WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the House of Representatives on Thursday predicted weekend passage of a sweeping healthcare overhaul that budget analysts said would cut the U.S. deficit over 10 years and dramatically expand health coverage.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Couples who conceive through certain types of infertility treatment may have a higher-than-normal likelihood of having a premature baby, a new study suggests.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Multiple drug-resistant tuberculosis killed 150,000 people in 2008 and infects between 400,000 and 500,000 people globally, according to World Health Organization estimates released on Thursday.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Supplements containing the dietary fat conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) may help overweight kids curb the amount of fat they gain over time, a small study suggests.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Instead of killing off cancer cells with toxic drugs, scientists have discovered a molecular pathway that forces them to grow old and die, they said on Wednesday.

PARIS (Reuters) - Funding to combat malaria must be more than tripled if the mosquito-borne disease which kills nearly a million people a year is to be fought effectively, health campaigners said on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Novartis AG and Astellas Pharma eczema drugs may need their warning labels expanded after dozens of new reported cases of cancer and infection in children, U.S. Food and Drug Administration staff said in documents released on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said on Thursday that proposed final healthcare legislation would cut the U.S. deficit by more than $100 billion over the first 10 years.

ZURICH (Reuters) - Roche Holding AG is aiming to launch at least six new products by the end of 2014 and is seeking to further boost its position in areas outside oncology, the Swiss drugmaker said ahead of its investor day.

LONDON (Reuters) - A pioneering -- but much delayed -- cannabis-based medicine for multiple sclerosis is now on track to win regulatory approval in Britain and Spain in the second quarter of 2010, its maker said on Thursday.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Health Ministry is probing a report in a domestic newspaper that faulty vaccines in northern Shanxi province were responsible for killing four children and making dozens of others sick.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Senate Democrat asked top drugmakers on Wednesday to explain why Americans pay higher prices for prescription drugs than patients do in other developed nations.

BOSTON (Reuters) - Studying genes linked to breast cancer may someday lead to better treatments, but they do little to improve a doctor's ability to predict who is likely to develop a tumor, researchers reported on Wednesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Wider dissemination of portable defibrillators in Japan's schools, workplaces and other public venues has increased the number of people who survive cardiac arrest, researchers reported Wednesday.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Instead of killing off cancer cells with toxic drugs, scientists have discovered a molecular pathway that forces them to grow old and die, they said on Wednesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Despite supplement makers' claims and popular perceptions, the benefits of soy in fighting hot flashes in women going through menopause remain unproven, according to a new analysis of 19 studies.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress will pass a new law to overhaul the antiquated U.S. food safety system by the end of the year, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, an influential House lawmaker, said on Wednesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Pregnant women with rheumatoid arthritis may have increased risks of high blood pressure, having an underweight baby or needing a cesarean section, a new study suggests.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who had radiation to the abdomen in childhood to treat cancer may experience excessive bleeding after giving birth, new study findings suggest.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In May, 2002, Jerome Mitchell, a 17-year old college freshman from rural South Carolina, learned he had contracted HIV. The news, of course, was devastating, but Mitchell believed that he had one thing going for him: On his own initiative, in anticipation of his first year in college, he had purchased his own health insurance.