MATTHEW PERRONE, AP Health Writer

• FDA approves first new weight-loss pill in decade

  By MATTHEW PERRONE, AP Health Writer  |  June 27, 2012

  The Food and Drug Administration has approved Arena Pharmaceutical's anti-obesity pill Belviq, the first new prescription drug for long-term weight loss to enter the U.S. market in over a decade.

• FDA approves innovative, non-surgical heart valve

  By MATTHEW PERRONE, AP Health Writer  |  November 2, 2011

  Federal health officials have approved a first-of-a-kind artificial heart valve that can be implanted without major surgery, offering a new treatment option for patients who are too old or frail for the chest-cracking procedure currently used.

• New device uses light to screen for melanoma

  By MATTHEW PERRONE, AP Health Writer  |  November 2, 2011

  Dermatologists will soon get some high-tech help deciding which suspicious-looking moles should be removed and checked for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

• FDA: Silicone breast implants mostly safe

  By MATTHEW PERRONE, AP Health Writer  |  June 22, 2011

  Federal health officials say the latest data on silicone breast implants show they are relatively safe, despite frequent complications that lead about one in five women to have the implants removed within ten years.