A massive spike in insulin prices is causing a health crisis for millions of diabetes patients who depend on the lifesaving drug, doctors say. Now, after years of rapid increases having nothing to do with available supply and not matched elsewhere in the world, those in the U.S. insulin supply chain are blaming each other. Tens of thousands of medical professionals are engaged in an intricate therapeutic ballet performed to protect the health, limbs, and lives of the almost 30 million people in the U.S. suffering from diabetes.

Beginning September 30, kratom will be considered a Schedule I drug, a substance that has "no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse," the Drug Enforcement Administration announced today. Other Schedule I drugs include heroin, LSD, marijuana and ecstasy. In this week's Federal Register, the DEA proposes designating the drug as Schedule I for up to three years. After that time, the status could be extended permanently.

A 22-year-old British student has invented a mobile fridge that could save millions of lives across the world. Will Broadway's "Isobar" has been designed to keep vaccines at the ideal temperature while in transit in developing countries. And Will doesn't plan to make money from his creation. His focus is to get it to people who need it, which is why he won't be trying to get a patent.

The ghost pepper is one of the world's hottest peppers, with a Scoville rating of more than a million. So it might follow that you shouldn't ingest it in more than tiny quantities. And yet, the Journal of Emergency Medicine reports on the unusual case of a man who tore a hole in his esophagus after eating an incredibly hot ghost pepper. The 47-year-old American ate a burger topped with a "ghost pepper puree" as part of an eating contest. YouTube is rife with video of people eating these things, so you can probably guess how this one went: The man started vomiting, profusely.

A research team from Washington State University, led by Lei Li, assistant professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering has developed a portable laboratory on a smartphone. Although the unit is low-cost, it produces lab quality results and can analyze several samples at once to detect a cancer biomarker.

A new prostate cancer treatment that combines lasers and deep-sea bacteria could be "truly transformative," according to a team of researchers. A trial conducted with 415 men across Europe finished with nearly half completely free of cancer compared to 13.5 percent given regular treatment. To top it off, unlike with current, aggressive therapies that can cause impotence and urinary incontinence, most of the subjects were free of side effects after two years.

It's being called a Christmas miracle, and it happened just in time for Christmas for one Chicago family with a sick child. The phrase “Christmas miracle” gets thrown around a lot this time of year, but what just happened to a 5-month-old boy suffering from a rare disease may qualify. Little Daniel McCabe was at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, waiting for a liver transplant that could save his life due to a rare liver disorder called biliary atresia. As it turns out, he didn’t have to wait long at all.

Jeremy Corbyn is demanding Prime Minister Theresa May comes to the Commons on Monday to set out how she plans to "fix her failure on the NHS". It comes after the head of the British Red Cross claimed the National Health Service was facing a "humanitarian crisis" due to Government cuts. Mike Adamson told Sky News he was "not trying to embarrass anyone" but hospitals are "feeling the pressure" amid "increasingly chaotic situations".

CVS is now selling a rival, generic version of Mylan’s EpiPen at about a sixth of its price, just months after the maker of the life-saving allergy treatment was eviscerated before Congress because of its soaring cost to consumers. The drugstore chain says it will charge $109.99 for a two-pack of the authorized generic version of Adrenaclick, a lesser-known treatment compared to EpiPen, which can cost more than $600.

Except within the small Muslim and orthodox Jewish communities, people in Denmark wonder why on Earth any parents would want to have their precious newborn child held down to have a part of his healthy, yet immature, penis cut off.

Two years after a landmark ruling from the Supreme Court of Canada on doctor-assisted death, the widow of a man who travelled to Switzerland to end his life wants the government to ease the rules.

In an unexpected move, Marathon Pharmaceuticals announced Monday that it is pausing the roll-out of its now FDA-approved Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug—which has an $89,000-per-year list price. The announcement comes in the wake of intense outcry from patients, the public, and lawmakers over the drug’s eye-popping price, which Marathon announced last week. The drug, deflazacort, is a steroid treatment that slows the progression of Duchenne, a rare, devastating neuromuscular disorder that leaves mostly boys unable to walk by their teens (it's X-linked recessive). The disorder also shortens their lifespan to 25-30 years.

A new vaccine-based treatment for HIV has succeeded in suppressing the virus in five patients, raising hopes further research could help prevent Aids without the need for daily drugs. Researchers combined two innovative HIV vaccines with a drug usually used to treat cancer in the trial, conducted over three years at the IrsiCaixa Aids Research Institute in Barcelona. After receiving the treatment, the virus was undetectable in five out of 24 participants and its spread was stopped by their immune systems...

Chronic pain sufferers and those taking mental health meds would rather turn to cannabis instead of their prescribed opioid medication, according to a new study. “This study is one of the first to track medical cannabis use under the new system of licensed producers, meaning that all participants had physician authorization to access cannabis in addition to their prescription medicines,” says UBC Assoc. Prof. Zach Walsh, co-author of the study.

Not all medicinal marijuana is created equal. That's what some experts are saying as they warn about the health risks and curtailed effectiveness associated with smoking medicine. As medical pot becomes increasingly mainstream and Canada moves toward legalizing the substance, health experts are emphasizing the need for doctors and patients to consider the sometimes serious side effects linked to the various ways of consuming the drug.

Promising new research conducted last year at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies has shown that marijuana extracts may hold a key to treating Alzheimer's disease. The next step: To conduct tests on mice and, if the results are promising, move on to human trials.

The longer a person uses opioids, the greater the risk of forming a deadly addiction. But just how long does it take to switch from being a short-term user—say, while you’re dealing with pain after a surgery—to a long-term, potentially problematic user? A few weeks? A month? According to a new study, that transition could take just a matter of days.

The total cost for initial inpatient hospitalization for firearm-related injuries was $6.6 billion. The federal government's portion was $2.7 billion.

Gale Ridge could tell something was wrong as soon as the man walked into her office at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. He was smartly dressed in a collared shirt and slacks, but his skin didn’t look right: It was bright pink, almost purple — and weirdly glassy. Without making eye contact, he sat hunched in the chair across from Ridge and began to speak. He was an internationally renowned physician and researcher. He had taught 20 years’ worth of students, treating patients all the while, and had solved mysteries about the body’s...

Marla Dixon was in the final stage of labor and ready to deliver a baby boy when the obstetrician arrived at her bedside at North Shore Medical Center in Miami. It was not a high-risk pregnancy. But over the next 90 minutes, the doctor made a series of missteps that led to a tragic outcome for Dixon and her baby — and a $33.8 million malpractice judgment, according to a federal lawsuit.