The U.N. Human Rights Council adopted a "landmark resolution" acknowledging that "preventable maternal mortality and morbidity" is a human rights issue and that national and international efforts to protect women worldwide should be scaled up, the Hudson Valley Press Online reports. More than 70 U.N. member states cosponsored the resolution, led by Colombia and New Zealand (Hudson Valley Press Online, 6/18). Pakistan was one of the member states that signed on to the resolution, the International News reports (International News, 6/19).
In a first of its kind study, Scientific American cut through the marketing messages to take a hard look at what countries across the globe are doing to bolster biotech programs within their borders. Many rankings compare Europe, Asia, and the US -- the Scientific American Worldview: A Global Biotechnology Perspective digs deeper, examining all the elements that impact overall biotech innovation. You might be surprised by some of the results. Although it"s probably no
surprise that overall, the US had the highest final score, it did not come out on top for all five benchmarks: intellectual property, enterprise support, the intensity of a country"s biotech activities, education/workforce, and infrastructure. - Finland, Israel, Singapore, and Sweden came out on top in terms of the infrastructure available for biotechs. - Singapore and Switzerland scored better than the US when it came to education/workforce.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Thursday said the Senate will be unable to pass health care reform before it leaves for its August recess, which will likely result in changes to the shape of the final bill, The Washington Post reports. "The comments by Reid (D-Nev.) confirmed the growing consensus on Capitol Hill that the White House"s fast-track approach has failed, and that a more plodding and contentious process has taken hold." "When Democratic members
of the Senate Finance Committee met Thursday morning ... Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) questioned new Medicare formulas that could penalize high-cost states such as his. Sen. Bill Nelson (Fla.), who represents millions of elderly constituents, also expressed doubts about Medicare cuts that could add up to $500 billion over 10 years. Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (W.Va.) lambasted the panel"s tentative decision to support the creation of member-run cooperatives rather than the government insurance plan that he
and many other Democrats prefer.
The Small Business Surtax The Wall Street Journal Jason Furman owes an apology to Michael Boskin, the Stanford economist who wrote a year ago on these pages that Barack Obama would raise American income tax rates nearly to 60%. Mr. Furman, then in the Obama campaign and now at the White House, claimed this was wrong and that Democrats would merely raise taxes back to their Clinton-era level (7/14). "Socialized" Medicine? Bring it On The Washington Post Many, if
not most, Americans have some experience with our nation"s mostly private health-care system. Yet they still fall prey to the scare tactic that nothing -- but nothing -- could be worse than a government takeover of the system (Cohen, 7/14).
When hospitals agreed to accept a $155 billion pay cut from the federal government to help Washington raise money for reform efforts earlier this month, it was "to the amazement of many," the Economist reports. "How can they justify giving away such a vast sum? There are several explanations, not all of them altruistic. Taken together, they show that the industry"s leaders are bracing themselves for a period of upheaval." Here are some motivating
factors, according to the Economist: The industry will gain new customers from expanded access to health care, a chief goal of reform, the American Hospital Association says. Under the current system, hospitals treat lots of uninsured people who don"t pay their bills, netting around $34 billion in uncompensated care in 2007.