Farrah Fawcett, whose public battle with anal cancer has brought new attention to a rarely discussed disease, has not been given a timetable from her doctor about how much time she has left, according to her friend Alana Stewart. "No one has said to her you have two months to live," Stewart said Monday. "So I'm looking at that as a really good sign." Stewart talked with Lara Spencer, host of "The Insider," who discussed her interview with Fawcett's close ...

There's nothing more natural than being born. There's also nothing quite as fraught. A whole lot can go wrong during that long and tortuous journey from the womb to the world. Modern medicine can eliminate a lot of the risk, but in doing so, it can also turn what could be a joyous experience for the mother into the equivalent of an all-day appendectomy. It's this fact that has always been responsible for the fault line between obstetricians ...

The hospital where a California woman gave birth to octuplets in January has been fined $250,000 by the state because nearly two dozen medical workers, including doctors, illegally viewed her medical records, according to state health officials. Kaiser Permanente's Bellflower hospital, where Nadya Suleman's eight babies were born, revealed in March that 15 employees lost their jobs and eight others were disciplined for improperly accessing her computerized medical records. There was no evidence that information from the medical files was ...

Patents on two human genes linked to breast and ovarian cancers are being challenged in court by the American Civil Liberties Union, which argues that patenting pure genes is unconstitutional and hinders research for a cancer cure. "Knowledge about our own bodies and the ability to make decisions about our health care are some of our most personal and fundamental rights," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. "The government should not be granting private entities control over something as ...

Mia Farrow ended her liquid-only fast aimed at calling attention to the crisis in Darfur after 12 days as her health took "a downturn," according to her publicist. Farrow began her fast last month to call attention to the demand that "world leaders take immediate action and demand that international aid is restored" to Darfur, her publicist said. The actress planned to fast for three weeks, but under doctor's orders she will hand off to billionaire entrepreneur Richard ...

When the first U.S. patients fell victim to the new H1N1 flu, they may not have immediately thought to call their doctor or run to the nearest emergency room. Instead, they probably sat down in front of their computers and Googled "flu symptoms" or "fever" or "chills" or perhaps even "treatment for flu." That behavior is exactly what the folks at Google are counting on. Since last fall, the search-engine giant has been nurturing a spin-off service called Google Flu ...

The Pakistani military and the Taliban clashed in the country's Swat Valley Wednesday as thousands of civilians fled the area, a local official said. An estimated 40,000 people fled the city of Mingora in northwestern Pakistan, as military clashes raged on, said Khushhal Khan, district coordination officer in the area. This fighting comes a day after local government officials issued an evacuation order for the Swat area. Some 500,000 civilians are expected to flee the area ahead of an expected ...

An air-supported roof over the Dallas Cowboys' practice field collapsed during a heavy thunderstorm Saturday afternoon, leaving 12 people injured, one critically, authorities said. About 70 people, including more than two dozen of the team's rookies, were in the facility when it was blown down shortly before 3:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m. ET), team officials said. "Everyone, as far as we know, is accounted for," said Mike Adams, a dispatcher for the Irving, Texas, fire department. A line of heavy ...

A runny nose. A cough. A sore throat. And even pork eaten a week ago. After a week of headlines about the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, many emergency rooms and hospitals are crammed with people, many of whom don't need to be there. The visits by the "worried well" have triggered concerns of overburdening the nation's hospitals and emergency departments, several health care professionals told CNN. This week, some hospitals saw record numbers of patients. A few emergency ...

Saudi Arabia's crown prince was convalescing Saturday in Morocco where he arrived this week after surgery in New York City, the state-run Saudi Press Agency said. Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who is also the nation's deputy prime minister, completed "all medical tests and treatments in the aftermath of the medical surgery he has previously undergone," the news agency said, quoting a statement from the Royal Court. His illness was not revealed. Sultan arrived in the Moroccan city ...