Why would the private sector help struggling NHS hospitals?
Noel Plumridge: Global outsourcing companies are heading not for acute care but for the more lucrative community health services
A bitter pill to swallow: cough medicines won’t cure you
Philip Ball: Many common over-the-counter remedies don't live up to their 'surreally euphemistic claims'. They are just lifestyle-targeted placebo
Ben Goldacre: ‘It’s appalling … like phone hacking or MPs’ expenses’
Ben Goldacre's first book, Bad Science, shredded the claims of homeopaths and fake doctors. For his second he has his sights trained on the pharmaceutical industry. Ian Tucker puts your questions to him
The Wisdom of Psychopaths by Kevin Dutton – review
A convincing study shows that business leaders and serial killers share a mindset, writes Tim Adams
Many ‘low fat’ foods have similar calorie count to standard products, study finds
Sample of 12 'light', 'reduced' and 'low-fat' foods finds minimal differences in calorie content compared with standard products
Do sports drinks and hydration theory hold any water?
Oliver Thring: Since the 80s, athletes have been primed to stay ahead of thirst using specially made – and marketed – formulas. But the science tells a very different story
London 2012 Olympics: what price fleeting joy? For Britons, it’s £9bn
Simon Jenkins: The Olympic effect on 'wellbeing' will be hard to calculate. Its damage to the public finances, I fear, rather less so
So Marissa Mayer will be skipping maternity leave – how very American
We might not agree with the pregnant Mayer's decision to work right on through, but her appointment as chief executive of Yahoo is still fantastic news
Tobacco packets attract children. Now argue against making them plain
Deborah Taffler: The tobacco industry depends on attractive packaging to draw in young recruits as the old ones die
Why our food is making us fat
We are, on average, 3st heavier than we were in the 60s. And not because we're eating more or exercising less – we just unwittingly became sugar addicts