Study: Lung-cancer screen could add $3 to monthly premiums

Study: Lung-cancer screen could add $3 to monthly premiums

Every person covered by Medicare would shell out an additional $3 a month if the government agreed to pay to screen certain current and former smokers for lung cancer, a new study estimates.

It would cost Medicare $2 billion a year to follow recent advice to offer these lung scans — and fuel angst about rising health costs that are borne by everyone, not just smokers, the study found.

Joshua Roth of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle said the researchers merely were tallying the cost of screening, and were not “judging value” or saying whether Medicare should pay it. He led the study, which was released Wednesday.

Judge: Pistorius should be evaluated

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA

Oscar Pistorius will undergo psychiatric evaluation after the judge ruled at his murder trial Wednesday that his state of mind when he killed his girlfriend should be assessed by experts, possibly delaying court proceedings for two months.

The ruling was prompted by testimony by a psychiatrist on behalf of the defense that the double-amputee Olympic athlete has generalized anxiety disorder and that this may have influenced his judgment when he fatally shot Reeva Steenkamp through a toilet door in his home Feb. 14, 2013.

The chief prosecutor, Gerrie Nel, then requested psychiatric testing — a move opposed by Pistorius’ chief lawyer. Judge Thokozile Masipa agreed with the prosecutor, saying it was important to independently assess Pistorius’ state of mind because the defense might now argue that he was not criminally responsible for the shooting because of his anxiety disorder.

Attack on protesters kills 2, wounds 22

BANGKOK

Explosions and an overnight shooting attack on anti-government demonstrators in Thailand’s capital killed at least two people early today, authorities said, the latest political violence to hit Bangkok over the last six months.

The city’s Erawan Medical Center, which tracks casualties, said 22 people also were wounded in the assault before dawn near the city’s Democracy Monument, where protesters are camping out.

The casualties bring the toll in political violence since protests began to oust the government in November to 27 dead and 800 wounded.

Toddler survives an 11-story fall

MINNEAPOLIS

A young boy who survived an 11-story fall from a Minneapolis high-rise has been dubbed “the miracle baby” and was recovering in a hospital Wednesday.

Fifteen-month-old Musa Dayib suffered a broken spine and ribs, as well as a concussion and a punctured lung. Musa’s relatives believe he slipped through the railing of his family’s apartment balcony Sunday.

The boy was in critical but stable condition Wednesday, Hennepin County Medical Center spokeswoman Christine Hill said.

Peace talks begin

KIEV, UKRAINE

European-backed peace talks on ending Ukraine’s crisis began with little promise Wednesday when pro-Russian insurgents — who weren’t even invited to the session — demanded that the Kiev government recognize their sovereignty.

The “road map” put forth by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe calls for national dialogue as a first step toward resolving the escalating tensions, in which the insurgents have seized government buildings in eastern Ukraine and declared independence, while government forces have mounted limited offensives to retake control of the region.

Associated Press