In the New York Times, Thomas Schweich, a State Department narcotics official, charges that the Afghan government is deeply involved in protecting the opium trade and funneling profits to the Taliban and Taliban sympathizers.

In 30 years, as Baby Boomers retire, there will be as many people over 80 as there are under 5. And there's another disturbing trend: The number of students entering geriatric medicine is dropping. As America ages, who takes care of the grandparents?

A 21-patient study has shown that the drug abiraterone can stop the testosterone that feeds prostate cancer. A larger international clinical trial is underway to test the drug before it can be deemed a "miracle drug." Also, Dimebon, once used as an antihistamine, has been found to improve cognitive abilities for Alzheimer’s patients, though researchers aren't yet sure how.

Since 2001, when a federal funding freeze crippled research into the use of human embryonic stem cells to treat a host of congenital and degenerative conditions, molecular biologists have searched for a viable alternative. Now, they may have found a way. By reprogramming adult skin cells, researchers have produced stem cells that bypass the political and ethical stumbling blocks. But all is not perfect. In recent studies, the cells produced tumors in mice.

Today the New York Times is reporting that shoddy electrical work at U.S. bases in Iraq is more prevalent than the Pentagon has acknowledged. Contractor KBR has reported similar problems in the housing it maintains. Thirteen Americans have been electrocuted in Iraq and hundreds more have been injured.

With food and gas prices soaring, eating out has become a luxury. But a growing movement, with its pay-what-you-can policy, is making a trip to the restaurant affordable—and for some, free. The Takeaway talks to Denise Cerrata, a pioneering foodie with civic-minded flair. Five years ago she opened a restaurant that lets people work for a meal or donate whatever they can afford.

Which U.S. state has the lowest life expectancy? Which congressional district has the highest high school dropout rate? The surprising answers to these questions can be found in “The Measure of America,” a new report that measures the American standard of living. Sarah Burd-Sharps explains how we’ve missed the fundamentals in the search of the American dream.

The American Medical Association has issued an apology to black doctors for a history of racial discrimination. But is it a case of too little too late? The Takeaway talks with Dr. George C. Debnam, who experienced the AMA’s racial prejudice firsthand as a young doctor in North Carolina in the 1950’s.

There is a new enemy on the battlefields of Iraq and it's too small to be seen. It's Acinetobacter baumannii, a drug-resistant killer microbe.

Guest: Anna Mathews, Wall Street Journal

Guest: Dr. Marion Nestle, Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health at New York University

Back in the 1960’s, when the middle-class fled the cities for suburban refuge, there was an unforeseen consequence: the ‘grocery gap.’ It’s been widening over the years and as gas and food prices soar it’s gotten harder for the poor to get healthy and affordable food. One man, however, with a very simple plan, is turning this around: Pennsylvania State Representative Dwight Evans.

Guest: Dr. Peter Jung, pediatrician, Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas

Guest: Elisabeth Bumiller, The New York Times

Supporters of a controversial right-to-die initiative in Washington state are expected to head to the State House this morning to deliver a petition bearing 225,000 signatures in support of the bill. In a grimly ironic twist, the chief opponent of the proposition and the chief defender are both ill with Parkinson’s disease.

Guest: Joe McCannon, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement

Guest: Maggie Jackson, journalist and author of "Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age"

Terence Wrong is the producer and executive producer of the ABC News documentary series "Hopkins," which gives viewers an intimate look at life and death and work inside Baltimore's John Hopkins Hospital. The six-part program was shot over four months, and premieres Thursday night.

Nearly two months have passed since an outbreak of salmonella in tomatoes, leaving consumers uneasy and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration scrambling to find the source of the contamination. FDA field investigators are the agricultural detectives on the case.

The California Public Health Department has halted the work of 13 genetic testing companies, barring them from selling tests without a doctor’s orders. Today the companies must detail how they’ll “prevent further violation of California state laboratory law” to the health department. The Takeaway talks with Wired's Alexis Madrigal about the intertwined issues of privacy and public health, and whether there’s a potential health benefit from barring individuals from their own genetic information.