High court refuses to stay health law

High court refuses to stay health law

WASHINGTON

The Supreme Court has refused a group of doctors’ request to block implementation of the nation’s new health care law.

Chief Justice John Roberts turned away without comment Monday an emergency stay request from the Association of American Physicians & Surgeons, Inc. and the Alliance for Natural Health USA.

They asked the chief justice Friday to temporarily block the law, saying Congress had passed it incorrectly by starting it in the Senate instead of the House. Revenue-raising bills are supposed to originate in the lower chamber. They also wanted blocked doctor registration requirements they say will make it harder for independent non-Medicare physicians to treat Medicare-eligible patients.

Cheney bows out

WASHINGTON

Liz Cheney’s sudden exit from her Wyoming Senate race brought a surprise end to a high-profile campaign that touched off a bitter fight within the Republican Party as well as a public spat with her lesbian sister over gay marriage.

The daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney cited unspecified “serious health issues” in her family rather than her uphill race to unseat three-term GOP Sen. Mike Enzi in her announcement Monday.

Girl moved to unidentified facility

SAN FRANCISCO

The 13-year-old California girl who was declared brain dead after suffering complications from sleep apnea surgery is being cared for at a facility that shares her family’s belief that she still is alive, her uncle said Monday.

Jahi McMath’s family and their lawyer would not disclose where the eighth- grader was taken Sunday night after a weeks-long battle to prevent Children’s Hospital Oakland from removing her from the breathing machine that has kept her heart beating for 28 days.

The uncle, Omari Sealey, told reporters Monday that Jahi traveled by ground and that there were no complications in the transfer, suggesting she may still be in California. Nurses and doctors there are working to stabilize her with intravenous antibiotics, minerals and supplements while she remains on the ventilator, but her condition is too precarious for additional measures, lawyer Christopher Dolan said.

Mediterranean diet gets another nod

Even without weight loss, adhering to a diet rich in fresh produce, chicken, fish and olive oil is 40 percent more effective in heading off the development of Type 2 diabetes than following a low-fat diet, a new study has found.

The research suggests that for the nation’s 78 million obese adults, a diet that minimizes red meat and sweets but incorporates plant-based fats may be a sustainable way to improve health — even if permanent weight reduction proves elusive.

The findings add to mounting research that suggests a traditional Mediterranean diet may be easier to adhere to and more likely to improve health than more- restrictive regimens.

Merkel injured in skiing accident

German Chancellor Angela Merkel fractured a pelvic bone during a cross-country skiing accident over the holidays and will have to cancel travel and rest at home for the next three weeks, her spokesman told journalists in Berlin on Monday.

Merkel, 59, fell during her annual ski vacation to eastern Switzerland’s Engadine Valley, which includes the St. Moritz resort, and initially thought she had just suffered a bruise, said spokesman Steffen Seibert.

Merkel consulted her doctor Friday after returning to the German capital and was told she had a pelvic fracture.

Combined dispatches