Compassionate use allows very sick people to get access to treatments that might help Covid-19 — but it’s complicated. — Eleven days after the first confirmed Covid-19 patient in the United States reported symptoms, he was treated with an experimental antiviral drug called remdesivir. The 35-year-old man had recently returned to Washington from visiting family in Wuhan, China, where the virus originated. He was admitted to Providence Regional Medical Center…

A new theory for Alzheimer’s disease is emerging, and at least one company is taking advantage of the new thinking with drugs in human trials — The mood among the more than 3,000 researchers who gathered in Lisbon, Portugal, at the end of March for the 14th International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases was downbeat. Just a few days earlier, Biogen, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech company, and Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai Co had jointly announced…

In a new book, a prominent cardiologist argues that A.I. could fix our broken health system — if we get it right — Technology has helped cardiologist Eric Topol save lives. While on an airplane several years ago, a flight attendant asked if there was a doctor on board—a man was suffering from chest pain at 30,000 feet. …

Liquid biopsies could transform cancer care as we know it — Five years ago, a team of researchers pored over the results of a prenatal genetic test given to more than 125,000 healthy pregnant women and made a stunning discovery. …