By Fatima Mirza
- Given the recent end to the Government Shutdown, Obama’s Health Law may come under greater scrutiny, according to the Wall Street Journal. During the distraction, which lasted sixteen days, key events included the opening of the new online health-insurance exchanges and Republican attempts to defund the law.
- A group of politicians from the Council of Europe have signed a declaration denouncing “three-parent embryos” as eugenic. The UK currently has plans to legalize the practice.
- On Thursday, the World Health Organization added pollution to its official list of carcinogens. Though a global problem, people in developing countries with prominent manufacturing sectors are said to be particularly at risk.
- A Michigan medical marijuana patient could cost federal taxpayers more than $1.2 million. Tracy Duval claims that her husband is being denied adequate health care, and has introduced a dialogue about access and necessary procedures.
- A senior NHS representative said that mental health is still misaligned within the organization and huge gaps exist in the quality of services throughout the UK. The stigma can be found in the profession itself, the Guardian reported.
- Three decades of commercially-used mercury could be eliminated by a new global treaty said Achim Steiner, head of the U.N.’s environment agency. The Minamata Convention on Mercury focuses on the detrimental effects of the compound and its tendency to accumulate in fish, eventually working up the food chain.
- The World Health Organization recently approved a vaccine that will protect millions of children from Japanese encephalitis. The development signals China’s commitment to the global vaccine marketplace.
