Supreme Court Upholds Oregon's Assisted-Suicide Law
The U.S. Supreme Court, voting 6-3, upheld Oregon's physician-assisted suicide law Tuesday, rejecting a Bush administration attempt to punish doctors who help terminally ill patients die.
The justices ruled that the 1997 Oregon law used to end the lives of more than 200 seriously ill people trumped federal authority to regulate doctors, the Associated Press reported.
Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, said the federal government does, indeed, have the authority to go after drug dealers and pass rules for health and safety. But Oregon's law covers only extremely sick people -- those with incurable diseases, whom at least two doctors agree have six months or less to live and are of sound mind.
Tuesday's decision is a reprimand to former Attorney General John Ashcroft who vowed in 2001 to use a federal drug law to prosecute Oregon doctors who prescribe overdoses, saying that doctor-assisted suicide is not a "legitimate medical purpose," AP reported.
"The authority desired by the government is inconsistent with the design of the statute in other fundamental respects. The attorney general does not have the sole delegated authority under the (law)," Kennedy wrote for himself, retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia dissented.
The ruling backed a decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Ashcroft had brought the case to the Supreme Court on the day his resignation was announced by the White House in 2004.
EU Boosts Funding to Fight Bird Flu
The European Union (EU) said Tuesday that it will provide much more money to fight bird flu and a potential pandemic than it committed last week -- $121 million instead of about $100 million.
The announcement was made in Beijing at an international donors' conference, CBS News reported. The World Bank, which is hoping for generous donations from countries attending the meeting, says about $1.5 billion will be needed over the next three years to combat bird flu in poor nations.
In other news, Swiss drug maker Roche has agreed to donate another two million courses of the antiviral drug Tamiflu to help poor nations dealing with bird flu outbreaks.
These developments come the same day that Turkey announced that preliminary tests indicate that another child is infected with the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus. That brings the total number of human cases in Turkey to 21 and all but two of those cases have involved children ages 4 to 18, the Associated Press reported.
So far, four children in Turkey have died of bird flu.
The bird flu outbreaks in Turkey and Asia prompted an official with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization to suggest that the EU tighten checks on airline passengers arriving in EU countries. The passengers should have to fill out forms declaring all food or agricultural products they're carrying, the U.N. official said.
Singapore Lifts Ban on U.S. Beef
A two-year ban on U.S. beef imports was lifted by Singapore Tuesday, Agence France Presse reported.
The ban was imposed in December 2003 after mad cow disease was detected in a beef herd in Washington state.
"With the lifting of the ban, de-boned beef cuts from young cattle (less than 30 months old) from the U.S. will be allowed for import into Singapore," the city-state's Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said in a statement.
The statement said that officials carried out a full assessment of the risk of mad cow disease from U.S. beef imports and concluded that current safeguards ensure the meat is safe for consumption.
Before the ban, U.S. beef accounted for only 5 percent (1,009 tons) of beef supply in Singagore, AFP reported. Most of Singapore's beef imports come from Australia and New Zealand.
Gerald Ford Hospitalized for Pneumonia
Former U.S. President Gerald Ford, 92, was reported to be in good condition Monday after being admitted to Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif. on Saturday with pneumonia.
Penny Circle, Ford's chief of staff, said the former president is "fine" but did not indicate whether this case of pneumonia is related to a short hospital stay in December when Ford was treated for a bad cold and had medical tests, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Hospital officials would not provide any details. More information about Ford's condition is expected to be released Tuesday by the former president's staff.
Ford, who suffered two small strokes in 2000 and a dizzy spell in 2003, lives in Rancho Mirage with his wife, Betty.
Medicare Drug Program Enrollment Up in Past Month: U.S.
Over the past month, more than two million people have voluntarily signed up for the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, according to government figures.
Nearly 24 million Medicare beneficiaries now have prescription drug coverage, including more than 2.6 million people who signed up for the new stand-alone prescription drug coverage in the last 30 days. This number comes on top of the 1 million who enrolled in stand-alone plans in the first 30 days of the program, the Department of Health and Human Services reported in a prepared statement Tuesday.
That strong enrollment, touted by HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt, is a bit of good news about a program that many critics say has been seriously mishandled by the Bush Administration.
The new program began January 1 and 20 states have had to step in and help pay for drugs that many senior citizens and disabled people have been unable to obtain under their new coverage, the Associated Press reported.
"The program is working for the vast majority of participants quite well. We're filling more than a million prescriptions a day," Leavitt said.
The federal government is working hard to address concerns that tens of thousands of people are unable to get their medications, Leavitt added.
Household Insecticides May Hike Risk of Childhood Leukemia
Children regularly exposed to household insecticides in head lice shampoos and in lawn and garden products may have double the risk of developing childhood leukemia, says a French study in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
The study included 280 children with acute leukemia and 288 healthy children. The researchers conducted interviews with the children's mothers in order to collect information about the use of insecticides in the home and garden, the use of head lice shampoos, and the employment history of both parents, The Times of London reported.
The risk of developing acute leukemia was nearly twice as high in children whose mothers used insecticides in the home while pregnant and after birth, and in children exposed to insecticidal shampoos for head lice. The risk of leukemia was more than twice as high in children exposed to garden insecticides and fungicides.
The researchers described the links as "significant" and said parents need to take preventive action in order to reduce health risks to children, The Times reported.
Food Fact:
Outsmart the menu.
It's possible to eat out and still keep a healthy diet -- if you master a few key strategies. Start by getting the food you want in the amounts you need. If restaurants insist on serving gigantic portions, take advantage of appetizers, soups, salads, a la carte items and side dishes. Split oversized menu items with a dining partner. When eating in a group, order one or two fewer dishes than the number of people at the table, and eat family style.
Fitness Tip of the day:
Brain check.
Physical exercise may mean as much for your mind as it does for your body. Research shows exercise can relieve anxiety and depression, increase your energy levels, enhance your self-image, help release tension, and may improve sleeping patterns. Exercise also reduces your overall risk of dying prematurely and helps you control your weight.
FAQ of the day:
What causes heart attacks?
Usually, a cholesterol-laden plaque becomes unstable and bursts, causing clots that block blood flow completely, starving the heart muscle. Today, medical personnel can treat clots en route to the hospital with enzymes that chew them up, restoring blood flow in the blocked arteries. Cholesterol-lowering drugs make plaques more stable and less likely to burst. Better yet, a diet rich in whole foods and low in red meat keeps your blood cholesterol levels low, helps prevent clots, maintains healthy blood pressure, assists in weight control, and reduces the risk of diseases such as diabetes and certain cancers to boot.
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