By LEE BOWMAN, Scripps Howard News Service

Pediatricians and child-safety advocates for years have recommended that babies be put to sleep alone in a crib in a well-ventilated room.

But a new study published Monday suggests that having a fan operating in a baby's room may offer additional protection against Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Most people, even when they're deathly ill, don't consider the possibility that they might be able to get an experimental drug or device to treat their condition.

New medicines may start with gene chips, test tubes and lab rats, but they have to be tested in real people before being cleared for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

When it comes to sharing medical images, there's supposed to be a clear line between professional and prurient. But there are some gray areas, too.

As two New Mexico hospital employees recently discovered, taking camera phone photos of patients' injuries in an ER and posting them to their My Space site is unprofessional and a firing offense.

Nothing becomes dearer than a medicine in short supply.

Whether it's preventive antibiotics during the anthrax-letter attacks seven years ago or periodic seasonal shortages of flu shots, medical shortages can impose systems of rationing that Americans usually tolerate only in wartime or with hot Christmas toys.

The right hook delivered by the nastiest corner of Hurricane Ike is likely to leave lasting changes to miles of beaches between Galveston, Texas, and the western coast of Louisiana, experts reviewing the damage say.

However, the damage from Ike's waves to dunes and beaches around the rest of the Gulf of Mexico may, in many places, be reversed naturally within a matter of months.

What did the doctor say?

All too often, after a visit with a physician, patients can't exactly recall what was said or what they're supposed to do. Even if they've gotten a prescription or written instructions, comprehension may be lacking.

This may especially be true when it comes to emergency department visits.

Every year, about the time of the first big storm, the calls and e-mails from concerned citizens into the National Hurricane Center in Miami pick up a bit.

While most have questions about storm tracks and warnings, a few have suggestions about how to turn away -- or turn down -- the wrath of a cyclone.

A "can't happen to me" attitude may be the most dangerous thing riding in the car with a teenager, but there are plenty of other candidates, researchers are finding.

It's flu season! Gotcha. Okay, it's winding down in the Southern Hemisphere and won't get rolling in the northern half of the world for a few more months.

But just because the viruses are mainly Down Under doesn't mean they're not making medical news -- and not necessarily good news.

Hundreds of thousands of children are going to school this fall without protection from deadly diseases.