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What is the definition of death—and who gets to make the call? For decades, physicians have had the authority to declare a person brain-dead—defined in the U.S. as the irreversible cessation of all brain function, including the brainstem—even if heart and lung activity can be maintained with machines. The medical profession determined the acceptable tests and procedures used to make the diagnosis. (Marcus, 5/28)

Hospitals have spent considerable resources trying to reduce the number of preventable mistakes that doctors and nurses make, such as skipping hand washing. But it’s hard to ensure that caregivers take every preventive step every time. Perhaps they need to be watched all the time. (Ward, 5/28)

The World Health Organization said it was assuming 100-300 cases of Ebola in Democratic Republic of Congo over a three-month timeline, under a revised strategic response plan it published on Tuesday. The WHO, which said the figure is not a prediction, had assumed there would be 80-100 cases in an earlier version of the plan, based on information as of May 15. (5/29)

A surprising (but welcome) side effect of a therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder may pave the way for a new approach to treating type 2 diabetes — and offer new insights into the links between obesity and the metabolic disease that afflicts close to 1 in 10 American adults. The therapy in question is deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens, a structure best known for its role in motivation, reward and addiction. It now appears that deep brain stimulation also increases the liver's and muscles' ability to take up and use insulin, researchers reported this week. (Healy, 5/26)

While genetic diseases pose the single biggest source of infant mortality in the U.S., many of these disorders are so rare and little understood that an accurate diagnosis can take weeks or months. Some babies don’t have that much time. For others, the battery of tests that tend to be ordered adds to their suffering and often still ends with no diagnosis. (Linden, 5/28)

There are 89 experimental drugs currently being tested in people, according to Biomedtracker, a research unit of Informa. Some are improvements on existing drugs, others have found new ways to target the cancer cells; a few engage the body’s immune system in the fight. Not all the drugs will make it through the trial process, of course. But on the roster, there may be effective treatments for the one-quarter of patients who haven’t yet been helped by existing drugs. (Weintraub, 5/29)

A new batch of startup companies are trying to drive a revolutionin lab testing by letting you skip the doctor and test for food sensitivities, fertility, sleep hormones and even vitamin deficiencies — all from the privacy of your bathroom — no lab visit required. Do-it-yourself testing kits cost anywhere from about $35 for an individual test to $450 for a battery of tests. Last November on "Shark Tank," the reality show featuring budding entrepreneurs who think they have a hot idea, contestant Julia Cheek hawked her company's home-testing kits to the program's panel of investors. (McClurg, 5/28)

Scientists struggling to find funding for research may have a new source of money: crowdfunding. That’s the conclusion of a new study, which suggests that scientists who lack extensive published research may be better off gathering many modest contributions instead of pursuing large financial grants from traditional sources. (Constable, 5/28)

For people with disabilities, design can hurt more than it helps. Clothing can be hard to put on, terrain rough to navigate. Even seemingly accessible developments such as voting machines and smartphones can present obstacles. So how can design become more inclusive, and more practical, for people with differing abilities? “Access + Ability,” an exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York, tackles that question head-on. (Blakemore, 5/27)

Yet health officials have been sounding the alarm over the escalating use of e-cigarettes, and especially Juuls, among young people for a few years. The products, they say, come in hundreds of fruit and candy flavors — mango, sweet tart, watermelon, caramel cappuccino — making them attractive to teens. (Tucker, 5/27)

In the past two years, outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis, a parasitic disease caused by the organism cryptosporidium, have affected hundreds of people. State health department data shows cryptosporidiosis cases tend to peak from July through September, aligning with the height of swim season. (Philip, 5/26)

Nationwide, 82 percent of nurses consider workplace stress the biggest risk to their health, according to the American Nurses Association's Health Risk Appraisal. And about 57 percent say they work extra hours - before or after work or during lunch or breaks - to handle their workload, according to the ANA survey, which was completed by 10,688 nurses and nursing students. (Christ, 5/27)

On nights that the pain became unbearable, Marion Millhouse Barker would get out of bed, head for the guest room, shut the door and scream as loud as she could. “It helped,” said Barker, recalling the strategies she devised to cope with the stabbing sensation on the right side of her rib cage that left her doubled over. “I have a high pain tolerance,” she said, but this pain proved to be more excruciating than unmedicated childbirth or acute appendicitis. (Boodman, 5/26)

Kaiser Health News: Cameras On Preemies Let Family In, Keep Germs Out
Hospitals around the country have been upgrading their neonatal intensive care units to include personal webcams for each tiny patient. It’s a convenience for parents — and reduces worries about visitors bringing in germs. The neonatal intensive care unit at St. Thomas Midtown in Nashville is the latest hospital to join the webcam wave, among facilities around the country from big cities to towns that are installing cameras over each infant. (Farmer, 5/29)