No plan for Italy abortion campaign, cleric says
A leading cleric has dampened speculation that the Vatican could campaign to change Italy’s abortion law after its victory in defence of the country’s highly restrictive fertility legislation.
Low voter turnout on Sunday and Monday sank a hard-fought referendum aimed at dismantling the fertility law as Italians heeded the Roman Catholic Church’s call for a boycott.
“We are certainly opposed to abortion, but we don’t want to change the law,” said Cardinal Camillo Ruini, president of the Italian bishops’ conference who spearheaded the boycott campaign.
Limited medical insurance not much help
A little health insurance is not much better than none at all, according to a study released on Tuesday.
Officially, about 45 million people in the U.S. go without health insurance, but 16 million people pay for limited coverage that puts them in about the same boat financially and medically as those with no insurance at all, the study found.
These “underinsured” individuals are nearly as likely to be the target of medical bill collectors and to forego needed medical care, the study published in the journal Health Affairs found.
Catholic Church victorious in Italy fertility vote
An emotionally charged referendum intended to dismantle Italy’s strict law on assisted fertility failed on Monday due to low turnout, in what was widely seen as a victory for the Roman Catholic Church.
Just under 26 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot during two days of voting—leaving the referendum far short of the quorum of 50 percent plus one.
One in 15 UK doctors has drink/drug problem -BMA
One in 15 British doctors has had a problem with alcohol or drugs but the profession is in denial and needs government help, a British Medical Association (BMA) chief said on Monday.
BMA Ethics Committee chairman Michael Wilks told the BBC the government needed to do more to help.
Diabetes hospitalization rates falling in US, CDC says
Americans with diabetes are less likely to need hospitalization for serious complications such as kidney failure than they were a decade ago, according to new research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
One CDC study found that the rate of people with diabetes admitted to a hospital for a potentially preventable reason fell 35 percent between 1994 and 2002.
Possible fifth Tysabri-related case - WSJ
A possible fifth case of a rare and often fatal brain infection linked to the multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri has been reported to federal regulators, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The case was reported on May 16 through the Food and Drug Administration’s Adverse Event Reporting System, which collects reports of possible drug reactions from physicians and drug makers. An FDA spokeswoman told the Journal that these reports do not represent confirmed cases.
EU food agency says illegal GMO maize probably safe
A genetically modified (GMO) maize that is illegal in Europe but found its way into EU countries probably does not pose a risk to either animals or humans, Europe’s food safety agency said on Monday.
While data on the maize, known as Bt-10 and made by Swiss agrochemicals group Syngenta, was incomplete, it seemed that mixing of Bt-10 with a similar strain Bt-11—which is approved in the EU—was probably harmless.
