Speaking to voters in Iowa Monday, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania ripped the Environmental Protection Agency's new rule placing first-ever limits on the amount of mercury that coal-fired power plants can emit into the air.

The GOP presidential contender claimed the new regulations would shut down 60 coal fired power plants in America, and he charged the EPA with basing its study on a philosophy of: "We hate carbon, we hate fossil fuels, we hate blue-collar Americans who work in those areas."

He specifically took issue with the agency's cost-benefit analysis, calling it "absolutely ridiculous" and "not based on any kind of science."

But the EPA's cost-benefit analysis cites peer-reviewed studies extensively in its 510-page "Regulatory Impact Analysis of the Final Mercury and Air Toxics Standards," which has been two decades in the making.
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Between 2006 and 2010, drug shortages increased by more than 200%, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Thursday. There were a record 196 shortages last year, and even more are expected in 2012.

“These shortages often force Americans to go without treatment,” Senator Tom Harkin said.

Renee Mosier is one of those patients who has been forced to forgo treatment and look for alternatives. The 61-year-old was first diagnosed in 2006 with ovarian cancer. After several successful surgeries and chemotherapy treatments, the cancer came back this past June.
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The Empowered Patient is a regular feature from CNN Senior Medical News Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen that helps put you in the driver's seat when it comes to health care.

As fall turns to winter, health problems could plague Occupy protests across the country, infectious disease experts say.

In New York City, police removed Occupy Wall Street protesters from Zuccotti Park, citing an “increasing health and fire safety hazard to those camped in the park.” A judge subsequently issued an injunction allowing the protestors back in.

Occupy movements across the country face three challenges: winter, sanitation, and crowding, says Dr. Buddy Creech, an infectious disease expert and associate director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Program.

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Britain will back a final push to wipe out a debilitating parasitic worm disease that is on the verge of worldwide eradication.

Former President Jimmy Carter, World Health Organization's director-general Margaret Chan and British officials in London, announced Wednesday a new campaign to rid the world of the Guinea worm, making it the second disease to be eradicated.

The British government pledged about $30 million in eradication efforts. International Development Minister Stephen O'Brien and Carter emphasized the need for donors to match the funds to get rid of the guinea worm. FULL POST

It's something no one wants to think about, but a reality if worst happens: What do you want to happen if you are on the brink of death and can't communicate?

A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds that advance directives are linked to less Medicare spending, lower likelihood of dying in a hospital, and higher usage of hospice care in areas of the U.S. that tend to spend the most on end of life care generally.  Advance directives, also called living wills, are documents that specify what kind of treatment you do or don't want to be given in various situations when your life is on the line.

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Thomas Pynchon once said: “If they can get you to ask the wrong questions, then they don't have to worry about the answers.”

Here’s the wrong question: Should we cut back on or even dismantle Medicare, or should we just keep raising taxes and let the deficit continue to increase unabated? Since neither choice is optimal, the debate - some say debacle - in Washington these past few weeks about how to deal with our rising deficit, much of which is due to rising health care costs, has polarized and paralyzed our country.

There is a third alternative: When we address the underlying causes of most chronic diseases - our lifestyle choices - our bodies have a remarkable capacity to begin healing, and much faster than was once realized. When we address these lifestyle causes, then we can make better care available at lower cost to more people. And the only side effects are good ones.
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Like top boxing prospects warming up for a title fight, lawyers for and against the massive health care law – the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – staged a duel in Atlanta Wednesday, over whether the law is constitutional. Several cases are winding their way through the courts, but this one is the biggest – led by the state of Florida, joined by 25 other states. In March, Federal Judge Roger Vinson ruled that a key part of the law, the so-called individual mandate, is unconstitutional. The “individual mandate” is the requirement that individuals purchase coverage if they aren’t otherwise insured through a job, or through Medicare or Medicaid.

Attorney Paul Clement, representing the state of Florida, argued that the federal government can’t force people to buy a product – in this case, insurance. “In 220 years, Congress has never seen fit to use this power.” U.S. Solicitor General Neal Katyal, defending the law, had a more complex case to make – that people without insurance are already part of the health care market – part of interstate commerce – except that when they end up needing care they don’t pay for it.

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Late Friday afternoon the United States budget standoff continued, with the threat of a partial government shutdown still looming (share your shutdown worries here).

If the government shuts down, here's what it will mean for three key agencies that affect your health:

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The White House is saying “Happy Birthday” to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , signed into law by President Obama one year ago today. But you might not hear many celebrations.  Legal challenges were once considered a longshot, but more than two dozen states have signed on to lawsuits to try to overturn the PPACA, winning victories in Florida and Virginia. The Supreme Court seems likely to have the final word.

More subtly, some states – especially those led by Republicans – are simply refusing to implement parts of the law. In Georgia last month, Gov. Nathan Deal killed an effort to start developing a health insurance “exchange” – an organized marketplace to make comparison-shopping easy – even though the PPACA requires an exchange in every state by 2014.

Even among supporters, the birthday celebration is muted because it’s too soon to tell whether the law is a success.

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 In an effort to improve the communications between doctors and patients, the American Society of Clinical Oncologists (ASCO) just released a new policy statement and a patient guide for conversations about the time when treatment options run out.

"While improving survival is the oncologist's primary goal, helping individuals live their final days in comfort and dignity is one of the most important responsibilities of our profession," says ASCO president, Dr. George W. Sledge, Jr.   The organization is urging its members to make the first move and initiate these very difficult conversations.

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