“Va. federal judge strikes down health care law - msnbc.com” plus 1 more |
| Va. federal judge strikes down health care law - msnbc.com Posted: 13 Dec 2010 11:07 AM PST WASHINGTON — A U.S. judge in Virginia on Monday declared unconstitutional a key part of President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare law in the first major setback on an issue that will likely end up at the Supreme Court. Read the Va. judge's ruling on the health care law (.pdf)U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson, appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush in 2002, backed arguments by the state of Virginia that Congress exceeded its authority by requiring that individuals buy health insurance by 2014 or face a fine.
"The Minimum Essential Coverage Provision is neither within the letter nor the spirit of the Constitution," Hudson wrote in a 42-page decision. However, he declined to invalidate the entire healthcare law, a small victory for Obama. The Obama administration will likely appeal as the law has become a cornerstone of Obama's presidency, aiming to expand health insurance to cover millions of uninsured Americans while curbing costs. The healthcare industry opposed Obama's reform but insurers, which include companies such as Aetna Inc and WellPoint Inc, favor the individual mandate as it means more customers. Shares of health insurers rose as investors saw the ruling as evidence that the healthcare law can be adjusted in the courts without a full overhaul and the uncertainty that would accompany it. Virginia's lawyers argued that the federal government could not regulate someone for not buying a good or service under the U.S. Constitution's Commerce Clause and could not penalize them for failing to buy health insurance. Hudson said that neither the Supreme Court nor the various appeals courts had ever extended the "Commerce Clause powers to compel an individual to involuntarily enter the stream of commerce by purchasing a commodity in the private market." "This dispute is not simply about regulating the business of insurance — or crafting a scheme of universal health insurance coverage — it's about an individual's right to choose to participate," Hudson wrote. The decision is the first finding against the law that was passed in March and aimed at overhauling the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare system. Two judges rejected other challenges to the law, including one in Virginia last month. At least 24 suits have so far been filed in federal courts by states and private parties, and constitutional scholars expect one of them to reach the Supreme Court. Justice Department lawyers have been sent around the country to defend the law in federal courts. Republican leaders in Congress have said one of their top priorities next year when they control the House of Representatives is to repeal the law. But chances of that are slim because Obama's Democrats still control the Senate.
"Congress must obey the Constitution rather than make it up as we go along. Liberty requires limits on government, and today those limits have been upheld," said Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, a longstanding critic of the individual coverage mandate. The Obama administration has vigorously defended the law and said that the state of Virginia did not have the legal standing to challenge it on behalf of its citizens, particularly for something that has yet to take effect. The individual coverage mandate is a major component of the overhaul law, a bid by the Obama administration to expand coverage to the tens of millions of Americans who are without insurance and to thereby help lower exploding healthcare costs. "As delighted as we are about the judge's decision rejecting the challenge to the entire statute, we believe his ruling on the 'individual responsibility' provision is short-sighted," said the consumers' group Families USA. "Since everyone, at some point in their lives, receives healthcare, it is simply incorrect to assume that the law requires people to enter the health care marketplace." Later this week, a judge will hear arguments in a multi-state lawsuit against the law in Florida. "Eventually this whole thing probably has to go through the Supreme Court," said Ana Gupte, analyst with Sanford Bernstein, who covers health insurers, in New York. "I would be surprised at the end of the day if the Supreme Court rules against the individual mandate." She added, the individual mandate is a "critical component of the law." © 2010 msnbc.com This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Scientists finding genes related to autism - Newsday Posted: 13 Dec 2010 11:07 AM PST Scientists combing the human genome in recent years for autism-related DNA have uncovered dozens of genes related to the disorder and note that countless more genes have yet to be found. New gene discoveries announced this year - including one just last week - are helping to shape a narrative that autism spectrum disorders are largely genetic conditions. "A consensus is emerging that many of the individual genes associated with autism underlie a number of other brain disorders," said Dr. Joseph Buxbaum, director of the Seaver Autism Center at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in Manhattan, which is participating in the Autism Genome Project. Genes related to autism, he said, have been found near those related to other complex brain conditions - attention-deficit/hyperactivity, obsessive compulsive and bipolar disorders. Buxbaum was among the scientists who helped uncover six DNA flaws linked to autism spectrum disorders last summer. Examining DNA from 1,000 children with autism and 1,300 without the condition, project scientists identified clusters of mutations that were nearly 20 percent more common in children with autism. "As we continue to uncover genetic mutations that can cause autism, we are gaining further insights that will lead to earlier diagnosis and better treatments," said Buxbaum, who also receives research support from the Simons Foundation. The multimillion-dollar nonprofit was founded by Long Island billionaire James Simons, whose daughter has Asperger syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder. But genome project investigations are not the only autism-related gene searches under way. "By no means is that the end of the story," said Dr. Anil Malhotra of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, who earlier this year isolated DNA that, when mutated, appears to cause schizophrenia in some people but autism in others. Malhotra said as researchers continue to study the genetics of all complex neurobiological conditions, the work eventually will help explain why so many traits are shared from one condition to the next. Another genetic question under study is why autism affects boys more frequently than girls. That answer could come within the next several months, said Dr. Michael Ronemus of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where scientists are trying to unravel the disparity. Yet, even as compelling DNA evidence emerges, experts say the findings will probably not extinguish the fiery debate about cause and effect. "Autism is a very controversial subject, especially among parent groups," said Dr. Eli Hatchwell, geneticist and founder of Population Diagnostics, a biotechnology firm in Melville and Oxford, England. Hatchwell and his team are working on gene-based diagnostics for autism. He predicts genetic research will ultimately define autism as at least 100 distinct conditions, each caused by their own mutations. "There may be a small number of individuals who are reacting badly to something in the environment, but I don't believe that to be the case for everyone," Hatchwell said. "Autism is 90 percent genetic in my opinion." Average user rating: (Click to rate)This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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