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Emotions run high outside courthouse for abortion showdown

“If you support life, let me hear you scream,” South Carolina Republican U.S. Senator Tim Scott told anti-abortion demonstrators, eliciting yells and applause. “We are talking about 10 fingers and 10 toes and one precious heart. Christina Bennett, a member of the National Black Pro-Life Coalition, shared her story during the anti-abortion rally about how her mother made a last-minute decision not to abort her. “I’m so grateful for my life and I love my life,” Bennett said, defending the Texas law at issue in the case that imposes regulations on abortion doctors and clinic buildings, rules that supporters of the measure state are intended to protect women’s health.

UK cost watchdog turns down Amgen’s new cholesterol drug

Amgen’s new injectable cholesterol drug Repatha has been turned down for use on Britain’s state health service, underscoring a worldwide debate about the value of such pricey medicines. Repatha belongs to a potent new class of drugs known as PCSK9 inhibitors that are extremely effective at lowering “bad” LDL cholesterol. NICE, which decides if treatments should be paid for on the National Health Service (NHS), also said in its draft guidance that analyses presented by Amgen had limitations that “called into question the reliability of the cost-effectiveness results”.

Spain to restore free health care for illegal immigrants

Spain's conservative government said Tuesday it would restore free health care for illegal immigrants, overturning a controversial decision taken three years ago. Under a reform that came into place in September 2012, foreigners without residency papers lost their national health cards which allowed them free treatment in local public health clinics. Illegal immigrants who are over 18 only get free treatment in case of an emergency, pregnancy or birth. “It is more sensible and reasonable that this care be given in health centres so emergency wards are not saturated,” Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said as he announced that all undocumented immigrants would once again come within the fold of the public health system.

Testing anti-drinking drug with help of a fake bar

WASHINGTON (AP) — The tequila sure looks real, so do the beer taps. Inside the hospital at the National Institutes of Health, researchers are testing a possible new treatment to help heavy drinkers cut back — using a replica of a fully stocked bar.

American nurse exposed to Ebola released from hospital

(Reuters) – An American nurse who was exposed to Ebola while volunteering in Sierra Leone was released from the National Institutes of Health's Clinical Center in Maryland on Friday without showing signs of the disease, NIH said. “The patient has shown no clinical or laboratory evidence of Ebola infection and will complete 21 days of monitoring at a private residence in Virginia under the direction of the Virginia Department of Health,” NIH said in a statement. …

U.S. scientists say uncertainties loom about Ebola’s transmission, other key facts

By Sharon Begley (Reuters) – Even as government officials express confidence that researchers know the key facts about Ebola, many questions crucial to preventing an outbreak in the United States remain unanswered, scientists told a workshop at the National Academy's Institute of Medicine in Washington on Monday. Virtually all the unknowns have practical consequences, participants emphasized, making it foolish and perhaps dangerous to base policy on weak science. …