That chilling quote comes about half-way through a Guardian story today about Rom Houben, who for 23 years was thought to be in a vegetative state, but in fact was conscious -- though he could not communicate.
Houben, now 46, is being cared for near Brussels. In 1983, he was in a car accident that left him paralyzed and unresponsive. Doctors thought, as Sky News explains, that he was in a coma.
In reality, Houben was conscious and could hear what was being said by those around him. It wasn't until recent years, however, that doctors used state-of-the-art imaging equipment to determine that his brain was active. Now, after several years of therapy, Houben can tap out messages on a computer with is right hand -- which has limited movement.
What was it like all those years?
"All that time I literally dreamed of a better life," Houben tells Sky News. "Frustration is too small a word to describe what I felt. I shall never forget the day when they discovered what was truly wrong with me -- it was my second birth."
The Roman Catholic bishop of Providence says he did not order priests in his diocese to stop giving Communion to Democratic Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island.
He did, though, nearly three years ago ask Kennedy to stop receiving Communion because of the lawmaker's support of abortion rights, Bishop Thomas Tobin says.
"If I had told 300 priests of the diocese in any format not to give Communion to Kennedy or anybody else, you think that would have remained confidential?" Tobin asks in this morning's Providence Journal.
Kennedy told the newspaper Friday that Tobin had "instructed me not to take Communion and said that he has instructed the diocesan priests not to give me Communion."
In today's ProJo, Tobin calls Kennedy's claim "absolutely inaccurate."
As the Associated Press writes, the "bitter dispute over abortion ... has revealed the depth of the divide among Catholics over how politicians should reconcile their faith with their public duties."
Kennedy is the son of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts.
-- The Associated Press -- Four U.S. Military Personnel Killed In Afgahnistan: In the past 24 hours four U.S. service members died in Afghanistan, NATO officials said today. The AP writes that:
Three of the Americans died in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, the statement said. Two of them were killed by a bomb attack and the third in a separate firefight. The military said the fourth U.S. service member died in the east Monday in a bomb explosion. The deaths bring the number of Americans killed in Afghanistan in November to 15. October was the deadliest month for U.S. troops in the eight-year war, with 58 dead.
From Kabul, NPR's Tom Bullock filed this report. As he says, 2009 has been the deadliest year so far for U.S. forces in Afghanistan:
-- BBC News -- "Philippines Gunmen Kill 21 In Election Violence": "Twenty-one politicians and journalists abducted in the southern Philippines have been found dead, the army says. The group was seized on the southern island of Mindanao early on Monday. ... The country is to hold national elections in May 2010. Registration for local and national races began earlier this month."
-- The Associated Press -- "Miners' Families Want Answers In China Mine Blast": "Grieving family members demanded answers Monday from mining officials about the underground gas explosion that left at least 104 men dead in northeastern China. The massive blast Saturday in Hegang city in frigid Heilongjiang province erupted at night when some 500 miners were working below ground. Most escaped, but 104 were confirmed dead and an additional four were missing and feared dead, the official Xinhua news agency reported Monday."
-- The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Pa.) -- "Three Mile Island Incident Considered Minor, But Some Question Communication": "A radiation leak inside a reactor building at Three Mile Island posed no risk to public safety, according to TMI officials, but some local officials are upset about a lack of communication in what they agree was a minor incident. At 4 p.m. Saturday, about 150 workers inside the Unit 1 containment building were sent home after a radiation alarm sounded inside the building. TMI spokesman Ralph DeSantis said the employees were safe; the employee most seriously exposed to radiation received roughly the same dosage as an X-ray, he said."
Related NPR Newscast report from Scott Gilbert ofWITF -- Cause Is Unclear; Plant Grabbed Headlines In '79 After Partial Core Meltdown:
-- The Associated Press -- "Democrats At Odds Over Health Bill": "Moderate Senate Democrats threatened Sunday to scuttle health care legislation if their demands aren't met, while more liberal members warned their party leaders not to bend. The dispute among Democrats foretells of a rowdy floor debate next month on legislation that would extend health care coverage to roughly 31 million Americans. Republicans have already made clear that they aren't supporting the bill. Final passage is in jeopardy, even after the chamber's historic 60-39 vote Saturday night to begin debate."
Related story by USA TODAY -- "Health Care Lobby Booms": " Companies and groups hiring lobbying firms on health issues nearly doubled this year as special interests rushed to shape the massive revamp of the nation's health care system now in its final stretch before Congress. About 1,000 organizations have hired lobbyists since January, compared with 505 during the same period in 2008, according to a USA TODAY analysis of congressional records compiled by the nonpartisan CQ MoneyLine."
-- Morning Edition -- "Unexploded Bomb May Shatter N. Ireland Peace". "In Northern Ireland, a 400-pound car bomb failed to detonate over the weekend. It was placed outside police headquarters in Belfast, and that has residents wondering if dissident factions of the IRA are intent on stepping up violence." NPR's Rob Gifford spoke with ME host Renee Montagne:
Contributing: Chinita Anderson of Morning Edition.
Sen. Ben Nelson will vote to allow Senate Democrats' health-care bill to be debated. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
One down, two to go. Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, one of the three Democrats whose votes are needed to move the Senate Democrats' health-care overhaul legislation to the Senate floor for debate, said Friday he would vote to allow the debate.
"For more than a year, Nebraskans and all Americans have debated health care reform in their homes, at work, and with friends at hundreds of town hall meetings.
"This weekend, I will vote for the motion to proceed to bring that debate onto the Senate floor.
The Senate should start trying to fix a health care system that costs too much and delivers too little for Nebraskans.
"Throughout my Senate career I have consistently rejected efforts to obstruct. That's what the vote on the motion to proceed is all about.
"It is not for or against the new Senate health care bill released Wednesday.
"It is only to begin debate and an opportunity to make improvements. If you don't like a bill why block your own opportunity to amend it?
"The sister of former Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle on Thursday won a $300 million jury verdict, the largest individual win in the Big Tobacco lawsuits in Florida," the Sun Sentinel writes. "Cindy Naugle, an office manager and bookkeeper at Layton's Garage in Fort Lauderdale, sued Philip Morris, owner of her cigarette brand of choice, Benson & Hedges."
The newspaper adds that Naugle was "found only 10% at fault for taking up smoking when she was 20-years-old." The Sun-Sentinel says she is now 60 and "has emphysema and labors to do the simplest tasks."
Bloomberg News breaks down the judgement: "$56.6 million in compensatory damages and $244 million in punitive damages." It adds that Naugle's lawyer, Robert Kelley, says Philip Morris is responsible for all the punitive damages and 90% of the compensatory damages (because she was found 10% responsible).
Philip Morris' parent, Altria Group, called the judgment "fundamentally unfair" and said it will seek a court review.
A key issue in the case was Naugle's contention that Philip Morris concealed the fact that smoking is addictive and harmful.
He's got another term. (Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images)
By Mark Memmott
Good morning.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai was sworn in for a second term today, and at his inauguration in Kabul promised to crack down on corruption. This comes, of course, after an election marred by massive fraud.
As NPR's Philip Reeves reports from Kabul, Karzai has "been under intense pressure from the international community, especially since he was elected in August in a contest marred by widespread fraud. His speech was tailored to address some of those concerns. He heavily emphasized the need for his government -- which has a reputation for rampant graft and ineptitude -- to bring an end to corruption":
Just across the border from Afghanistan, in Peshawar, Pakistan, there's been more deadly violence. Reuters writes that "a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a court building in Peshawar on Thursday, killing 18 people, officials said, in the latest of a series of attacks on the northwestern Pakistan city."
Yesterday, as Frank posted, NPR's Daniel Zwerdling reported on a memo written in 2007 about the lone suspect in the killings of 13 people and wounding of more than 30. The chief of psychiatric residents at Walter Reed, Maj. Scott Moran, detailed a series of problems concerning Army Maj. Nidal Hasan.
The Los Angeles Times says the White House is trying to put a "positive spin" on the president's trip.
Other stories making headlines this morning include:
-- ABC News -- Which Hospitals Are Ignoring New Mammogram Recommendations? There's A List: "Medical leaders across the country announced they will not heed the recommendations to stop routine mammograms for low-risk women in their 40s." ABC compiled a list of such centers that told the network about their decisions.
-- Politico -- "Obama Rewards Big Donors With Plum Jobs Overseas": "Of the nearly 80 ambassadorship nominations or confirmations since Obama's Inauguration, 56% were given to political appointees and 44% have gone to career diplomats, according to records kept by the American Foreign Service Association. ... White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said it is unfair to judge the Obama administration by its first wave of ambassadorial nominations. ... 'We're well-aware of the historical target of career vs. noncareer ambassadors, and we will be right on that target,' said Vietor. That historic benchmark is roughly 30% political appointees to 70% career diplomats."
-- The Wall Street Journal -- "Some Courts Raise Bar On Reading Employee E-mail": "Recent cases have shown that employees sometimes have more privacy rights than they might expect when it comes to the corporate email server. Legal experts say that courts in some instances are showing more consideration for employees who feel their employer has violated their privacy electronically."
Contributing: Chinita Anderson of Morning Edition.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius tells women to keep their current breast-screening practices despite the controversial recommendation of an advisory panel for fewer mammograms. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
By Frank James
In an attempt to cut through the confusion created by a scientific advisory committee's mammography recommendation that most women get the exams less frequently, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told women on Wednesday to maintain their current screening practices.
"There is no question that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendations have caused a great deal of confusion and worry among women and their families across this country. I want to address that confusion head on. The U.S. Preventive Task Force is an outside independent panel of doctors and scientists who make recommendations. They do not set federal policy and they don't determine what services are covered by the federal government.
"There has been debate in this country for years about the age at which routine screening mammograms should begin, and how often they should be given. The Task Force has presented some new evidence for consideration but our policies remain unchanged. Indeed, I would be very surprised if any private insurance company changed its mammography coverage decisions as a result of this action.
"What is clear is that there is a great need for more evidence, more research and more scientific innovation to help women prevent, detect, and fight breast cancer, the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women.
"My message to women is simple. Mammograms have always been an important life-saving tool in the fight against breast cancer and they still are today. Keep doing what you have been doing for years -- talk to your doctor about your individual history, ask questions, and make the decision that is right for you."
Sen. Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, has shepherded a version of a health care overhaul bill that combines bills passed by two key Senate committees earlier this year and has had it priced out by the Congressional Budget Office which says it would cost $849 billion over ten years, according to a Senate aide who briefed reporters.
That makes it $20 billion more expensive than what the CBO said the bill produced by the Senate Finance Committee would cost over a similar time period. Meanwhile, it was about $238 billion more expensive than the bill passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
NPR's Julie Rovner reports the following:
JULIE: Democratic senators are meeting in closed session at this hour to get a first look at the bill, which merges versions produced by two separate committees earlier this year. But an aide to the majority leader provided some of the early estimates provided by the Congressional Budget Office on condition of anonymity, since senators hadn't seen them yet.
The proposed Senate bill would cost less than the House bill, but it would also cover fewer of the uninsured over the next decade; 31 million, compared to 36 million. The Senate bill, however, unlike the House bill, is expected to continue to save money and reduce the deficit after 10 years; by even more than in the first decade, according to the leadership aide.
On Morning Edition, NPR's Brenda Wilson reported about the new recommendation from the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force -- that most women can begin getting mammogram screenings for breast cancer at age 50, not age 40, and that most women will only need the tests every other year, not annually:
the concern that the researchers have about testing this way:
While many women do not think a screening test can be harmful, medical experts say the risks are real. A test can trigger unnecessary further tests, like biopsies, that can create extreme anxiety. And mammograms can find cancers that grow so slowly that they never would be noticed in a woman's lifetime, resulting in unnecessary treatment.
The Los Angeles Times, though, says the recommendations "set off a furious debate about the importance of the routine screening tool, leaving many women confused about how best to protect their health."
And as Brenda notes in her report, the American Cancer Society stands by its recommendation for annual screening "for all women beginning at age 40."
If it turns out that many patients with high cholesterol could benefit more by taking the relatively inexpensive B-vitamin niacin than the much pricier cholesterol lowering drugs Vystorin and Zetia, that would certainly be a good news for those patients and bad news for the maker of the drugs Merck & Co.
Research unveiled by investigators Monday at the American Heart Association conference in Orlando points to that tantalizing possibility.
As NPR's Richard Knox reported for the network's newscast:
The new study looked at ezetimibe, the main ingredient in the drugs Zetia and Vytorin, compared to a B-vitamin called niacin that costs far less. Patients with heart disease got one or the other along with a conventional cholesterol-lowering statin drug.
Those who got ezetimibe had much lower levels of LDL or "bad" cholesterol. But those who got cheaper niacin actually had clearer arteries...
... It's the third recent study to cast doubt on the effectiveness of Zetia and Vytorin. Merck, the drugs' maker, says doctors and patients should wait for the results of a much larger study expected about two years from now.
Below is an artfully done Vytorin ad that sold the notion that the drug was effective in lowering two sources of bad cholesterol: diet and genetics.
A screen shot of the web site for Joose, a United Brands product.
By Frank James
Many college students have become fond of alcoholic drinks spiked with caffeine and the Food and Drug Administration is worried about this trend since experts are concerned that the added caffeine can make those who consume these drinks believe they aren't as alcohol-impaired as they actually are.
The FDA on Friday notified almost 30 makers of these beverages that it planned to examine the safety and legality of their products.
"The increasing popularity of consumption of caffeinated alcoholic beverages by college students and reports of potential health and safety issues necessitates that we look seriously at the scientific evidence as soon as possible," said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, principal deputy commissioner of food and drugs.
Of the combined use of caffeine and alcohol among U.S. college students in the few studies on this topic, the prevalence was as high as 26 percent.
Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, a substance added intentionally to food (such as caffeine in alcoholic beverages) is deemed "unsafe" and is unlawful unless its particular use has been approved by FDA regulation, the substance is subject to a prior sanction, or the substance is Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS). FDA has not approved the use of caffeine in alcoholic beverages and thus such beverages can be lawfully marketed only if their use is subject to a prior sanction or is GRAS. For a substance to be GRAS, there must be evidence of its safety at the levels used and a basis to conclude that this evidence is generally known and accepted by qualified experts.
The FDA alerted manufacturers to the fact that the agency is considering whether caffeine can lawfully be added to alcoholic beverages. The FDA noted that it is unaware of the basis upon which manufacturers may have concluded that the use of caffeine in alcoholic beverages is GRAS or prior sanctioned. To date, the FDA has only approved caffeine as an additive for use in soft drinks in concentrations of no greater than 200 parts per million. It has not approved caffeine for use at any level in alcoholic beverages.
The AMA, the largest and most influential organization of physicians in the nation, said it supported the two House health overhaul bills, HR 3962 and HR 3961.
The AMA's endorsement followed the AARP's announcement earlier in the day that it was endorsing the Democratic led initiatives to remake health-care.
"The time to make health system reform a reality is now," said J. James Rohack, AMA president. "These two bills were introduced together, and they need to be passed together. Both are essential to achieving meaningful health system reform this year."
"On balance, H.R. 3962, The Affordable Health Care for America Act, is consistent with our principles of pluralism, freedom of choice, freedom of physician practice and universal access. It will significantly expand health insurance coverage to Americans to empower patient and physician decision making; institute meaningful insurance market reforms; make substantial investments in quality; institute prevention and wellness initiatives; provide incentives to states that adopt certificate of merit and/or early offer liability reforms, and reduce administrative burdens."
"H.R. 3962 is not the perfect bill, and we will continue to advocate for changes, but it goes a long way toward expanding access to high-quality affordable health coverage for all Americans, and it would make the system better for patients and physicians," Dr. Rohack said. "This is not the last step but the next step toward health system reform. We will remain actively engaged with patients, physicians, Congress and the administration to ensure that the final bill results in marked improvements to our health system."
NPR's Julie Rovner reports that House Republicans are putting together legislation to overhaul health care that does not reduce spending on Medicare or raise taxes. She filed this report for NPR's next newscast:
NPR obtained a draft of the House Republican bill, which leaders caution is still a work in progress. Many of the pieces are familiar ones -- they're bills passed by earlier GOP-led Houses, but never enacted. They include making it easier for small businesses to band together to buy insurance; allowing insurance companies to sell policies across state lines, and limiting damage awards in medical malpractice lawsuits. The bill also includes strict limits on abortion funding and a ban on benefits to illegal immigrants.
There are a few elements that overlap those in the Democrats' health bill, including eliminating insurance companies' ability to impose annual or lifetime limits on benefits.
The House bill is expected to come to the floor for debate by the end of this week.
A BusinessWeek story about soaring sales of testosterone aroused my attention this weekend. (OK, I admit that was an obvious pun.)
Once again, drug companies that make products meant for an aging population seeking to hold onto their youth, can thank baby boomers, mostly but not all men, who want to increase their libidos and general energy levels through use of the male hormone.
But not all drugs meant to stave off the ravages of time are doing as well as testosterone. Sales of the hormone rose 25 percent in the 12 months ending in June, BusinessWeek reports.
By contrast, the magazine reports that Viagra sales have been hurt by the recession, falling by 8 percent in the most recent quarter, the magazine says.
Some of this growth in testosterone sales could slow because of an action the Food and Drug Administration took earlier this year.
As the magazine reports, (and the NPR Health blogreported last May, the makers of testosterone gels have been required by the FDA to include a dreaded (by drug companies) "black box" warning. The reason: the gels could rub off on children and cause temporary changes like a transient puberty bout or aggressiveness.
Then again, testosterone seems to work wonders for some people.
A new study suggests a link between some antibiotics doctors prescribe for women with urinary tract infections and certain birth defects.
The research, published in the November issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found a correlation between certain antibiotics in two categories of antibacterials, sulfonamides and nitrofurantoins, and certain severe birth defects. Bactrim falls into the former category, Macrobid the latter.
Researchers looked at data for 13,155 women who took antibiotics from one month before their pregnancies started through the end of their first trimesters.
The researchers saw an association with sulfonamides and nitrofurantoins and serious defects like blockages of the nasal passageways and brain and skull abnormalities.
Importantly, not all antibiotics were implicated. As the researchers wrote in the abstract or summary of their research article:
Reassuringly, penicillins, erythromycins, and cephalosporins, although used commonly by pregnant women, were not associated with many birth defects. Sulfonamides and nitrofurantoins were associated with several birth defects, indicating a need for additional scrutiny.
In other words, the researchers are calling for more studies. Results like these would seem to demand them.
The priority being placed on creating and distributing enough swine flu vaccine has actually created shortages of vaccine for the seasonal flu.
Those shortages are causing the prices of seasonal flu vaccine to rise and Connecticut's attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, wants to know if those price increases, as well as what some are saying is the preferential supplying of large retailers, is the result of illegal business practices like price gouging.
Blumenthal has sent letters to 13 drug makers and distributors with a series of questions such as how much they charge for seasonal flu vaccine presently versus a few months ago or last year. Also, he wants an explanation for any price increases.
According to a press release from the attorney general:
Blumenthal said his office has received complaints of season flu vaccines being offered at many times the normal price, as much as $100 a dose or higher. Other allegations include distributors and manufacturers reneging on price agreements by demanding new, higher prices for already-ordered doses, and distributors buying back vaccine for resale at inflated prices.
Increased shipments of disinfecting products to meet demand associated with the H1N1 flu pandemic, reflected in all-time record shipments of Clorox disinfecting wipes to retail and institutional customers.
For all things flu- and health-related, see the NPR Health Blog.
Ground beef that may have been contaminated with E. coli bacteria is suspected in two deaths -- one in New York state and the other in New Hampshire -- the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
The 546,000 pounds of fresh ground beef was recalled over the weekend by Fairbank Farms of Ashville, N.Y., which distributed it to stores from Virginia to Maine.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service has posted detailed information about the recall and the stores that received the beef. Click here to see it.
A two-decades long ban on HIV positive foreigners entering the U.S. will end as a result of President Barack Obama on Friday signing the reauthorization of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS legislation.
At a White House signing ceremony, Obama said:
Twenty-two years ago, in a decision rooted in fear rather than fact, the United States instituted a travel ban on entry into the country for people living with HIV/AIDS. Now, we talk about reducing the stigma of this disease -- yet we've treated a visitor living with it as a threat. We lead the world when it comes to helping stem the AIDS pandemic -- yet we are one of only a dozen countries that still bar people from HIV from entering our own country.
If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it. And that's why, on Monday my administration will publish a final rule that eliminates the travel ban effective just after the New Year. Congress and President Bush began this process last year, and they ought to be commended for it. We are finishing the job. It's a step that will encourage people to get tested and get treatment, it's a step that will keep families together, and it's a step that will save lives. (Applause.)
In what states do people report getting sufficient sleep or, conversely, being sleep deprived?
Thanks to the Centers for Disease Control, we now have an answer to that question.
The CDC studied the responses of more than 400.000 people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and three U.S. territories to a survey given in 2008. People were asked if they had insufficient rest or sleep in the preceding 30 days.
Because of the differences between what young adults consider sufficient sleep compared with, say their parents, the researchers adjusted the results for age.
They found that North Dakotans had the fewest complaints about insufficient sleep with only 7.4 percent of them reporting too little sleep or rest in the prior 30 days.
The CDC sleep deficiency map seems to indicate that southerners are more sleepless than northerners and that Californians are some of the nation's most rested people. ( Centers for Disease Control)
In contrast, West Virginia was the state with the highest percentage of complaints about sleeplessness at 19.3 percent.
It probably won't surprise many that West Coasters -- Californians and Oregonians-- seem to do pretty well on the sleep front, laid back as they are.
Our NPR Health Blog colleague Scott Hensley is live-blogging the debut of the health care overhaul bill that Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her fellow House Democrats are unveiling. Just click the "play" button and his updates should flow in automatically:
President Barack Obama, as we reported earlier, paid a middle-of-the-night visit to Dover Air Force Base to pay his respects as the bodies of 18 Americans killed in Afghanistan were returned home.
Another story that developed overnight: The Lost Angeles Times reports that "Iran's president today appeared to lend support to an International Atomic Energy Agency proposal to ship the bulk of his country's enriched uranium abroad, casting it as a victory for Iranian steadfastness as the world awaits Tehran's formal response to the deal."
As for other stories making headlines, they include:
-- The Washington Post -- "Obama Seeks Study On Local Leaders For Troop Decision": "President Obama has asked senior officials for a province-by-province analysis of Afghanistan to determine which regions are being managed effectively by local leaders and which require international help, information that his advisers say will guide his decision on how many additional U.S. troops to send to the battle."
-- The New York Times -- "Shortage Of Vaccine Poses Political Test For Obama": "Despite months of planning and preparation, a (swine flu) vaccine shortage is threatening to undermine public confidence in government, creating a very public test of Mr. Obama's competence."
-- San Francisco Chronicle -- "Bridge Parts Couldn't Take The Wind": "High winds caused a steel crossbeam and two steel tie rods to snap off the Bay Bridge's eastern span and fall to the upper deck, Caltrans officials said (Wednesday) as commuters unable to drive over the closed bridge jammed alternative routes and crowded onto BART in record numbers."
Believed he and his followers were soldiers at war against the government and non-Muslims.
"Abdullah told his followers it is their duty to oppose the FBI and the government and it does not matter if they die," FBI agent Gary Leone said in an affidavit unsealed Wednesday. "He also told the group that they need to plan to do something."
Chinese factory workers check eggs in which flu virus will be grown to make the swine-flu vaccine at the Sinovac Biotech Ltd. plant in Beijing, China, Sept. 15 2009. (Imaginechina via AP Images)
By Frank James
As millions of people search in vain for swine-flu vaccine, some have no doubt asked themselves : is there a better way to make flu vaccine than relying on growing the virus in chicken eggs?
After all, one of the reasons there's not enough vaccine at present is that it's taken longer than to grow the virus in eggs than the manufacturers and health officials had expected.
The old-fashioned method of making flu vaccine, which has been used for at least 50 years, is the method largely used around the world, requires millions of fertilized eggs into which the virus is injected, then grown.
In 1957, Eli Lilly and Co. workers in Greenfield, Indiana used the same method as that would be used more than 50 years later to make flu vaccine. ( AP Photo)
ROBERT: Part of the process when the country orders up a bunch of vaccine is you've got to get those roosters and hens to work.
BELSHE: That's right. These are not the ordinary eggs you buy in the grocery store which are generally not fertilized. But it requires a fertilized hen's egg.
So you've got to have a rooster and a hen get together, do their thing, then the eggs have to be laid. And then they have to be incubated until 10 days old for the idea culture medium.
Translation: Lieberman, the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee, will go against the wishes of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and support an attempt by Republicans to filibuster the Reid version of health care legislation if the bill includes the so-called public option.
And Lieberman's vote is critical because without him Democrats wouldn't have the 60 senators they can usually count on for support -- and 60 is the magic number needed to shut down a filibuster.
Lieberman told the Associated Press that he's worried that the public part of the plan would drive up insurance premiums.
One possible point of compromise: Lieberman told the AP is his "open to discussing" a plan that would be set up and run by the states.
Going against his old pals in the Democratic Party is not particularly new for Lieberman. In 2008 he campaigned enthusiastically for Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain.
As the day gets started, Reuters offers this news alert from Tehran. It captures the "maybe, maybe not" nature of that country's relations with the rest of the world:
Iran will accept the framework of a U.N.-drafted nuclear fuel deal, but will also demand changes to it, al Alam state television reported on Tuesday. Al Alam, citing an unnamed official, said Iran would present its response to the proposed agreement within 48 hours.
-- The Associated Press -- Pakistan Claims Progress In Push Against Taliban: " Pakistan's army says 42 militants have been killed in the latest stage of its offensive against the Taliban close to the Afghan border. A statement Tuesday says that troops were making steady progress in the 11-day old campaign in South Waziristan."
-- Morning Edition -- "No. 3 Man Moving Up In Al-Qaida". NPR's Dina Temple-Raston reports on the new face of al-Qaida:
-- The Associated Press -- "Obama Putting $3.4 Billion Toward A 'Smart' Power Grid": "President Barack Obama, during a visit to a solar energy facility in Arcadia, Fla., is announcing Tuesday that he is making available $3.4 billion in government support for 100 projects aimed at modernizing the power grid. The projects include installing "smart" electric meters in homes, automating utility substations, and installing thousands of new digital transformers and grid sensors."
Related report from NPR's Scott Horsley:
-- The New York Times -- "Ex A.I.G. Chief Is Back, Luring Talent From Rescued Firm": "Maurice R. Greenberg, who built the American International Group into an insurance behemoth with an impenetrable maze of on- and offshore companies, is at it again. Even as he has been lambasting the government for its handling of A.I.G. after its near collapse, Mr. Greenberg has been quietly building up a family of insurance companies that could compete with A.I.G. To fill the ranks of his venture, C.V. Starr & Company, he has been hiring some people he once employed."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday that the Senate health-care overhaul legislation will contain language for a government-run public option but that states will have the ability to opt out if they so choose.
At a Capitol Hill press conference, Reid said:
As we've gone through this process, I've concluded, with the support of the White House, Senators Dodd and Baucus, that the best way to move forward is to include a public option with the opt-out provision for states. Under this concept, states will be able to determine whether the public option works well for them and will have the ability to opt out if they so choose. I believe that a public option can achieve the goal of bringing meaningful reform to our broken system. It will protect consumers, keep insurers honest and ensure competition. And that's why we intend to include it in the bill that we submitted -- that will be submitted to the Senate.
As the day gets going, details are still coming in about two deadly incidents involving U.S. helicopters in Afghanistan. The Associated Press writes that the crashes killed 14 Americans, most of them military personnel.
From southern Afghanistan, NPR producer Graham Smith reported that one of the helicopters had just left the scene of a firefight -- but that U.S. officials do not believe it was brought down by fire from the ground:
In other news involving Afghanistan:
-- The Washington Post reports that "the Pentagon's top military officer oversaw a secret war game this month to evaluate the two primary military options that have been put forward by the Pentagon and are being weighed by the Obama administration as part of a broad-based review of the faltering Afghanistan war, senior military officials said." One involved the hypothetical addition of 44,000 more troops. The other added 10,000 to 15,000.
-- On Morning Edition, NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reported that some parts of northern Afghanistan have also destabilized in recent months:
As for other stories making headlines, they include:
-- The Wall Street Journal -- "Senate On Verge Of Health Bill": "Top Senate Democrats are close to finalizing their health bill and could unveil a measure as soon as early this week that would include stiffer penalties on employers who fail to provide health coverage. Senate leaders plan to submit the bill to the Congressional Budget Office for a cost estimate as soon as Monday, and make the legislation public as soon as Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the negotiations."
-- The New York Times -- "U.S. Considers Reining In 'Too Big To Fail' Institutions": "A senior administration official said on Sunday that after extensive consultations with Treasury Department officials, Representative Barney Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, would introduce legislation as early as this week. The measure would make it easier for the government to seize control of troubled financial institutions, throw out management, wipe out the shareholders and change the terms of existing loans held by the institution."
-- The Associated Press -- "Death Toll Rises To 155 In Dual Baghdad Bombings": "The death toll from Iraq's worst attack in more than two years climbed to 155 Monday as Iraqis buried the dead from the twin suicide bombings that devastated the heart of Baghdad. Funerals were held around the city amid heightened security that snarled traffic during the morning rush hour. The bombings targeted two government buildings, calling into question the state's ability to protect itself as it prepares for January elections and the U.S. military withdrawal."
Related report from NPR's Nishant Dahiya in Baghdad -- Iraqi Leaders Blame Al-Qaida And Neighboring Countries:
-- Morning Edition -- "Karadzic Boycotts Start Of War Crimes Trial". The Bosnian Serb claimed he needs more time to prepare his defense. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli filed this report:
From a related report by BBC News: "Karadzic, 64, was taken to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague last year, after 13 years in hiding. ... He was indicted in 1995 on two counts of genocide and a multitude of other crimes committed against Bosnian Muslim, Bosnian Croat and other non-Serb civilians during the 1992-1995 war, which left more than 100,000 people dead."
As we just reported, there's word from Vienna this morning that a draft agreement has been reached for Iran to export most of its enriched uranium to Russia for processing. That's been a critical goal of negotiators from the U.S., France and Russia because it could lessen the chances of Iran obtaining enough fuel for a nuclear weapon.
We'll watch for more news on that as the day continues.
Meanwhile, other stories making headlines include:
-- USA TODAY -- "White House Neglecting Bioterrorism," Bipartisan Commission Warns: " The Obama administration is working hard to curb nuclear threats but failing to address the more urgent and immediate threat of biological terrorism, a bipartisan commission created by Congress is reporting today. The report obtained by USA TODAY cites failures on biosecurity policy by the White House, which the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction says has left the country vulnerable. ... White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said protecting the nation from deadly weapons is among President Obama's 'top national security priorities.' "
-- The Associated Press -- "Watchdog: Bailout Helped But At A Great Cost": "A government watchdog said the $700 billion bailout for the financial industry played a major role in rescuing the economy over the last year but also engendered anger and distrust among Americans because of secrecy and confusion about the way the program was handled. The mixed and blunt assessment by Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general in charge of oversight for the bailout fund, comes just as the administration is taking steps to wind down and refocus the Wall Street rescue effort. Barofsky's conclusions are in a quarterly report scheduled for release Wednesday." (That report is to be posted here.)
From a related story by USA TODAY:
"The American people's belief that the funds went into a black hole, or that there was a transfer of wealth from taxpayers to Wall Street, is one of the worst outcomes of this program, and that is the reputational damage to the government," said Neil Barofsky, special inspector general of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), in an interview.
-- The Washington Post -- "U.S. Deeply Split On Troop Increase For Afghan War": "As President Obama and his war cabinet deliberate a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan, Americans are evenly and deeply divided over whether he should send 40,000 more troops there, and public approval of the president's handling of the situation has tumbled, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll."
Related story by the Associated Press -- "Afghan President's Rival Accepts Nov. 7 Runoff": "President Hamid Karzai's chief political rival agreed Wednesday to take part in the Nov. 7 runoff election, setting the stage for a high-stakes showdown in the face of Taliban threats and approaching winter snows. Ex-Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah made his comment to reporters one day after Karzai bowed to intense U.S. and international pressure and accepted findings of a U.N.-backed panel that there had been massive fraud on his behalf in the Aug. 20 vote. Those findings showed Karzai failed to win the 50 percent required to avoid a runoff."
Helping the injured after a train crash today near Agra, India. (AP photo)
-- NPR News -- At Least 21 Killed In Train Crash. NPR's Philip Reeves reports from New Delhi:
-- Morning Edition -- Obama To Increase Credit To Small Businesses. As NPR's Scott Horsley reports, some small business owners say they desperately need more help if they're going to stay in business:
-- The New York Times -- Administration Doesn't Always Listen To Volcker: Former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker is a top economic adviser to President Barack Obama, but his advice that the nation's banks "be prohibited from owning and trading risky securities, the very practice that got the biggest ones into deep trouble in 2008," isn't gaining favor within the administration.
As we reported just a few minutes ago, it's looking more and more like there will be a election run-off in Afghanistan between incumbent President Hamid Karzai and former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. Also, as we've already noted, firm director Roman Polanski was told today that he must wait in a Swiss prison while he fights against extradition to the United States.
Among the other stories making headlines:
-- The Washington Post -- Poll Shows Most Americans Support "Public Option" In Health Care: "A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that support for a government-run health-care plan to compete with private insurers has rebounded from its summertime lows and wins clear majority support from the public. ... Sizable majorities back two key and controversial provisions: both the so-called public option and a new mandate that would require all Americans to carry health insurance.
-- The Associated Press -- Talks With Iran Bog Down: "Talks meant to persuade Iran to send most of its enriched uranium abroad -- and thus delay its potential to make a nuclear weapon -- bogged down Tuesday over fierce Iranian resistance to French participation, diplomats said. Tuesday was the second day of talks in the Austrian capital between Iran and the United States, Russia and France over Iran's nuclear program. But discussions were delayed at least two hours in an attempt to resolve the impasse over the French."
Related report from NPR's Eric Westervelt in Vienna:
The talks are aimed at hammering out details of a plan Iran agreed to in principle in Geneva earlier this month. The deal would send about 75% of Iran's declared stockpile of low enriched uranium to Russia and France for processing and would be returned to Iran as fuel for use in a medical research reactor in Tehran.
-- Morning Edition -- "Iran, U.S. Wage A Quiet War Over The Economy". NPR's Tom Gjelten reports:
-- BBC News -- Blast Rocks University In Islamabad: "At least four people have been killed and 18 wounded in bomb explosions at a university in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, officials say. Police say the blasts at the International Islamic University were caused by suicide bombers. The attack is the first since the Pakistani army began its offensive against militants in South Waziristan, in the country's north-west. Pakistan was hit by a wave of bombings in the days before the assault began."
-- Los Angeles Times -- AIDS Vaccine Positive Results Might Have Been Just By Chance: "A secondary analysis of data from the Thai AIDS vaccine trial -- announced last month to much acclaim -- suggests that the vaccine might provide some protection against the virus, but that the results are not statistically significant. In short, they could have come about merely by chance."
It's now official: at least one pig in Minnesota has been confirmed to have had the swine flu virus, according to the Agriculture Department Monday.
A sample from a pig which was at the Minnesota State Fair has tested positive for the H1N1 virus infection by scientists using the most accurate methods available.
The Agriculture Department was quick to point out, however, that the presence of the virus in a show pig doesn't mean commercial herds are infected since show animals don't mix with their commercial cousins.
One big concern for the Agriculture Department and U.S. hog farmers is the impact the news of an infected pig might have on U.S. hog sales domestically and abroad. Sales could plunge amid unfounded fears that eating pork products can infect humans with the flu virus.
A major scientific worry is that the H1N1 virus, now that it's back in the pig population, could recombine its DNA with another virus pigs may be harboring and become an even more virulent strain. Of course, there's the possibility it could combine its genetic material with another virus and become less virulent too.
There's word today that the Justice Department is going to depart from Bush-era policy by telling federal prosecutors not to go after patients or suppliers in states that allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes.
Those patients and suppliers must adhere to state laws, however. According to the Associated Press, the new guidelines will make clear "that agents will go after people whose marijuana distribution goes beyond what is permitted under state law or use medical marijuana as a cover for other crimes."
Deputy Attorney General David Ogden's memo to U.S. Attorney's is posted on the blog, In it, Ogden says that:
The prosecution of significant traffickers of illegal drugs, including marijuana, and the disruption of illegal drug manufacturing and trafficking networks continues to be a core priority in the department's efforts against narcotics and dangerous drugs, and the department's investigative and prosecutorial resources should be directed towards these objectives. As a general matter, pursuit of these priorities should not focus federal resources in your states on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana.
Update at 9:45 a.m. ET. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports that:
The Justice Department's new guidance to prosecutors comes in a three-page memo. It says the government will continue to prosecute people who use medical marijuana as a cover for other illegal activity. But going after people who are clearly complying with state law is not a good use of prosecutors' time, according to the memo.
Fourteen states currently allow medical marijuana in some form. California's laws are the most permissive.
Dr. Anne Schuchat briefs media on slower than expected production of swine-flu vaccine. (Centers for Disease Control web video screenshot)
By Frank James
There won't be as much swine-flu vaccine available before October's end as federal health officials had planned on.
The problem is that it's taking more time to grow the virus needed to produce vaccine than officials had anticipated.
Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control, briefed reporters on the problem. The briefing can be viewed here.
NPR's Joanne Silberner reported the following for the network's newscast:
Government officials had expected that vaccine manufacturers would be able to supply 40 million doses by the end of October.
It's now looking more like 28 or 30 million doses, Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at a press conference, with more to come in November and beyond.
More than 11 million doses of vaccine have come on line, and 8 million vaccines -- about half injectable, and half inhalable, have been shipped to states. Schuchat said the virus that makes the vaccine is growing slowly, and each batch has to be tested for safety and potency.
Clinical tests of the vaccine in pregnant women are ongoing. But because the flu has been hitting pregnant women especially hard, and because of the seasonal flu vaccine's safety, Schuchat encouraged them to get the new vaccine.
The World Health Organization is raising the alarm that the swine flu causes significantly more pneumonia in people who become ill.
At meetings in Washington which have taken place this week, health officials expressed concern about the increased incidence of pneumonia linked to the virus.
... Concern is now focused on the clinical course and management of small subsets of patients who rapidly develop very severe progressive pneumonia. In these patients, severe pneumonia is often associated with failure of other organs, or marked worsening of underlying asthma or chronic obstructive airway disease.
Treatment of these patients is difficult and demanding, strongly suggesting that emergency rooms and intensive care units will experience the heaviest burden of patient care during the pandemic.
Primary viral pneumonia is the most common finding in severe cases and a frequent cause of death. Secondary bacterial infections have been found in approximately 30% of fatal cases. Respiratory failure and refractory shock have been the most common causes of death.
President Barack Obama praised the Senate Finance panel for approving health care reform legislation but said there's still a long way to go. (Mark Wilson / Getty Images)
By Frank James
President Barack Obama marked the approval Tuesday by the Senate Finance Committee of its health overhaul legislation by noting that the national movement towards remaking the health care landscape has reached a "critical milestone" with the action.
But he cautioned against any premature celebration, acknowledging there was still a long way to go before there would be any White House signing ceremonies for the legislation.
He also made the most of the one Republican vote, that of Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, using that to make the true but strained statement that the bill had both Democratic and Republican support.
Here's much of the president's statement:
After the consideration of hundreds of amendments, it includes ideas from both Democrats and Republicans, which is why it enjoys the support of people from both parties. And I want to particularly thank Senator Olympia Snowe for both the political courage and the seriousness of purpose that she's demonstrated throughout this process.
Now, this bill is not perfect and we have a lot of difficult work ahead of us. There are still significant details and disagreements to be worked out over the next several weeks as the five separate bills from the Senate and the House are merged into one proposal. But I do believe the work of the Senate Finance Committee has brought us significantly closer to achieving the core objectives I laid out early in September.
By a 14-9 vote -- with Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine as the lone Republican voting "aye" -- the Senate Finance Committee just passed its version of legislation to overhaul the nation's health care system.
Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, just said she will vote for the 10-year, $829-billion health care plan put together by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont.
Is the bill "all that I want? Far from it," Snowe said.
But, "the consequences of inaction dictate the urgency of Congress to take every opportunity to demonstrate its capacity to solve the monumental issues of our time."
That means Snowe is the first -- and very possibly will be the only -- Republican to support the legislation.
The committee looks to be headed to a vote on the plan within the next hour or so. Passage is expected -- 13 of the 23 committee members are Democrats.
Update at 2:10 p.m. ET: Just a few moments ago, President Barack Obama hailed Snowe for being "extraordinarily diligent in working ... so that we can reduce the costs of health care" and make sure that those who don't have insurance get it.
Update at 1:36 p.m. ET. NPR's David Welna reports that:
Snowe's decision to vote for the Finance Committee health care legislation allows the Democrats who've been pushing for that bill to say it has bipartisan support -- a claim none of the four other Congressional committees that have approved health care bills can make.
Update at 1:12 p.m. ET: Snowe also said her vote to move the bill out of the committee is a reflection of something the American people want -- "they want us to continue working" on a health care overhaul.
The Senate Finance Committee is webcasting the proceedings this morning as it heads to a vote on the health care overhaul legislation hammered together by Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. Click here to see what's happening. According to the Associated Press, a vote is likely in the early afternoon.
And check the NPR Health Blog for much more about the legislation.
Update at 12:15 p.m. ET: NPR's Julie Rovner reports that Baucus wants to work through lunch time and that the vote could come within the next hour.
The top story as the day gets going, as we reported a few minutes ago, is the Senate Finance Committee vote on its version of legislation to overhaul the nation's health care system.
The committee meets at 10 a.m. ET. We'll post an update on the news, and the NPR Health Blog will also be following the action.
Among the other stories making headlines:
-- The Washington Post -- "Support Troops Swelling U.S. Force In Afghanistan": "President Obama announced in March that he would be sending 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. But in an unannounced move, the White House has also authorized -- and the Pentagon is deploying -- at least 13,000 troops beyond that number, according to defense officials. The additional troops are primarily support forces, including engineers, medical personnel, intelligence experts and military police. Their deployment has received little mention by officials at the Pentagon and the White House, who have spoken more publicly about the combat troops who have been sent to Afghanistan."
-- BBC News -- Al-Qaida Faces A "Funding Crisis": Al-Qaida "is in its worst financial state for many years while the Taliban's funding is flourishing, according to the US Treasury. Senior Treasury official David Cohen said al-Qaida had made several appeals for funds already this year. The influence of the network -- damaged by U.S. efforts to choke funding -- is waning, he said. The Taliban, meanwhile, are in better financial shape, bolstered by Afghanistan's booming trade in drugs."
-- The Associated Press -- Pakistani Jets Bomb Militants: "Pakistani jets bombed militant targets in the main insurgent stronghold along the Afghan border Tuesday ahead of an expected ground offensive there, while the army killed 26 insurgents elsewhere in the northwest, authorities said."
Related conversation on Morning Edition -- Journalist Rashed Rahman tells NPR's Steve Inskeep that militants may be trying to provoke the Pakistani military into attacking:
-- The New York Times -- "Congress Is Split On Effort To Tax Costly Health Plans": "A proposed tax on high-cost, or 'Cadillac,' health insurance plans has touched off a fierce clash between the Senate and the House as they wrestle over how to pay for legislation that would provide health benefits to millions of uninsured Americans."
-- Morning Edition -- After Saying GOP Health Plan Is To Have Folks "Die Quickly," Rep. Grayson Stirs Debate:NPR's Greg Allen reports:
-- Los Angeles Times -- "Schwarzenegger Pens A New Course For California": "After threatening a mass veto to spur a big water deal, the governor reversed course, revved up his ballpoint pen and signed a surprising slate of legislation. It included bills he had vetoed in the past and a flurry of measures that steered sharply away from the socially conservative Republican base the governor has rarely embraced."
This is a big day for the effort in Washington to overhaul the nation's health care system.
The Senate Finance Committee is set to vote on Chairman Max Baucus' version of an overhau. And while passage is expected because Baucus and his fellow Democrats hold 13 of the committee's 23 seats, it's not certain whether every Democrat will vote "aye" and many eyes will be on Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine to see if she crosses party lines to support the bill.
As the Associated Press notes, "the committee's centrist legislation is seen as the best building block for a compromise plan that could find favor on the Senate floor."
On Morning Edition, NPR's Julie Rovner talked with host Steve Inskeep about the insurance and hospital industries' problems with the committee's legislation. She says Democrats are likely to lose only one vote in the committee. And, says Julie, while there are still months to go before any overhaul bill lands on President Barack Obama's desk, there is "an air of inevitability" about some form of an overhaul being passed this year:
The NPR Health Blog is following the overhaul effort and related issues.
As for other stories making headlines, they include:
-- The New York Times -- "U.S. Can't Trace Foreign Visitors On Expired Visas": "Eight years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and despite repeated mandates from Congress, the United States still has no reliable system for verifying that foreign visitors have left the country. New concern was focused on that security loophole last week, when Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, a 19-year-old Jordanian who had overstayed his tourist visa, was accused in court of plotting to blow up a Dallas skyscraper."
-- The Associated Press -- "New Blast In Pakistan As Taliban Vow More Attacks": "The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility Monday for a weekend siege on army headquarters and vowed to activate militant cells across the country for more attacks as another explosion in a market killed at least 41 people."
Related story on Morning Edition -- "Attack On Pakistani Army Spotlights Punjab Province": The region is a terrorist recruitment and training ground, NPR's Julie McCarthy reports:
-- CBS News -- "Gun Troubles For U.S. Troops In Afghanistan": The problems some U.S. troops have had with misfiring weapons during intense firefights raises a question -- "Eight years into the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, do U.S. armed forces have the best guns money can buy? Despite the military's insistence that they do, a small but vocal number of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq has complained that the standard-issue M4 rifles need too much maintenance and jam at the worst possible times."
-- Morning Edition -- Expert Says Already Strapped U.S. Military Will Be Strained Even Further By Any Ramping Up In Afghanistan. John Nagl, a former lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army and president of the Center for a New American Security, spoke with host Steve Inskeep:
-- The Associated Press -- "Insurers Mount Attack Against Health Overhaul": "After working for months behind the scenes to help shape health care legislation, the insurance industry is now sharply attacking the emerging plan with a report that maintains Senate legislation would increase the cost of a typical policy by hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars a year."
On the march. (Brendan Smialowski / Getty Images)
-- The Washington Post -- Gay Rights March Pushes Marital, Military Equality: "Tens of thousands of gay-rights activists marched Sunday in Washington to show President Obama and Congress that they are impatient with what they consider piecemeal progress and are ready to fight at the federal level for across-the-board equality, including for the right to marry and the right to serve in the military."
Contributing: Chinita Anderson of Morning Edition.
The Senate Finance Committee's health-care overhaul bill received a boost today from the Congressional Budget Office which crunched the numbers and said the legislation would cost $829 billion over 10 years.
Senate Finance Chair Max Baucus has cause to smile with the CBO saying his committee's health-care reform bill would cost a mere $829 billion over 10 years. (Win McNamee / Getty Images News)
That was a key conclusion because the goal of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus was to come in as far below the $900 billion level as possible. The $829 billion score gives Baucus a big talking point.
What's more, the CBO said that the legislation, the America's Healthy Future Act of 2009, would increase health insurance coverage to 94 percent of legal non-elderly residents, up from the current 83 percent.
According to the CBO, the bill would also reduce the 10-year deficit by $83 billion. Again, good news for Baucus and, by extension, President Barack Obama who, like Baucus, can talk up the bill as responsible.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius made the rounds of the morning TV news shows today, making the case that the vaccine aimed at the H1N1 (swine) flu is safe and that it's important for most Americans to get it.
Here's how the conversation went on NBC-TV's The Today Show:
It appears Americans have gotten the message loudly and clearly from public health officials that they and their children should be vaccinated against the swine flu. The problem is that the surge in demand for the vaccine is overwhelming doctors.
The fear of swine flu is being compounded by new worries, this time among primary care doctors who say that they are already being swamped by calls from patients anxious to get the new vaccine, and that they are ill-prepared to cope with the nationwide drive to immunize everyone, particularly children and adults with chronic illness.
President Barack Obama shakes hands with doctors after making remarks on health care reform in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 5, 2009. (Gerald Herbert / AP Photo)
By Frank James
Though doctors in their white lab coats have lost some of their god-like authority figure status for many Americans, they're still highly respected in the social pecking order.
So the White House Rose Garden brought in scores of doctors Monday and made sure they got the message to wear their lab coats so President Barack Obama could have visuals of them with him. Those images would send the message that many doctors believed as he does that the cure for the nation's health care woes is the kind of overhaul he envisions.
Obama thanked this particular group of doctors, gathered in the White House Rose Garden, making it look like a hospital courtyard, for being willing to act as emissaries for health-care reform.
And I want to thank every single doctor who is here, and I especially want to thank you for agreeing to fan out across the country and make the case about why this reform effort is so desperately needed. You are the people who know this system best. You are the experts. Nobody has more credibility with the American people on this issue than you do.
Good morning. It's the first Monday in October and that means a new Supreme Court session begins today. As NPR's Nina Totenberg reported on Morning Edition, the issues on the court's docket include gun rights, the separation of church and state and the tension between efforts to regulate campaign finance and the First Amendment:
For an interactive look at the major cases in the new term, click here.
Meanwhile, among the stories making headlines are:
-- NPR News -- "Three Americans Share Nobel Medicine Prize": "Three American scientists who made key discoveries about how living cells age have received the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The winners are Elizabeth Blackburn of the University of California, San Francisco; Carol W. Greider of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore; and Jack Szostak of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston." The news of their honor was announced this morning in Stockholm. NPR's Jon Hamilton also filed this audio report:
-- The Associated Press -- Suicide Bomber Kills 5 At U.N. Office In Islamabad: "A suicide bomber disguised as a security officer struck the lobby of the U.N. food agency's Pakistan headquarters Monday, killing five people a day after the new leader of the Pakistani Taliban vowed fresh assaults, authorities and witnesses said."
-- The New York Times -- "Attacks On Remote Posts Highlight Afghan Risks": " Insurgents attacked a pair of remote American military bases in Afghanistan over the weekend in a deadly battle that underscored the vulnerability of the kind of isolated bases that the top American commander there wants to scale back."
Related story by The Washington Post -- Gen. McChrystal "Faulted On Troop Statements": "National security adviser James L. Jones suggested Sunday that the public campaign being conducted by the U.S. commander in Afghanistan on behalf of his war strategy is complicating the internal White House review underway, saying that "it is better for military advice to come up through the chain of command."
-- BBC News -- "Search Ends For Sumatra Survivors": "Officials in the earthquake-hit city of Padang, Indonesia, have called off the search for survivors in the rubble of buildings five days after the disaster. The focus has turned to bringing aid and medical help to survivors in the city and the surrounding areas. At least 1,000 people have died and at least 1,000 remain missing after the earthquake struck last Wednesday."
Related story on Morning Edition -- "Thousands Still Missing In Wake Of Sumatra Quake." Doualy Xaykaothao reports from Padang, Sumatra:
-- Morning Edition -- First Doses Of Swine Flu Vaccine Start Arriving This Week. Have Questions? NPR Will Try To Answer Them:
Click here at noon ET for an online chat, hosted by the NPR Health Blog, with NPR's Richard Knox and Dr. Richard Wenzel, professor and chair of internal medicine at the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond.
Contributing: Chinita Anderson of Morning Edition.
After Republican Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina shouted "you lie!" during President Barack Obama's address to a joint session of Congress last month, Democrats demanded he apologize from the House floor and passed a resolution condemning his outburst.
We polled Two-Way readers and the 16,330 who responded were almost evenly split over whether Congress should have punished Wilson.
Update at 12:10 p.m. ET. Pelosi says Grayson should apologize, the AP reports:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says anyone using harsh rhetoric to raise fears about health care reform should apologize and get on with writing policy -- and that includes people in her own Democratic caucus.
Pelosi was asked about Rep. Alan Grayson, a Florida Democrat who is refusing to apologize for accusing Republicans in a floor speech of believing sick Americans should "die quickly."
Pelosi noted the reprimand voted recently against Republican Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina, and the California Democrat said she believes the same goes for Grayson. Pelosi said that if anybody is going to apologize, everybody should, and heated rhetoric
shouldn't get in the way of the complex job of overhauling the health care system.
By a 15-8 vote, the Senate Finance Committee just made sure the so-called public option will not be part of its version of legislation to overhaul the nation's health care system.
As the Associated Press notes, the outcome is not a surprise.
A public option -- basically a government-backed alternative to private or employer-paid insurance -- is part of four other bills that have been passed by Congressional committees. And, as we reported just a short time ago, a key Senate Democrat says there are enough votes in his chamber to keep the public option in any health care plan.
For much more on the health care debate, and other health-related issues, check the NPR Health Blog.
Expanding on comments he made on Sunday's edition of All Things Considered a key Senate Democrat said today he thinks there are enough "aye" votes in the Senate to include make the so-called public option as part of any health care overhaul legislation.
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said on radio's The Bill Press Show that he thinks there are the 60 votes to avoid a Senate filibuster on the legislation and that he has "polled senators and the vast majority of Democrats, maybe approaching 50, are for a public option. Why shouldn't we have a public option? We have the votes." (Audio of Harkin's interview with Press is posted here.)
The "public option" is a government-backed health care plan that would serve as an alternative to private plans. President Barack Obama and many fellow Democrats believe such an option would promote competition. Some Democrats and most Republican lawmakers say the option could have an unfair advantage over private plans and have raised the specter of "government-run" health care.
Update at 2:57 p.m. ET: Harkin had already discounted the likelihood that the Senate Finance Committee's version of a health care overhaul would not include the public option -- and that committee did indeed just vote 15-8 NOT to include the public option in its legislation.
For much more on the health care debate, and other health-related issues, check the NPR Health Blog.
Here's the interview Harkin did with ATC's Guy Raz:
U.S. health officials said Friday the first batches of swine flu (H1N1) vaccine will be available as soon as Monday, Oct. 5, 2009.
The Associated Press reports:
These early batches of vaccine will protect 6 million to 7 million people. Over time, the government expects to have a total of 250 million doses of the new vaccine, although 10 percent of that has been promised to other countries.
The U.S. vaccine shipments will go directly to doctors, clinics and other providers designated by each state, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said at a press conference. Most of the initial doses will be a nasal spray form of vaccine, but the majority of doses during flu season will be shots.
For the first time ever, a U.S. president will chair a meeting of the U.N. Security Council when President Barack Obama assumes that role this morning in New York. The session is scheduled to begin at 9:15 a.m. ET. We're planning to live-blog the highlights, so check back as the time draws near.
On Morning Edition, NPR's Don Gonyea talked with host Steve Inskeep about the Security Council meeting and about what Obama has been saying this week as he meets with leaders at the U.N. (and prepares for the opening later today of the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh). As Steve says, Obama's message so far has basically been "we're changing, now it's your turn":
For more on the Security Council session and Obama's agenda, there's The Washington Post account of how the president "will use the forum of the U.N. Security Council ... to press his efforts to slow the spread of nuclear weapons and reduce global stockpiles."
A draft nuclear-safeguards resolution, expected to be adopted unanimously Thursday by the United Nations Security Council, would begin to lay the legal framework for military and diplomatic action against nations that use civilian nuclear technology for military purposes.
Last night at the U.N., Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- speaking to a mostly empty chamber -- renewed his verbal attacks on Israel and claimed his country has one of the most democratic governments in the world. NPR's Michele Kelemen filed this report for Morning Edition:
Ahmadinejad, in an interview yesterday with reporters and editors from The Washington Post and Newsweek, said Iran "is willing to have its nuclear experts meet with scientists from the United States and other world powers as a confidence-building measure aimed at resolving concerns about Tehran's nuclear program," the Post writes.
Among the other stories making headlines this morning:
-- Reuters -- "U.N. Agencies Say AIDS Vaccine Results Are Promising": "Two U.N. agencies said on Thursday promising results with an experimental AIDS vaccine in Thailand gave 'new hope' in the fight against the disease, but more work was needed to see if it could be used elsewhere."
Related video report from ITN News:
-- Morning Edition -- "FBI Not Showing Cards" As Terror-Plot Suspects Prepare For Court. "Three men arrested in connection with a possible terrorist plot are scheduled to be back in court for detention hearings Thursday in Denver and New York." NPR's Dina Temple-Raston reports on the case investigators are building:
-- Dow Jones Newswires -- "TARP Watchdog Questions Whether Taxpayers Will Be Repaid $700B": "The U.S. government's $700 billion financial rescue program has improved market stability but has fallen short on broad goals, highlighted by the likelihood that U.S. taxpayers won't get 100% of their investment back, a watchdog will tell lawmakers Thursday. Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, said in prepared testimony for a Senate Banking Committee hearing that Treasury has frequently ignored suggestions to increase the transparency of the program and has never solved the difficult issue of what to do with the toxic assets that still remain on banks' balance sheets."
-- Los Angeles Times -- Rallies, Walkouts And Teach-Ins Across UC System Today: "Rallies, walkouts and teach-ins are scheduled today across the University of California system, with professors, students and staff expected to protest state cutbacks in higher education funding and UC's handling of the crisis. The extent of the protests was hard to predict; many faculty and students said they were reluctant to skip classes today, the first day of fall classes for the seven undergraduate UC campuses on the quarter calendar."
-- Boston Globe -- New Mass. Senator To Be Announced This Morning; Signs Point To Kirk: "Governor Deval Patrick huddled with a small group of trusted advisers last night to finalize his choice for an interim US senator, with indications pointing to former Democratic National Committee chairman Paul G. Kirk Jr., who has the strong backing of the immediate family of the late Edward M. Kennedy, as the overwhelming favorite. ... The governor will announce the appointment at an 11 a.m. press conference today at the State House."
-- Morning Edition -- Biden Decries "Hokum" About Health Care Overhaul And "Death Panels".NPR's Julie Rovner reports:
Contributing: Chinita Anderson of Morning Edition.
"There will be death panels enacted by this Congress, but they will be for non-bank financial institutions that will not be considered too big to die," House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., vowed today.
The always quotable Frank's comment came during a hearing in which Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner endorsed Democratic efforts to "narrow the scope of a new consumer protection agency," the Associated Press writes.
Here's Frank making his point -- which is that letting some financial institutions become "too big to fail" is a large part of what caused the financial crisis that erupted one year ago:
"Death panels," of course, have been much discussed -- and debunked -- in the debate over health care.
The ban on many flavored tobacco cigarettes took effect Tuesday, making it a signal day in the history of the federal government's lengthy effort over decades to regulate the tobacco industry.
Meant to keep children from taking up the noxious-weed habit by using candy flavored cigarettes as a gateway, the ban means that any manufacturer or supplier of the products can now face Food and Drug Administration action if they're caught violating the prohibition.
The act says:
...a cigarette or any of its component parts (including the tobacco, filter, or paper) shall not contain, as a constituent (including a smoke constituent) or additive, an artificial or natural flavor (other than tobacco or menthol) or an herb or spice, including strawberry, grape, orange, clove, cinnamon, pineapple, vanilla, coconut, licorice, cocoa, chocolate, cherry, or coffee, that is a characterizing flavor of the tobacco product or tobacco smoke
If you spot such flavored cigarettes being sold, the FDA wants to hear about it through this report form.
Old-fashioned, but just right? (Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch/AP)
By Mark Memmott
Remember walking to school?
Have you noticed the high obesity rate among today's kids? (Nearly one in six are overweight, our Health Blog buddy Scott Hensley reports.)
Well, what if more children walked to school like so many of us old fogies remember doing? Would they be in better shape?
Bobbie O'Brien of member station WUSF in Tampa reports that the Pinellas County (Fla.) Health Department has begun a "Walking School Bus" project in Largo, Fla. The goal: Have children, with one or more adult along for safety's sake, walk to school in organized groups. They get exercise, traffic around the schools gets better and everybody benefits.
As Largo mother Laura Mason says, a "drive-through world" isn't such a good thing:
Bobbie's full report is due on today's All Things Considered. Click here to find an NPR station near you.
This blogger remembers almost always walking the half mile or so to the school in our little upstate New York village. So did my dad, the school principal. Or, when there wasn't snow we rode our bikes (dad did that too). Buses were for the kids from the farms who lived miles away.
Children over ten will be glad to hear they will only need one vaccination shot to gain protection from the swine flu, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Children age 10 or older will get protection from one shot of swine-flu vaccine but younger ones will still require two shots to be protected. (Pat Wellenbach / AP Photo)
Children under ten, however, aren't so fortunate. Because of their immature immune systems, they'll need two shots, according to experts.
According to the NIH unit, for older children, the swine flu shot regimen will follow that of regular seasonal flu. One shot will provide a protective immune response eight to ten days after vaccination.
"This is very encouraging news," says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. "As we had hoped, responses to the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine are very similar to what we see with routinely used seasonal influenza vaccines made in the same way. It seems likely that the H1N1 flu vaccine will require just one 15-microgram dose for children 10 to 17 years of age. The 2009 H1N1 influenza virus is causing widespread infections among children, so these are welcome results."
Saying that the "current situation is unacceptable" and that the nation's health care system is "holding women and families back," first lady Michelle Obama made the case for "my husband's plan" today.
Her summary of that plan:
"If you don't have insurance now or you lose your insurance at some point in the future, you'll be able to purchase affordable coverage through an insurance exchange -- a marketplace with a variety of options that will let you compare prices and benefits. This is exactly the approach that is used to provide members of Congress with insurance. So the thought is that, if it's good enough for the members of Congress, it should be good enough for the people who vote them in."
Here's some AP video of her comments, which came at a White House event also attended by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius:
Click here for NPR's coverage of health-related issues, and here for the NPR Health Blog.
Dr. David Brooks, surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital, testifies in 2007 in a medical malpractice case, describing complications experienced by Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weis after his gastric bypass surgery. (Josh Reynolds / AP Photo)
By Frank James
From President Barack Obama's public statements, it's fairly obvious he's not a big believer in what is an article of faith to some, that medical malpractice is a major contributor to health-care inflation.
The available evidence is with the president. Perhaps one percent or less of health-care's high costs has been attributed in many studies to malpractice lawsuits.
Still, a lot of people believe it, and some of them are the practicing physicians the Obama Administration is trying to either gain as supporters of its health care overhaul plans or at least get them to not strenuously resist it.
Also, you don't have to talk to doctors for long before they tell you how much defensive medicine they practice, ordering extra and likely unnecessary tests just to cover themselves. So their seems to be an intuitive truth to the notion that fear of malpractice suits is a contributor to medical inflation.
With that as the backdrop, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Thursday that the administration use $25 million to fund state initiatives meant to discover ways to reduce malpractice lawsuits.
Some of those initiatives could include actions as simple as doctors and hospitals quickly acknowledging errors and apologizing, making restitution or promising to fix systemic problems.
Or, as it's more widely known, the health care overhaul legislation put together by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., who tried to bring some Republicans on board but in the end did not.
Baucus' legislation is 223 pages long, so dig in and feel free to point out things you like and don't like over at the NPR Health Blog or here, where that blog collects messages from readers.
Many of the details in the Baucus' bill were already known. Unlike more liberal versions passed by three committees in the House and by the Senate's Health Committee, it shunned liberals' call for the government to sell insurance and relied instead on co-ops to offer coverage in competition with private industry.
Baucus' approach includes a requirement for individuals to buy insurance, with financial penalties for those who don't. Rather than a mandate for larger businesses to provide coverage for employees, they would be required to defray the cost of any government subsidies for which their employees would qualify.
The bill is expected to cost about $880 billion over 10 years, and it tracks closely with the goals Obama laid out in his speech to Congress last week.
One CBO conclusion: "enacting the Chairman's proposal would result in a net reduction in federal budget deficits of $49 billion over the 2010--2019 period." Another: "The number of nonelderly people who are uninsured would be reduced by about 29 million, leaving about 25 million nonelderly residents uninsured (about one-third of whom would be unauthorized immigrants)."
Update at 1:30 p.m. ET. On Capitol Hill a few moments ago, Baucus told reporters that -- even though no Republicans have signed on to his bill as of now -- he thinks some will eventually vote for what he believes is the balanced legislation his work has produced:
Good news in the battle against swine flu. Four vaccines to fend off swine flu were approved by federal health officials, according to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius who testified before Congress today.
The Food and Drug Administration gave four vaccine makers the go-ahead today to make swine-flu vaccine. (Pat Wellenbach / AP Photo)
She told the lawmakers:
I'm pleased to report that today the Food and Drug Administration has approved applications for vaccines for the 2009 H1N1 virus from four of the manufacturers of the U.S. licensed seasonal influenza vaccines.
To underscore the level of attention the FDA is placing on the new vaccine's safety, Sebelius said the following:
The vaccines for this virus are being produced under careful FDA oversight using the same license manufacturing processing and facilities used for seasonal vaccines that are used every year to protect millions against the flu.
The four pharmaceutical makers who received approval are Novartis of Switzerland; Sanofi-Pasteur of France; Medimmune in the U.S. which makes a nasal vaccine, and CSL Ltd. of Australia.
Sebelius also promised there'd be enough "vaccine for everyone."
As if we needed one more thing to worry about in this Season of Swine Flu, now we're told that our showerheads are incubators of bacteria that are just waiting to hitch a ride on the water stream and land on us, making the more susceptible among us ill.
A study in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences due out tomorrow will report that a microbe known as Mycobacterium avium thinks showerheads, especially the plastic ones, are a perfect place to grow, according to an Associated Press report.
As the AP reports:
People with normal immune systems have little to fear, but these microbes could be a concern for folks with cystic fibrosis or AIDS, people who are undergoing cancer treatment or those who have had a recent organ transplant.
Researchers at the University of Colorado tested 45 showers in five states as part of a larger study of the microbiology of air and water in homes, schools and public buildings. They report their shower findings in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In general, is it dangerous to take showers? "Probably not, if your immune system is not compromised in some way," lead author Norman R. Pace says. "But it's like anything else - there is a risk associated with it.
Given the problems attendant to not showering, it's a risk well worth taking.
The Senate's Gang of Six heath-care fix could could harm the lowest-income workers. Top row, from left are, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.; Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.; and Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D. Bottom row, from left: Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo.; Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine; and the committee's top Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.(AP Photo/FILE)
By Frank James
Unemployed, low income workers seeking jobs could find the already difficult odds against them stacked higher if the health-care overhaul framework by the Senate's "gang of six" which President Barack Obama appears to be leaning towards, retains a critical feature.
The senators led by Senate Finance Committee Chair Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) want smaller employers (50 workers or less) who don't provide their workers with health-care insurance to pay the total cost of federal subsidies their low-income workers would receive. Those subsidies would be meant to help those workers purchase coverage from the health-insurance exchanges policymakers envision creating.
But because many senators want to limit the burden on small employers, the "gang's" current proposal would exempt employers from making the subsidy payments for workers from households with income more than three times the poverty line.
According to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, this idea could result in discrimination in hiring against low-income workers since a small employer might not want to incur the added cost of hiring poorer workers versus other applicants.
Though health care remains atop the agenda in Washington, financial regulation will be competing for the spotlight today.
As this timeline shows, it's the one-year anniversary of Lehman Brothers' collapse. And as NPR's John Ydstie reports, "a year ago this week the global financial system teetered on the edge of collapse":
President Barack Obama will be on Wall Street today to deliver what the White House is billing as a "major speech on the financial crisis." That happens at noon ET. We'll "live-blog" the highlights, and NPR's Neal Conan will be on many NPR member stations anchoring coverage of the president's address.
Related story by Bloomberg News -- "Stiglitz Says Bank Problems Bigger Than Pre-Lehman": " Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Prize- winning economist, said the U.S. has failed to fix the underlying problems of its banking system after the credit crunch and the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc."
Related story by The Wall Street Journal -- "Government's Trial And Error Helped Stem Financial Panic": "It was only a year ago that the world economy was enveloped in a financial panic of such dimensions that, if one believes Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, it threatened to produce a calamity as bad as the Great Depression. Today, the economy is far from vigorous. Unemployment remains high. Huge swaths of the financial system remain on government life-support. But the global recession appears over, and now forecasters are arguing over the pace and sustainability of recovery."
As for the other stories making headlines this morning, they include:
-- The Washington Post -- Poll Signals That "Reform Opposition Is High But Easing": "President Obama continues to face significant public resistance to his drive to initiate far-reaching changes to the country's health-care system, with widespread skepticism about central tenets of his plan, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. But after a summer of angry debate and protests, opposition to the effort has eased somewhat, and there appears to be potential for further softening among critics if Congress abandons the idea of a government-sponsored health insurance option, a proposal that has become a flash point in the debate."
Related report by CBS News Face the Nation -- Sen. Snowe Says Public Option Blocks Consensus: "Moderate Republican Senator Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said a public option in the health care bill is 'universally opposed by all Republicans in the Senate' and called it 'a roadblock to building the kind of consensus that we need to move forward,' on Face the Nation Sunday."
-- The Associated Press -- "Bin Laden Reportedly Calls Obama 'Powerless' ": "In an audio message posted on militant websites, a man thought to be al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden says President Barack Obama is "powerless" to stop the war in Afghanistan. The voice also asserts that the new U.S. president is following the policies of his predecessor, George W. Bush. The terrorist-monitoring group SITE Intelligence has more on the message here.
Related story on Morning Edition -- "Timeline Of Afghan War's Progress Differs In U.S., Kabul":
-- New Haven Register -- Body Found May Be That Of Missing Graduate Student: " A body believed to be that of missing Yale graduate student Annie Le was found Sunday hidden inside a wall at 10 Amistad St., the building where she was last seen alive. It was supposed to be the day she would marry her college sweetheart and celebrate at a reception in a tony section of Long Island."
One of the "moderate" Democrats in the Senate who could be key to any agreement on legislation to overhaul the nation's health care system tells All Things Considered host Robert Siegel that it's important that at least some Republicans feel they can support the eventual plan.
Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., says the package will be "closer to the mainstream of American thought" with GOP ideas incorporated.
Nelson talked with Robert earlier today. Here's part of their conversation:
More from the interview is due on today's ATC. Click here to find an NPR station near you.
Though it's unlikely this will be the last time we'll write about Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., and his shout of "you lie!" during President Barack Obama's address to Congress last night, we should pass along a link to this post by our NPR Health Blog colleague Scott Hensley just in case the story's 15 minutes of fame is about over:
We talked with some analysts at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan outfit that's been on top of the issue for a while, to sort through the fact and fiction. The bottom line, they told us, is the legislation proposed to date makes clear that undocumented residents of the U.S. wouldn't be eligible for federally subsidized benefits under an overhaul.
That's the same conclusion reached by the AP's Calvin Woodward -- though he found some other things about the president's address that raise questions of accuracy:
One point President Barack Obama made last night in his health-care speech to a joint session of Congress that resonated with many people was his likening a public insurance option to public universities and colleges which haven't put their private counterparts out of business.
At first blush, that seems like an apt analogy. Even American Enterprise Institute scholar Norm Ornstein, one of Washington's favorite experts, said on NPR's Diane Rehm Show today he thought it was a powerful comparison and wondered why the president hasn't used it before.
The president said Wednesday night:
It would also keep pressure on private insurers to keep their policies affordable and treat their customers better, the same way public colleges and universities provide additional choice and competition to students without in any way inhibiting a vibrant system of private colleges and universities.
"The number of people without health insurance coverage rose from 45.7 million in 2007 to 46.3 million in 2008, while the percentage remained unchanged at 15.4%," the Census Bureau just reported.
Update at 10:35 a.m. ET: The president just noted that the number might be even higher. "Since the recession intensified last September, the situation has grown worse," he said.
Now that it's over, how did he do and did it make any difference?
Those are two of the morning-after questions following President Barack Obama's health care address to a joint session of Congress last night. Here's some of the early thinking:
-- CNN -- "Double-digit Post-speech Jump For Obama Plan": "Two out of three Americans who watched President Barack Obama's health care reform speech Wednesday night favor his health care plans -- a 14-point gain among speech-watchers, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation national poll of people who tuned into Obama's address Wednesday night to a joint session of Congress."
-- The Wall Street Journal editorial board -- "Obama Doubles Down":"Democrats have wanted President Obama to drop some of his cool and fight for their health-care agenda, and last night they weren't disappointed. The President gave away very little on the substance of what Congressional leaders are proposing, even as he offered a rhetorical bow or two to the idea of compromise. The main message of his speech to Congress is that he is doubling down on his health-care bets and counting on the sheer inertia of Democratic and health industry self-interest in Washington to drive a bill into law."
-- The New York Times editorial board -- "President Obama Steps Forward": "On Wednesday night, reeling from the angry if ill-informed outbursts at town hall meetings and concerned about his slipping poll numbers, the president finally found his voice. His speech to a joint session of Congress was rhetorically powerful in its insistence that reform must finally happen -- for the sake of Americans' health and the economic health of the country. We hope it was only the start of a sustained campaign to get this essential legislation passed."
-- Conservative commentator Fred Barnes in The Weekly Standard -- Speech Didn't Change Anything: "President Obama's speech to Congress last night can be summed up rather easily. It was 40 minutes of boilerplate followed by a socko, emotional finish exploiting the death of Senator Teddy Kennedy. Which leads to this question: was Obama's finishing kick sufficient to achieve his goal of "reframing" the national debate on health care that hasn't been going his way? I don't think so."
-- Liberal (and former Clinton White House aide) commentator Paul Begala at The Daily Beast -- "A Speech Worthy Of Hillary": "Let me pay President Barack Obama the most sincere compliment I can: His health-care speech could have been given by Hillary Clinton. I did not support Barack Obama in the primaries. I preferred Hillary; first for reasons of deep affection and longstanding loyalty. But also because of health care. Hillary (and John Edwards) campaigned on an unabashedly progressive platform on health care. Barack Obama attacked Hillary in the primaries for her support of a universal mandate. Now he supports one. While his white paper on health care did call for a public option, I can't recall a time the words 'public option' crossed his lips in the campaign."
And from Morning Edition, reactions from Congress and the thoughts from people around the nation --
The debate over health care ratcheted up even further this evening with the appearance of President Barack Obama before a joint session of Congress.
As NPR.org's Liz Halloran writes, the president was expected to "forcefully take on critics of his effort to overhaul health care and push again for a plan that would create new competition in the insurance marketplace."
And he did.
We used this post to "live-blog" before, during and after the president's speech. Click the "play" button below and our updates should flow in automatically.
We did "play by play" and featured some thoughts and analysis from NPR's reporters. And you could comment too. We'll published as many as we could.
The White House just released these excerpts of the address President Barack Obama will deliver to Congress this evening. We've added some bold highlights:
-- "I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last. It has now been nearly a century since Theodore Roosevelt first called for health care reform. And ever since, nearly every president and Congress, whether Democrat or Republican, has attempted to meet this challenge in some way. A bill for comprehensive health reform was first introduced by John Dingell Sr. in 1943. Sixty-five years later, his son continues to introduce that same bill at the beginning of each session."
-- "Our collective failure to meet this challenge -- year after year, decade after decade -- has led us to a breaking point. Everyone understands the extraordinary hardships that are placed on the uninsured, who live every day just one accident or illness away from bankruptcy. These are not primarily people on welfare. These are middle-class Americans. Some can't get insurance on the job. Others are self-employed, and can't afford it, since buying insurance on your own costs you three times as much as the coverage you get from your employer. Many other Americans who are willing and able to pay are still denied insurance due to previous illnesses or conditions that insurance companies decide are too risky or expensive to cover."
"During that time, we have seen Washington at its best and its worst."
"We have seen many in this chamber work tirelessly for the better part of this year to offer thoughtful ideas about how to achieve reform. Of the five committees asked to develop bills, four have completed their work, and the Senate Finance Committee announced today that it will move forward next week. That has never happened before. Our overall efforts have been supported by an unprecedented coalition of doctors and nurses; hospitals, seniors' groups and even drug companies -- many of whom opposed reform in the past. And there is agreement in this chamber on about eighty percent of what needs to be done, putting us closer to the goal of reform than we have ever been."
"But what we have also seen in these last months is the same partisan spectacle that only hardens the disdain many Americans have toward their own government. Instead of honest debate, we have seen scare tactics. Some have dug into unyielding ideological camps that offer no hope of compromise. Too many have used this as an opportunity to score short-term political points, even if it robs the country of our opportunity to solve a long-term challenge. And out of this blizzard of charges and counter-charges, confusion has reigned."
"Well the time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed. Now is the season for action. Now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together, and show the American people that we can still do what we were sent here to do. Now is the time to deliver on health care."
-- "The plan I'm announcing tonight would meet three basic goals:"
"It will provide more security and stability to those who have health insurance. It will provide insurance to those who don't. And it will slow the growth of health care costs for our families, our businesses, and our government. It's a plan that asks everyone to take responsibility for meeting this challenge -- not just government and insurance companies, but employers and individuals. And it's a plan that incorporates ideas from Senators and Congressmen; from Democrats and Republicans -- and yes, from some of my opponents in both the primary and general election."
-- "Here are the details that every American needs to know about this plan:
"First, if you are among the hundreds of millions of Americans who already have health insurance through your job, Medicare, Medicaid, or the VA, nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have. Let me repeat this: nothing in our plan requires you to change what you have.
"What this plan will do is to make the insurance you have work better for you. Under this plan, it will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition. As soon as I sign this bill, it will be against the law for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it most. They will no longer be able to place some arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or a lifetime. We will place a limit on how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses, because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they get sick. And insurance companies will be required to cover, with no extra charge, routine checkups and preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies -- because there's no reason we shouldn't be catching diseases like breast cancer and colon cancer before they get worse. That makes sense, it saves money, and it saves lives."
"That's what Americans who have health insurance can expect from this plan -- more security and stability."
"Now, if you're one of the tens of millions of Americans who don't currently have health insurance, the second part of this plan will finally offer you quality, affordable choices. If you lose your job or change your job, you will be able to get coverage. If you strike out on your own and start a small business, you will be able to get coverage. We will do this by creating a new insurance exchange -- a marketplace where individuals and small businesses will be able to shop for health insurance at competitive prices. Insurance companies will have an incentive to participate in this exchange because it lets them compete for millions of new customers. As one big group, these customers will have greater leverage to bargain with the insurance companies for better prices and quality coverage. This is how large companies and government employees get affordable insurance. It's how everyone in this Congress gets affordable insurance. And it's time to give every American the same opportunity that we've given ourselves. "
-- "This is the plan I'm proposing. It's a plan that incorporates ideas from many of the people in this room tonight -- Democrats and Republicans. And I will continue to seek common ground in the weeks ahead. If you come to me with a serious set of proposals, I will be there to listen. My door is always open."
-- "But know this: I will not waste time with those who have made the calculation that it's better politics to kill this plan than improve it. I will not stand by while the special interests use the same old tactics to keep things exactly the way they are. If you misrepresent what's in the plan, we will call you out. And I will not accept the status quo as a solution. Not this time. Not now."
-- "Everyone in this room knows what will happen if we do nothing. Our deficit will grow. More families will go bankrupt. More businesses will close. More Americans will lose their coverage when they are sick and need it most. And more will die as a result. We know these things to be true.
-- "That is why we cannot fail. Because there are too many Americans counting on us to succeed -- the ones who suffer silently, and the ones who shared their stories with us at town hall meetings, in e-mails, and in letters."
Update at 6:30 p.m. ET. Excerpts of the Republican response:
Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La., is a doctor. And he's delivering the Republican response this evening. The Republican Leader press office just released these excerpts:
-- "Republicans are pleased that President Obama came to the Capitol tonight. We agree much needs to be done to lower the cost of health care for all Americans. On that goal, Republicans are ready -- and we've been ready -- to work with the president for common-sense reforms that our nation can afford."
-- "It's clear the American people want health care reform, but they want their elected leaders to get it right. Most Americans wanted to hear the President tell Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Reid and the rest of Congress that it's time to start over on a common-sense, bipartisan plan focused on lowering the cost of health care while improving quality. That's what I heard over the past several months in talking to thousands of my constituents. Replacing your family's current health care with government-run health care is not the answer. In fact, it'll make health care much more expensive."
-- "I read the bill Democrats passed through committee in July. It creates 53 new government bureaucracies, adds hundreds of billions to our national debt, and raises taxes on job-creators by $600 billion. And, it cuts Medicare by $500 billion, while doing virtually nothing to make the program better for our seniors."
-- "This Congress can pass meaningful reform soon to reduce some of the fear and anxiety families are feeling in these very difficult times. Working together in a bipartisan way, we can truly lower the cost of health care while improving quality for the American people."
"I think, quite frankly, with increasing conviction that a 'public option' cannot pass the Senate."
That's the word, just a moment ago, from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., about President Barack Obama's preference that a so-called public option, or a government-run insurance program, be included in any health care overhaul legislation.
Baucus, who has been trying to produce a bipartisan health care plan with his "gang of six" committee members, also said that even though that group hasn't yet been able to come up with such a package, "there's still time ... between now and when we vote on the final bill that's marked up in a couple weeks."
Update at 1 p.m. ET. NPR's Julie Rovner adds that:
Baucus said he will go ahead with a committee vote on a health overhaul bill "the week after next." He said he will proceed with the vote, with or without Republican support. Baucus told reporters that the overhaul bill will be similar to the draft that was circulated over the weekend.
It looks like the health care address that President Barack Obama's delivering to a joint session of Congress tonight is still being tweaked.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs talked with reporters about Air Force One this morning about where things stand (transcript produced by the White House):
Question: "Is tonight's speech finished? Is he still working on it?"
Gibbs: "He's still working on it."
Question: "What's the process there? Is it bouncing off ideas off other aides? Who is kind of involved in the drafting?"
There's news from Afghanistan this morning that New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell, who along with his interpreter had been held captive by militants since Saturday, was freed by British commandos.
But the interpreter, Sultan Munadi, and one British commando were killed during a firefight. Farrell's kidnapping had not been reported prior to the raid that freed him. He is the second Times reporter in recent months to have been kidnapped in Afghanistan. In June, reporter David Rohde and interpreter Tahir Ludin escaped from their captors after being held for seven months.
The main story of the day, though, looks to be President Barack Obama's prime-time address to a joint session of Congress.
The Wall Street Journal says Obama "will press for a government-run insurance option in a proposed overhaul of the U.S. health-care system that has divided lawmakers and voters for months."
On Morning Edition a short time ago, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told NPR's Renee Montagne that Obama believes the so-called public option is "a valuable tool" and something "he'd like to see." Gibbs did not directly answer Renee's question about whether the president would veto a health care overhaul bill that doesn't include that option. "We're not going to accentuate the negative," Gibbs said:
Staying with health care for a moment:
-- The New York Times' Prescriptions blog offers its advice on how to watch tonight's presidential address. Among the things to look for: "Any sign that he is now willing to let Democrats go it alone, maybe by using a controversial procedural tactic known as budget reconciliation."
-- On Morning Edition, NPR's Mara Liasson said the president's goal remains the same -- to find some consensus so that a health care overhaul bill can be passed this year:
-- NPR's Richard Knox takes a look at a key Republican, Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine:
-- Former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin takes aim at the president's health care "bureaucratization" again in an op-ed piece published by The Wall Street Journal. She once again brings up the "death panels" that she has warned about before (panels the president and his supporters say don't and won't exist).
There will, of course, be many ways to watch and monitor the president's address, which is set to begin at 8 p.m. ET. It will be broadcast by all the cable news networks, on many NPR stations, and at NPR.org.
We will "live-blog" the speech, using a "Cover It Live" box that lets you -- the readers -- discuss the address as it's happening. We're hoping to have Ken Rudin of NPR.org's Political Junkie blog and Scott Hensley of NPR.org's Health Blog join us. As the time draws near, come back here if you want to follow along.
As for other stories making headlines, they include:
-- Morning Edition -- "High Court Weighs Upending Campaign-Money Rules": "The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court have returned early from their summer recess to hear arguments in a case that could rip apart the legal underpinnings of the nation's campaign finance laws. For more than a century, for all practical purposes, those laws have barred corporations from spending money on candidate elections. Wednesday's argument is a double first: The first argument to be heard by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and the first time new U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan will argue a case before the Supreme Court." NPR's Nina Totenberg reports:
Related story by On the Media -- The case goes well beyond Hillary: The Movie, the film that kicked off the legal debate:
The Supreme Court hears the case at 10 a.m. ET. Audio of the argument is scheduled to be released by late morning.
-- Variety -- Columnist Army Archerd, A "Defining Voice" In Show Business, Has Died: "Showbiz has lost one of its defining voices, one who honed his craft in the bygone era of close-knit Hollywood and evolved through the many iterations of the industry. Army Archerd, who became an industry institution and beloved figure in his more than half a century at Daily Variety, died Tuesday in Los Angeles. He had a rare form of mesothelioma cancer, thought to be the result of his exposure to asbestos in the Navy during WWII. He was 87."
One more story to watch for today: The Federal Reserve releases its latest "beige book" review of how the economy is doing at 2 p.m. ET.
What's the Republican view on what could happen if President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies push ahead with health care legislation that doesn't get much, if any, GOP support?
Well, former House speaker Newt Gingrich tells Morning Edition's Renee Montagne that he thinks that could lead to Republican gains in the 2010 and 2012 elections:
There will be much more from Renee's conversation with Gingrich on tomorrow's ME. Click here to find an NPR station near you. And if you're trying to follow the health care debate and related issues, check out the NPR Health blog.
Drug giant Pfizer Inc. and the Justice Department will confirm today that the company has agreed to pay $2.3 billion over allegations it marketed the pain reliever Bextra and some other drugs for uses that hadn't been approved by federal regulators, the Associated Press is reporting.
Back in January, Pfizer had filed notice with financial regulators that it expected such a settlement.
The Philadelphia Inquirer says this would be "the largest ever paid by a drug company for such activity."
Update at 10:50 a.m. ET. The Justice Department has announced the settlement. At a news conference just a few minutes ago, Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli said the $2.3 billion is the "largest health care fraud settlement" in his department's history -- and that $1.195 billion of that is a criminal fine, which is the "largest criminal fine in history":
Here's another good reason, among many to be sure, not to use cocaine: drug traffickers are adding a veterinary medicine to their product which damages cocaine users' immune systems, leaving them vulnerable to a range of dangerous infections.
The Associated Press is reporting that law enforcement officials say nearly a third of the cocaine sold in the nation, is tainted by levamisole, a de-worming drug used on animals. The drug evidently intensifies the high associated with cocaine.
Furthermore, many doctors are apparently unaware of this problem. So they may be seeing patients with depressed immune systems linked to tainted cocaine and not even know it.
An AP excerpt:
The medication called levamisole has killed at least three people in the U.S. and Canada and sickened more than 100 others. It can be used in humans to treat colorectal cancer, but it severely weakens the body's immune system, leaving patients vulnerable to fatal infections.
Scientific studies suggest levamisole might give cocaine a more intense high, possibly by increasing levels of dopamine, the brain's "feel-good" neurotransmitters.
Drug Enforcement Administration documents reviewed by The Associated Press indicate that 30 percent of all U.S. cocaine seizures are tainted with the drug. And health officials told the AP that most physicians know virtually nothing about its risks.
"I would think it would be fair to say the vast majority of doctors in the United States have no idea this is going on," said Eric Lavonas, assistant director of the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center in Denver, where as much as half of the cocaine is believed to contain levamisole. "You can't diagnose a disease you've never heard of."
The Obama team's campaign-style effort to respond to critics of its health care plans continues today with this appeal from Vice President Joe Biden. He wants supporters of the administration's ideas make short videos and upload them to WhiteHouse.gov's "Reality Check" webpage. Presumably, those the White House likes the best will be posted online.
And Biden says he wants to debunk the "myth" that the American health care system is fine:
"As we approach September 4, 2009, the 200th day since the stimulus package was signed into law, the Research Department of the Republican National Committee (RNC) has identified and reviewed 200 of the claims made by the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats who supported this massive economic experiment.
"The RNC's research focuses on promises made to the American people on job creation, waste, prevention, targeted spending, transparency, and how the stimulus would bring about an economic recovery. The resulting report, 200 Days, 200 Claims, holds Democrats accountable for their claims that the stimulus was an absolute necessity to 'jolt' the economy. They used this and other claims to quickly force through one of the largest spending bills in American history. Now Americans will see how valid those claims are 200 days later."
"Fewer Americans are afraid that they will be unable to pay for health care services and fewer expect to postpone medical treatments due to costs," the Reuters news agency writes this morning.
It's basing those conclusions on results of a new Thomson Reuters national survey, which "found a steady increase in people's confidence about their ability to pay for health care services -- it rose 12% between March and July this year."
The shift could be due to signs that the overall economy is firming and to all the discussion from Washington about an overhaul of the health care system -- even if some parts of the proposed changes generate strong opposition from critics.
"There is growing optimism among many health care consumers, but (there) also is a clear disparity in outlook between those with higher income levels who have insurance coverage and those who are uninsured. This gap needs to be an area of focus for health care professionals and policymakers," Gary Pickens, chief research officer for the Healthcare & Science business of Thomson Reuters, said in a statement.
If I were a White House adviser, I would suggest that the day Congress reconvenes, President Obama's version of reform should be introduced by Democratic leaders in the House and Senate. Health-care reform is the vital issue of our time, and Obama should be out front with his specific plan on this make-or-break issue.
Trying to follow the health care debate and the latest health care news? So is the NPR Health Blog.
A new medical study found a 76 percent surge over an eight-year period in the number of calls to the nation's poison control centers because of youngsters abusing drugs prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to an Associated Press report.
As the AP story notes, the increase tracks the rapid growth in how medications, often but not always amphetamines, are prescribed. The prescribing of the medications, used to help ADHD patients focus better, has increased 86 percent during the same time period.
So the news that ADHD drug abuse has grown so much, while alarming isn't necessarily a surprise.
Nonetheless, it's very bad news that these drugs, which can have some dangerous side-effects especially when used by people they weren't prescribed for, or taken in greater than the prescribed doses by anyone, are being so seriously abused.
The study was published in the medical journal Pediatrics.
An excerpt of the AP story:
Kids taking ADHD drugs to get high or increase alertness may not realize that misuse of the drugs can cause serious, sometimes life-threatening symptoms, including agitation, rapid heartbeat, extremely high blood pressure.
"They say, 'It's FDA approved, how dangerous could it be?'" said Steve Pasierb, head of The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, based in New York.
The canard that the health-care overhaul proposals include provisions for death panels prompted an interesting Washington Post piece by John Buntin, a writer for Governing magazine who observed that there really were death panels once upon a time and that the federal government stepped in to put an end to them.
The death panels Buntin writes of emerged after the development of dialysis in the post-World War II period.
The committees were created because of the relative scarcity and expense of dialysis treatment in the first few decades after the invention of the procedure.
An excerpt from Buntin's piece:
In 1962, with help from a $100,000 foundation grant, Seattle's King County Medical Society opened an artificial kidney clinic at Swedish Hospital and established two committees that, together, would decide who received treatment. The first was a panel of kidney specialists that examined potential patients. Anyone older than 45 was excluded; so were teenagers and children; people with hypertension, vascular complications or diabetes; and those who were judged to be emotionally unprepared for the demanding regimen. Patients who passed this first vetting moved on to another panel, which decided their fate. It soon gained a nickname -- the "God committee."
Born of an effort to be fair, the anonymous committee included a pastor, a lawyer, a union leader, a homemaker, two doctors and a businessman and based its selection on applicants' "social worth." Of the first 17 patients it saw, 10 were selected for dialysis. The remaining seven died.
According to Buntin, the government's concern about these committee's offending the public's sense of fairness led Congress in 1972 to expand the Medicare program to include dialysis.
On this sultry summer Friday there are some things to keep an eye on.
At 10 a.m. ET, the National Association of Realtors releases its figures on July sales of so-called existing homes. Those numbers are closely watched because home sales are good indicators of how the economy's doing and how healthy it will or won't be in coming months.
Sticking with the economy for a minute, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to speak at the Kansas City Fed's annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo. His appearance is also set for 10 a.m. ET, and his words will be parsed for clues to whether the Fed thinks the economy has indeed begun to strengthen. Steve Beckner of Market News International reports:
In Washington this morning, friends and family will gather for the funeral of conservative commentator and journalist Robert Novak.
Out in the Atlantic near Bermuda, meanwhile, Hurricane Bill has weakened slightly -- but still threatens to flood the island's coastlines and bring dangerous waves and riptides to the eastern coast of the USA.
Finally, Muslims around the world are preparing for the start of their religion's holiest month. NPR's Jamie Tarabay filed this report about Ramadan:
As for stories making headlines, they include:
-- The Associated Press -- "Karzai, Abdullah Teams Claim Wins In Afghan Vote": "Campaign teams for President Hamid Karzai and top challenger Abdullah Abdullah each positioned themselves Friday as the winner of Afghanistan's presidential election, one day after millions of Afghans braved dozens of militant attacks to cast ballots. Partial preliminary results won't be made public before Saturday, as Afghanistan and the dozens of countries with troops and aid organizations in the country wait to see who will lead the troubled nation for the next five years."
-- ABC News -- "Opposition To Health Care Reform Is On The Rise": "Public doubt about health care reform has grown as the debate's raged this summer, with a rise in views it would do more harm than good, increasing opposition to a public option -- and President Obama's rating on the issue at a new low in ABC News/Washington Post polls."
-- The New York Times -- "CIA Said To Use Outsiders To Put Bombs On Drones": "From a secret division at its North Carolina headquarters, the company formerly known as Blackwater has assumed a role in Washington's most important counterterrorism program: the use of remotely piloted drones to kill al-Qaida's leaders, according to government officials and current and former employees."
-- The Washington Post -- "Detainees Shown CIA Officers' Photos; Justice Dept. Looking Into Whether Attorneys Broke Law At Guantanamo": "The Justice Department recently questioned military defense attorneys at Guantanamo Bay about whether photographs of CIA personnel, including covert officers, were unlawfully provided to detainees charged with organizing the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to sources familiar with the investigation."
Afghans have gone to the polls to vote for a president, and as we reported a short time ago the turnout is said to have been light and there has been some violence. Click here for all of NPR.org's coverage of news from Afghanistan.
As for other stories making headlines this morning, they include:
-- Boston Globe -- "Kennedy, Looking Ahead, Urges That Senate Seat Be Filled Quickly": "Senator Edward M. Kennedy, in a poignant acknowledgment of his mortality at a critical time in the national health care debate, has privately asked the governor and legislative leaders to change the succession law to guarantee that Massachusetts will not lack a Senate vote when his seat becomes vacant." The Democratic senator is battling brain cancer. The Globe has posted a copy of Kennedy's letter to Gov. Deval Patrick here.
-- The New York Times -- "CIA Sought Blackwater's Help In Plan To Kill Jihadists": "The Central Intelligence Agency in 2004 hired outside contractors from the private security contractor Blackwater USA as part of a secret program to locate and assassinate top operatives of al-Qaida, according to current and former government officials."
-- The Wall Street Journal -- "New Rx For Health Plan: Split Bill": "The White House and Senate Democratic leaders, seeing little chance of bipartisan support for their health-care overhaul, are considering a strategy shift that would break the legislation into two parts and pass the most expensive provisions solely with Democratic votes."
-- The Associated Press -- Poverty Rate Said To Have Risen: "The ranks of poor and uninsured Americans are likely increasing -- with more than 38.8 million believed to be in poverty. Rebecca Blank, the Commerce Department's undersecretary of economic affairs, spoke to The Associated Press in advance of next month's closely watched release of 2008 census data. Noting the figures are not yet final, Blank said the numbers likely will show a 'statistically significant' increase in the poverty rate, to at least 12.7%. That would represent a jump of more than 1.5 million poor people compared with the previous year."
-- The Times of London -- Alleged Killer Of Neda Soltan Identified: "The man accused of killing Neda Soltan has been identified as Abbas Kargar Javid, a pro-government militiaman, after photographs of the Basiji's ID cards appeared on the Internet." Neda's death, which was shown around the world on YouTube, galvanized outrage about the Iranian government's crackdown on protests over the country's disputed June 12 presidential election.
-- Morning Edition -- "Kilogram's Future Hangs In The Balance": Since 1889, the official kilogram -- a small metal cylinder weighing around 2.2 pounds -- has been at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Paris. But there's a problem. Its mass seems to be changing. Now, scientists say, the world needs a new official kilogram. That's going to require a special kind of scale.
The White House is denying a New York Times report today that the Obama administration and fellow Democrats have decided to move forward on health care overhaul plans without Republican support. The story quotes White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel saying that the GOP leadership "has made a strategic decision that defeating President Obama's health care proposal is more important for their political goals than solving the health insurance problems that Americans face."
But White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says that "absolutely" does not mean the president is giving up on a bipartisan approach.
Speaking to reporters this morning, Gibbs repeated the president's stated intention to work with anyone who wants to work constructively on health care.
But the signs from the GOP aren't encouraging. The Senate's number two Republican, Jon Kyl of Arizona, told reporters yesterday that "there is no way that Republicans are going to support a trillion-dollar-plus bill." And one Republican who has been active in health care talks, Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, said this week he would vote against a health care overhaul that contained all the provisions he wants, if it did not draw wide support from other GOP lawmakers.
White House spokesman Gibbs also announced that Philadelphia radio talk show host Michael Smerconish will be broadcasting his program from the White house tomorrow. Perhaps not surprisingly, the president will be among his guests.
Update at 3:05 p.m. ET. At this afternoon's back-and-forth with reporters in the White House briefing room, Gibbs was asked if the White House thinks any Republicans will vote for the health care package that's eventually hammered out. He didn't get too specific in his answer:
"I think there are many (Republicans) that would like to see some health care reform," Gibbs said, and "I trust that the three Republicans that are working in the Senate Finance Committee are doing so in good faith."
Update at 1:02 p.m. ET. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., just sent this statement to reporters, NPR's Audie Cornish tells us:
"Bipartisan progress continues. The Finance Committee is on track to reach a bipartisan agreement on comprehensive health care reform that can pass the Senate. Our group will be meeting tomorrow and our staffs continue to meet as well. I am confident we will continue our steady progress toward health care reform that will lower costs and provide quality, affordable coverage to all Americans."
Grassley takes a question from constituent Sheryl Prather at a town hall meeting last week in Adel, Iowa. (Steve Pope / AP)
(Brian Naylor is one of NPR's Washington correspondents.)
One explosion was near the Foreign Ministry (in background). (Khalid Mohammed / AP)
By Mark Memmott
Good morning.
There have been a series of explosions in Baghdad today. Dozens are reported dead and more than 300 are said to have been wounded. Carl Kasell introduces this report from NPR's Deborah Amos, who is in the Iraqi capital:
Violence also continues to flare in Afghanistan, where the presidential election is scheduled for tomorrow. On Morning Edition, co-host Renee Montagne spoke with NPR's Jackie -- who is in Kabul. Then Renee, who just returned from Afghanistan, talked with co-host Steve Inskeep about what's happening there as the time to vote draws near:
For those who like to mix some history with their news, Morning Edition also aired a conversation between Steve and Amin Tarzi, director of Middle East studies at the Marine Corps University, about the events of 1979 in Afghanistan (when the Soviet Union invaded):
As for other stories making headlines, they include:
-- The New York Times -- "Democrats Seem Set To Go It Alone On A Health Bill": "Given hardening Republican opposition to Congressional health care proposals, Democrats now say they see little chance of the minority's cooperation in approving any overhaul, and are increasingly focused on drawing support for a final plan from within their own ranks."
Related story by The Washington Post -- "Debate's Path Caught Obama By Surprise": "President Obama's advisers acknowledged Tuesday that they were unprepared for the intraparty rift that occurred over the fate of a proposed public health insurance program, a firestorm that has left the White House searching for a way to reclaim the initiative on the president's top legislative priority."
-- Morning Edition -- "Health Co-Ops Touted As Alternative To Public Plan": "The Obama administration appears to be backing away from the idea that a health care overhaul has to include the option of a government-run insurance program. If this public plan is removed from the bills currently under construction in Congress, it could be replaced by nonprofit health insurance plans run on the co-op model, where people who buy the insurance are the ones who own the insurance company." NPR's Joanne Silberner reports:
-- From a related story by the Associated Press -- "Forecasters say the dangerous hurricane could get even stronger. ... The most significant threat could be to Bermuda, which the storm could pass in three or four days."
-- Morning Edition -- Sanctions On Myanmar Are 'Huge Strategic Error,' Sen. Webb Says: In a conversation with NPR's Steve Inskeep, Democratic Sen. James Webb of Virginia talked about the trip he just made to Myanmar, his meetings with its reclusive leader and democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi and why he thinks it no longer makes sense to have economic sanctions aimed at that country:
-- The Wall Street Journal -- "Reluctant Shoppers Hold Back Recovery": "Major retailers reported that American consumers are continuing to hunker down, casting a cloud over the durability of the U.S. recovery and underscoring the importance of overseas demand in restoring the world economy to health."
-- USA TODAY -- "Climate Plan Calls For Forest Expansion": " New forests would spread across the American landscape, replacing both pasture and farm fields, under a congressional plan to confront climate change, an Environmental Protection Agency analysis shows. About 18 million acres of new trees -- roughly the size of West Virginia -- would be planted by 2020, according to an EPA analysis of a climate bill passed by the House of Representatives in June."
Things will be busy today at the White House, where President Barack Obama meets with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak late this morning, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in the early afternoon and former president Bill Clinton in late afternoon. Bill Clinton's trip to North Korea, where he met with leader Kim Jong Il, is sure to be on their agenda.
Also today, at 8:30 a.m. ET, the Commerce Department reports about July home construction.
As for the stories making headlines, two familiar subjects -- health care and Afghanistan -- lead the way again. And there's word from South Korea that former president Kim Dae-jung, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to bring peace between the North and South, has died. He was 85.
The day's top stories:
-- Politico -- "Liberals Revolt Over Public Option": "The White House's signal that it's willing to back off support for a public health insurance option has sent congressional liberals into full revolt, bluntly warning the administration that no legislation will pass without a government-run plan."
Related story on Morning Edition -- "Even though some Democrats want to hold on to what's known as the public option, the plan is losing appeal. A likely alternative to that plan is a network of nonprofit health co-ops:"
Related story by The New York Times -- "Alternate Plan As Health Option Muddies Debate."
-- Morning Edition -- "Is Britain's Health System Really That Bad?" "The National Health Service in the United Kingdom has become a punching bag for some critics of proposals to remake the U.S. health care system. Britons are offended by how some U.S. media outlets have singled the British system out for what not to do."
Related conversation on Morning Edition -- Host Steve Inskeep talks to Lord Ara Darzi, a surgeon and British government advisor, about Britain's National Health Service:
-- USA TODAY -- "Unemployed Workers Flock To COBRA": "A federal subsidy designed to make health insurance more affordable for laid-off workers has led to a doubling in the number of people who have opted to continue their former employer's coverage. The coverage, known as COBRA, allows people who leave their jobs to continue their former employer's health coverage for up to 18 months."
-- The Associated Press -- "Bomb Attack Kills At Least 7 Near Kabul": "A suicide car bomber attacked a NATO convoy Tuesday on the outskirts of Kabul, killing at least seven civilians and wounding 50 people, including several international troops, officials said. A U.N. spokesman said three U.N. staff were also wounded. The attack occurred two days before national elections in which Afghans are to select a new president."
Related story by Reuters -- "Suicide Car Bomb, Rockets Strike Kabul Ahead Of Vote."
Related story on Morning Edition -- The head of the United Nations mission in Afghanistan says he expects there will be more violence ahead of Thursday's voting:
Related graphic at WashingtonPost.com -- How The Afghan Election Will Work. A key point: If no presidential candidate wins more than 50% of the votes, a runoff of the top two will be held, most likely on Oct. 1.
Locations and projected paths of Ana and Bill. (National Hurricane Center; USGS / AP)
-- The Associated Press -- "Hurricane Bill Gathers Strength Out In Atlantic": "The first hurricane of the Atlantic season loomed far out in the ocean Tuesday, gaining power and moving on a track that forecasters said could take it close to Bermuda by the end of the week."
-- YnetNews.com -- "Israel Agrees To Freeze Settlement Construction As Gesture To U.S.": "In a subtle overture to the U.S., Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Housing Minister Ariel Atias agreed upon a de facto moratorium on new building in the settlements."
-- BBC News -- "Russia Detains Ship 'Hijackers' ": "Eight people have been arrested for hijacking the cargo ship Arctic Sea, Russia's defense minister says. Anatoly Serdyukov said the group of suspects included Russian, Estonian and Latvian nationals."
It's going to take more than one or two Republican votes to get health care legislation through the Senate, one of the chamber's top Democrats told All Things Considered co-host Robert Siegel just a few moments ago:
That's a sign he doesn't think Democrats -- though they and their allies control 60 seats -- have the votes to block any and all filibuster attempts. It takes 60 votes to do that.
And, says Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, it's important that any legislation have a broad base of support -- which means more than just a few GOP votes:
There will be more from Robert's interview with the senator on today's ATC. Click here to find an NPR station near you.
For much more about the health care overhaul and other health-related topics, check the NPR Health Blog.
As the day gets going here in the USA, there are some conflicting signals about whether the Obama administration is or is not ready to abandon the so-called public option plan in its proposed health care overhaul.
Yesterday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on CNN that such a government alternative to private health insurance is "not the essential element" of the administration's plan. That led to headlines such as this one by The New York Times: " 'Public Option' In Health Plan May Be Dropped."
But widely respected political blogger Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic reports that he's been told by "an administration official" that Sebelius "misspoke." Ambinder writes that "the official said that the White House did not intend to change its messaging and that Sebelius simply meant to echo the president, who has acknowledged that the public option is a tough sell in the Senate." And he quotes White House spokeswoman Linda Douglass as saying "nothing has changed."
Expect much more discussion about this as the day goes on.
In other health care related news, the new president of the Canadian Medical Association says her country's health care system is in deep trouble. NPR News' Carl Kasell introduced this report:
President Barack Obama, by the way, is due in Phoenix today. He's scheduled to address the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention. The Arizona Republic writes that while the Democratic president "may not have been their first choice," the veterans plan to give Obama a warm and respectful reception.
Other stories making headlines this morning include:
-- Morning Edition -- In Afghanistan, U.S. Ambassador Gets Out To Meet People In Advance Of Thursday's Election: As Afghanistan's presidential election draws near, Morning Edition's Renee Montagne continues her reports about that country and its future. Today, she speaks with U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, who is trying to spotlight women's affairs and to "visibly try to reassure the Afghan people" that the U.S. is there to help for the long haul:
-- BBC News -- "Japan's Economy Leaves Recession": "Japan has come out of recession after its economy grew by 0.9% (a 3.7% annual rate) in the April-to-June quarter. The growth comes after four consecutive quarters of contraction." Japan's economy is the world's second-largest.
-- Politico -- "White House Will Change E-mail rules": "The White House said Sunday night that it will change its e-mail sign-up procedures after some recipients of a health-care e-mail complained that they had not asked to receive updates."
-- Tallahassee Democrat -- "Worst Is Over" as Tropical Storm Claudette Dumps Rain On Panhandle: "Some remnant bands of rain from Tropical Storm Claudette are expected to come through Tallahassee this morning, but the worst is over, according to Parks Camp, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tallahassee. The Tallahassee airport only measured .06 inches of rain in the past day, but the Big Bend coastal area was hit harder."
-- CBS News -- "American Leaves Myanmar After Release": "An American man imprisoned for sneaking into the home of detained Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi flew out of the country Sunday after a visiting U.S. senator won his release. John Yettaw of Falcon, Missouri, was headed to Bangkok, Thailand, on a military plane with Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia, who secured his freedom Saturday with a plea to Myanmar's ruling military junta."
Related report from NPR's Michael Sullivan in Bangkok:
-- Itar-Tass -- Truck Bomb Kills About 20 In Ingushetia: "Monday morning's truck bomb blast in Nazran left 18 people killed and 69 others injured, the Ingush Interior Ministry told Itar-Tass. Earlier reports said there were 15 fatalities."
Related news from The Associated Press -- Suicide bomber kills at least 20.
A patient gets a CT scan at New York Hospital - Cornell Medical Center, Friday Aug. 12, 2005. (Richard Drew / AP Photo)
By Frank James
Here's something most people likely don't know: U.S. radiologists get the radioactive isotope they use for many of the diagnostic studies they do for cancer, heart disease and other conditions on 16 million people annually from two main sources, nuclear plants in Canada and the Netherlands. And both are now down.
Which means there's a shortage of Technetium-99, the isotope used on about 40,000 patients daily. Technetium is made from Moybdenum-99.
This isn't exactly a new problem. Nuclear medicine experts have been warning for some time about the threat created by the limited supply of the isotope.
The initiation of this project whose mission is to research alternative means for isotope production within the United States began with the late 2007 shutdown by the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) of the aging National Research Universal (NRU) reactor. At that time, it was noted that the US capacity for domestic medical radioisotope production in support of nuclear medicine had declined sharply over the past 10 years. This, coupled with recent efforts to curtail the use of highly-enriched uranium (HEU) in radioisotope production as a non-proliferation strategy and to deter terrorism, now poses a significant threat to Mo-99 availability within the US.
Maybe if reporters went to more of the town halls being held around the country by members of Congress they would see that not every one ends with "pushing, shoving and yelling" over health care reform, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said today.
It was the second day in a row that things got a bit testy during Gibbs' daily briefing on the subject of the town halls and whether the news media are presenting a complete picture of what's happening at them -- Gibbs thinks not.
As you can hear, the exchange ends with Gibbs advising New York Times reporter Sheryl Gay Stolberg to "attend a couple" town halls next week -- to which she responds that her plans next week are to be traveling with the president:
The Senate Finance Committee has "dropped end-of-life provisions from consideration entirely" from its version of health care overhaul legislation, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, announced today.
Those would be the provisions proposed in the House that would allow for Medicare to pay the costs of patients' consultations with doctors and other professionals about end-of-life issues. Opponents of health care reform -- including, very notably, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin -- have tried to make the case that the provision would create "death panels." In fact, that's not what the proposal would do.
Grassley says in this statement that:
"The bill passed by the House committees is so poorly cobbled together that it will have all kinds of unintended consequences. ... On the end-of-life issue, there's a big difference between a simple educational campaign, as some advocates want, and the way the House committee-passed bill pays physicians to advise patients about end of life care and rates physician quality of care based on the creation of and adherence to orders for end-of-life care, while at the same time creating a government-run program that is likely to lead to the rationing of care for everyone. ...
"We dropped end-of-life provisions from consideration entirely because of the way they could be misinterpreted and implemented incorrectly."
Two familiar subjects -- the economy and health care -- are atop the news again today. And so are some familiar names -- Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney.
Let's get right to it.
-- Eurostat -- German & French Economies Post Small Gains: The European Union's statistics agency said today that the German and French economies each grew 0.3% in the second quarter. Across the 16-nation "Euro area," gross domestic product edged down just 0.1%. The Associated Press says the data provide "the clearest evidence so far" that in the two biggest economies in Europe, at least, "the worst of the recession is over." NPR's Eric Westervelt says the data raise hopes that the recession may be easing in the rest of Europe as well:
Related story on Morning Edition -- Is U.S. Recession Over? Many Economists Think So. NPR's Chris Arnold reports:
Related story from NPR News -- But Foreclosure Crisis Continues In The U.S.:
More news about how the U.S. economy is doing is due at 8:30 a.m. ET, when the Commerce Department releases figures on July retail sales.
-- Sarah Palin on Facebook -- Obama Is Being Misleading About "Death Panels": "With all due respect," the former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee writes, "it's misleading" for President Barack Obama to say that provisions in one of the health care overhaul bills simply increase the information offered to Medicare recipients about end-of-life issues. "The issue is the context in which that information is provided and the coercive effect these consultations will have in that context. ... Is it any wonder that senior citizens might view such consultations as attempts to convince them to help reduce health care costs by accepting minimal end-of-life care?"
Related story on Morning Edition -- "Sen. Cardin Feels Heat On Health Care". NPR's Pam Fessler reports from a town hall meeting held yesterday by Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md.:
-- The Washington Post -- "Cheney Uncloaks His Frustration With Bush": "In his first few months after leaving office, former vice president Richard B. Cheney threw himself into public combat against the 'far left' agenda of the new commander in chief. More private reflections, as his memoir takes shape in slashing longhand on legal pads, have opened a second front against Cheney's White House partner of eight years, George W. Bush."
-- The Courier-Journal -- "Pitino Apologizes For Affair": "University of Louisville men's basketball coach Rick Pitino apologized Wednesday to his family, the university, his players and fans for what he called his 'indiscretion' six years ago, when he had sex with a woman in a Louisville restaurant. But speaking during a late-afternoon news conference, Pitino said he had no plans to resign, and UofL President James Ramsey and Athletic Director Tom Jurich said in prepared statements afterward that they support him."
Policymakers at the Federal Reserve finish up two days of meetings this afternoon and many eyes will be on the statement they make afterward. It's widely expected they will leave short-term interest rates alone, but investors will parse the Fed's words for clues to how its policymakers think the economy's doing.
And The Washington Post looks at the signs that we're having an economic recovery "only a statistician can love."
Over at the White House, President Barack Obama this morning will host a reception for the newest Supreme Court justice, Sonia Sotomayor. In the afternoon, he will hand out 16 Medals of Freedom. The honorees include Bishop Desmond Tutu, Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy and tennis legend Billie Jean King.
As for stories making headlines, they include:
-- Morning Edition -- Marines Move Into Taliban-Held Town In Southern Afganistan. From Helmand province, where she is embedded with U.S. Marines, NPR's Soroya Sarhaddi Nelson tells host Steve Inskeep that the U.S. forces she's with were met with a lot of resistance that lasted for several hours today, but that all is now quiet in the village:
The U.S. operation is part of an effort to push the Taliban out of towns and villages in Helmand prior to Afghanistan's Aug. 20 presidential election. NPR's Renee Montagne, who's also in Afghanistan, reported on Morning Edition about a much different effort to boost voter participation -- a "rock the vote" style concert featuring one of the country's most popular singers:
One more Afghanistan-related story to pass along. Morning Edition's Inskeep talked with defense analyst Anthony Cordesman, who makes the case that even more troops are needed to fight corruption and build that country:
-- The Wall Street Journal -- Democrats Say E-Mails Show Improprieties By Rove In Firing Of U.S. Attorneys: "House Democrats turned over to federal prosecutors thousands of investigative documents Tuesday, alleging they are evidence of impropriety by Karl Rove and other Bush White House officials in the controversial 2006 firing of nine U.S. attorneys. It remains far from certain whether the 5,400 pages of emails and other documents released Tuesday contain information that would help prosecutors bring criminal charges against Mr. Rove, who served as former President George W. Bush's political adviser, or against any other former Bush officials."
-- The New York Times -- "Shiites In Iraq Show Restraint As Sunnis Keep Attacking": "Shiite clerics and politicians have been successfully urging their followers not to retaliate against a fierce campaign of sectarian bombings, in which Shiites have accounted for most of the 566 Iraqis killed since American troops pulled out of Iraq's cities on June 30."
-- Morning Edition -- Debunking The "Kill Grandma Scare Tactic". NPR's Julie Rovner adds to the reporting that shows "no, the health care overhaul bill now working its way through Congress would not require seniors to learn how to die prematurely":
-- The Associated Press -- More Found Alive In Taiwan Towns Hit By Mudslides: "Rescuers have found nearly 1,000 people alive in the area around three remote villages devastated by Typhoon Morakot, which pummeled the island over the weekend, Taiwan's military said Wednesday."
Related report by NPR News' Giles Snyder -- Many Still Missing:
Aspirin is called for a wonder drug and for good reason; its beneficial uses are many, from reducing the risks of stroke and heart disease to lowering the levels of the protein associated with prostate cancer.
A new study found that aspirin reduced deaths in colon cancer patients by 30 percent. (Stephen Kelly / Press Association via AP Images)
And the benefits keep coming. New research indicates that aspirin reduces the risks of death in colon-cancer patients by nearly a third.
An Associated Press snippet:
The new study suggests patients who already have colon cancer may benefit from taking aspirin along with surgery and chemotherapy. In a separate analysis of a subgroup of patients, only those with the most common type of tumor, those that overproduce the Cox-2 enzyme, saw a benefit.
Selling the plan. (Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images)
By Mark Memmott
President Barack Obama held a town hall meeting on the emotional subject of health care this afternoon in Portsmouth, N.H.
As NPR's Don Gonyea found outside the high school where the event is being held, crowds from both sides of the issue (who oppose and support the president's proposals) were out in force well before the scheduled 1 p.m. ET start of the town hall meeting. Here's what it sounded like from Don's perspective:
We followed the town hall as it happened. Click the "play" button below and our live updates about the event should flow in automatically. We also published many insightful comments from Two-Way readers as the event was going on:
Several hundred people are lining the road outside Portsmouth (N.H.) High School as the time draws near for President Barack Obama's health care town hall there.
By 9 a.m., as the sky began to clear, the road to the school was lined with people -- about 200 proponents of the president's health care overhaul on one side and a similar number of opponents on the other.
And it adds that "UnionLeader.com correspondent Gretyl Macalaster said at 10:30 a.m. that the crowds had grown larger and noisier. Many protesters were shouting across the street at those on the other political side of the dispute."
The town hall meeting is supposed to get going at 1 p.m. ET. We'll be live-blogging as it happens.
Only the 1,800 folks with tickets will be allowed in to the event.
Will there be disruptions at President Barack Obama's town hall meeting in Portsmouth, N.H., this afternoon?
That's one of the stories to watch today.
Obama is due to hold a town hall on his health care overhaul plans, and as you're probably already aware there have been verbal fireworks at many of the such meetings that the president's fellow Democrats have been holding around the country in recent days. The White House is bracing for what could be a "vigorous" exchange with voters at the 1 p.m. ET event.
But as the New Hampshire Union Leader reports, to get one of the 1,800 tickets to the town hall you had to fill out a form on the White House website. Then, the White House contacted those who had applied before issuing the tickets. According to the newspaper, "police said only ticketed guests will be allowed onto Andrew Jarvis Drive, the road leading into the school."
We're planning to live-blog the town hall, so check back later to see what happens.
Update at 8:28 a.m. ET. From Portsmouth, NPR's Don Gonyea filed this preview of the town hall meeting:
Don will be reporting from the scene, where opponents of the president's health care plans are reportedly already gathering.
As for other stories making headlines as the day gets going, they include:
-- Morning Edition -- Top U.S. Commander In Afghanistan Says Voters Will Be Able To Get To Polls. NPR's Renee Montagne spoke with Gen. Stanley McChrystal about Afghanistan's Aug. 20 presidential election and the current state of the war there. "We will win," McChrystal said. Of one troubled region, he said that "the vast percentage of voters in Helmand are going to have the option to vote":
-- BBC News -- Myanmar's Suu Kyi Returned To House Arrest: "Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been sentenced to an additional 18 months' house arrest by a court in Rangoon. Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, was convicted of violating state security laws by allowing a US national into her lakeside home after he swam there."
From a related Associated Press story: Suu Kyi looked alert but tired during the 90-minute court session. She stood as the verdict was announced and then thanked foreign diplomats for attending her trial. 'I look forward to working with you in the future for the peace and prosperity of my country and the region,' Suu Kyi said in a soft voice to diplomats seated nearby. She then was led out of the courtroom."
-- The Associated Press -- 300 Typhoon Victims Rescued In Taiwan: "Taiwan's military rescued about 300 people Tuesday after a mudslide touched off by Typhoon Morakot consumed a village, but scores remained missing. A helicopter on a relief operation in the area crashed into a mountain with three crew aboard."
-- Politico -- "Congressional Jets May Be Scrapped": "After an uproar over a proposed purchase of new executive jets for use by senior government officials, including members of Congress, the top Defense appropriator in the House has offered to eliminate funding for the planes -- but only if the Pentagon, which operates the jets, agrees. 'If the Department of Defense does not want these aircraft, they will be eliminated from the bill,' Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), the chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommitee said Monday evening."
Just hours after the Obama administration launched a website today to battle what it has called "wild rumors" about its health care initiative, a coalition of progressive religious leaders entered the increasingly bitter national argument over the overhaul being debated in Washington.
The White House says it will call out misinformation. The coalition -- which includes at least two members of Obama's faith-based council -- says it will argue morality.
Or, more specifically, what members characterize as the moral and religious imperative of providing "inclusive, accessible" health care coverage and the need for a civil discourse about the issue, says Jim Wallis of the progressive Christian group Sojourners, one of the coalition sponsors.
Members of the group, during a conference call with reporters earlier today, unveiled an advertisement, People of Faith for Health Reform, which will air on national cable networks:
After creating controversy with a reference to "Obama's 'death panel,' " former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has followed up with a request to her supporters that if they attend town hall meetings with lawmakers they "stick to a discussion of the issues" and avoid "tactics that can be accused of leading to intimidation or harassment." That's verbatim from her latest Facebook posting.
At the The New York Times' Outposts opinion blog, though, writer Timothy Egan calls the comment "Palin's poison." Talk of a "death panel," he writes:
Is pure fantasy, fact-free almost in its entirety. The nonpartisan group FactCheck.org said there was no basis for such a claim in any of the health care bills under consideration in Congress.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration -- hoping to counter some of the criticism it's been getting about its health care overhaul plans -- has put what it calls a "Health Insurance Reform Reality Check" site online.
As the day gets going here in the U.S., there's word from Iraq of bombings near Mosul and in Baghdad. More than 40 people were killed and more than 200 wounded, Iraqi officials tell the Associated Press. From Baghdad, NPR's Deborah Amos reports that the attack near Mosul may have been aimed at a small minority group. The attacks in Baghdad, she says, were in a Shiite neighborhood:
Also atop the news this morning: The cleanup in Taiwan and mainland China from Typhoon Morakot, which forced the evacuation over the weekend of nearly 1 million people. Hundreds of people on Taiwan are missing.
Flooded. In southern Taiwan, water is everywhere -- but clean water is scarce. (Sam Yeh / AFP/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama wraps up a two-day summit with the leaders of Mexico and Canada. NPR's Scott Horsley, reporting from Guadalajara, Mexico, says there are three things on the agenda:
Obama and the other leaders are expected to hold a news conference this afternoon.
Other stories making headlines include:
-- USA TODAY op-ed -- Pelosi And Hoyer Say "Disruptions" At Town Halls Are "Un-American": The Democratic leaders in the House write that "these disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid not just of differing views -- but of the facts themselves. Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American. Drowning out the facts is how we failed at this task (health care reform) for decades."
Related story on Morning Edition: Is The Canadian Health Care System Really That Bad? From KQED, Sarah Varney reports:
-- Times of London -- "More Troops, Fewer Caveats," U.S. Adviser Says About Afghanistan: The Taliban "have been winning the war for control of Afghanistan's territory," U.S. security expert Anthony Cordesman, an adviser to U.S. commanders, writes. "Afghan security forces were not given serious priority until 2007 -- more than five years into the war," Cordesman adds, "and many Nato/ISAF planners feel that numbers need to be doubled and training time cut by one third to get more Afghan forces on the ground."
Related story in The Wall Street Journal: "Taliban Now Winning: U.S. Commander In Afghanistan Warns Of Rising Casualties."
Related story on Morning Edition: "With Scars Of War, Swat Town's Residents Return". Across the border from Afghanistan, NPR's Philip Reeves reports on the people of Pakistan's Swat Valley, who are returning home after intense fighting there drove Taliban fighters from "the Switzerland of Asia":
-- The Washington Post -- New Wave Of Swine Flu Expected In U.S.: "As the first influenza pandemic in 41 years has spread during the Southern Hemisphere's winter over the past few months, the United States and other northern countries have been racing to prepare for a second wave of swine flu virus. At the same time, international health authorities have become increasingly alarmed about the new virus's arrival in the poorest, least-prepared parts of the world."
-- New York Daily News -- Helicopter Pilot's Colleague Says Crash Was "Inevitable": "He was a witness to horror and he's seen it coming for years. A close colleague of the pilot of the doomed tourist helicopter says it can be dicey in the skies over the Hudson River -- and Saturday's disaster that killed nine was 'inevitable.' 'We were borderline surprised that it took so long for a crash like this to happen,' saidBen Lane, 34, who frantically radioed his pilot pal Jeremy Clarke that a plane was bearing down on him."
As more and more attention is paid to the outbursts at town hall meetings held by Democratic (and some Republican) lawmakers -- outbursts from protesters who oppose the health care plans that President Barack Obama and members of his party are crafting -- All Things Considered today talks with someone who helped spread the word about one of those town hall meetings to fellow opponents of the Democrats' plans.
Thanks to YouTube and the cable news networks, what happened to Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, in Austin on Saturday has been seen by many. This video has been watched more than 500,000 times:
Heather Liggett, credited by The New York Times as being the Austin protest's coordinator, tells ATC's Melissa Block that when George W. Bush was president, liberals protested outside his events. She makes the case that the recent protests are no different:
More from Melissa's conversation will be on ATC later today. Click here to find an NPR station near you.
Question: Did protesters -- other than the Iraqi man who threw his shoes at then-president Bush -- ever confront him or disrupt his events as has been happening at the town halls held in recent days by members of Congress? Or, when Republicans controlled Congress were their such protests at their town halls? Code Pink, of course, is infamous for outbursts at Congressional hearings and anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan has caused disruptions in the halls of Congress. If you remember any other such incidents, note them in the comments thread.
Earlier, we posted about the arrests outside a town hall meeting in St. Louis last night and the "mayhem" at a similar event in Tampa.
Federal health officials issued new swine flu guidance for K-12 school districts on how to manage the decision on whether to close schools and how long students and staff with either confirmed or possible infections should stay home.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now advising against schools closing solely due to having a few or even numerous cases of swine flu. Instead, it's recommending that schools only consider closing if they have considerable numbers of at-risk students, for instance, students on ventilators or oxygen.
Furthermore, federal officials have greatly shortened the length of time they're recommending students remain out of school. Now they're saying students can return to school 24 hours after their fever ends. The previous guidance was for students to be kept home for seven days following the end of their fever.
Federal officials are changing the guidance because they have more information about the way swine flu spreads and are now more confident about that a less stringent approach towards schools closings will be just as effective in managing the crisis.
Like the cavalry, organized labor reportedly plans on swooping in to the rescue of beleaguered lawmakers who are getting shouted down by conservative activists at town-hall meetings during discussions of health-care overhaul legislation.
The Huffington Post's Sam Stein reports that the AFL-CIO is calling on its troops to counter the anti-health care reform hecklers.
An excerpt:
The nation's largest federation of labor organizations has promised to directly engage with boisterous conservative protesters at Democratic town halls during the August recess.
In a memo sent out on Thursday, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney outlined the blueprint for how the union conglomerate would step up recess activities on health care reform and other topics pertinent to the labor community. The document makes clear that Obama allies view the town hall forums as ground zero of the health care debate. It also uses the specter of the infamous 2000 recount "Brooks Brothers" protest to rally its members to the administration's side.
"Democracy is alive and well in Philadelphia," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told All Things Considered co-host Melissa Block a few minutes ago.
They were discussing a video we posted earlier, and will repost below, of a town hall meeting Sunday in Philadelphia during which Sebelius and Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania were faced with a loud and seemingly angry crowd when they brought up health care reform.
To Sebelius, it was clear that some in the audience were there to "disrupt," not to have a conversation. She also says that many of those who are most worried about efforts to overhaul the health care system have been unfairly scared by opponents of the Obama administration's ideas:
Here's the video. More from Melissa's conversation with the secretary will be broadcast on this afternoon's edition of ATC.Click here to find an NPR station near you.
This feels like a campaign video, doesn't it? The White House has put up a blog post and video that take aim at some of the headlines it has seen at Drudge and elsewhere about health care:
Meanwhile, at the conservative Townhall.com, Matt Lewis posts this video that shows Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., being shouted down at a town hall about health care by members of a crowd who didn't believe what they were hearing:
A new study reaches the at once fascinating and troubling result that preschoolers as young as three can suffer one of the most debilitating mental illnesses we know of: chronic depression.
The study is billed as the first to show major depression can be chronic even in very young children, contrary to the stereotype of the happy-go-lucky preschooler.
Until fairly recently, "people really haven't paid much attention to depressive disorders in children under the age of 6," said lead author Dr. Joan Luby, a psychiatrist at Washington University in St. Louis. "They didn't think it could happen ... because children under 6 were too emotionally immature to experience it."
Previous research suggested that depression affects about 2 percent of U.S. preschoolers, or roughly 160,000 youngsters, at one time or another. But it was unclear whether depression in preschoolers could be chronic, as it can be in older children and adults.
Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., "has been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer," the Hartford Courant reports.
Dodd's office has announced he'll hold a 2 p.m. ET news conference about a "personal health issue."
According to the Courant, Dodd, 65, said today that he will have surgery during the Senate's August recess and expects to be back at work after a "brief recuperation." He also plans to run for re-election in 2010, the senator said.
Saudi Arabian officials are gearing up for swine flu, laying plans to protect the masses of Islamic faithful expected to make the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in November.
Included in their preparations are the use of thermal scanners at the nation's entry ports in an attempt to catch visitors who may be running a fever as they enter the country. They also plan on having more medical staffers on hand than they would usually for the Hajj.
The use of the infrared scanners may make the Saudis feel better. They could even catch some feverish visitors and lead to secondary inspections and quarantines
But U.S. officials didn't use them at American entry ports earlier this year since people infected by the H1N1 virus can spread it before showing any signs of sickness.
The thermal scanners were deployed in Asia during this spring's flu season so the Saudi's have plenty of company.
There's word from Capitol Hill that Democrats have worked out some of their differences on health care overhaul legislation, with enough Blue Dog Democrats now willing to allow a bill to move through the critical House Energy and Commerce Committee.
The Blue Dogs, a group of moderate and conservative House Democrats, had created a logjam in the House by refusing to sign on to legislation. Among their concerns: that the overhaul would cost too much, further exploding federal deficits.
As the Associated Press reports:
Four of the seven so-called Blue Dog Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee said they resolved their differences with Chairman Henry Waxman of California. The lawmakers also had been meeting with White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.
At the same time, Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, the Democrat leading the negotiations among three Democrats and three Republicans, said new estimates from the Congressional Budget Office show the plan that's taking shape would cover 95 percent of Americans by 2015, and cost about $900 billion over 10 years - under the unofficial $1 trillion target the White House has set.
NPR's Julie Rovner, in her report for the network's newscast, said:
ROVNER: The bigger breakthrough came in the House, where a group of fiscal conservatives known as 'blue dogs' reached a deal that's likely to get a bill through the third of three committees. That would, in turn, clear the way for a floor vote in September, when lawmakers return from their summer break.
Update at 3:45 p.m. ET: NPR's Scott Horsley reports that White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters a short time ago that "the president is enormously thankful" to lawmakers for their efforts.
One of the most interesting moments during the "tele-town hall" that President Barack Obama held yesterday at the offices of the AARP came when a caller named Mary said she's heard that there's a proposal in the health care legislation now being debated in the House that would require senior citizens to tell the government how they want to die.
Fast-forward to about the 42:00 mark. We'll post the transcript and explain more below:
The Food and Drug Administration insists you have nothing to worry about when it comes to mercury in those dental fillings you're carrying around in your mouth, even though on Tuesday the agency raised the risk level it attaches to dental amalgam fillings containing mercury.
That may seem contradictory at first blush, but remember, this is the federal bureaucracy we're talking about. Actually, it's a legal matter more than anything else. Reclassifying dental amalgams into class II or moderate risk category allows the FDA to exert more oversight.
NPR's Allison Aubrey explained the FDA's action in a report for the network's newscast:
The new FDA regulation reclassifies the mercury component of dental fillings from a low-risk device to moderate risk though officials say the levels of mercury released by fillings are not high enough to cause harm.
The move comes three years after an advisory committee reviewed the scientific data on mercury fillings, especially the potential risks to pregnant women and children.
Though many past studies have shown mercury fillings are safe dentists have shifted away from using them.
According to the American Dental Association about 30% of new fillings placed are still contain mercury.
The FDA's regulation contains a statement discussing the evidence on the risks and benefits of amalgam fillings. Officials say it will help dentists and patients to make more informed choices.
The Centers for Disease Control released a new report today which indicates that the nation's obesity-related health costs could be as high as $147 billion.
The report published in the journal Health Affairs, was released in conjunction with the start of the CDC's "Weight of the Nation" national conference in Washington today.
An excerpt from a press release announcing the study:
The proportion of all annual medical costs that are due to obesity increased from 6.5 percent in 1998 to 9.1 percent in 2006, the study said. This total includes payment by Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers, and includes prescription drug spending. Overall, persons who are obese spent $1,429 (42 percent) more for medical care in 2006 than did normal weight people. These estimates were compiled using national data that compare medical expenses for normal weight and obese persons.
The study is titled "Annual Medical Spending Attributable to Obesity: Payer- and Service-Specific Estimates."
Recognizing the large health and economic burden of obesity, CDC has issued its first comprehensive set of evidence-based recommendations to help communities tackle the problem of obesity through programs and policies that promote healthy eating and physical activity.
Remember that panoramic shot of all those health care lobbyists in the Senate hearing room?
Well NPR's Dollar Politics team is now digging around in the latest lobbying disclosure reports. They've tallied up how much money the brand-name pharmaceutical industry spent in three critical months of the health care debate -- April, May, and June.
The total? A whopping $40 million. And that's just one side of one part of the debate.
Here's a cool graphic breaking down the money among the 45 different DC lobbying shops PhRMA hired in those months.
Sen. Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, isn't exactly feeling what President Barack Obama would call the "fierce urgency of now" when it comes to getting health-care reform passed beftore Congress leaves the nation's capital for the August recess. Reid said today there won't be a Senate vote before then. That's not what the president wanted to hear.
According to the Associated Press:
WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Democratic leaders on Thursday abandoned plans for a vote on health care before Congress' August recess, dealing a blow to President Barack Obama's ambitious timetable to revamp the nation's $2.4 trillion system of medical care.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., delivered the official pronouncement on what had been expected for weeks, saying, "It's better to have a product based on quality and thoughtfulness rather than try to jam something through."
His words were a near-echo of Republicans who have criticized the rush to act on complex legislation that affects every American.
Reid told reporters the Senate Finance Committee will act on its portion of the bill before lawmakers' monthlong break. Reid then will merge that bill with separate legislation passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee earlier this month.
The White House still isn't being transparent enough about the industry executives that President Barack Obama and his top aides have been meeting with as they craft their plans for an overhaul of the nation's health care system, says a watchdog group.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sued last month to get White House visitor records. Last night, White House counsel Greg Craig sent CREW a letter listing some names, as NPR's Peter Overby reports.
Pressed this morning about his statement that if Republicans stop President Barack Obama's health care legislation it will be the president's "Waterloo," Republican Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina did not distance himself from his controversial words. "It's not personal," he said, but "we've got to stop his (Obama's) policies."
Here's what DeMint had to say on NBC-TV's The Today Show:
Here he comes again. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
President Obama's remarks on health care.
By Laura Conaway
Maybe it's not "all Obama, all the time," but it's at least "more Obama, more of the time," as the president continues to press Congress for an overhaul of health care.
When the president addressed reporters at the White House today, he avoided any mention of his original deadline for Congress to pass an overhaul before the scheduled Aug. 8 recess. "We are closer than ever before to the reform that the American people need, and we're going to get the job done," he said, not mentioning when he predicts that will happen.
In his fourth public talk about health care in the past two days, Obama listed the items on which lawmakers, the White House and health industry players agree. Those points include extending insurance coverage to more Americans, preserving coverage for those who leave jobs or get sick, and allow consumers continued choice in policies.
"If you like your plan, you'll be able to keep it," he said.
After the jump, Obama's appearance this morning on NBC's Today show.
With Congress considering a major overhaul of health care, the American Medical Association led health-related groups in spending for lobbying lawmakers last quarter. The AMA cranked out $4 million across the months of April, May and June, AP reports.
Several lobbying groups filed their disclosure forms today, with more expected in coming days. Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical maker, ranked second at $3.6 million. All told, 15 health-related associations and companies reported spending at least $1 million apiece on lobbying during the quarter. This time last year, 28 health care concerns reported spending at least $1 million lobbying.
The Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks political spending, says the health sector burned through $127 million last quarter -- more than any other sector. After the jump, a list of other major medical spenders.
Advisers to President Obama promised that he was about to campaign here, there and everywhere for his plan to overhaul health care. And sure enough, the president sat down for his second public conversation about it this afternoon, with Jim Lehrer of the PBS show NewsHour that's to air tonight.
Among the noteworthy moments: Obama backed off, ever so slightly, on his demand that Congress pass legislation before the August recess. With three of the five Congressional committees involved having passed bills already, Senators have asked for more time. President Obama:
"Here, I think, is a fair assessment, Jim. I want this done now. Now, if there are no deadlines, nothing gets done in this town. ... If somebody comes to me and says it's basically done, it's going to spill over by a few days or a week, you know, that's different."
Obama told Lehrer that he's open to various plans for funding the overhaul, which is expected to cost $1 trillion over 10 years and cover 97 percent of citizens by 2015, except for taxing employees on the value of the health insurance they get along with their salaries.
Lehrer asked Obama whether Americans should now be optimistic about the economy. The president stopped short of advising people to adopt a rosy view. "I think that we have stepped back from the abyss," he said. Obama said people are justified in resenting banks that are now reporting profits after the government bailouts but that have shown much remorse for having almost dragged the entire economy into a depression."
He really skewed the number: Henry Allingham, possibly the world's oldest man at the time, died Satuday at the age of 113. Allingham was a veteran of WWI. Photo taken June 6 by Geoff Caddick/AFP/Getty Images
By Mark Memmott
"By the year 2017, the world -- for the first time -- will have more people 65 and older than children younger than 5," NPR's Joseph Shapiro reports. And, he adds, "people 80 and older -- they're called the 'oldest old' -- are already the world's fastest growing age group."
In one sense, the reality of global aging represents a triumph of medical, social, and economic advances. In another sense, population aging produces myriad challenges to social insurance and pension schemes, health care systems, and existing models of social support. It affects economic growth, disease patterns and prevalence, and fundamental assumptions about growing older. ...
Given current policies, the costs of pensions, health care, and long-term care will lead to major increases in public spending in most member nations over the next half century.
According to the report, "the world's growth rate for the 80-and-over population from 2007 to 2008 was 4.3%, while that of the world's older (65 and over) population as a whole was 2.1% (compared with 1.2% for the total [all ages] population)."
It also finds that the life expectancy at birth now exceeds 80 years in 11 countries (though not in the U.S., which comes it at 78.1 years.
President Obama pledged that any health care bill he signed would lower overall costs. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
By Laura Conaway
Continuing his wall-to-wall campaign for overhauling health care, President Obama made his case today from Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Obama spoke directly to the American people, sounding a populist call for Congress to pass legislation remaking health insurance:
"For the average American, it will mean lower costs, more options, and coverage you can count on. It will save you and your family money if we have a more efficient health care system. You won't have to worry about being priced out of the market. You won't have to worry about one illness leading your family into financial ruin. You won't have to worry that you won't be able to afford treatment who gets sick."
The president spoke after days of back-and-forth with lawmakers, budget analysts and political players. The Congressional Budget Office director last week told Congress that the legislation now before legislators would add to the federal deficit over the next several years. The GOP has been criticizing the proposed changes as a dangerous "grand experiment."
Obama again declared the current system of health care -- with spending on medical expenses taking up 17 percent of U.S. gross domestic product -- as a threat to the economy. He warned that if lawmakers do nothing, "businesses will shutter" and Americans will bring less money home in their paychecks.
Obama also struck back at a comment from Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), saying:
"Just the other day, one Republican senator said -- and I'm quoting him now -- 'If we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him.' Think about that. This isn't about me. This isn't about politics. This is about a health care system that is breaking America's families, breaking America's businesses and breaking America's economy."
President Obama is expected to speak about health care in just a few minutes. Michael Steele, chair of the Republican National Committee, is giving him plenty to talk about.
Steele went after the president's agenda for overhauling the insurance system, telling a crowd today at the National Press Club:
"Candidate Obama promised change. President Obama is conducting an experiment. He's conducting a dangerous experiment with our health care. He's conducting a reckless experiment with our economy."
The Washington Post reports that Steele's use of the term "experiment" comes straight from the advice GOP consultant Alex Castellanos gave party leaders. The GOP just launched The Obama Experiment, a website where you can find the welcoming message from Steele above, and loads of opposition to the administration throughout.
Still running: President Obama, seen here with Vice President Joe Biden in June, is about to "take the baton" on health care. Alexis C. Glenn/Getty Images
By Laura Conaway
President Obama went into the weekend swinging hard, with a direct call for Congress to pass an overhaul of health care before the August recession. Now the president is planning the next rounds, including a prime-time press conference on Wednesday at 8 p.m. Eastern. Obama is expected to address several issues, but the early money is on health care, health care and more health care.
As varying committees in the House and Senate struggle to meet the president's deadline, Obama's agenda on health care has grown less popular. A Washington-Post ABC News poll finds him dipping below 50 percent approval on the issue. Meanwhile, state governors weighing in from the National Governors Association meeting in Biloxi, Miss., say they're worried the overhaul will amount to an unfunded mandate in the form of new Medicaid obligations.
"We can't have the Congress impose requirements that we are forced to absorb beyond our capacity to do so," Gov. Jim Douglas of Vermont, a Republican, tells the New York Times.
Obama's hasty press conference Friday and his more planned remarks on Wednesday mark a turning point in White House strategy. Ever mindful of the failure of President Clinton's health care agenda in 1993, the current administration asked Congress to change the system, but avoided telling lawmakers exactly how to do that.
"Had we put a plan out, the entire debate would have been changes to the plan," White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel tells the Washington Post. "It would have been how the president is failing or succeeding."
Now, as the president acknowledged on Friday, he's got to get his agenda across the finish line. To do that, Obama will step out there and fight for it himself. "I don't know whether he will Twitter or tweet," senior adviser David Axelrod told the WP. "But he's going to be very, very visible.
President Obama expressed absolute confidence that Congress will pass a health care overhaul. Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
By Laura Conaway
President Obama directly addressed criticism this afternoon of his plan for overhauling health care, which took a couple of hits Thursday over how much it will cost and how the nation should pay for it.
In the hastily called speech at the White House, Obama spoke sternly and took no questions as he described a process of forging an "unprecedented consensus" among interests ranging from insurance companies to the American Medical Association.
"We are going to get this done," the president said. "We will reform health care. It will happen this year."
Philospher Peter Singer takes tough positions. The Princeton professor has argued that people ought to minimize suffering among all creatures. For him, that means not just giving up meat (so far, so good) but also arguing that it would be better for parents of severely disabled newborns to have the right to consider euthanasia (um, controversial).
Singer argues in this weekend's New York Times Magazine that any overhaul of the health care system should include limits on care. In "Why We Must Ration Care" (reg. req'd), he writes:
Health care is a scarce resource, and all scarce resources are rationed in one way or another. In the United States, most health care is privately financed, and so most rationing is by price: you get what you, or your employer, can afford to insure you for.
Backers of the Democratic plan for overhauling health care often argue that spending on medical needs takes up too much of the American economy, at about 17 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product. The director of the Congressional Budget Office says the plan may end up costing more money in the long run -- not because it's too ambitious, but because it doesn't go far enough.
CBO director Douglas Elmendorf told the Senate Budget Committee the proposal lacks "the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount."
UPDATE: Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) criticized President Obama's approach to financing the bill. Baucus, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, is wrestling with a $320 billion hole in the $600 billion legislation. One suggestion includes taxing employees on the value of their health insurance, a politically difficult step that Obama has asked the committee not to take.
"Basically, the president is not helping us," Baucus told reporters.
As Congress works its way through legislation aimed at overhauling the nation's health care system, two of the most important players are senators Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep sat down with the senators today to talk about the prospects for bipartisan reform and about the absence of one of their closest friends and a long-time advocate of reform, Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts (who is battling brain cancer).
Dodd spoke about his hope that there can be bipartisan support:
Sen. Christopher Dodd stumps for overhauling health care. Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images
Hatch said if he and Dodd could work on a plan without interference from others in their parties, they could put one together:
Sen. Orrin Hatch says taxing the rich to pay for health care is a dead issue. Alex Wong/Getty Images
And both senators spoke about how much they wish Kennedy could be with them -- though he is working on the legislation behind-the-scenes:
There will be much more from Steve's conversation with the senators on tomorrow's Morning Edition. Click here to find an NPR station near you.
Update at 2:15 p.m. ET. House majority leader says overhaul bill can be produced in next few months:
All Things Considered co-host Robert Siegel just finished interviewing House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.
Robert asks if the overhaul legislation is going to take a lot longer to put together. Hoyer says no:
There will be much more from Robert's conversation with Hoyer on this afternoon's edition of ATC.
President Obama's effort to reform the American health care system moved forward again today. AP reports the Senate Health Committee passed its version of overhaul legislation in a party-line of 13-10. Along with pushing for savings in the industry, the $600 billion bill would:
seek to expand coverage to many of the 46 million uninsured Americans, add a government-run health care program, require most Americans to obtain health insurance, and mandate most employers to provide it to their workers.
Meanwhile, Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah told reporters a House Democratic plan for taxing the rich to help fund health care is a "dead issue" in the Senate. Hatch said he doubts a full bill will emerge in the next two weeks.
This one's shaping up to be quite the partisan battle. Drudge is going with the big red letters and "Rahm It Through: Nationalized Health Care in Weeks!" for his lead item (and his is in all caps, too). The link's to a Bloomberg story reporting that Obama is open to a partisan vote. It quotes White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel:
"At the end of the day, the test isn't whether they voted for it," he said, referring to Republicans. "The test is whether the final product represented some of their ideas. And I think it will."
House Democrats are forging ahead with a plan to reform the health care system. At the core of the evolving plan is a move to extend medical insurance to more Americans through a combination of taxing the wealthy and requiring people to buy coverage.
Those proposals come with high stakes for the politicians involved. President Obama has made overhauling health care a central priority, with a goal of covering another 50 million people. He's pressing for a bill to be ready by week's end. One Democratic lawmaker warned about the risk of stirring up a hornet's nest of opposition without winning concrete results. From AP:
"If we do fail, we've moved far enough down the line that you'll have angry people on all sides," said Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa.
Awhile back, my family traveled to a small city in Nevada that has a reputation as a methamphetamine scene. Methamphetamine, of course, is a potent, addictive and illegal stimulant that dealers can cook up in their kitchens. One of the tell-tale signs of its use is when the front teeth start rotting, a condition known as meth mouth. I don't know whether this one Nevada's town reputation holds true, but it did seem that the 20-somethings we met looked notably underweight and on track for early dentures.
Another consequence -- and this one's for the innocent -- is getting sick from moving unawares into a former meth lab. That's what happened to Rhonda and Jason Holt and their three children in Winchester, Tenn., the New York Times reports.
Earlier today, as we reported, President Barack Obama vowed that legislation designed to overhaul the nation's health care system will be passed by Congress this summer and on his desk for his signature.
Just moments ago, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced that Democrats in her chamber will introduce their bill this week.
And later this afternoon on All Things Considered, one of the Democrat's point men on health care -- Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. -- says "there's a battle going on for health care reform," but he thinks Democrats will win it:
There appears to be a strong link between older veterans who suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and the later development of dementia though researchers are still searching for why that should be.
A press release from the Alzheimer's Association 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease in Vienna, Austria, reports the following:
The researchers found that veterans with PTSD in the study developed new cases of dementia at a rate of 10.6% over the seven years of follow-up; those without PTSD had a rate of 6.6%... Even after adjusting for demographics, and medical and psychiatric co-morbidities, PTSD patients in this study were still nearly twice as likely to develop incident dementia compared to veterans without PTSD... Results were similar when they excluded those with a history of traumatic brain injury, substance abuse or depression.
Saying he heard a lot of "chatter" while he was in Europe last week that health care legislation won't get through Congress this summer and land on his desk, President Barack Obama just vowed that "we are going to get this done."
"Inaction is not an option," Obama added. "For those naysayers and cynics who think this is not going to happen, don't bet against us. ... The American people desperately need it."
Benjamin in September 2005, with then-10-year-old Jamis Shultz in Bayou la Batre, Ala. Tracy Wahl/NPR
By Mark Memmott
Dr. Regina Benjamin of Bayou la Batre, Ala., who All Things Considered listeners will remember for the compelling stories of her work to rebuild a clinic for the poor that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and then again by a fire in 2006, has been nominated by President Barack Obama to be the next surgeon general, the Associated Press and Washington Post report.
Update at 11:52 a.m. ET: Obama is now speaking to reporters in the Rose Garden of the White House, with Benjamin and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at his side. He just called Benjamin "America's next surgeon general."
Update at 12:01 p.m. ET: Lauding the doctor for her work, especially in keeping her clinic running, Obama just said that "for nearly two decades, Regina Benjamin has seen in an increasingly person way what is broken about our health care system."
Benjamin just called the job "a physician's dream" and said she is honored and humbled to have been chosen.
Yesterday, The Washington Post broke the news that the nation's hospitals have agreed "to contribute $155 billion over 10 years toward the cost of insuring the 47 million Americans without health coverage."
Today at 10:30 a.m. ET, the White House says:
Vice President Biden, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance Max Baucus and representatives of the hospital industry will make a major health care announcement.
Vice President Joe Biden has announced a White House deal with the hospitals to help pay for President Barack Obama's overhaul of health care. ... Biden said the hospitals are ready to give up about $155 billion over 10 years in government payments. The money could then be used to help pay for covering millions of uninsured.
It also ranks No. 1 in "obese and overweight children."
According to the groups' study, 32.5% of Mississippi's adults are obese and 44.4% of its children are obese or overweight.
Neighboring Alabama isn't far behind: It ranks No. 2 in adult obesity and No. 6 in children's.
Overall, the study reports, "adult obesity rates increased in 23 states and did not decrease in a single state in the past year." As the Associated Press puts it, baby boomers are getting fatter.
As he arrived at Northern Virginia Community College, the president set off some spectators' cameras. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
By Mark Memmott
President Barack Obama was in Annandale, Va., this afternoon to hold a town hall meeting on health care. As we noted earlier, the White House used some Web tools to both solicit questions and to encourage discussion while the event is happening.
We monitored the town hall and updated this post as needed. Be sure to click your "refresh" button to see our latest updates.
Update at 2:30 p.m. ET: As he finishes, Obama asks the audience not to be scared by the prospect of an overhaul of the health care system. "Embrace" the change, he says.
Update at 2:27 p.m. ET:
The last question comes from a woman who wants to know what her union can do to help the president enact health care reform.
Obama says the important thing is for all Americans to be "informed" about the current situation. And he repeats a point he's made often in recent weeks: That he doesn't want anyone who currently gets health care insurance from an employer -- and is happy with it -- to lose that coverage.
Update at 2:19 p.m. ET: Valerie Jarrett, one of the president's top aides, tells him that a commenter on Twitter wonders why it makes sense to tax employer-provided health care benefits.
Obama responds that very few lawmakers are talking about such a tax.
"What they are now calling for in Congress is to cap the exclusion so that people with very high-priced health care can only get an exclusion up to a point," he says.
It would be better, Obama adds, to cap itemized deductions.
Update at 2:06 p.m. ET: "If the health care system were really working well, I'd be happy to leave it alone!" Obama says, addressing those who say he's taking on "too much."
Update at 1:56 p.m. ET: "I have a new tumor and no way to pay for it," a woman named Debbie, from the audience, tells the president.
He calls her over. Telling her that he wants to get "your information," Obama gives her a hug and says "you're not alone."
"Debbie, you are exhibit A. ... We are going to try to find ways to help you immediately." But the long-term solution to problems such as hers, says Obama, is getting such people preventative treatment and care.
Iran, health care and the indiscretions of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford -- who confessed yesterday that he had been on a trip to see a mistress in Argentina over the past week, not hiking the Appalachian Trail as his staff had said.
Those are the topics dominating the news this morning. Let's get to some of the most important stories:
IRAN
-- The Associated Press -- Mousavi Says He's Being Pressed To Withdraw: "Iran's opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi says on his official website that his access to people is being restricted and that he is being pressured to withdraw his election challenge. Mousavi has alleged massive fraud in Iran's June 12 presidential election and insists he is the rightful winner. According to his website Kalemeh, Mousavi said there were 'recent pressures on me aimed at withdrawing' the challenge.' He also said that his 'access to people is completely restricted,' the http://weblogs.npr.org/mt-static/images/formatting-icons/bold.gifsite said."
-- All Things Considered -- Power Struggle In Iran? "Rumors are swirling of a power struggle unfolding within Iran's ruling elite, amounting to a direct and unprecedented challenge to the authority of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The unrest is raising questions as to whether the supreme leader will remain supreme once the current crisis passes."
-- BBC News -- Iranian Parliament Members Snub Ahmadinejad: "More than 100 (members of Iran's parliament) appear to have snubbed an invitation to celebrate Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election win, local press reports say. All 290 MPs were invited to the victory party on Wednesday night but 105 did not turn up, the reports say."
-- The Guardian -- Ahmadinejad Blasts Obama, Says He Sounds Like Bush: "Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has warned (President) Barack Obama not to interfere in Iran's internal affairs after the US president condemned the brutal treatment of protesters. Responding to the US leader's recent remarks that he was 'appalled and outraged' by post-election violence, Ahmadinejad said: 'Mr Obama made a mistake to say those things ... our question is why he fell into this trap and said things that previously (George) Bush used to say.' "
-- ABC News -- Pointed Questions For Obama About Rich Vs. Poor Divide In Care: "President Obama struggled to explain today whether his health care reform proposals would force normal Americans to make sacrifices that wealthier, more powerful people -- like the president himself -- wouldn't face. The probing questions came from two skeptical neurologists during ABC News' special on health care reform, Questions for the President: Prescription for America, anchored from the White House by Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson."
-- The State -- "E-mails Detail Intimate Affair": "From Sanford's e-mail address to the woman: 'I could digress and say that you have the ability to give magnificently gentle kisses, or that I love your tan lines or that I love the curves of your hips, the erotic beauty of you holding yourself (or two magnificent parts of yourself) in the faded glow of night's light -- but hey, that would be going into the sexual details ...' "
-- Politico -- "Some Mark Sanford Trips Were Taxpayer-paid": "South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has taken at least three taxpayer-paid trips to Argentina, however, it's unclear whether he met his girlfriend during any of them. At his news conference in Columbia Wednesday, Sanford said he paid for his most recent trip with is own money. 'It was my own ticket,' he told reporters. But sometime after his 2002 election as governor, Sanford traveled to Argentina on the dime of the South Carolina Department of Commerce."
-- The Washington Post -- "For Republicans, A Long Winter Gets Longer": "Mark Sanford's summer adventure to Argentina -- no, he was not hiking the Appalachian Trail, as his aides incorrectly told reporters -- is now a full-fledged personal and family embarrassment, a story of infidelity followed by a public confession of the kind that has become all too familiar from political leaders. But Sanford's story is more than personal. For a Republican Party down on its luck, the governor's disappearance and subsequent rambling apology to his wife, his family, his close friends and all the people of South Carolina draw more unwelcome publicity to a party that needs but cannot seem to get any good news
There's news again from Iran about its June 12 presidential election, which has sparked protests and a government crackdown on those who are saying the vote was rigged for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Associated Press writes that:
Iran's supreme leader says the government won't give in to pressures over the disputed presidential election, effectively closing the door to compromise with the opposition.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a meeting with lawmakers that: "Neither the system nor the people will give in to pressures at any price."
Iran also said it was considering downgrading ties with Britain, which it has accused of spying and fomenting days of unprecedented street protests over the vote.
On Morning Edition a short time ago, NPR's David Greene spoke with BBC Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen, who is in Tehran. Bowen says it may be too early to declare, but there are signs that "authorities may have won this round":
In other Iran-related news, The Washington Times reports that before that country's June 12 election, "the Obama administration sent a letter to the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling for an improvement in relations."
Also, as The New York Times writes, "the wife of the main opposition leader, former Prime Minister Mir Hussein Moussavi, issued a call Wednesday for the immediate release of Iranians detained in election protests, his website reported." She also said, that "it is my duty to continue legal protests to preserve Iranian rights."
There will surely be more news from Iran as the day continues. We'll pass it on as things develop.
Another story to watch today: President Barack Obama holds a town hall on health care this evening, and a recording of the event will be broadcast afterward (at 10 p.m. ET) on ABC-TV. On the network's Good Morning America today, the president told Diane Sawyer that he won't even entertain the thought that some type of health care reform won't be passed this year.
As for other stories making headlines this morning, they include:
President Barack Obama, a smoker who has had struggled to end his dependence on cigarettes, signed legislation today giving the Food and Drug Administration the long-sought authority to regulate tobacco.
Among the new legislation's goals is to allow the FDA to prevent the tobacco industry from trying to lure youngsters to cigarettes by banning products like cigarettes flavored with cinnamon and other masking agents meant to make them more palatable.
Obama focused much of his remarks on this aspect of the legislation. An excerpt:
"One out of every five children in our country are now current smokers by the time they leave high school. Each day, 1,000 young people under the age of 18 become new regular daily smokers. And almost 90 percent of all smokers began at or before their 18th birthday.
I know. I was one of these teenagers so I know how difficult it can be to break this habit when it's been with you a long time. I also know that kids today just don't start smoking for no reason. They're aggressively targeted as customers by the tobacco industry. They're exposed to a constant and insidious barrage of advertising where they live, where they learn and where they play. Most insidiously, they are offered products with flavorings that mask the taste of tobacco and make it even more tempting...
... Today, thanks to the work of Democrats and Republicans, healthcare and consumer advocates, the decades long effort to protect our children from the harmful effects of tobacco has emerged victorious. Today, change has come to Washington.
Julie Rovner, NPR's healthcare politics correspondent, reports on the NPR Health Blog that senators who were taking up health-care reform legislation, were ready with their snarky partisan comments.
For instance, Sen. Judd Gregg, the New Hampshire Republican, who President Barack Obama had wanted as his Commerce secretary, took a good rhetorical whack at the health-care proposal sponsored by Sen. Ted Kennedy.
GREGG: "I don't know who wrote it, but if it had been Rube Goldberg, Ira Magaziner, and Karl Marx you might have gotten this product."
Democrat Barbara Mikulski of Maryland struck back with her tryptich in what seemed like a senatorial version of the urban rhetorical put-downs known as "the dozens."
It's one of life's savage ironies that as the healthcare reform debate heats up, including the to and fro over how best to cover the uninsured and underinsured, Sen. Ted Kennedy, chairman of a Senate committee central to the debate, isn't on Capitol Hill as he continues to deal with his own medical crisis, a cancerous brain tumor.
The liberal Kennedy's absence is being felt because he is the consummate deal maker, much liked and trusted, even by conservative Republicans. Julie Rovner, NPR's undisputed expert on healthcare, reported on Morning Edition on what it means that Kennedy isn't on the Hill in person to do the kind of horse-trading for which he's renowned.
By the way, if you really want to understand the state of play in the healthcare debate, listen to Rovner's NPR reports or the recent radio panels she's been on. Last week, she appeared on "The Diane Rehm Show" and on "On Point with Tom Ashbrook"
If ever there were a cure worse than the disease, it would be an over-the-counter product marketed as relief for common-cold symptoms that instead leads to the permanent loss of your sense of smell.
Zicam nasal gel. AP Photo/Eric Shelton
The Food and Drug Administration is warning that zinc-containing products carrying the Zicam brand and that are meant to be inserted in the nose are capable of causing such a loss of smell.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today advised consumers to stop using three products marketed over-the-counter as cold remedies because they are associated with the loss of sense of smell (anosmia). Anosmia may be long-lasting or permanent.
The products are:
--Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Gel
--Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Swabs
--Zicam Cold Remedy Swabs, Kids Size (a discontinued product)
The FDA has received more than 130 reports of loss of sense of smell associated with the use of these three Zicam products. In these reports, many people who experienced a loss of smell said the condition occurred with the first dose; others reported a loss of the sense of smell after multiple uses of the products.
"Loss of sense of smell is a serious risk for people who use these products for relief from cold symptoms," said Janet Woodcock, M.D., director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). "We are concerned that consumers may unknowingly use a product that could cause serious harm, and therefore we are advising them not to use these products for any reason."
People who have experienced a loss of sense of smell or other problems after use of the affected Zicam products should contact their health care professional. The loss of sense of smell can adversely affect a person's quality of life, and can limit the ability to detect the smell of gas or smoke or other signs of danger in the environment.
During normal influenza seasons, public-health officials typically recommend that the elderly, very young children and people with weakened immune systems be the first to get vaccinated since they are often at greatest risk during annual flu outbreaks.
But because the swine flu has caused a disproportionate number of deaths in previously healthy young people, reminiscent of the 1917 influenza virus, it's possible that come the fall, the recommendation may be for school-age children to be vaccinated first, according to an Associated Press report.
An excerpt:
Schoolchildren may be first in line for swine flu vaccine this fall - and might even be able to get the shot right at school.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is taking that possible scenario to school superintendents around the country, urging them to spend the summer planning what to do if the government decides it needs their buildings for mass vaccinations.
"If you think about vaccinating kids, schools are the logical place," Sebelius told The Associated Press Tuesday.
No decision has been made yet on whether and how to vaccinate millions of Americans against the new flu strain that the World Health Organization last week formally dubbed a pandemic, meaning it now is circulating the globe unchecked.
But the U.S. is pouring money into development of a vaccine in anticipation of giving at least some people the shots. While swine flu for now doesn't seem any more lethal than the regular flu that strikes each winter, scientists fear it may morph into a more dangerous strain. Regardless, it can kill, and the WHO says about half of the world's more than 140 known deaths so far have been people who were previously young and healthy.
If that trend continues, "the target may be school-age children as a first priority" for vaccination, Sebelius said in an wide-ranging AP interview. "That's being watched carefully."
Trying to make sense of the health care debate? Morning Edition has three stories today that might help.
Scott Horsley reports on President Barack Obama's address Monday to the American Medical Association, during which the president again outlined his thinking:
David Welna looks at the debate on Capitol Hill:
And, as Frank reported yesterday, co-host Steve Inskeep talks with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. She tells Steve that the administration is not trying to impose a "single-payer" system on the nation.
"That's not what anyone is talking about -- mostly because the president feels strongly, as I do, that dismantling private health coverage for the 180 million Americans that have it, discouraging more employers from coming into the marketplace, is really the bad, you know, is a bad direction to go."
The House of Representatives just voted 307 to 97 (with 30 members not present) to approve legislation giving the government sweeping powers to regulate tobacco and the tobacco industry.
As the Associated Press writes, the legislation, which has already passed the Senate and President Barack Obama plans to sign, gives regulators "new power to limit nicotine in cigarettes, drastically curtail ads and ban candied tobacco products aimed at young people."
Right now at the White House, Obama is hailing the legislation's passage.
Update at 1:11 p.m. ET. Here's audio of the president:
The Senate, as expected, passed historic legislation Thursday to give the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco.
The Family Smoking and Tobacco Control Act, which the House passed in April, would not only give the FDA to power to oversee tobacco products but would ban a number of practices used by tobacco companies which attract young people to cigarettes and other tobacco products.
For instance, it would ban the use of spiced and flavored cigarettes except for tobacco and menthol. And it would require the companies to significantly reduce nicotine levels. Nicotine is the compound associated with tobacco addiction.
President Barack Obama has said he would sign the legislation. He said in a White House statement:
Today, the Senate passed the Family Smoking and Tobacco Control Act, which has enjoyed broad, bipartisan support in both houses of Congress. Once the legislation is returned to the House for final passage, it will make history by giving the scientists and medical experts at the FDA the power to take sensible steps that will reduce tobacco's harmful effects and prevent tobacco companies from marketing their products to children...
... I look forward to signing this bill into law, and to working with HHS Secretary Sebelius and FDA Commissioner Hamburg on its implementation.
It seems nearly impossible to read about or listen to a discussion about health-care reform for any length of time these days without someone mentioning the New Yorker article by Dr. Atul Gawande, a surgeon and writer who examines the reasons why the small Texas city of McAllen has some of the highest health-care costs in the country and significantly more than El Paso, Tex., a city in the same region with very similar demographics.
The answer, Gawande found, was that the doctors in McAllen were over ordering all kinds of medical tests and treatments.
One of the article's most informative passages was one in which Gawande asked a group of doctors practicing in McAllen why there was so much more health care spending in McAllen than elsewhere.
After two of the physicians offered two theories: care is better in McAllen (apparently false) and malpractice lawsuits were driving up costs (also apparently false) one doctor said:
"We all know these arguments are bullshit. There is overutilization here, pure and simple." Doctors, he said, were racking up charges with extra tests, services, and procedures.
"The World Health Organization has informed its member-states that today it's declaring a Phase 6 pandemic alert," NPR's Richard Knox reports at the Health Blog. He says "that means a new flu virus is spreading widely in two or more regions of the world."
As for what else this means, here is Richard's explanation:
Probably it'll goose vaccine manufacturers...and assure them of a market. Beyond that, it may not alter much. Paradoxically, WHO officials hope some countries will ratchet down severe measures aimed at keeping the new virus beyond their borders.
"With a pandemic declaration," one official says, "we're saying the virus is widespread and virtually unstoppable."
(This posting has changed since it was first posted.)
By Frank James
Earlier this week, a Morning Edition piece by NPR's Joseph Shapiro reported that a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel was considering whether to approve for the use in children three anti-psychotic drugs frequently prescribed to adults.
The Associated Press reported today that the panel recommended FDA approval of the three drugs, AstraZeneca's Seroquel, Eli Lilly's Zyprexa and Pfizer's Geodon.
ADELPHI, Md. (AP) - Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration say three psychiatric drugs appear safe and effective for children and adolescents, despite side effects that can increase the risk of diabetes.
The FDA's panel of experts voted to affirm that drugs from AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Pfizer appear safe and useful for treating schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in patients ages 10 to
17.
All three drugs already are approved for adults with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
The FDA is not required to follow the group's advice, though it usually does.
Health-care reform momentum is gaining in Washington as President Barack Obama presses Congress to get legislation to him quickly while his political capital is still high and Congress obliges with congressional hearings.
So it's a good time for anyone who missed them to check out two reports heard on Morning Edition today. They were clear and informative and thus had a low MEGO factor.
NPR correspondent Mara Liasson, reported on Obama's major push to get a health-care reform package. An excerpt:
But why the big rush, especially since congress has not actually written a health-care bill yet? Stewart Altman, a professor of health policy at Brandeis University says there are good reasons for the president to push the process as hard as he can.
"If you don't get this done fairly quickly in a president's first term it becomes very hard. We had this experience with President Clinton. He let it drag on much too long and by the time he tried to get it done too many of the forces were against it."
So the lesson for this new president is, do it early. While you're at the height of your political powers and do it fast before opposition builds.
But over the next seven weeks. There are a lot of big issues to resolve. The president has said he agrees with congress that there should be an individual mandate to buy health insurance, with hardship waivers for poor people and small businesses. But theres no agreement yet on whether there should be a publicly run insurance plan to compete with private plans."
There's a provocative poll on NPR.org's health pages today.
The subject: Hooking up.
That is, for those who may not be aware, the increasingly common trend among young people of "sexual encounters with no strings attached." NPR's Brenda Wilson reported about it on today's Morning Edition:
The poll, which is posted at the bottom of this page, asks "how you feel about hookups?" on a seven-point scale that runs from "liberating" to "dangerous". As of this minute, more than 2,600 people have voted and there's a close race at the "top" between "fun" (21%), "degrading" (20%) and "dangerous" (18%). "No big deal" and "pointless" aren't far behind with 15% each.
It's often been said that hospitals are the worse place in the world for sick people because of the infections that can be picked up there.
NPR's Joanne Silberner reports on All Things Considered today that some researchers think they are seeing a correlation between the widespread practice of giving hospitalized patients heartburn drugs and many of those patients later developing pneumonia.
Here's an excerpt from her report:
SILBERNER:Last year $14 billion worth of proton-pump inhibitors were prescribed in the U.S., according to health-care information company IMS Health. About half of all hospitalized patients get a drug like Nexium or Prilosec or Prevacid to suppress acid production in the stomach.
Shoshana Herzig of Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center in Boston wasn't sure that's such a good idea. Several studies of non-hospitalized patients suggest that the drugs increase the risk of pneumonia, possibly by dampening the immune system, or allowing bacteria from the stomach to infect the lungs.
For families with mentally ill members, particularly if the disease causes psychotic episodes, it's not uncommon to have interactions with the police.
Which is why many families will be relieved to learn that there's more of an emphasis being placed on training cops on how to deal with situations where they're called in when there's a mentally ill person involved.
NPR's Joanne Silberner reported on Morning Edition today about such efforts meant to avoid unnecessary escalation during these encounters, especially the type of incident known as "suicide by cop."
An excerpt from her radio report:
Darek Ardoin is a deputy with the Calcasieu parish Sheriff's Office in Louisiana. He trains police officers to deal with people with mental illnesses, and he goes out on patrol himself. Last year he found himself in a situation.
ARDOIN: A LADY HAD CALLED .. SOMEONE WAS IN HER ATTIC AND TRYING TO GET TO HER.
Her husband wouldn't go into her bedroom, a clue to Ardoin that it wasn't safe for him either. He asked about weapons. The husband said she always carried a knife.
ARDOIN: AND I ASKED OF COURSE WOULD SHE HAVE IT WITH HER NOW AND HE SAID SHE ALWAYS HAS IT WITH HER.
Ardoin had his crisis intervention training to rely on. The idea is to give police an alternative to forcefully subduing someone, and to protect themselves too -- studies show trained officers are injured much less often on mental disturbance calls.
Several hundred police departments across the country now offer the training, which was inspired by a Memphis Police Department program started in the late 1980s. Russell Laine, head of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, says intervention training is seen as having real value.
LAINE: IF A PERSON IS BENT ON COMMITTING SUICIDE AND HAVING THE OFFICER SHOOT HIM SOMETIMES THERE ISN'T ANYTHING THE OFFICER CAN DO. BUT IF THE OFFICER HAS SOME DEGREE OF TRAINING HE MIGHT BE ABLE TO TAKE SOME ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS AND NOT HAVE TO SHOOT SOMEONE.
It is "at least as virulent as regular seasonal flu" and appears to be "very transmissible," Rear Admiral Anne Schuchat, interim deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Science and Public Health Program, just told All Things Considered's Melissa Block.
She also says the CDC now estimates there "might be something like 100,000 or more" cases (in the United States) at this time.
The interview is set for broadcast on today's ATC. Click here to find an NPR station near you.
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