Medical Treatments

Despite striking ethnic disparities in the incidence and mortality of diseases like cancer and respiratory disease, minorities are not well represented in clinical trials. A paper out in the journal PLOS Medicine says two main barriers to achieving diverse clinical trials are the expense of recruiting minority subjects, and fears of exploitation in medical research.

Versions sold over the counter are based on older formulas and make tight control of blood sugar harder. But they're cheaper and might save a patient with diabetes whose alternative is to go without.

Codeine can trigger rare, but life-threatening, breathing problems in kids. Food and Drug Administration advisers want to more tightly restrict the drug's use by anyone under 18.

When bodies decompose, the types of bacteria on and around the body change in predictable ways. These patterns can be used to estimate time of death, a crucial clue in solving murders.

Breaches that expose the health details of just a patient or two are proliferating nationwide. Regulators focus on larger privacy breaches and rarely take action on small ones, despite their harm.