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Louisiana House Approves Bill Allowing Providers To Refuse Certain Reproductive Health Services
The Louisiana House on Tuesday voted 82-13 to approve legislation (HB 517) that would allow some health professionals to refuse to provide certain medical services that they object to on religious or moral grounds, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.The House-passed bill is an amended version of a measure, introduced by Rep. Bernard LeBas (D), that a House committee rejected earlier this month. The revised bill narrowed the list of procedures that can be denied, and it applies to health providers only in public facilities, not religious health facilities statewide as in the original bill. Under the bill, public health care employees would be allowed to decline to provide abortions or abortifacient drugs. They also would be allowed to refuse participation in embryonic stem cell research or cloning, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Public employees would be immune from civil lawsuits and have job security under the measure.According to the Times-Picayune, Gov. Bobby Jindal"s (R) administration backed the original bill in committee, although state Health Secretary Alan Levine indicated that the bill"s original provisions were too broad. Under the original measure, health care providers would have been allowed to refuse services such as artificial insemination, sterilization, artificial reproductive technologies and "dispensation of drugs affecting the reproductive process." The original measure also would have covered both public and private health care providers (Barrow, New Orleans Times-Picayune, 5/20).Prior to passage, the House approved an amendment to narrow the scope of the bill offered by Rep. John Bel Edwards (D), who said that the original bill"s provisions were not specific enough and could pose problems for private businesses. He also said that the original bill would have posed barriers to patients seeking access to basic treatments and medications (AP/New Orleans Times-Picayune, 5/19). The measure now advances to the state Senate for debate (New Orleans Times-Picayune, 5/20).

Role Of Overweight Status On Stone-Forming Risk Factors In Children: A Prospective Study
UroToday.com - Gluttony is becoming an ever-increasing problem in our pediatric patients, and this is directly correlated to an increase risk of stone disease.
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Study Estimates Cost Added To Private Health Insurance Premiums To Cover Uncompensated Care
The average U.S. family and their employers paid an additional $1,017 in health care premiums in 2008 to pay for care of the uninsured, according to a study released on Thursday by Families USA, USA Today reports (Kim, USA Today, 5/28). According to the study, which examined federal data, the uninsured received $116 billion in health care from hospitals, physicians and other providers in 2008 and paid 37% of that amount. Government programs and charities covered an additional 26%, which left another 37%, or about $43 billion, unpaid. The study then estimated how those costs are when spread across the insured through higher premiums, the study found. According to the study, prepared by the actuarial firm Milliman, the average additional amount paid under private coverage for single individuals was about $370 per year (Werner, AP/Austin American-Statesman, 5/28). Families USA Executive Director Ron Pollack said, "This is a hidden tax on all insurance premiums, whether it is paid by business for their work or by families when they purchase their own coverage" (USA Today, 5/28).The study is available online.
Cardiovascular

Fountain Of Youth? Cutting Calories May Add Years To Your Life

Growing scientific evidence indicates that people who adhere to a special calorie-restricted diet can improve their health and could potentially add years to their lifespan, according to an article in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News, ACS" weekly newsmagazine. C&EN contributing editor Laura Cassiday notes in the article that researchers have known for decades that calorie restriction - reducing calorie intake without compromising nutrition - slows aging, extends lifespan, and fights disease in animals. Mice fed a calorie-restricted diet, for example, had a 30 percent increase in lifespan, while calorie-restricted monkeys were healthier and had a three-times lower rate of death from age-related causes than controls, the article notes. Recent studies suggest that people on these diets may gain similar benefits. But scientists are unclear exactly why or how caloric restriction works. Scientists believe, however, that it may work by blocking an important chemical signaling pathway in the body, called the TOR pathway, that helps control cell growth. Other signaling pathways may also be involved, researchers say. For those who can"t adhere to a strict low-calorie diet, some pharmaceutical companies are attempting to develop drugs that mimic the effects of caloric-restriction without requiring drastic changes in eating habits. Scientists appear to be moving ever closer to the elusive Fountain of Youth, the article suggests. Chemical & Engineering News


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