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Fossil hunters digging the soil near a creek in north-central Illinois have come across a remarkable discovery — Tully monster. They have found the preserved remnants of a prehistoric creature, which appears to be having a long, arm-like appendage extending from below with a pincer-like mouth and its wide-set eyes pointed towards stalks.

Scott Lidgard, a paleontologist at Chicago’s Field Museum, said the Tully monster, which is Illinois’ official state fossil, beyond doubt was “very, very bizarre”.

Lidgard is responsible for handling of the museum’s collection of 1,800 Tully monster fossils, which is the largest collection across the globe.

UK-based GW Pharmaceuticals recently announced success of its cannabis-derived drug in clinical trials. The company’s market value doubled overnight after it made an announcement that revealed success of cannabis-derived drug Epidiolex in reducing seizures in children with a rare form of epilepsy.

The study was first of four final-stage Phase III epilepsy trials, results of other trails are yet to come this year. The study involved 120-patients, who were given Epidiolex. The patients were found to have fair reduction in monthly convulsive seizures that was 39%, more when compared with 13% of reduction with placebo intake.

Department of Veterans Affairs issued a notice to remove three top executives of the Phoenix VA health care system. Three officials were involved in wait list scandal at the hospital due to which many veterans died for being unable to receive treatment on time. The removal announced on Tuesday came after two years of disclosure of scandal.

The three officials included in the current order are Dr. Darren Deering, the hospital's chief of staff; Lance Robinson, the hospital's associate director; and Brad Curry, chief of health administration services. The executives can no more enjoy their professional status, but they can challenge their removal under VA rules.

New estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO) have suggested that an estimated 12.6 million people have lost their lives due to living or working in an unhealthy environment in 2012, roughly 25% of total death cases globally.

There are many environmental risk factors, including air, water and soil pollution, climate change, ultraviolet radiation, and chemical exposures, and all of them reportedly add to over 100 diseases and injuries.

In a press release, WHO Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan, said that a healthy environment leads to a healthy population. She cautioned that in case nations don’t take actions to make environments healthy, then millions of people will get sick and die at an early age.

Dutch researchers have asked a question, ‘what happens to medical care when the patient is a jerk’, in two latest studies. They also gave an answer to the query: ‘Disruptive’ patients could receive worse care from physicians.

The results aren’t perfect as the researchers have tested the response of physicians in fictional vignettes, and not in real-life encounters. The findings still suggest that patients who create a scene distract physicians from performing their jobs well.

Dr. Silvia Mamede, who worked on both studies, said that patients, who act disruptively, show disrespect or become aggressive, could provoke their doctors to make diagnostic mistakes.

According to new federal guidelines, prescription painkillers must not be the first choice to treat normal ailments, such as back pain and arthritis. The guidelines have been planned to change how doctors prescribe drugs such as OxyContin and Vicodin and to reduce their usage.

Due to rise in number of cases of addiction and abuse linked to these strong opioids drugs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has asked primary care doctors to prefer and go for physical therapy, exercise and over-the-counter pain medications prior to selecting painkillers for chronic pain.

Medications such as morphine and oxycodone and also illegal narcotics like heroin, come among Opioid drugs.