters last week. The Senate Armed Services Committee report culminates a two-year investigation that included hundreds of hours of interviews with current and former Defense Department personnel and a review of almost 200,000 pages of documents provided by the...

I wrote an article that pretty much summed up my feelings with the Obama-Democrat victory on Tuesday: Obama Wins! God Damn America! Two comments represent two very different points of view: You people are rediculous [sic]. Take a minute and think about what you’re saying. You cannot continue to spew lies and deciet [sic] and expect us to come together peacfully [sic] as a country. And: Let’s give Obama the same chance his followers gave Bush in 2000. None. I have to laugh at the first comment. Did liberal individual expressing this opinion feel a similar righteous indignation for the...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Countrywide Financial, the largest mortgage lender at the center of the US housing crisis, regularly gave loans on favorable terms to prominent lawmakers and former cabinet members, according to US media. The preferential treatment for senators including Democrat Chris Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and a recent presidential candidate, was approved by Angelo Mozilo, chief executive of Countrywide Financial, the Washington Post reported on Saturday. CondeNast Portfolio magazine first broke the story on Wednesday, saying the recipients of the favorable terms were known as "Friends of Angelo" in internal company documents and e-mails. "Make an...

KABUL, Afghanistan, April 3, 2008 – The Afghan National Police Central Training Center graduated 24 police officers today from the first course for trauma-assistance personnel taught by U.S. Navy hospital corpsmen. Students with the Afghan National Police Trauma Assistance Personnel course treat a fellow policeman’s simulated wounds during the inaugural course at the ANP Central Training Center in Kabul, Afghanistan. Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Three Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan Navy corpsmen from the ANP Medical Embedded Training Team here taught the eight-week course, which gives the ANP its first personnel...

FALLUJAH, Iraq, April 3, 2008 – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Gulf Region Division is directing an $85 million central wastewater treatment facility for Fallujah’s estimated 200,000 residents. Workers weld a hatch beside the sludge-drying beds of the sewage treatment facility under construction in Fallujah, Iraq. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Started in May, the project is the largest in Anbar province and is 45 percent complete, officials said. The facility is projected to be sufficient for all of Fallujah’s wastewater treatment needs when the city integrates its own collection systems later and through...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2008 – The Army has made huge improvements in the way it cares for combat-wounded troops during the year since news reports brought problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center to light, the Army surgeon general told Congress today. Army Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Eric Schoomaker, who also commands U.S. Army Medical Command, told the House Armed Service Committee’s Military Personnel Subcommittee the Army’s medical action plan “is continuing to move forward” and making steady progress in improving care for wounded warriors. “We as an Army are committed to getting this right and providing a level of care...

Lt. Col. Timothy Monahan, battalion surgeon for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, listens to an Iraqi girl’s heart pace during a coordinated medical engagement Jan. 28 in Khidr, Iraq. Photo by Pfc. Amanda McBride. FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Working side-by-side, surgeons and medics from 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division and the Iraqi Army came together in a coordinated medical engagement Jan. 28 in Khidr, Iraq. “By us coming out here and doing this with the Iraqi Army, the families know that we are serious and want...

By Audrey Hudson - The Oakland International Airport did not break any laws or regulations when it denied 200 Marines and soldiers access to the passenger terminal during a layover last year from Iraq to the troops' home base in Hawaii, the Transportation Department says. Calvin L. Scovell III, the department's inspector general, blamed the mix-up on security concerns and a communication failure between the Defense Department and the Homeland Security Department. The contract to allow military layovers at the California airport "did not require that military personnel have access to the airport terminal; it only required that military personnel...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 16, 2008 – When Army Sgt. Nicholas Paupore puts a mirror between his legs and looks down, he’s whole again. The right leg that was destroyed when an explosively formed penetrator ripped through his Humvee just south of Kirkuk, Iraq, suddenly reappears before his eyes, reflecting the left leg that remains. Navy Cmdr. (Dr.) Jack Tsao, associate professor of neurology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, in Bethesda, Md., encouraged Army Sgt. Nicholas Paupore, an outpatient at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in Washington, D.C., to try mirror therapy to treat phantom pain in...

Go ahead and tell your mother she was wrong. Your health is a laughing matter. http://www.healthmad.com/Alternative/Why-Your-Health-is-a-Laughing-Matter.55379

Anyone who has ever owned a pet can will you that it has made their lives happier. Now, recent studies are showing that pet owners are not only happier, but healthier as well. http://www.gomestic.com/Pets/Five-Reasons-Why-Pet-Ownership-is-Good-for-Your-Health.54027

SYRACUSE - The water looks clear, but the label on the bottle tells a different story. "Ingredients," notes the back side of the bottle's label: "Water, fecal matter, toilet paper, hair, lint, rancid grease, stomach acid and trace amounts of Pepto Bismol, chocolate, urine, body oils, dead skin, industrial chemicals (aluminum, copper, zinc, lead, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, selenium, silver arsenic, mercury,) ammonia, ... soil, laundry soap, bath soap, shaving cream, sweat, saliva, salt, sugar. No artificial colors or preservatives. Some variations in taste and/or color may occur due to holidays, predominant cuisine preference, infiltration/inflow, or sewer cross-connections." The specially labeled...

BAGHDAD — As Capt. Nicole Vild, the commander of Delta Forward Support Company, 4th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, made preparations for her company’s upcoming medical assistance mission, she realized that one crucial piece was missing. She had a container full of enough medical supplies to assist hundreds of people. She had already contacted all the necessary medical personnel, and a location for the mission had also been chosen. Everything seemed to be in place, but she still had one problem. “Most of the (medical missions) that we have been doing have been inside...

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of the largest and most powerful Shiite party in Iraq, is in the United States for urgent medical attention, according to U.S. officials and his organization. His party, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, refused to discuss Hakim's diagnosis, but U.S. officials said the cleric, 57, has been found to have lung cancer and is in the United States for further tests and to develop a treatment plan. In a reflection of Hakim's stature, President Bush authorized immediate transportation to get Hakim from Iraq to the United States, an administration source said yesterday. Vice President...

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's head of migration on Tuesday pledged to improve the agency's detention centers in response to criticism that Mexico fails to give Central American immigrants the same respect it demands for its own citizens in the United States. Cecilia Romero Castillo, who said many of Mexico's 48 detention centers lack adequate personnel, supplies, medical care and social services, announced a plan to install doctor's offices in 16 centers, upgrade facilities and improve staff training. Romero also said the agency will no longer use jails as detention centers and will fire any supervisor found violating the rules. The...

An Iraqi laborer works to prepare for the installation of a chain link fence to protect the storage tanks at the Umm Qasr water treatment facility. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo by A. Al Bahrani Army Engineers Help Build Potable Water Treatment Plant Two new wells, each 20 to 30 meters deep, provide reliable source of water. By A. Al Bahrani Gulf Region South BASRAH, Iraq, Feb. 12, 2007 -- The Umm Qasr water treatment plant, one of the six largest infrastructure projects in southern Iraq, provides potable water for Umm Qasr port facilities and the town of...

Niacin expected to grow as heart treatment CLEVELAND, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- A Cleveland doctor says use of niacin as a cholesterol drug is likely to increase following the failure of a drug that was found to increase heart problems. Dr. Steven Nissen, a cardiologist at the famed Cleveland Clinic and president of the American College of Cardiology, said niacin, a B vitamin that raises HDL, commonly known as good cholesterol, is likely to increase in prominence after trials of the Pfizer Inc. cholesterol drug torcetrapib failed, The New York Times reported Tuesday. Raising HDL levels in patients helps to...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A homeless man tried to set himself on fire to protest the city's treatment of the homeless population, but was thwarted by bystanders before he could go through with it, police said. The man was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital and placed in protective custody under the state's Baker Act, which allows authorities to commit people for up to 36 hours for psychological evaluations if they appear to be a danger to themselves or others. The suicide attempt Friday happened during Project Homeless Connect, an event that provided food, health care and other social services...

A contractor representative talks with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officers about training requirements to operate and maintain the equipment on one of five skimmer tanks at the Nasiriyah Water Treatment Plant. [ARMY PHOTO BY JAMES BULLINGER ] NASIRIYAH — Construction of a new multi-million dollar water treatment plant here means fresh water for more than 500,000 residents. It also means a variety of new jobs, ranging from laborers to skilled engineers.The plant serves the Dhi Qar communities of Nasiriyah, Suq Ash Sheuk, al-Diwaya, al-Shatra and al-Gharraf., and is a “world-class facility and the largest water treatment facility in Iraq,”...

Dogs have long been used for medical research, usually to the dismay of animal-rights activists. But now pet owners are enrolling their dogs in medical trials meant to benefit humans and animals alike... Most of the trials, often sponsored by drug companies or medical device makers, involve pets with cancer — a leading natural cause of death in older dogs — in which the animals receive groundbreaking drugs or other treatments that are eventually meant for people... ...Treating dogs gives researchers an idea of whether and how the treatment will work in people, while at the same time possibly helping...

It's minus 120 degrees and all I'm wearing is a hat and socks. Cryotherapy is the latest treatment for a range of illnesses including arthritis, osteoporosis, and even MS. New Age madness or a genuine medical breakthrough? The airlock door to the cryo-chamber slides open before me. A powerful whoosh of cold air escapes and a few curls of frozen smoke snake out around my legs. It’s like standing in front of a giant refrigerator, but instead of taking out a pint of cold milk I’m about to step inside. The temperature is minus 120 degrees and all I’m wearing...

Col. Hattif (far right) and two officers from the 7th IA Division adjusts the water flow into the fresh water holding tank. The completion of repairs to the facility at the 7th Iraqi Army Division Headquarters marks the first time the Iraqi forces will be capable of providing their own drinking water on camp. Official Department of Defense photo by Spc. Walton McJordan. RAMADI -- Iraqi Soldiers took a step closer to independence with the reopening of a water treatment facility at Camp Blue Diamond. The completion of repairs to the facility at the 7th Iraqi Army Division Headquarters marks...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21, 2006 – Detainee treatment and interrogation operations at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are fully compliant with the Detainee Treatment Act and Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions -- at least as best as U.S. military leaders understand Common Article 3, the general with overall responsibility for operations there said yesterday. Army Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, commander of U.S. Southern Command, said “outrages on personal dignity” -- outlawed by Common Article 3 -- is an overly ambiguous term that could lead to trouble for U.S. servicemembers trying to understand rules for interrogations. “In the military, we like ‘tasks,...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Rebellious Republicans, who this week broke with the White House over President George W. Bush's plan for treatment and trial of terror detainees, kept up their fight, highlighting US division over the issue of rights versus security. Senator John McCain, who has been leading the battle to stop Bush from redefining the Geneva Conventions, said the United States needed to "hold the moral high ground," on how prisoners, Al-Qaeda or not, are treated. "We can't lower our standards because others do," he told ABC news. "We are not like Al-Qaeda. We're not like the bad guys. We're...

/begin my translationNew Drugs Tested In Russia On Those With Kim Jong-il's Health Profile A lawmaker at Intelligence Committee, "told by the intelligence chief" (Seoul = Yonhap News) Kim Nam-kwon = It is claimed that new drugs are being tested in Russia on those who are of the same age, physique, and physiology as Kim Jong-il, whose health is allegedly in trouble recently. A lawmaker at Intelligence Committee of National Assembly (S. Korea) claimed during a telephone conversation with Yonhap News on Sept. 10, "National Intelligence Service Chief Kim Seung-kyu said so recently at the full meeting of Intelligence Committee." The lawmaker explained, "NIS Chief Kim told us that...

PROBIOTIC bacteria given to autistic children improved their concentration and behaviour so much that medical trials collapsed because parents refused to accept placebos, a scientist revealed yesterday. The effect of the bacteria was so pronounced that some of the parents taking part in what was supposed to be a blind trial realised their children were taking something other than a placebo. A number then refused to give their children the placebo when they were due to switch, resulting in the collapse of the trial. Glenn Gibson, a microbiologist who ran the study of 40 autistic children aged between four and...

The Al Wathba Water Treatment Plant has undergone a $22 million upgrade to bring more fresh, potable water to Baghdad residents. The facility serves the Rusafa area in northeast Baghdad. Courtesy photo Al Wathba Water Treatment Plant Gets Upgrade Renovations include state-of-the-art pumps, pipes, filters and a new chlorination system. By Norris Jones Gulf Region Central District US Army Corps of Engineers BAGHDAD, Aug. 9, 2006 -- For nearly two years, the Al Wathba Water Treatment Plant has been undergoing a $22 million upgrade to bring more fresh, potable water to Baghdad residents. That facility serves the Rusafa area...

EXCLUSIVE: ASTONISHING SIDE EFFECT OF SCOT'S RARE GENETIC ILLNESS Treatment turned grey hair dark and smoothed wrinkles A GRANDAD suffering from a rare disease has found a bizarre side effect to his treatment - it makes him look 20 years younger. Reggie Myles, 62, feared he would be crippled for life after being struck down by the genetic disorder Porphyria Cutanea Tarda. He lost his mop of grey hair, his weight dropped to just seven stones and even the simplest tasks such as making a cup of tea became impossible. He was put on a gruelling regime of treatments including...

40 Thousand volts, four thousand amperes, and over one hundred million watts squeezed into a cubic centimeter. YouÂ’d think that would be enough to vaporize just about anything, and it certainly doesnÂ’t seem like the kind of electricity youÂ’d want to apply to your body. But if our research continues to succeed as it has, years from now weÂ’ll be asking some cancer patients to do just that. And it might just save their lives. The trick is to apply that gargantuan jolt for only a few billionths of a second. ThatÂ’s so brief a time that the energy delivered...

WASHINGTON, July 11, 2006 – A memo from Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England underscores the department's standing policy of treating detainees humanely and orders commanders responsible for detainee affairs to review their practices to ensure they are in compliance. "The Supreme Court has determined that Common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 applies as a matter of law to the conflict with al Qaeda," England stated in the July 7 memo. In a nutshell, Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions ensures humane treatment of detainees, Bryan Whitman, deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, told reporters today....

CAMP TAJI, Iraq (Army News Service, July 10, 2006) – One unit has sole responsibility for getting Baghdad-stationed coalition forces and civilians in need of medical care to the right treatment facilities. Since November 2005, more than 3,500 patients have been transported by Company C, 2nd Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division. The more than 80 Soldiers assigned to the unit operate from Camp Taji and Forward Operating Base Falcon. Missions taken on by the “Dustoff” Company are categorized as urgent or priority according to patients’ conditions. “Our overall mission is to facilitate the safest and...

Mayor Ali Husan Ali (right) shakes hands with U.S. Army Lt. Col. Thomas Fisher as they prepare for a ceremony signifying the opening of a water treatment and distribution facility in the township of Hibhib, Iraq, June 25, 2006. Fisher, a native of Sioux Falls, S.D., is the commander, 1-68 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Paul J. Harris Hibhib Water Treatment Plant Opens The project, a joint effort between the Iraqi government and coalition forces, will provide clean water for up to 4,000...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., May 3, 2006 – Two Afghan children are receiving lifesaving treatment in the United States, thanks in part to the efforts of members of the Florida Army National Guard serving in Afghanistan. (Left to right) Florida Army National Guard Brig. Gen. John M. Perryman; Ahsan Sarwari and his son, 8-year-old Tamin Sawari; Ainuddin Kofi and his son, 2-year-old Azad Kofi; translator Abdul Matin; and Florida Army National Guard Lt. Col. Tom LaFountain pose for a photo at Camp Phoenix, near Kabul, Afghanistan, before the journey to the states for the children's medical treatment. Photo by Lt. Col....

U.S. Army Maj. John Weibe inspects a water plant near the small Iraqi village of Sahfrah. The plant is 95 percent completed. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Cassandra Groce Water Treatment Plants Near Completion The plants are part of a project entitled Rihad Village Water Projects that is responsible for the construction of the new purification systems. By U.S. Army Spc. Cassandra Groce 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment HAWIJA, Iraq, April 26, 2006 — The cliché, “Don’t drink the water” could easily apply to some of Iraq’s water supply. Clean water is a necessity with the lack of a...

Here's what I believe to be true regarding some of the most important issues facing America today, and what most politicians apparently don't. IMMIGRATION LAW ENFORCEMENT I'm going to be as blunt as I can be with respect to the illegal alien problem in this country, while refraining from using the profane terms that routinely leap to my mind every time I think about our government's unrelenting failure to address this issue in any responsible way. To get right to the point, any person in this country who doesn't support (A) doing whatever is necessary to stop illegals from entering...

China, with lower regulatory hurdles, is racing to a lead in gene therapy. Once a week, Hashmukh Patel, a 62-year-old retired semiconductor engineer from Silicon Valley, travels with his wife, Bena, from their Beijing hotel to Beijing-Haidian Hospital. They ride the crowded elevator to the ninth floor, enter a pleasant, sun-filled ward with private rooms, and Patel gets an injection that he hopes will save his life. Suffering from late-stage cancer of the esophagus, he has come to Beijing for a Chinese gene-therapy drug called Gendicine that's supposed to kill tumor cells. Patel tried just about everything before coming to...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2006 – Coalition forces conducted several medical evacuations of Afghans yesterday, officials said. The medical evacuations occurred for three separate incidents. Two Afghans were injured by an anti-personnel mine near Deh Rawod, in Uruzgan province, an Afghan was injured in a blasting incident during a reconstruction project and a taxi struck another. All four individuals were listed in stable condition. "We provide the major medical treatment first and then we will release the patient to local medical facilities," Capt. Michael Ball, the medical logistics officer for the coalition's Combined Joint Task Force 76, said. Coalition forces conducted...