New York's Compassionate Care Act recently became state law, allowing dispensaries to open with medical marijuana only for those with well-defined diseases and conditions. So if Smoky Sam shows up there hoping to just get stoned, he'll be bummed out since the rules make it nearly impossible to get pot just to party.

The DEA tried to curb addiction by making it more difficult for everyone to obtain opioid narcotics, including people who desperately need them. Would a new measure, modeled after Oregon's Right-to-Die law, make it easier for those with a legitimate need for these narcotic painkillers to get them?

Turmeric has long been known for its medicinal properties. Researchers at the University of Arizona are investigating whether the anti-inflammatory properties of this powder can supplement standard treatment for those diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.

The new Dietary Guidelines for Americans have just been published, and there are some positive moves as well as some of the same-old recommendations that have yet to be shown to be effective. Dietary advice always brings a variety of dissent and assents, so we thought we'd add some of our own.

An op-ed in the NY Times co-authored by Dr. H. Gilbert Welch decries Medicare's proposal to penalize doctors for ordering the prostate screening tests. That seems like an odd sentiment to endorse, given that we here at the American Council believe that these tests are being given far too often.

Like the use of luminol in crime scene investigations, researchers at Duke University, in collaboration with MIT in Boston, have developed a chemical dye that emits brighter fluorescence in cancer cells than normal tissue. The innovation could lead to better surgical results, by preventing subsequent operations.

Writing at Reason, Ron Bailey dissects some worrying trends and then highlights some insight on cancer which, I am proud to say, came from us.

A new report by the Centers for Disease Control reveals that the number of heart-failure-related deaths is on the rise, in contrast to the slow, steady decline seen for over a decade. Another key finding was that the death rate was higher for blacks than for whites or Hispanics.

A very large study of Nordic twins published recently in JAMA found that there's a significant link between their genetic makeup and their risk of getting certain cancers, with the strongest links involving melanoma and the prostate.

Bariatric surgery is currently the most effective means of weight loss for the extremely obese; some types have even been shown to cause remission of diabetes. But these benefits occur with some downsides, which people should be aware of before choosing this type of treatment.