"According to a recent investigation by the Los Angeles Times, four members of the yakuza, the Japanese mafia, received liver transplants at the UCLA medical center between 2000 and 2004. Two of the four men later gave a $100,000 contribution to the medical center, prompting speculation that a cash promise got them bumped to the head of the ( Read more... )

http://www.guardian.co.uk/australia/story/0,,2187993,00.html

I wonder if this works for antifreeze poisoning in pets? For that matter, can antifreeze manufacturers add ethyl alcohol to the mix to reduce the toxicity of their product?

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/10/09/tasmanian.devils.ap/index.htmlRead more... )

The doughnut-shaped machine swallows the nun, who is outfitted in a plain T-shirt and loose hospital pants rather than her usual brown habit and long veil. She wears earplugs and rests her head on foam cushions to dampen the device’s roar, as loud as a jet engine. Supercooled giant magnets generate intense fields around the nun’s head in a high- ( Read more... )

Found on boingboing:
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/09/harvard-scienti.html

"Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is expanding its national $4 generic prescription drug program by about 10 percent, adding drugs for some new conditions ( Read more... )

"In a recent article in the Archives of Neurology, a team of British and Belgian neuroscientists describe a clinically unconscious accident victim who can, on command, imagine herself playing tennis and walking around her house. By showing that her functional brain imaging studies (fMRI) are indistinguishable from those of healthy volunteers ( Read more... )

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/15-09/st_thompson

Genetically engineered cells implanted in mice have cleared away toxic plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2007/09.13/99-alzheimers.html

http://www.neatorama.com/2007/06/12/10-mind-boggling-psychiatric-treatments/Read more... )