Louisiana should close its “outdated” rural charity hospitals and transfer a share of the tax dollars that fund health care for the uninsured to the state’s private and community hospitals, according to recommendations from a draft report by the Public Affairs Research Council, the [click link for full article]

Food scientists in Taiwan are reporting new evidence from laboratory experiments that capsaicin - the natural compound that gives red pepper that spicy hot kick - can reduce the growth of fat cells. The study is scheduled for the March 21 issue of the ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication. [click link for full article]

The Washington state House on Tuesday voted 68-28 to approve legislation (SB 5093) that would expand health care coverage to 38,000 of the 73,000 uninsured children in the state, the Seattle Times reports. [click link for full article]

There is a new insect causing indoor allergies across the Midwest and East Coast - Asian ladybugs. These insects, introduced as a pest-control measure to control aphids, have themselves become…

Over the past several years, Joslin Investigator Mary R. Loeken, Ph.D., and her colleagues at Joslin Diabetes Center have unlocked several mysteries behind what puts women with diabetes more at risk of having a child with birth defects. [click link for full article]

CMS officials are investigating whether Humana inappropriately advised the highest-cost beneficiaries in its Medicare prescription drug benefit plans to switch to plans provided by Sierra Health Services, [click link for full article]

New Mexico is about to pass legislation making it compulsory for girls going into the sixth grade to be vaccinated against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV).A spokesman for NM governor Bill Richardson said he will sign the bill, which was approved by the State House yesterday, when he receives it. The bill becomes law 90 days after the governor signs it.HPV is a sexually transmitted disease that is known to cause 70 per cent of cervical cancer cases. [click link for full article]

The following highlights recent news of state and local actions on women’s health-related issues. Emergency Contraception Wisconsin: Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson (D) on Tuesday said she plans to reintroduce legislation that would require hospitals to inform rape victims that emergency contraception is highly effective at preventing pregnancy and dispense EC if survivors requested it, the [click link for full article]

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) commends Congressmen Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI) and Jim Ramstad (R-MN) for introducing “The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act “(H.R. 1367). The bill will secure greater access to mental health and addiction treatment by prohibiting health insurers from placing discriminatory restrictions on treatment. [click link for full article]

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine have discovered that common inhaled anesthetics increase the number of amyloid plaques in the brains of animals, which might accelerate the onset of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. Roderic Eckenhoff, MD, Vice Chair of Research in the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, and his co-authors, report their findings in the March 7th online edition of Neurobiology of Aging. [click link for full article]