The top 10 medical stories of 2006

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The BODY WORLDS exhibition at the Science Museum of Minnesota hosted over 740,000 visitors, the most highly-attended temporary exhibit the Science Museum has ever hosted.
MPR Photo/Greta Cunningham

This year has had more than its share of health and medical topics in the news.

University of Minnesota physician, Dr. Jon Hallberg, offers his top 10 medical stories of the year (in alphabetical order):

-Body Worlds exhibit is huge hit at Science Museum of Minnesota

-E. Coli outbreaks in Minnesota and elsewhere

-Malaria eradication efforts by the White House and Melinda Gates of the Gates Foundation

-Medical shows ("Grey's Anatomy", "Scrubs", "House", "Nip/Tuck" and others) grab big ratings on TV

-Performance-enhancing substances on the Tour de France, Major League Baseball and Grandma's Marathon

-Polonium-210 Poisoning

-Strokes in high profile people (Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in January; Kirby Puckett in March; South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson in December)

-"Trans-fats" enters the common vocabulary

-United Health Care head Bill McGuire resigns because of stock options scandal

-Wal-mart/Target offering $4 generic drugs