DEAR DOCTOR K: Why do doctors remove the appendix when someone has appendicitis? Don’t we need this organ? DEAR READER: Appendicitis is an inflammation of the appendix. This small, fingerlike tube ...

MINNEAPOLIS — Stephen Colbert is away from late-night TV following emergency surgery last week — the comedian's appendix burst. That made us wonder: What does the appendix do for our body? And why are ...

Many Americans grew up with the idea their appendix is an unnecessary organ, made obsolete by evolution. But in the last 20 years or so, scientists have come to believe the appendix serves a purpose, ...

DEAR READER: Appendicitis is an inflammation of the appendix. This small, fingerlike tube hangs from the lower right side of the large intestine. It usually becomes inflamed because of an infection or ...

Filmmaker Kiran Rao recently underwent appendix surgery and is recovering well. Her experience has renewed focus on ...

A state complaint says Dr. Fernando Lora took out adipose tissue instead of an appendix at Coral Gables Hospital. Getty Images/iStockphoto A Florida Department of Health administrative complaint filed ...