KBAK - News - Health

San Joaquin Community Hospital hosts opening ceremony for cancer center

San Joaquin Community Hospital hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday for The AIS Cancer Center and Outpatient Surgery Center.

Sports seem OK for many with heart-zapping device

New research is challenging medical guidelines that say people with a heart-zapping device in their chests should avoid intense sports like basketball and soccer in favor of golf or bowling.

Some customers fired up over smoking in bars

Smoking in bars was banned in California years ago, but some tavern patrons say it's still happening, and they want it stopped. Eyewitness News was contacted about two bars, and the owner says they fall under an exemption. But, local authorities say there are no exceptions to the no-smoking rule, and they continue to crack down when they get complaints.

What do we eat? New food map will tell us

Until now, the only way to find out what people in the United States eat and how many calories they consume has been government data, which can lag behind the rapidly expanding and changing food marketplace. Researchers are trying to change that.

FDA has safety concerns on Merck insomnia drug

Federal health regulators say an experimental insomnia drug from Merck can help patients fall asleep, but it also carries worrisome side effects, including daytime drowsiness and suicidal thinking.

Measles surges in UK years after vaccine scare

More than a decade ago, British parents refused to give measles shots to at least a million children because of a vaccine scare that raised the specter of autism. Now, health officials are scrambling to catch up and stop a growing epidemic of the contagious disease.

Eyewitness News Health Alert - May 19, 2013

Pelosi on new GOP efforts to overturn Obama's health care law: 'clear waste of time'

Only months away from the rollout of coverage for uninsured Americans, Republicans on Thursday were making their 37th attempt in a little more than two years to eliminate, defund or partly scale back the Affordable Care Act.

Tiny preemies get a boost from live music therapy

As the guitarist strums and softly sings a lullaby in Spanish, tiny Augustin Morales stops squirming in his hospital crib and closes his eyes.

Saudi health workers sickened by SARS-like virus

A deadly new respiratory virus related to SARS has apparently spread from patients to health care workers in eastern Saudi Arabia, health officials said Wednesday.