WASHINGTON — Republicans are united on repealing President Barack Obama’s health care law, but ideologically and practically speaking, they’re in different camps over replacing it. Getting the factions together won’t be easy. Some Republicans would revise and rebrand “Obamacare,” junking unpopular provisions like its requirement that most Americans carry health insurance, while preserving more popular […]
Category: Personal
91-year-old man with Alzheimer’s Tasered By Cops
A sheriff’s deputy in Kansas Tased 91-year-old man with Alzheimer’s disease in his back after he refused to go to the doctor, shocking newly-released body cam footage shows. The unidentified man broke his wrist while being handcuffed during the wild ordeal — and relatives believe the shock from the electrodes weakened his heart and led to his death […]
Study Shows That New Ebola Vaccine Works
An experimental Ebola vaccine completely protected people from the killer virus at the end of the west African epidemic, researchers report. They used the same strategy that was used to eradicate smallpox in the 1970s. Called ring vaccination, it calls for vaccinating people who have been in contact with patients, and contacts of contacts. It […]
City Employees Face Felony Charges In Flint Water Crisis
Michigan’s attorney general has announced felony charges against two former emergency managers of Flint, Mich., and two other former city officials. The charges are linked to the city’s disastrous decision to switch water sources, ultimately resulting in widespread and dangerous lead contamination. “All too prevalent in this Flint Water Investigation was a priority on balance […]
Milk Does Not Come From A Plant
Companies are selling “milk” derived from a wide variety of plants. The dairy industry isn’t happy about it. Beth Briczinski has been keeping a list of all the things companies are turning into products labeled as a kind of milk. “There’s soy and almond and rice,” she says. “Hemp, pistachio, macadamia nut, sunflower.” Briczinski is […]
Obama Says ObamaCare Had Biggest Day Ever
WASHINGTON ― While the Affordable Care Act faces a looming repeal by President-elect Donald Trump and the GOP-led Congress next year, its health insurance exchanges had a record day on Thursday. More than 670,000 people selected health insurance plans via the federally run exchange marketplaces, which serve people in 39 states through HealthCare.gov, President Barack Obama […]
House GOP Shuts Door On Flint Water Investigation
WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans quietly closed a year-long investigation into Flint, Michigan’s crisis over lead in its drinking water, faulting both state officials and the Environmental Protection Agency for contamination that has affected nearly 100,000 residents. In letters to fellow Republicans, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said Friday that Michigan […]
Judge Temporarily Blocks New Texas Abortion Law
A federal judge temporarily blocked the state of Texas on Thursday from implementing a new rule requiring burial or cremation for fetal remains following an abortion or miscarriage, according to the Houston Chronicle. The Chronicle reported that U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks issued a temporary restraining order against the new rule, which would have gone […]
Over Year Later, Flint Water Still Unsafe To Drink
The state says more than 600 pipes have been replaced in Flint, Mich., this year — but 30,000 suspect pipes remain. A year ago, Flint, Mich., Mayor Karen Weaver declared a state of emergency because of lead-contaminated drinking water, attracting national outrage and sympathy, and millions of gallons of donated water. But a year later […]
Top Republicans Unveil Plan To Drastically Cut Social Security And Medicare
WASHINGTON ― President-elect Donald Trump distinguished himself on the campaign trail as the rare Republican candidate promising not to cut Social Security and Medicare. But Republicans in Congress have other plans for the two popular social insurance programs ― and they are wasting no time rolling them out. Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas), chairman of the House […]
U.S. Life Expectancy In Decline, has Researchers Puzzled
American life expectancy is in decline for the first time since 1993, when H.I.V.-related deaths were at their peak. But this time, researchers can’t identify a single problem driving the drop, and are instead pointing to a number of factors, from heart disease to suicides, that have caused a greater number of deaths. A study […]
Trump Says He Will Lower Drug Prices
President-elect Donald Trump promised to drive down the cost of medicines, defying investors who saw a boon in his election last month and injecting himself again into a contentious economic debate. “I’m going to bring down drug prices,” Trump said, according to a transcript of an interview posted on Time magazine’s website as it named him its […]