Medicare ban on gender surgery lifted

Medicare ban on gender surgery lifted

SAN FRANCISCO

Medicare no longer can automatically deny coverage requests for sex-reassignment surgeries, a federal board ruled Friday in a groundbreaking decision that recognizes the procedures are medically necessary for some people who don’t identify with their biological sex.

Ruling in favor of a 74-year-old transgender Army veteran whose request to have Medicare pay for her genital reconstruction was denied two years ago, a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services review board said there was no justification for a three-decade-old agency rule excluding such surgeries from treatments covered by the national health program for the elderly and disabled.

Missionary gets life sentence

SEOUL, South Korea

North Korea said today it has sentenced a South Korean Baptist missionary to hard labor for life for purportedly spying and trying to set up underground churches, the latest in a string of missionaries to run into trouble in the rigidly controlled North.

North Korean state media said the missionary was tried Friday and admitted to anti-North Korean religious acts and “malignantly hurting the dignity” of the country’s supreme leadership, a reference to the ruling Kim family. The rival Koreas have different English spelling styles for Korean names, so the North called the missionary Kim Jong Uk, but Seoul has previously referred to him as Kim Jung Wook.

GOP House backs medical-pot laws

WASHINGTON

Libertarian-minded and moderate Republicans joined forces Friday with Democrats in an early morning House vote to block the federal government from interfering with states that permit the use of medical marijuana.

The unusual coalition produced a surprising 219-189 vote in the GOP-controlled House that reflects more- permissive public attitudes toward medical-pot use. It ran counter to the drug’s official classification as holding “no currently accepted medical use” and a “high potential for abuse.”

Toddler severely burned in drug raid

ATLANTA

Officers raiding a Georgia home in search of a drug suspect used a flash grenade not knowing children were inside, severely burning a toddler who was sleeping just inside the door, authorities and the boy’s family said.

Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell said the officers were looking for a suspect who may have been armed and followed proper procedure by using the device, which creates a bright flash and loud bang to distract suspects. A lawyer for the family said he believes the officers acted improperly and he would like to see them prosecuted.

“It’s a tragic incident,” Terrell said. “The baby didn’t deserve this.”

Man charged with impeding probe

BOSTON

A friend of the brothers suspected of bombing the Boston Marathon was accused Friday of obstructing the investigation into the deadly attack by deleting information from his computer and lying to investigators.

The friend, Khairullozhon Matanov, 23, of Quincy, was arrested at his apartment. He later appeared in federal court, but entered no plea and was being held until a detention hearing Wednesday.

Matanov is not charged with participating in the bombings or knowing about them in advance, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said in a statement.

Associated Press