Some of the largest health insurance companies in Massachusetts say they plan to cover visits to retail health clinics that will open in CVS and Walgreens drugstores late this year.

The announcement follows the signing of contracts by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan with CVS Caremark, Woonsocket, R.I. Company, which runs more than 6,000 drug stores nationwide. CVS will also open 28 MinuteClinics througout the state in 2008 and 100 more within the next five years

Physicians, medical schools, hospitals and health organizations are planning to create the world's largest online medical encyclopedia, it was announced on Wednesday.

Known as Medpedia, the site will be free and available to the public just like Wikipedia and will be written and edited by volunteers when it launches at the end of this year. Contributors to Medpedia must have an M.D. or a Ph.D in a medical field

World cycling champion Lance Armstrong and four former U.S. surgeons general urged Americans on Wednesday to do more to prevent cancer and get recommended screening tests.

Speaking at a press conference in Washington, the seven-time Tour de France winner asked the surgeons general to develop goals to reduce the medical, economic and social burden of the disease. Armstrong, who survived testicular cancer, urged people to adopt healthy lifestyles, screening tests, education and better care for survivors

Pregnant women who use the epilepsy drug topiramate alone or in combination with other epilepsy drugs may be at a greater risk of giving birth to children with certain physical defects, British researchers report.

Topiramate, brand name Topamax, is a common anti-seizure medication that is also taken by some migraine patients. Though many similar drugs also increase the risk of birth defects, the incidence of birth defects seen when Topamax was taken with other anti-epileptic drugs was higher than expected

Although it has confirmed having an "informal meeting" with British billionaire Sir Richard Branson, Camden Primary Care Trust has denied that Sir Richard's company planned to launch a private bid to run a new polyclinic in the borough.

According to a Gulf Times report, Virgin Healthcare has shown interest working with GPs to help develop more integrated services for patients