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Just three cents of each U.S. health care dollar goes to public health even though it plays a far bigger role in keeping Americans well than medical care, a top federal official said at a forum sponsored by USA TODAY and insurer Cigna. State and local public health departments were hit especially hard by the recession and haven't recovered, said physician Karen DeSalvo, acting assistant secretary of health at the Department of Health and Human Services. (O'Donnell and Ungar, 12/7)

Men taking testosterone-blocking drugs to treat prostate cancer have nearly twice the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease as those using other treatments, according to an analysis of electronic medical records published Monday. Androgen-deprivation therapy—also known as chemical castration—lowers levels of testosterone and other male hormones that can fuel the growth of prostate cancer. (Beck, 12/7)

A particularly dangerous superbug, dubbed the "phantom menace" by scientists, is on the rise in the United States, according to a report Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This superbug's strains belong to the family of bacteria known as CRE, which are difficult to treat because they are often resistant to most antibiotics. They are often deadly, too, in some instances killing up to 50 percent of patients who become infected, according to the CDC. Health officials have called CRE among the country's most urgent public health threats. (Sun, 12/4)

New HIV infections in gay black men may finally be leveling off, health officials reported Sunday. Overall, new cases of HIV have been falling in the United States, while the number has been growing in gay and bisexual black men. The AIDS virus is far more common in that group. But new figures released Sunday show that the number of newly diagnosed cases in gay and bisexual black men hasn't moved up much since 2010 — less than 1 percent. For younger men in that group — who have had alarming infection rates — new diagnoses dropped 2 percent. (Stobbe, 12/6)

U.S. regulators have approved the first generic version of one of the first very effective — and expensive — cancer drugs, Gleevec, which costs about $10,000 a month. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted a subsidiary of Indian drugmaker Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. approval to sell generic Gleevec, known as imatinib mesylate, in 100-milligram and 400-milligram pills for chronic myeloid leukemia. (Johnson, 12/4)