January 29, 2008

Points For Trying

As Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius noted in her Democratic response to the State of the Union address last night, states and municipalities are experimenting with health care reforms in the absence of what many agree is a badly needed overhaul on the federal level. One of the leaders in this movement is California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who negotiated last year with Democratic state lawmakers over a universal health insurance program for his state.

The $14.9-billion proposal was eagerly anticipated by other states eyeing similar measures. Congressional lawmakers were also keen to learn from California's experience. They'll all have to wait a little longer, though, because yesterday the state Senate rejected Schwarzenegger's plan.

Per the Los Angeles Times: "Senators said it was too risky a financial commitment when California faces a $14.5-billion budget gap that could force them to cut existing healthcare programs. Schwarzenegger has proposed $2.9 billion in healthcare cuts over the next 18 months."

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Posted to: Campaigns, Health, Mitt Romney, Republicans, WH 2008
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January 16, 2008

Lawmakers Eye Medicaid Boost For States

Lawmakers writing an economic stimulus package plan to include a temporary increase in federal Medicaid matching rates for states worth several billion dollars, according to aides familiar with the negotiations.

The provision would boost state funds for Medicaid almost immediately and help governors ride out the economic downturn. The administration has signed off on similar language in the past, although it is unclear whether the White House would continue to support a new round of Medicaid increases despite state support for them. The Medicaid provision is being modeled on language in the last economic stimulus package, in which states got a 1.5 percent increase in the matching rate for six quarters. Lawmakers also want to require that states use the extra money only for Medicaid.

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Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Economy, Health
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January 15, 2008

MLB Execs Defend Anti-Steroid Efforts

Bud Selig, Major League Baseball commissioner, and Donald Fehr, executive director of the MLB Players Association, defended their ability to reduce performance-enhancing drug use in baseball against a threat by Congress to legislate tougher testing.

"Baseball needs to fix these problems, change this culture, alter how it does business with regard to steroids, human growth hormone and all manner of dangerous performance-enhancing drugs, or... Congress will do it for you," House Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Tom Davis, R-Va., said today. The committee was holding its first hearing on a report by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, D-Maine, on the use of drugs in Major League Baseball.

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January 08, 2008

Study: U.S. Lags Industrialized Nations In Preventable Deaths

When the Republican candidates for president met Saturday for one of their final debates before today's New Hampshire primary, there was one point on which all six of them seemed to agree -- America has "the best health care system in the world."

While the Democrats have spent much time and energy proposing sweeping reforms to increase access for the 47 million uninsured Americans, the Republicans have been warning that a move to "socialized medicine" -- which is how they characterize the government-run systems of most other industrialized nations -- would compromise the quality of care. For example, Rudy Giuliani asserted in a radio ad that, when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, his chances of survival in the U.S. were nearly double what they would have been in England "under socialized medicine."

Those figures were later disputed by some experts, but in the end his point about disease treatment may be irrelevant. As Mike Huckabee pointed out in the debate, "What we have in America is a health care maze. It's built on the idea that we wait until people are so desperately ill that the cost to try to fix them is catastrophic and out of control."

A new study published in the policy journal Health Affairs seems to echo Huckabee's concerns. In the study, the United States came in dead last among 19 leading industrialized nations in preventable deaths. The researchers based their analysis, which placed France, Japan and Australia at the top of the heap, on the number of deaths that "could have been prevented by access to timely and effective health care," Reuters reports.

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Posted to: Campaigns, Democrats, Health, Mike Huckabee, Republicans, Rudy Giuliani, WH 2008
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Feds Plan Anti-Fraud Push As Medicare Spending Rises

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is cracking down on medical equipment suppliers it says bilk taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Medicare officials estimate suppliers have fraudulently billed the government upwards of $300 million in Los Angeles County alone, the Los Angeles Times reports. The problem is most acute in urban areas in Southern California and South Florida where large numbers of elderly Medicare recipients are concentrated, the government says.

The new rules require equipment suppliers to be accredited by the government and to set prices through a bidding process. The Times reports that some medical equipment suppliers are threatening to opt out of Medicare because they believe the rules are too harsh.

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Posted to: Bush Administration, Economy, Health
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December 19, 2007

Global Health Survey Finds Regional Differences

Health care has been a prominent issue on the campaign trail in the U.S. this year, with presidential candidates, particularly on the Democratic side, vowing to expand access to health care coverage for the over 40 million Americans without insurance. According to a new study, these concerns about the quality and availability of health care are also shared worldwide, albeit in different ways.

The global survey [PDF] from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Pew Global Attitudes Project shows that while health care ranks high among citizens' political priorities around the world, attitudes toward the issue vary widely according to where people live, their economic status and their experiences with particular diseases.

Overall, the survey of over 45,000 people in 46 countries finds that health is a "local phenomenon." Not surprisingly, respondents in areas hardest hit by disease and malnutrition, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, were more likely to rank health as the top problem for their countries. In other regions, including Latin America, Asia and Europe, crime, terrorism, drugs and pollution were perceived as greater threats than the spread of infectious diseases.

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Posted to: Africa, Campaigns, Economy, HIV/AIDS, Health, U.N., WH 2008
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December 13, 2007

Liveblogging The Final Dem Debate Of 2007!

4:10. All over, no more debates until next year, hurray!

Up until a couple of months ago, there seemed to be a critical mass of Democratic support building behind Clinton, in part because of her metamorphosis into a suddenly "human" and likable politician and the assumption that the Clinton machine could best take on the Republican nominee next year. The political press carried on that change vs. experience debate all summer and into the early fall.

But now the nomination fight has been upended, and polls [PDF] show (subscription) that Obama and Edwards are viable in general election matchups, too. That eliminates for some voters their primary thesis for supporting Clinton, and it's why she's been struggling to stay afloat this month.

Most of us can look forward to relaxing with family in a week or so, but for the presidential contenders and Iowans it's closing arguments time. One thought to keep in mind: Part of the shifting around in this field and in the GOP as well is that the Iraq war has largely dropped out of the debate. Iraq no longer dominates the front page because of the decrease in violence and because of the campaigns. That changes in March at the latest, when Gen. David Petraeus is due back in Washington to report on the ground situation. We know the military part of the surge is working, but we are not much farther than we were in September on political reconciliation. The "what's next?" question is still hanging out there, unanswered. The GOP front-runners have more or less indicated loyalty to the Bush administration's policies, so answers will have to come from the Democratic field.

Early reactions: boring, boring, nice, snark.

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Posted to: Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Campaigns, Christopher Dodd, Democrats, Economy, Education, Health, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Iraq, John Edwards, Joseph Biden, Middle East, Republicans, Taxes, Trade, WH 2008
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December 04, 2007

China Turning The Corner On AIDS

Just as an increasingly third-world epidemic threatened to shatter China's move toward superpower status, changing public attitudes and determined prevention efforts appear to be pulling the Asian giant back from the brink. Shanghaiist has a roundup of recent optimistic headlines on AIDS in China, while noting Beijing still has a ways to go. The Atlantic's James Fallows gets a shout-out here, for noticing on Sunday a rare photo of President Hu Jintao shaking hands with (i.e., touching) an AIDS patient.

State-run Xinhua news agency reported earlier this week on a celeb-studded AIDS-awareness march along the Great Wall. The main obstacle in China's fight against HIV/AIDS is its rapid spread in impoverished and remote regions of that country. The U.N. recently estimated that between 30 and 50 million people in China are at risk of contracting the disease, GayWired reported last week.

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Posted to: Asia, China, HIV/AIDS, Health
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November 20, 2007

Downgrading An Epidemic

A new United Nations report due out this week shows a dramatic drop in the number of AIDS and HIV cases around the globe. The numbers, reduced from 40 million to 33 million infected people worldwide, are challenging conventional wisdom about the scope of the disease. Scientists now believe the epidemic has been slowing down for nearly a decade.

There are a few factors at play in the slowdown:

· The way the U.N. runs its numbers. The organization used a new model to create more accurate estimates of full populations this year, after being criticized for keeping the numbers high to continue to secure funds for prevention programs -- a claim U.N. officials strenuously deny.

· Increased educational programs. Billions of dollars spent to teach people about HIV/AIDS may be helping to curb the spread of the disease in places such as sub-Saharan Africa, which recorded 2.2 million new cases per year in 2001. In 2007, that number was down to 1.7 million.

· Better treatment. New drugs and increased access to existing ones have helped people live longer with the disease. (One expert notes, however, that in countries like the United States and Uganda, where good treatment transforms the disease into a chronic but livable condition, some patients have been "backsliding" and returning to high-risk behavior.)

The AIDS epidemic should still be kept in perspective, U.N. officials note: The disease remains the No. 1 killer in Africa and claims nearly 6,000 lives every day.

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Posted to: Health
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November 15, 2007

SCHIP Negotiators Exchange Final Offers

It's do or die for the children's health bill -- again.

House Republicans seeking changes to the bill will present Senate sponsors with their final proposal today.

"There's a consensus that we get this done tomorrow or we just kind of confide to each other that we can't," Senate Finance ranking member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said after a meeting yesterday. "We're getting finality, one way or the other."

See CongressDaily (subscription) for the full story.

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Posted to: Congress, Health, House, Senate
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October 29, 2007

House Returns To Negotiating Table On SCHIP

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel were to meet today with a group of Republicans to discuss the possibility for compromise on a children's health care bill. House Republicans said it appears unlikely the bill's sponsors will be able to amend the measure enough to change the minds of at least a dozen GOP members needed to override a presidential veto.

"The Democratic leadership appears wedded to a significant expansion of government-run health care," said Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga. "It doesn't appear that they're interested in a positive solution."

Further tinkering on the proposal to add $35 billion to the State Children's Health Insurance Program could be done during the Senate debate this week. Price was one of 36 House Republicans who sent a letter on Friday to Hoyer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that said the version passed last week "does not reflect the spirit of bipartisan negotiations and instead disrupts a process that had the potential to create a good, bipartisan bill."

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Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Health, House, President Bush, Senate
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October 26, 2007

Bush To Congress: I'm Not Mad, I'm Just Disappointed

President Bush, back in Washington today after a trip to Southern California to survey the devastation caused by raging wildfires there, delivered a harsh rebuke to congressional Democrats in a televised address from the Roosevelt Room.

Bush said that upon returning to the White House, he "was disappointed by what Congress had been doing -- and even more disappointed by what they had not been doing." He accused lawmakers of "wasting time" by voting yesterday on a slightly revised version of a bill to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program instead of working to pass already delayed appropriation bills, approve supplemental funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and confirm the nomination of Michael Mukasey to be attorney general.

Bush said that he had appointed members of his administration to negotiate with Congress on a compromise SCHIP bill, but instead "the House once again passed a bill that they knew would not become law," indicating that he would veto the legislation for a second time if it arrives on his desk. Yesterday's House vote failed to reach the two-thirds majority necessary to override a veto.

AP and The Hill have more analysis of Bush's remarks, and the Washington Post has responses from Democratic leaders.

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Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Health, House, Michael Mukasey, President Bush
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Judging The 2008 Health Plans

A new Kaiser Family Foundation survey shows that, behind Iraq, health care is the second most important issue Americans want the 2008 presidential candidates to address. In many cases, particularly on the Democratic side, the candidates have heeded that call, putting forth detailed plans aimed at reforming the current system and avoiding the pitfalls of Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton's notoriously failed effort in the '90s.

In this week's National Journal, health care reporter Marilyn Werber Serafini gathered a team of 10 experts to assess the health plans of the major presidential contenders, giving careful consideration to their potential impacts on consumers, employers, the uninsured, the economy and quality of care.

Meanwhile, the Kaiser poll shows that the Democratic front-runner in the race, Hillary Clinton, leads the field on this issue despite her previous failure. Today's Poll Track (subscription) has analysis of those numbers and other recent surveys on the '08 race.

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Posted to: Campaigns, Democrats, Health, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Republicans, WH 2008
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October 25, 2007

Dems Push Amended SCHIP Through

After day-long deliberations interrupted only by numerous procedural motions, House Republicans were forced to vote on a slightly different incarnation of a children's health insurance bill that's already been vetoed once and is destined for a veto again.

The bill passed 265-142, short of the two-thirds majority required to withstand President Bush's promised rejection. Republicans were incensed at being dragged to a vote on a bill they first laid eyes on yesterday. Several members took to the floor to rail against the Democrat leadership for being insensitive to the needs of their colleagues who had flown back to California because of the devastating wildfires there.

After failing to reach a two-thirds override a week ago, Democrats inserted provisions on eligibility caps and illegal immigrants to make the legislation more palatable to the minority. But the leadership would not budge on the $35 million price tag or a cigarette tax increase -- both nonstarters for the White House and most Republican members.

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Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Health, House, President Bush
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GOP Unhappy With SCHIP Vote Sked

With Republicans crying foul, House leaders scheduled a vote this morning on a children's health bill that makes minor changes to the one vetoed by President Bush earlier this month.

"The bill addresses all of the concerns of our colleagues," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"Basically, the changes in the bill meet the objections of the administration as nearly as it can be done. And I will observe the spurious, fraudulent, false, dishonest, deceitful objections that the administration has sent up," said Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell. "They know better."

The bill addresses Republican concerns that the bill to add $35 billion to the State Children's Health Insurance Program would cover adults and families who earn up to $83,000 annually, as well as illegal immigrants. It would strengthen the original bill's eligibility cap at 300 percent of poverty, phase childless adults off the program within one year instead of two, and clarify language stating that illegal immigrants will not be eligible.

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Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Health, House, President Bush
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October 24, 2007

House Dems Tweaking Immigration, Income Eligibility On New SCHIP Bill

House Democrats are crafting a children's health care bill that would tighten language on immigration, deny states the opportunity to cover children above 300 percent of poverty and move childless adults out of the program within one year, lawmakers and aides said.

The State Children's Health Insurance Program bill is expected to be on the floor tomorrow, but Democratic leadership aides stressed that the vote timing is not definite. Moderate Republicans who asked for the changes to woo more GOP members are asking for more time to allow them to review the bill. President Bush vetoed the bill on Oct. 3.

Continue reading " House Dems Tweaking Immigration, Income Eligibility On New SCHIP Bill"

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Posted to: Congress, Health, House, Senate
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October 18, 2007

SCHIP: Democrats Lose The Battle, Stand To Win The War

UPDATED.

The House Democratic leadership failed to wrangle the 12 to 15 additional votes it needed to push an expansion of a health care program for poor children past a presidential veto.

Lawmakers voted to override President Bush's veto 265 to 159, just under the two-thirds majority required. Squabbling over the bill, popular in spirit but contentious in practice, culminated in lawmakers using and attacking real live children volunteered by their parents as props in the debate.

Today's vote was originally scheduled for around noon, but had to be delayed because of still more ugliness. During floor debate preceding the vote, California Democrat Pete Stark accused Republican fiscal conservatives of "telling lies" about the breadth of the expansion. He continued: "You don't have money to fund the war or children. But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement."

The National Republican Congressional Committee fired off video of Stark's remarks so fast that it misidentified the loose-cannon lawmaker as a fellow Republican. Protesting GOP lawmakers called for a reprimand vote on the remarks, which failed.

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Posted to: Bush Administration, Campaigns, Congress, Europe, Health, House, President Bush, Turkey
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October 17, 2007

Bush: Who You Calling Lame?

Vowing to "sprint to the finish" during his remaining 15 months in office, President Bush went before the White House press corps this morning armed with a laundry list of complaints about Congress' performance on domestic matters. Reporters, on the other hand, came armed with a flood of questions focused mainly on the president's own foreign policy agenda.

"There's little time left in the year," Bush warned in his opening statement. "And Congress has little to show for all the time that has gone by." He listed eight areas where Congress has either failed to act or compromise with the White House: health care, intelligence, the budget, education, housing, trade, veterans care and the judiciary.

Specifically, Bush urged the Democratic leadership to compromise with the White House on two contentious bills -- the expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program and the authorization of a controversial wiretapping program. The former has already earned a presidential veto, and the White House issued a fresh veto threat for the latter yesterday.

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Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Health, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Middle East, Palestinians, President Bush, Russia, Vladimir Putin
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October 15, 2007

U.K. Watch: The Perils Of National Health Care

A survey of British dental patients has found that some are resorting to pulling out their own teeth as the number of dentists participating in the National Health Service drops, AFP reports.

Nearly half of dentists surveyed said they had stopped treating NHS patients. As a result, nearly 80 percent of Britons on private insurance said they were pushed there because they couldn't find an NHS dentist. Only 15 percent of those privately insured said their choice was based on quality of treatment.

"When you've got a severe toothache, you don't want to wait two or three weeks -- you need treatment straightaway," DIY patient Don Wilson told BBC News.

"It is a very foolish thing to do," scolded Liz Kay, dean of the Peninsula Dental School in Plymouth. BBC News has a report on the "pros and cons" of at-home dentistry.

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Posted to: Europe, Health, U.K.
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October 03, 2007

Bush Vetoes SCHIP Expansion

As promised, President Bush has quietly vetoed a bill vastly expanding a children's health insurance program. Otherwise known as SCHIP, the program is funded by both state and federal governments to cover medical care for children too rich to qualify for Medicare but too poor to afford private insurance.

The bipartisan bill would add $35 billion over five years to the popular program. The uninsured rate has boomed during Bush's presidency, even as the economy has rebounded from near-recession in 2002. According to the federal government, more than 6 million children lack health insurance, and 45 percent of all children get some kind of publicly funded medical care.

The Senate version passed 68-31, enough to override a presidential veto. The House is about a dozen votes short; Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley is among the bill's supporters courting those Republicans to join the majority.

The politically hypercharged issue stands to come back to haunt members during their re-election campaigns next year.

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Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Health, House, President Bush, Senate, Taxes
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October 01, 2007

States Jump Into SCHIP Fray

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) filed a lawsuit against the Bush administration today, charging it with blocking an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Both houses of Congress passed SCHIP legislation, but President Bush has promised to veto the bill when it hits his desk sometime this week.

“With the health of our nation’s children hanging in the balance, President Bush is preparing to veto a bipartisan compromise that Congress has forged to ensure that all children receive quality health care," Spitzer said in a statement released this afternoon. "If this bill does not become law, we will proceed with our lawsuit. Our kids deserve nothing less."

SCHIP collected enough votes in the Senate to override a presidential veto, but it didn't get through the House with the veto-proof two-thirds majority. Last week, both houses of Congress were working on post-veto strategies.

Seven other states -- Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Washington, Arizona, California and New Hampshire -- will join New York in the lawsuit.

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Posted to: Health
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September 19, 2007

Negotiators Reach Deal On SCHIP Bill

Negotiators are putting the finishing touches on children's healthcare legislation, with lawmakers agreeing to a slightly modified version of the Senate's more modest State Children's Health Insurance Program bill.

Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., predicted Tuesday that the Senate would be required to take a second vote on its package because of changes that the House will make when it votes on an SCHIP reauthorization next week.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., who helped write the Senate package, said Senate negotiators have agreed to "a couple of minor" changes to the Senate bill sought by House members, "but nothing that gets away from the basic principles."

Senate negotiators have rejected House requests to cover young adults up to 21 years old and legal immigrants, Rockefeller said.

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Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Health, House, President Bush, Senate
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August 15, 2007

Avoiding 'Made In China' Products An Uphill Battle

There's a label for the low-grade products being pumped out of China: "quality fade."

Thank NPR's Louisa Lim for putting a name to this phenomenon. Frantic parents who've disavowed toys made in China have reason to think twice, though: Seventy percent of the world's toys come from the Middle Empire.

Yesterday, ABC News assessed the domestic options for American parents. Expect a lot of crying this Christmas.

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Posted to: Asia, China, Health
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August 13, 2007

Americans Getting Shorter, Dying Younger

CORRECTED.

As if the fight against Islamic extremism wasn't challenge enough, the United States is facing another epidemic: shortness.

Researchers have found that Americans are no longer the tallest people on earth. In fact, the Washington Post reports, "American men now rank ninth and women 15th in average height, having fallen short of many other European nations." The Dutch now practically tower over us, putting the lie to the image of that country as a nation of tulip-bearing little Dutch boys.

This phenomenon isn't new, but there are still few explanations. In 2004, the New Yorker examined the growing height gap between Americans and Europeans. This is alarming not because Euros will be better able to beat us up -- luckily, they tend more toward pacifism -- but because what height often signifies. "Tall men, a series of studies has shown, benefit from a significant bias. They get married sooner, get promoted quicker, and earn higher wages," the article noted. "Short men are unlucky in politics and unluckier in love."

Continue reading "Americans Getting Shorter, Dying Younger"

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August 08, 2007

'08 Olympics: 365 Days And Counting...

Today marks the one-year countdown to the opening ceremony of Bejing’s 2008 Olympic Games, an event the communist superpower hopes will draw positive attention from the international community. However, the Chinese government has faced harsh criticisms on a range of issues, from food safety to human rights abuses to complicity in the genocide in Darfur, leaving many to wonder: Is China ready to open itself up to the world?

Immediately after winning its bid for the games, the Chinese government in 2001 released the Beijing Olympic Action Plan, a series of principles and objectives for developing not only the venues for the games, but also an environment conducive to hosting delegations from across the world. One provision was that China would clean up its human rights record and expand press freedoms for domestic and international journalists before the games.

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Posted to: Africa, Asia, China, Climate Change, Congress, FDA, Health, House, Olympics, Sudan
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August 07, 2007

New Hiring Rules To Boost FBI Cheetos Consumption?

The FBI no longer deems pot a dealbreaker. Newly relaxed hiring practices mean that marijuana use no longer disqualifies you from employment with the bureau -- provided you haven't touched the stuff in three years.

Of course, the new rules don't mean that the guys from "Clerks" will be tasked with fighting the domestic war on terror. Jeffrey Berkin, an FBI deputy assistant director, cautioned the Washington Post, "Our standards are still very high. The level of drug history would still have to be something that we would characterize as experimental."

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Posted to: CIA, Crime, Health
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August 06, 2007

Bill Aims To Strengthen FDA Monitoring Of Imported Food

House Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich., has laid down his marker for a food safety overhaul at FDA that takes aim at imported food. Released Friday, the proposal would give FDA mandatory recall authority, require country-of-origin labeling on food, establish a certification program for importers, limit ports where imported food can enter and allow the agency to collect user fees to pay for increased import inspections.

"We are importing twice as much food as we were a decade ago, yet the FDA examines less than one percent of it," Dingell said. "Tainted imports have slipped into our country undetected and the resulting problems will continue to grow if we don't take steps to tighten safety measures."

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Posted to: Congress, FDA, Health, House
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August 03, 2007

Senate Passes SCHIP Bill With Veto-Proof Majority

The Senate late last night passed a bill, 68-31, to add $35 billion to the State Children's Health Insurance Program, showing enough support for the measure to override a presidential veto.

Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott, R-Miss., predicted, however, that the Senate would be able to sustain a presidential veto of a conference report with the House.

"If it goes one iota beyond what was in this bill, we will be able to sustain the veto," he said.

Lott also said Republicans would object to a conference committee with the House.

"They're not going to get this bill in conference until we get an agreement on what's going to be in it. We're not going to let it go" he said, adding that Finance ranking member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, "is going to hold the line pretty strongly on this." Grassley helped write the compromise Senate bill.

See CongressDailyAM (subscription) for more on SCHIP.

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July 27, 2007

Cheney To Have Pacemaker Replaced

Vice President Dick Cheney will be at George Washington University Hospital tomorrow to have the battery in his pacemaker replaced. A spokeswoman said the entire device will be changed out in order to replace the battery.

The procedure is routine for a man who, as the AP notes, "has had four heart attacks, quadruple bypass surgery, two artery-clearing angioplasties and an operation to implant the defibrillator." Last Saturday, Cheney was the president for a few hours as George W. Bush underwent a colonoscopy. The five polyps found his colon were not cancerous.

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Posted to: Bush Administration, Dick Cheney, Health, President Bush
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July 23, 2007

Doctors Detect No Cancer In Bush's Polyps

UPDATED.

The five polyps removed from President Bush's colon during a routine test this weekend are not cancerous, the White House announced today. Doctors declared the growths to be benign.

Results were initially expected tomorrow, but the White House put out a statement this afternoon.

"The president is in good health. There is no reason for alarm," White House press secretary Tony Snow said earlier in the day. Snow, who is currently being treated for colon cancer, said Bush would undergo another colonoscopy in three years -- around the standard amount of time between procedures.

The polyps found in Bush were less than 1 cm in diameter. Generally, polyps 2 cm in diameter or bigger carry a greater risk for colorectal cancer.

Continue reading "Doctors Detect No Cancer In Bush's Polyps"

Posted at 3:31 PM
Posted to: Health, President Bush
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