The number of patients in New Zealand hospitals attacked by "flesh-eating" bugs has trebled since 1990.

Five of the pathologists listed on Labtests' website are not fully registered to practise medicine in NZ.

New managers and doctors have moved into top roles at Labtests in a bid to control the failures that have plagued its first five weeks.

The chief executive officer of Auckland's troubled new laboratory company, Labtests, has stepped aside from the job.

Six senior health officials will intervene at Labtests today on the instructions of Auckland's DHB heads, who have demanded the service fix its problems.

A woman's Labtests results diagnose her as having prostate problems - a gland only in men.

Auckland's controversial new community laboratory service poses "a real risk" to public safety, NZ's top health watchdog says.

Licensing tobacco retailers and turning cigarette packs into plain packages bearing only health warnings is among five new proposals to reduce smoking.

Many people with heart failure are getting ineffective treatment and face an increased risk of dying, a global study says. The NZ Ministry of Health agrees with the findings.

Hundreds of thousands of Kiwis would receive subsidies to buy healthy foods under a new system proposed by a Govt commissioned study.

Alcohol abuse by young people is costing the country a fortune.