Health Care

The Nike FuelBand won't hit the market for weeks, but the sultan of swoosh already knows it has a hit. The $149 high-tech wristbands sold out quickly during two short-lived online buying opportunities over the weekend. Here's what all the fuss is about.

Here's a reality check for President Barack Obama's health overhaul: Three out of four uninsured Americans live in states that have yet to figure out how to deliver on its promise of affordable medical care. This is the year that will make or break the health care law. States were supposed to be partners in carrying out the biggest safety net expansion since Medicare and Medicaid, and the White House claims they're making steady progress.

A quarter-century after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first prescription drugs based on the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, additional medicines derived from or inspired by the cannabis plant itself could soon be making their way to pharmacy shelves, according to drug companies, small biotech firms and university scientists.

Coca-Cola has never shied away from trying new variations of its classic beverage. The company also is known for adding flavorful twists like lime and lemon to its drinks. But last week, both Coke and archrival Pepsi revealed that a more disturbing addition had made its way into their drinks: fungicide.

Health spending stabilized as a share of the nation's economy in 2010 after two back-to-back years of historically low growth, the government reported Monday. Experts debated whether it's a fleeting consequence of the sluggish economy, or a real sign that cost controls by private employers and government at all levels are starting to work.

It's a fundamental principle of human nature: The pain of loss is stronger than the pleasure of gain. So can the pain of potentially losing some cash motivate Americans to keep their commitments to exercise?

Last week, the EPA unveiled rules that establish the first national limits on power plant emissions of a host of poisonous airborne pollutants. It's estimated that they'll save the country billions of dollars in health care costs.