E. coli in Germany: It Was the Bean Sprouts, After All

Food Safety: After days of back-and-forth over the source of an outbreak of E. coli infections that killed 31 people and infected 3,000 more, German authorities have definitively pinpointed the culprit: contaminated bean sprouts traced to a farm outside of Hamburg, Alan Cowell reports for the New York Times.

Vaccines: Parents worry about the safety of vaccines for their kids, but most have them immunized anyway, according to new research examined by Shari Roan for the Los Angeles Times.  

Medicaid: Same-sex couples who need Medicaid for nursing home care after exhausting most of their assets now will get the same protections as heterosexual couples, according to new federal policy guidelines, Sam Baker reports for The Hill's Healthwatch blog. For example, the partner of someone needing nursing home care will be able to stay in the couple's home.

Disabled: About 15 percent of the world's population - some 785 million people - has a significant physical or mental disability, including about 5 percent of children, according to a new report from World Health Organization and the World Bank, David Brown reports for the Washington Post.

Cancer Care: As concerns rise about the high cost of treating cancer, some patients with late-stage cancer receive drugs that don't heal them and could have harmful effects, according to a new University of Chicago study.

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Photo credit: little blue hen via Flickr