Libertarian candidate to visit Denver dispensary

Posted on by

DENVER (AP) -- Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson is visiting a Denver medical marijuana center and plans to endorse a Colorado initiative to regulate pot like alcohol.

The former New Mexico governor is expected to visit the dispensary Monday afternoon with medical marijuana industry representatives and Sensible Colorado. The group is backing the initiative known as Amendment 64.

Johnson is expected to announce his support for the initiative and talk about how Colorado has regulated the medical marijuana industry.

Colorado voters approved the use of marijuana for medical purposes in 2000.

(COPYRIGHT 2011 BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

Read the original here:

Libertarian candidate to visit Denver dispensary

Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson visits Denver dispensary

Posted on by

Posted at: 06/18/2012 9:16 PM By: The Associated Press

DENVER (AP) - Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson is reiterating his support for a Colorado initiative to regulate marijuana like alcohol. The former New Mexico governor visited a Denver medical marijuana dispensary Monday and said he supports the initiative known as Amendment 64. Colorado voters approved the use of marijuana for medical purposes in 2000. The proposed amendment would allow people who are at least 21 to possess limited amounts of marijuana and for marijuana sales to be taxed. However marijuana remains illegal under federal law. Johnson says that if he's elected president, medical marijuana businesses that are operating within state and local laws wouldn't have to worry about efforts by federal prosecutors to shut them down.

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Excerpt from:

Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson visits Denver dispensary

Libertarian candidate visits Denver dispensary

Posted on by

DENVERLibertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson is reiterating his support for a Colorado initiative to regulate marijuana like alcohol.

The former New Mexico governor visited a Denver medical marijuana dispensary Monday and said he supports the initiative known as Amendment 64.

Colorado voters approved the use of marijuana for medical purposes in 2000. The proposed amendment would allow people who are at least 21 to possess limited amounts of marijuana and for marijuana sales to be taxed.

However marijuana remains illegal under federal law.

Johnson says that if he's elected president, medical marijuana businesses that are operating within state and local laws wouldn't have to worry about efforts by federal prosecutors to shut them down.

The rest is here:

Libertarian candidate visits Denver dispensary

Humber islands plan could solve soil dumping woes

Posted on by

Paul Moloney Urban Affairs Reporter

The amount of soil from tunneling the Eglinton Crosstown transit line could fill the Rogers Centre to the roof.

Until recently, the project loomed as another headache for more than 900 residents who have been fighting plans for trucks to deliver commercial fill to their nearby communities from Toronto construction sites over the next 10 years.

But Toronto is studying another option using the soil instead to build islands at the mouth of the Humber River, the same way the Leslie St. spit was built out of soil from downtown construction projects 40 years ago.

The citys water department proposed building the archipelago to deflect Humber River water away from Sunnyside Beach to make it consistently safe for swimming.

It would require up to 2 million cubic metres of soil. A staff report suggested Eglinton Crosstown could supply 800,000 cubic metres.

The transit projects environmental assessment estimates a total of 1.8 million cubic metres of excavated soil would be available. Thats more than enough to fill the Rogers Centre, at 1.6 million cubic metres.

Keeping it in the city would be a relief to Lakeridge Citizens for Clean Water said member Ian McLaurin, who has been fighting a site near his Port Perry home.

Thats not a bad spot for it, McLaurin said of the proposed location of the mouth of the Humber. We dont want it up here.

Contamination of the soil from industrial pollutants is a concern, McLaurin said. So is the noise and dust of dump trucks, including tailgate banging after dumping a load.

Read the original post:

Humber islands plan could solve soil dumping woes

Phoenix close to signing Solomon Islands star

Posted on by

LATEST: Solomon Islands goal-scoring machine Benjamin Totori will be a Wellington Phoenix player next A-League season.

The Phoenix confirmed this afternoon they have signed the 26-year-old to a one-year deal with an option for a second year.

Totori is understood to have caught Phoenix and All Whites coach Ricki Herbert's eye with his goalscoring exploits at the recent Oceania Nations Cup in Honiara, securing himself a contract in Australasia's top football league with New Zealand's only club and in the process becoming the second Pacific Islands player to earn an A-League contract.

Totori's former club, Koloale FC in the Solomons, have already farewelled their star striker, who is expected to link up with the Phoenix for their pre-season programme before the end of this month.

Phoenix general manager David Dome told Fairfax Media this morning they were close to finalising a deal and the signing was officially confirmed this afternoon.

Totori said since playing for Waitakere his ambition has been to play for the Phoenix.

"When we (Solomon Islands) were playing New Zealand I knew Ricki would be watching and I hoped I could play well enough for him to notice me.

"Thankfully I did okay and scored three goals in the two games.

"I know what a good coach Ricki is and am looking forward to learning from him.

"I want to score goals for the Phoenix and help them be successful."

Read more here:

Phoenix close to signing Solomon Islands star

Phoenix confirm signing of Solomon Islands star

Posted on by

LATEST: Solomon Islands goal-scoring machine Benjamin Totori will be a Wellington Phoenix player next A-League season.

The Phoenix confirmed this afternoon they have signed the 26-year-old to a one-year deal with an option for a second year.

Totori is understood to have caught Phoenix and All Whites coach Ricki Herbert's eye with his goalscoring exploits at the recent Oceania Nations Cup in Honiara, securing himself a contract in Australasia's top football league with New Zealand's only club and in the process becoming the second Pacific Islands player to earn an A-League contract.

Totori's former club, Koloale FC in the Solomons, have already farewelled their star striker, who is expected to link up with the Phoenix for their pre-season programme before the end of this month.

Phoenix general manager David Dome told Fairfax Media this morning they were close to finalising a deal and the signing was officially confirmed this afternoon.

Totori said since playing for Waitakere his ambition has been to play for the Phoenix.

"When we (Solomon Islands) were playing New Zealand I knew Ricki would be watching and I hoped I could play well enough for him to notice me.

"Thankfully I did okay and scored three goals in the two games.

"I know what a good coach Ricki is and am looking forward to learning from him.

"I want to score goals for the Phoenix and help them be successful."

Read more here:

Phoenix confirm signing of Solomon Islands star

Islands community crafting art festival

Posted on by

by Srianthi Perera - Jun. 18, 2012 10:13 AM The Republic | azcentral.com

The Islands, which is known for its community Easter-egg hunt and lighted boat parade, is turning its attention to fine art.

The master-planned community in Gilbert will hold its inaugural festival, Islands Art in the Park, Nov. 3 and 4. Organizers are inviting artists to participate in a juried fine-art and -craft show and planning a classic car show titled Islands Cars in the Park.

"It's a vision this community has had for a long time: to bring artists together as well as hold other activities to begin to build an art community in Gilbert," said Michael Fleming, vice president of the Islands Homeowners Association.

The community hopes to attract about 5,000 people for the family-oriented festival. It also hopes to get about 40 artists from across Arizona and beyond, and has registered in ZAPP, a central website that enables artists to apply online to multiple art shows.

"We see this as something we'll be building over the years," Fleming said. "We think, over time, this could become a cornerstone event in Gilbert to bring the community together and to bring people from all over."

Since it's a juried show, not all artists applying may get to show. "It's fine art and fine craft, so no reproductions," said Ginny Gapen, community association manager. "That's one of the differences that separates us from, like, a flea market."

The targets are up-and-coming artists "who really see the future, but have probably not been going for 20 years to all the art festivals in the United States," Fleming said. "A lot of those folks are probably higher-priced and booked for the year. We're looking for people who have very high-quality stuff, but they're just kind of getting going."

Organizers have established a $2,600 budget for the festival, which is non-profit, and are looking for sponsors.

Gapen said the Islands' first venture to attract people outside the community has a two-fold purpose. "It's to establish a signature event for Gilbert, but also to promote the Islands as a wonderful place to live," she said. "We really feel that our area is affluent; they have the taste and the want and the desire for that."

Continued here:

Islands community crafting art festival

Not What It's For

Posted on by

The European Society of Human Genetics is condemning the use of genetic testing to establish "ethnic purity," as was suggested by a member of the Hungarian far-right Jobbik party. In a press release, ESHG says that Hungarian genetic testing company Nagy Gn scanned 18 positions in a member of parliament's genome for variants that are supposedly characteristic of Roma and Jewish origins to prove that he does not have Roma or Jewish roots. "The use of genetic testing to establish racial origins for political purposes is not only scientifically foolish, but also unethical and should be condemned," ESHG says, calling the testing "ethically unacceptable." ESHG President Joerg Schmidtke called the situation a "gross distortion of the values of genetic testing" and condemned the use of the technology to "promote hatred" rather than help the sick. Bla Melegh, president of the Hungarian Society of Human Genetics, added that the society was "shocked" to hear that any lab was willing to do the testing, and has asked the Hungarian government to prosecute the company under a 2008 law meant to protect against the abuse of genetic testing.

Read the original:

Not What It's For

Genetics Meeting Surveys the Cancer Genome Landscape

Posted on by

Newswise BETHESDA, MD June 18, 2012 -- In cancer, the genome is shot to hell," Columbia University cell biologist I. Bernard Weinstein, M.D., famously said in 1989. Since then, researchers have catalogued the mutations that drive many human cancers. But since cancer takes years to develop, experiments on shorter-lived species have been critical in developing new diagnostics and therapeutics. Scientists who work on human cancer and those who use other species as stand-ins for humans will get together June 17-20, 2012 at the Genetics Society of Americas (GSAs) Model Organism to Human Biology (MOHB): Cancer Genetics Meeting at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Unlike a single-gene disease inherited through either sperm or egg, the genetic changes of cancer strike somatic (from the Greek soma meaning body) cells including those cells that make up internal organs. In affected organs, these somatic cells may have an underlying susceptibility mutation present. Once a cancer begins, an oncogene, a gene that has the potential of causing cancer, is turned on or a tumor suppressor turned off and other changes ensue. The changing nature of cancer explains why treating the disease requires staying steps ahead.

Animal models have been instrumental for working out the pathways through which all human solid tumors form. Current knowledge of cancer genes is a tribute to the basic research that has been performed over the past four decades, the majority of it in model systems, Bert Vogelstein, M.D., director, Ludwig Center at Johns Hopkins University and Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute said. Dr. Vogelstein, a keynote speaker at the MOHB: Cancer Genetics Meeting has identified the sequence of genetic changes behind colorectal cancer.

Looking at the big picture, Eric Green, M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and another speaker at the MOHB: Cancer Genetics meeting said, Cancer is a disease of the genome. The more knowledge we gain about the structure and function of genomes, the more we will be able to learn about the genomic changes responsible for different types of cancer.

The cancer-genome connection is why NHGRI began partnering with the National Cancer Institute in 2005 to create The Cancer Genome Atlas, which will describe the genomes of 20 cancer types.

Quite a varied group of organisms have taught us about human cancers, explained Phil Hieter, Ph.D., (University of British Columbia), President of the GSA, Each model organism has its own advantages and disadvantages for the study of a particular process. The aggregate is much more powerful, so it makes great sense to shuttle among species in studying the mechanisms and mutations associated with cancer. Thats what this conference is all about.

Thanks to evolution, the cancers of model organisms reflect derangement in many of the same genes and pathways that fuel human cancers. The model organism Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (modENCODE) project, begun in 2009, is identifying the genetic controls of two popular model organisms: the roundworm Caenhorhabditis elegans and the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. ModENCODE has greatly advanced our knowledge of genome function in model systems, which is foundational knowledge for deciphering the biological consequences of cancer-associated genomic changes, said Dr. Green, who will discuss it at the meeting.

The mini-modENCODE Symposium being held at GSAs MOHB: Cancer Genetics Meeting will be followed by a symposium on June 20-21 hosted by NHGRI at the NIH campus to celebrate the projects accomplishments as it draws to completion this year. For more information about the NHGRI symposium, please see http://www.genome.gov/27548680.

ABOUT THE MODEL ORGANISM TO HUMAN BIOLOGY MEETING: The GSA MOHB Meeting has been held every other year since 2006. The GSA Board of Directors developed this meeting to enable basic research scientists studying genetic diseases in model organisms and scientists studying these diseases in humans to have a forum for discussion of their findings and to forge collaborative investigations.

ABOUT GSA: Founded in 1931, the Genetics Society of America (GSA) is the professional membership organization for scientific researchers, educators, bioengineers, bioinformaticians and others interested in the field of genetics. Its nearly 5,000 members work to advance knowledge in the basic mechanisms of inheritance, from the molecular to the population level. GSA is dedicated to promoting research in genetics and to facilitating communication among geneticists worldwide through its conferences, including the biennial conference on Model Organisms to Human Biology, an interdisciplinary meeting on current and cutting edge topics in genetics research, as well as annual and biennial meetings that focus on the genetics of particular organisms, including C. elegans, Drosophila, fungi, mice, yeast, and zebrafish. GSA publishes GENETICS, a leading journal in the field and an online, open-access journal, G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics. For more information about GSA, please visit http://www.genetics-gsa.org. Also follow GSA on Facebook at facebook.com/GeneticsGSA and on Twitter @GeneticsGSA.

See the rest here:

Genetics Meeting Surveys the Cancer Genome Landscape

Women’s Living Room Discussion (Minneapolis, MN) – Video

Posted on by

18-06-2012 15:28 (Highlights) HHS Secretary Sebelius gathers with women in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to hear their stories as the economic decision-makers for their families and discuss changes in health care made available by the Affordable Care Act. Learn more about Women and the Affordable Care Act: Covered Preventive Services for Women: Visit and sign up to receive email updates from HealthCare.gov: -- Take health care into your own hands. US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) http We accept comments in the spirit of our comment policy: HHS Privacy Policy

View post:

Women's Living Room Discussion (Minneapolis, MN) - Video

Protesters target planned cuts to refugee health care

Posted on by

Updated: Mon Jun. 18 2012 14:49:36

CTVNews.ca Staff

Health care workers across the country took to the streets in protest Monday to decry planned cuts to medical services currently provided to refugees.

In one protest, hundreds of doctors in white coats gathered on Parliament Hill, saying cuts to refugee health programs will lead to a national public health crisis.

"We are launching into an uncontrolled, disastrous, human health experience by arbitrarily denying life-saving medical care to some of the most vulnerable and traumatized people in the whole world," said Dr. Mark Tyndall, the head of infectious diseases at the Ottawa hospital.

"And for what? Further isolation and suffering, the spread of infectious diseases, increased wait times at our hospital emergency departments. Canada is way better than this."

The workers are angry that the federal government is planning to end free dental, vision and prescription drugs offered to most refugee claimants through the Interim Federal Health (IFH), Canada's health insurance program for refugees.

With less than two weeks to go until the federal cuts kick in, the health workers planned protests outside federal government offices in 10 Canadian cities, from St. John's to Vancouver.

Ottawa has said it can save about $20 million a year with the cuts. But health groups and refugee advocates, such as Ottawa's Dr. Alison Eyre, said the move is unfair and hurts refugees when they need help the most.

"When people come new to Canada, they need help, that's one of the times they need the great amount of support, particularly refugees who have left everything," Eyre told CTV's Canada AM Monday.

See more here:

Protesters target planned cuts to refugee health care

U.S. health care spending eases up, for now

Posted on by

(AP) WASHINGTON - Is it too good to be true?

Health care spending has eased up recently, bringing a welcome respite for government and corporate budgets. But experts who track health care's economic indicators like the vital signs of a patient disagree on the diagnosis and what the future holds.

One explanation for the slowdown says it's a temporary consequence of the recession and an economy that can't seem to hit its stride. A more hopeful view says American medicine is moving from disjointed solo practice to teamwork models aimed at keeping patients healthier, and that's a permanent change.

It's not a stretch to say the future of U.S. health care depends on the answer. If the system can reform itself from within to reduce waste and deliver better results, it will help stave off sharp cuts to hospitals and doctors, as well as more cost shifts to their patients, working families with employer coverage and older people in Medicare.

Two doctors - one in Washington state, the other in Montana - come to different conclusions about what they're seeing.

Dr. Glen Stream of Spokane, Wash., says he sees the reason for the slowdown through patients in his examination room. A 55-year-old tech worker with diabetes, self-employed and uninsured after being laid off, is unable to afford brand-name medications. A 50-year-old woman at risk of liver cancer is refusing regular MRI scans for early detection. Although she has fairly good insurance, the copayments are too high.

"Far and away it is related to economic issues," Stream said. "I see people who have medical conditions who I should be seeing every three months. They tell me they can only afford to come in every six months or once a year."

Dr. Doug Carr of Billings, Mont., doesn't dispute the impact of the economy, but says long-lasting improvements are coming together beneath the surface and will emerge.

Carr is medical director for education at the Billings Clinic, in the forefront of developing something called a "patient-centered medical home." It's basically general-medicine doctors, physician assistants and nurses who closely follow patients with chronic illnesses to try to keep them from developing complications that require hospital treatment. More than 30 states are experimenting with the model, as are Medicare and major insurers and employers.

"We are seeing in early pilots up to a 10 percent reduction in premiums," said Carr. The savings stem mainly from fewer trips to the emergency room and less hospitalization, but also from better coordination that avoids duplicative and pricey imaging tests.

Read this article:

U.S. health care spending eases up, for now

Health Care Ruling To Be Among Court's Most Important

Posted on by

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Winners and losers are the natural consequence of the American legal system. In the Supreme Court, five majority votes among the nine members are enough to fundamentally change lives and legacies.The high court in coming days will issue rulings in perhaps its most important appeal in a dozen years: whether the sweeping health care law championed by President Barack Obama will be tossed out as an unconstitutional exercise of congressional authority.The stakes cannot be overstated -- what the justices decide on a quartet of separate questions will have immediate and long-term impact on every American, not only in the field of medicine but in vast, untold areas of "commerce." Health care expenditures alone currently make up 18 percent of the U.S. economy, and the new law promises to significantly expand that share. "I think the justices probably came into the argument with their minds made up. They had hundreds of briefs and months to study them," said Thomas Goldstein, publisher of SCOTUSblog.com and a prominent Washington attorney. "The oral arguments (in March) might have changed their minds around the margin. But we won't find out until the end of June."A century of federal efforts to offer universal health care culminated in the 2010 passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. After months of bare-knuckled fights over politics and policy, the legislation signed by Obama reached 2,700 pages, nine major sections and 450-some provisions.At issue is the constitutionality of the "individual mandate" section -- requiring nearly all Americans to buy health insurance by 2014 or face financial penalties. Twenty-six states in opposition say if that linchpin provision is unconstitutional, the entire law must go. The partisan debate around such a sweeping piece of legislation has encompassed traditional hot-button topics: abortion and contraception funding, state and individual rights, federal deficits, end-of-life care, and the overall economy. The high court now has the final word.The court will not say precisely when the health care opinions will be released, but the last scheduled public session of the term is set for June 25. Depending on how long it takes the justices to finish up, that deadline could easily slip a few days.The justices have already secretly voted on the health care cases, as well as a dozen or so other separate appeals. They met privately as a group just days after the late March arguments, voting preliminarily. Individual justices were assigned to write the one or more opinions, as well as separate dissents. Only they and their law clerks know how this will end.And no one is talking -- that's an unbroken tradition of discretion rare in leak-loving Washington."At the Supreme Court, those who know, don't talk. And those who talk, don't know," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Friday in a speech at the American Constitution Society convention in Washington.The court holds fast to an unofficial but self-imposed deadline to have all draft opinions finished by June 1. They are circulated to colleagues, and subsequent dissents and concurrences must be submitted by June 15. Nothing is final until the decision is released to the public. Votes can and do change at the last minute.The last two weeks beginning Monday will be the busiest, most chaotic time. Justices and their law clerks are holed up in chambers, furiously working to frame and craft the final opinions, making sure every fact, every footnote, every legal theory is fully checked and articulated. The nine members know they are writing their legacies with this one issue. The outcome may be disputed, but the constitutional reasoning-- at least in their own minds-- must be sound."Getting themselves organized, identifying the different majorities, getting opinions written and circulated in dissents and concurrences will really test their capabilities in the final days," Goldstein said.The opinion-writing exercise is little-known, and the court likes it that way. Consistently predicting the outcome is a time-honored Washington parlor game, but rarely successful."Obviously everybody in a case of this magnitude is trying to read tea leaves. I think it's hard to read tea leaves," Paul Clement, lawyer for the 26 states opposing the law, told CNN Correspondent Kate Bolduan moments after the last of the cases were argued March 28. "I suppose if half the justices were snoozing through it, that would have been a bad sign for my side of the case. They obviously weren't snoozing through it."The first lawsuits challenging the health care overhaul began just hours after the president signed the legislation two years ago. After a series of reviews in various lower federal courts, the petitions arrived at the high court in November, when the justices decided to review them. Written briefs were filed, oral arguments held.The court is considering four key questions: Does the law overstep federal authority, particularly with the "individual mandate?" Must the entire Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act be scrapped if that key provision is unconstitutional? Are the lawsuits brought by the states and other petitioners barred under the Anti-Injunction Act, and must they wait until the entire law goes into effect in 2014? Are states being "coerced" by the federal government to expand their share of Medicaid costs and administration, with the risk of losing that funding if they refuse?Everything hinges on the mandate, also known as the "minimum coverage" or "must-buy" provision. It is the key funding mechanism -- the "affordable" aspect of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act -- that makes most of the other 450 or so provisions possible.It would require nearly all Americans to buy some form of health insurance beginning in 2014 or face financial penalties. May the federal government, under the Constitution's Commerce Clause, regulate economic "inactivity"?The coalition of 26 states led by Florida says individuals cannot be forced to buy insurance, a "product" they may neither want nor need. The Justice Department has countered that since every American will need medical care at some point in their lives, individuals do not "choose" to participate in the health care market. Federal officials cite 2008 figures of $43 billion in uncompensated costs from the millions of uninsured people who receive health services, costs that are shifted to insurance companies and passed on to consumers. The law would expand insurance by at least 30 million people, according to government estimates.As with multiple questions, the justices have multiple options: allowing the mandate to stand or fall; if it falls, keeping all, parts, or none of the rest of the law; issuing a definitive statement on the centuries-long tension between federal and state power; treating health care as a unique aspect of "market" activity, allowing an exception upholding the law; and deciding who will craft the all-important opinions."Anyone who says the individual mandate isn't in any trouble is just deluding themselves," Goldstein said. "It's not clear that it will be struck down but you cannot say from those arguments, that it's anything other than a toss-up. The (Obama) administration had as hard a time from those justices as they could have expected, and they are desperately hoping that they can pull together a fifth vote in favor of the mandate."The justices never discuss internal strategy, and the full story of how health care was decided in the marble halls of the court may never be fully known.The current waiting game has prompted anxiety and a touch of political rancor outside the court.Legal sources say the White House has quietly set up an informal "war room" of sorts, ready to respond when the rulings are handed down.Low-key coordination is under way between the White House Counsel's office, Political Office, senior Oval Office and campaign staff, Capitol Hill Democrats, as well as select outside advisers and friendly advocacy groups.Republicans are quietly doing the same, with outreach to conservative activists and candidates. Managing the message will be all-important in a presidential election year.Publicly, Obama has said he was "confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress, and I just remind conservative commentators that for years, what we've heard is, the biggest problem on the bench was judicial activism or a lack of judicial restraint, that an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law."Some conservative critics interpreted those remarks as a challenge to judicial authority, suggesting Obama was putting direct political pressure on the high court. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, urged the bench -- and Chief Justice John Roberts in particular -- to "do the right thing" and uphold the mandate.Presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney used the same words when urging a different outcome."I hope they do the right thing and turn this thing down," Romney told donors last week in Atlanta. "And say it's unconstitutional, because it is."No one doubts the health care cases will have an immediate impact on Obama's re-election chances, as well as the long-term credibility of the federal courts, which are supposed to be beyond politics.Recent polling suggests a "legitimacy crisis" in the Third Branch. A New York Times/CBS poll this month shows only 44 percent of Americans approve of the Supreme Court's job performance -- a steady drop over recent years. Three-quarters of those polled now say the justices are sometimes influenced by their political views.A separate CNN/ORC International poll released June 8 found a majority -- 51 percent -- oppose the health care law in general, most because they think it is "too liberal," while 13 percent think it is "not liberal enough;" 43 percent of those surveyed favor the law.The key players could be two conservatives on the court: Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy, long labeled a "swing" vote."With the four more liberal justices almost certain to vote to uphold the individual mandate, the administration is really hoping for the votes of either the chief justice, who signaled that he had questions for both sides," said Goldstein, "or the traditional swing vote in the court, Anthony Kennedy, who really was tough on the government lawyer but toward the end suggested that maybe insurance was special enough that he could vote to uphold the mandate."Roberts has long talked about achieving consensus on divided issues, saying it brings long-term credibility and public confidence to the court's work. It has been mostly a pipe dream, as his nearly seven years of leadership has shown a continuing 5-4 conservative-liberal split on most hot-button issues."The court is bitterly divided over the individual mandate," Goldstein noted, "so if the administration is going to get his vote, it's either because he believes in a broad federal power or that he doesn't believe that the Supreme Court shouldn't overturn such an incredibly important economic statute."Health care will soon enter the history books, among the handful of the high court's greatest cases, the outcome no doubt monumental -- legally, politically, socially. An issue that affects every American will naturally attract that kind of attention.Picking winners and losers at this stage is a subjective, even partisan, exercise. The court itself will be both cheered and vilified however it rules. But as an institution, it has survived similar crises of confidence over its discretionary authority: slavery, racial integration, corporate power, abortion -- even Bush v. Gore.Rapid-fire reaction to health care will be swift and furious, from the campaign trail, professional punditry, and halls of government. Some individual Americans stand to gain from the decision, others could be hurt -- financially, emotionally, and physically.So why entrust all this in the hands of nine judges?The Supreme Court usually gets the last word in these matters, regardless of whether one agrees with their decisions -- even matters of life and death, which many argue are the stakes in this health care debate.Justice Robert Jackson may have put it best: "We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final."

Copyright CNN 2012

See more here:

Health Care Ruling To Be Among Court's Most Important

Vt. health official visits with NH doctors

Posted on by

LEBANON, N.H. (AP) -- A leader of the effort to revamp Vermont's health care system said Monday the state will cope better than most if the U.S. Supreme Court guts President Barack Obama's health care law, but its reform efforts could be hurt by a loss of more than $200 million a year in federal subsidies.

Anya Rader Wallack, chair of the Green Mountain Care Board, made the comments during an appearance before about 40 physicians, administrators and staff at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. The "grand rounds" meetings are designed to keep health professionals up to date on trends in their field.

The effort by Gov. Peter Shumlin and the Legislature to push Vermont toward a publicly financed health system in which as many claims as possible are processed through a single payer could have a big impact at the Lebanon teaching hospital, which is just across the Connecticut River from Vermont and gets about 40 percent of its patients from that state.

And the federal law's fate likely will have a big impact on Vermont's envisioned Green Mountain Care plan.

The state passed a law last year designed to move Vermont toward but not all the way to a Canadian-style, single-payer health care system by 2017. Likely exceptions include federal employees living in the state and those working for "self-insured" employers

This year, lawmakers designed a health care "exchange," or marketplace, that will be the Web-based, one-stop shopping portal for consumers to compare plans and buy health insurance beginning in 2014.

But a linchpin of financial support both for the exchange and for the Green Mountain Care system planned for later are tax credits to be available under the federal law that have been counted on to help people buy health insurance in the exchange.

Wallack said one early estimate put the value of those tax credits at between $200 million to $300 million per year in Vermont. Other hoped-for federal funding for things like new computer systems to process patients' health records also could be in jeopardy, she said.

Much anticipation surrounded Monday's release of Supreme Court decisions because it was believed the federal health care law ruling might be among them. It wasn't, and the next time the court releases decisions is Thursday.

There's been speculation that the court could leave the multi-faceted law intact, strike down its most hotly debated provision a mandate for individuals to buy health insurance or overturn most or all of it.

Continue reading here:

Vt. health official visits with NH doctors

Radiology company accused of health care fraud

Posted on by

by Bernice Yeung for California Watch

TUSCON, Ariz. -- Southern California's largest clinical laboratory and radiology company serving nursing homes faces fraud allegations, adding to thegrowing number of False Claims Act lawsuits filed against the health care industry nationwide.

According to court documents, Burbank-based Diagnostic Labs, which offers medical lab tests and radiology services, provideddeep discounts to skilled nursing facilities in exchange for business that can be charged to taxpayer-funded Medicare and Medi-Cal.

"This is an illegal kickback scheme, no more legal than if Diagnostic Labs, rather than providing below-cost discounts, had instead simply handed the SNFs (skilled nursing facilities) an envelope of cash," the lawsuit alleges.

The case against Diagnostic Labs was brought under the False Claims Act and a parallel state statute, both ofwhich makeit illegal to defraud the government. These laws are increasingly invoked in the health care arena, legal observers said.

"Since the start of the Obama administration, there has been a pretty pronounced and noticeable uptick in government investigations in which the False Claims Act is the spearhead of the investigation," said Zack Buck, a visiting assistant professor at Seton Hall Law School who teaches a class on health care fraud and abuse. "The government has put a lot of money into fraud investigations and prosecutions and as a result, the amount of settlements have grown and continues to increase."

According to a statement made recently by Stuart F. Delery, acting assistant attorney general of the civil division of the U.S. Department of Justice,morethan 630 whistleblowerlawsuitswere filed with the Department of Justice in 2011 more than any other year and an increase of nearly 50 percent since 2009. More than two-thirds of these cases are related toallegations offraud relatedto government health care programs.

These lawsuits have produced significantfinancial results for the federal government.

In 2011, the federal government collected $2.4 billion in settlements and judgments from health care cases more than fromany other industry, according to an analysis by law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Over the past three years, the government has collected $6.6 billion in relation to health care fraud.

A majority of these funds are returned to the relevant federal or state-funded health programs.

See the rest here:

Radiology company accused of health care fraud