Hospital may have exposed some to HIV (Reuters)
Reuters - A California hospital was contacting some 300 morbidly obese patients after learning they may have been exposed to hepatitis or HIV by poorly cleaned instruments used in stomach-reduction operations.

Hospitals prepare for growing ranks of obese (Reuters)
Reuters - As Americans keep getting bigger, hospitals are revamping themselves to accommodate an influx of obese patients.

Scandal of dead bodies left on hospital ward in funding crisis
Dead bodies are being left on hospital wards overnight because of a shortage of night porters to move them to a mortuary, it has emerged. Nurses at a hospital in Lancashire have been told dead patients cannot be moved until the following day because of a funding crisis

Meridia Helps Obese Teenagers Lose Weight
Meridia (sibutramine), combined with behavioural therapy, has been shown to be effective in helping obese teenagers lose weight, according to a study carried out by Dr. R Berkowitz and team at Children Hospital of Philadelphia. The researchers found the treatment is effective for obese 12-year-olds as well. The study involved 498 12-16 year old children at 33 weight-loss clinics - all of the children were obese. [click link for full article]

Surgery Becoming A Weighty Issue For Patients
America's ever-growing obesityproblem has shifted onto the office of the orthopaedic surgeon. More obeseAmericans translates to more obese orthopaedic patients and, according to areview article published in the July 2006 issue of the Journal of theAmerican Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, that means orthopaedic surgeonsmust identify the special needs of these patients as well as encouragemethods to decrease obesity. [click link for full article]