Rising Number of Uninsured Tops Health News for 2006

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Public Increasingly Backs Stem Cell Research. Criticism of actor and Parkinson's disease patient Michael J. Fox for his support of embryonic stem cell research only seemed to bolster public enthusiasm for the technology in 2006.

The Fox furor put the issue back in the spotlight in November, five months after President Bush vetoed a bill that would have eased federal restrictions on funding for the controversial research. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll conducted in July found 63 percent of Americans opposing the President's decision.

In the meantime, advances in stem cell research continued. Scientists made promising discoveries in the use of stem cells to fight cancer, heart disease, diabetes, blindness and a host of other conditions. And in August, a group of U.S. scientists discovered a way to harvest these cells without destroying the embryo -- offering a potential way around the controversy.

Antidepressants' Link to Suicide Debated. Data from a number of studies published this year muddied the debate about whether SSRIs raise or lower the risk of suicide among teens, putting the FDA's 2004 decision to require a "black box" label warning on these antidepressant drugs in doubt.

One study, published in November, found that the use of SSRIs actually lowered the overall child and adolescent suicide rate by treating kids' depression. Another study, published a month later, found a link between SSRIs and attempted, but not completed, suicide.

An FDA panel reviewed the issue in December and concluded that antidepressant use is linked to increased suicide risk in an age-related fashion. They recommended further labeling changes -- perhaps extending the black-box warning to young adults -- but offered no exact wording.

More Progress Against Alzheimer's Disease. The race to find effective treatments for the brain-robbing illness quickened in 2006, as deaths linked to Alzheimer's continued to rise. In one advance, U.S. scientists got closer to a gene-based test that might someday allow doctors to spot the disease early.