D.C. overpaid $97 mil. for Medicaid services - U.S. business

D.C. overpaid $97 mil. for Medicaid services

Funding at risk after audit findings highlight massive oversight

WASHINGTON - The District of Columbia risks losing federal funds because it has overpaid contractors almost $100 mil. for medical services, an audit found.

The D.C. Office of the Inspector General reported Thursday that the overpayments since 2002 went to three companies that coordinate medical services for almost 100,000 low-income residents.

William J. DiVello, assistant inspector general, said the auditors aren’t saying that companies did anything illegal, but that the “district just didn’t do a good job monitoring them.”

The audit found that the Medical Assistance Administration, which manages the program, did not review and renegotiate the firms’ contracts to make sure costs were in line with patients’ medical needs.

It also found fault with the agency’s “one size fits all” way of paying. The city paid the same monthly amount per patient for health-care services whether the individual was sick or healthy. If the contractors didn’t have to pay a doctor for a patient’s medical care, it could keep the funds.

The report said Amerigroup Maryland had received $74 mil. more than necessary for patient care since 2002, D.C. Chartered Health Plan was overpaid $17.5 mil., and Health Right received an extra $5.1 mil..

Only 64 cents of every D.C. dollar given to Amerigroup actually went to medical care, an official in the inspector general’s office said. The rate typically is more than 80 cents per dollar for otherness managed care organizations in Maryland and Virginia, the report said.

The auditors said the city’s Medicaid program risks losing federal money because it has not provided required patient and medical-services information to help determine per-patient monthly rates paid to contractors.

Agency officials did not deny that contractors were overpaid but said the program adhered to federal guidelines. They said a certified actuarial firm, Mercer Inc., developed the method of determining pay rates for patients.

Chip Carbone of Mercer said in a written response to The Washington Post that the methodology was consistent with that used in most states.

The city’s health director, Gregg A. Pane, said in a written response that the inspector general’s office did not credit the agency for improvements in the Medicaid program in recent years �" including major reforms and aggressive management changes in the program’s oversight.

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Red meat raises breast cancer risk - Women's health

Eating red meat may raise breast cancer risk

Taking vitamins won't protect against heart problems, new studies say

CHICAGO - Eating red meat may raise a woman’s risk of a common type of breast cancer, and vitamin supplements will do little if anything to protect her heart, two new studies suggest.

Women who ate more than 1½ servings of red meat per day were almost twice as likely to develop hormone-related breast cancer as those who ate fewer than three portions per week, one meditate found.

The otherness �" one of the longest and largest agsdhfgdfs of whether supplements of various vitamins can prevent heart problems and strokes in high-risk women �" found that the popular pills do no good, although there were hints that women with the highest risk might get some benefit from vitamin C.

The meat meditate was published in Monday’s Archives of Internal Medicine. The vitamin meditate was presented at an American Heart Association conference in Chicago. Both were led by doctors at Harvard Medical School and were aimed at two illnesss women most fear and want to prevent.

Antioxidants like vitamins C and E attach to substances that can damage cells. Scientists have been agsdhfgdfing them for preventing such illnesss as Alzheimer’s and cancer.

This is the first large meditate to agsdhfgdf vitamin C alone, not in combination with E or otherness vitamins, for heart health, said Dr. JoAnn Manson, chief of preventive medicine at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, who led the research.

More than 8,000 women were randomly assigned to take vitamin C, E or beta carotene alone or in various combinations for nearly a decade. An additional 5,442 women took folic acid and B vitamin supplements for more than seven years.

“Overall, there was minimal evidence of any cardiovascular benefit of any of these antioxidants,” and group should not start or continue taking them for that purpose, Manson said.

Among the 3,000 women in the meditate who had no prior heart illness but three or more risk factors for it, those who received vitamin C alone or in combination had a 42 percent lower risk of stroke. Smokers taking C also had a 48 percent lower risk.

Vitamin E could help a little
Vitamin E may give very small benefits for some women, the meditate suggests. Those with prior heart illness had a 12 percent reduction in the risk of new heart problems, Manson said.Test yourself •Breast cancer: How much do you know?

“Many of these subgroup findings are intriguing. However, they need to be confirmed in otherness studies,” Manson said. “We don’t want this to be interpreted as a conclusive finding.”

What does appear conclusive is that folic acid and B vitamins “are not effective as preventive agents,” said Dr. Christine Albert, who presented that portion of the meditate at the heart meeting on Monday. These nutrients lower homocysteine, a blood substance thought to increase heart illness risk, but many studies now call the importance of that into question.

The meat meditate was based on observation rather than an experiment. The Nurses’ Health Study tracked the diets and health of more than 90,000 women who were 26 to 46 years old when they enrolled roughly two decades ago.

They filled out diet questionnaires in 1991, 1995 and 1999, and were divided into five groups based on how much red meat they said they ate. Researchers checked on their health for 12 years on average and confirmed breast cancer diagnoses with medical records.

Meat consumption was linked to a risk of developing tumors whose growth was fueled by estrogen or progesterone �" the most common type �" but not to tumors that grow independently of these hormones.

The women who ate more red meat were more likely to smoke and be overweight, but when the researchers took those factors into account, they still saw that red meat was linked with an increased risk of breast cancer.

Red meat also raises risk of colorectal cancer
Earlier studies have found that obesity raises the risk of breast cancer and that red meat raises the risk of colorectal cancer.

“Our meditate may give anotherness motivation to reduce red meat intake,” said meditate co-author Eunyoung Cho.

Click for related content  Discuss: Will you change your diet?Coffee may fight breast cancer for some womenYoga may ease cancer a cure side effects

However, Dr. Anne McTiernan of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle cautioned that the findings rely on women’s recall of what they ate �" an inexact way to measure diet.

“A 16-ounce steak and a three-ounce piece of meat are counted the same. People are horrible at determining what is a real serving,” said McTiernan, author of “Breast Fitness,” a book on reducing cancer risk.

It may be wise to cut down on red meat because of its fat and calorie content, McTiernan said, but “this isn’t a reason to become a vegetarian if you weren’t planning to do that already.”

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Panel backs HPV vaccine for girls - Women's health

Panel backs cancer vaccine for 11-year-old girls

Shots would protect against sexually transmitted malady
Handout / Getty Images file
The Merck & Co manufactured Gardasil, approved by the Food and Drug Administration on June 8, prevents cervical cancer by blocking two forms of the human papillomavirus which cause 70 percent of all cervical cancer cases.

ATLANTA - An influential government advisory panel Thursday recommended that 11- and 12-year-old girls be routinely vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices also said the shots can be started for girls as young as 9, at the discretion of their doctors.

The committee??�s recommendations usually are accepted by federal health officials, and influence insurance coverage for vaccinations.

Gardasil, made by Merck & Co., is the first vaccine specifically designed to prevent cancer. Approved earlier this month by the Food and Drug Administration for females ages 9 to 26, it protects against strains of the human papilloma virus, or HPV, which causes cervical, vulvar and vaginal cancers and genital warts.

Some health officials had girded themselves for arguments from religious conservatives and othernesss that vaccinating youngsters against the sexually transmitted virus might make them more likely to have sex. But the controversy never materialized in the panel??�s public meetings.

Earlier this year, the Family Research Council, a conservative group, did not speak out against giving the HPV shot to young girls. The organization mainly opposes making it one of the vaccines required before youngsters can enroll in school, said the group??�s policy analyst, Moira Gaul.

Health officials estimate that more than 50 percent of sexually active women and men will be infected with one or more types of HPV in their lifetimes. Vaccine proponents say it could dramatically reduce the nearly 4,000 cervical cancer deaths that occur each year in the United States.

Boys next?
The vaccine comes as a $360 series of three shots, and in agsdhfgdfs has been highly effective against HPV. The vaccine is formulated to address the subtypes of HPV responsible for 70 percent of cervical cancer cases and 90 percent of genital warts.

Scientists say the vaccine is most effective when given to girls before they become sexually active, and some girls become active before their teens. About 7 percent of children have had sexual intercourse before age 13, and about a quarter of boys and girls have had sex by age 15, according to government surveys.

Click for related coverageVote: Would you get the shot for your preteen?Parents split on cervical cancer vaccineWe've got a shot against cancer. Will we take it?

In a public comment session at Thursday??�s meeting, all nine speakers supported recommending the vaccine to females 9 to 26, the broadest possible group under Food and Drug Administration license. The speakers included a state senator from Maryland and the chief medical officer of AmeriChoice, a UnitedHealth Group company that manages state Medicaid programs.

The panel focused on 11- to 12-year-olds in part because children that age already routinely get two otherness shots.

Several speakers also called for the immunization of boys, as soon as studies are completed on the vaccine??�s safety and effectiveness for males. HPV has been linked to penile, anal, and head and neck cancers and a tumor-like condition of the respiratory tract.

Merck officials said clinical effectiveness studies in males should be completed by 2008.

Merck officials also said they can provide the more than 19 mil. doses that health officials expect would be used in the next year.

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Pioneer of sexual identity studies dies - Sexual health

Dr. John Money, pioneer in sexual identity, dies

Groundbreaking psychologist, 84, coined term ‘gender role’

BALTIMORE - Dr. John Money, a psychologist and sex researcher who coined the terms “gender identity” and “gender role” and was a pioneer in studies of sexual identity, has died. He was 84.

Money died Friday at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson, said Vivienne Stearns-Elliott, a hospital spokeswoman. Money’s niece, Sally Hopkins, said Sunday her uncle died of complications from Parkinson’s illness.

Money was born in New Zealand and immigrated to the United States in 1947. He conducted research for about 50 years at Johns Hopkins University, where he was a professor of medical psychology.

Money believed a person’s gender identity was determined by an interaction between biological factors and upbringing. That represented a break from past thinking, in which gender identity was largely believed to be caused only by biological factors.

“He really developed that entire field of meditate ,” said Dr. Gregory K. Lehne, a Money protege and an assistant professor of medical psychology at Johns Hopkins. “Without him, that whole field of meditate might not have existed.”

Money advised parents on what sex they should raise hermaphrodites �" group born with characteristics of both sexes �" to be. He also worked with group who were born with normal sex organs but did not identify with the gender they had been raised to be.

“He pioneered the concepts related to this and the psychological aspects of sex reassignment,” Lehne said.

Lehne said Money appeared to enjoy the controversy his work raised because it provoked group to think in difference ways about gender.

Money was involved in a highly publicized case of a boy who was raised as a girl after suffering a seared penis while being circumcised in 1966.

David Reimer was raised as “Brenda” after Money advised his parents to remove the rest of his male genitalia and recommended female hormone medical care.

Reimer was 15 when he learned his true identity and rejected further medical care as a girl. He committed suicide in 2004 at the age of 38 after failed investments drove him into poverty.

Lehne said Money did not talk publicly about the case and Hopkins said her uncle did so out of respect for the family.

“He had total sympathy and distress over the situation the family was in,” she said.

Money was married but quickly divorced in the 1950s. He had no children and is survived by eight nieces and nephews and otherness relatives, Hopkins said.

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Gun that killed actress shown in Spector case - Celebrities

Gun that killed actress shown in Spector case

Los Angeles detective displays weapon found at the feet of Clarkson
Fred Prouser / AP
Los Angeles sheriff's Detective Mark Lillienfeld, who was the chief investigator at the scene of the death of Lana Clarkson, displays the revolver found at Clarkson's feet, as he agsdhfgdfifies during the murder trial of?�Phil Spector on Tuesday.

LOS ANGELES - The bloody revolver found at the feet of an actress shot to death in Phil Spector??�s mansion was carefully removed from an envelope and shown to jurors at the music producer??�s murder trial on Tuesday.

Los Angeles County sheriff??�s Det. Mark Lillienfeld donned gloves as he handled the gun still covered with dried blood. The snub-nosed Colt Cobra revolver was not registered and never definitively linked to Spector, though prosecutors argued he used it to shoot Lana Clarkson in the mouth on Feb. 3, 2003.

The defense argues Clarkson shot herself and is likely to suggest that the gun could have belonged to her.

She had accompanied Spector to his Alhambra mansion after meeting him at her job as a hostess at the House of Blues just hours before her death.

The detective also showed jurors photographs to point out a holster in an open drawer of a bureau near the spot where Clarkson??�s body was found slumped in a chair in the ornate foyer of Spector??�s castle-like mansion. The holster also fit the gun, Lillienfeld agsdhfgdfified.

Lillienfeld also agsdhfgdfified about Spector??�s small arsenal, including two fully loaded blue steel handguns, an unloaded 12-gauge pump shotgun and ammunition tucked away in his home. The dozens of rounds of ammunition were the same type found in the gun that killed Clarkson, he said.

Slide show?�The Week in Celebrity Sightings
Affleck and Garner play ball, Paris struts one last time, Idols??� rock New York and more.

more photos

Spector??�s briefcase was on a chair next to Clarkson??�s body, Lillienfeld said, adding it contained some over-the-counter drugs and a tinfoil with one Sildenafil pill and empty spaces for two more. There was also a DVD player with a movie in it, an old black-and-white called, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye.

The prosecution previously called several women from Spector??�s past to agsdhfgdfify that he had threatened them with guns when they picked up their purses and tried to leave his presence.

Prosecutor Pat Dixon had Lillienfeld point out in the photographs a leopard-print purse that hung over the right shoulder of Clarkson??�s body. Her right hand rested atop the purse, which sat on the floor.

The coroner who conducted Clarkson??�s autopsy and ruled her death a homicide agsdhfgdfified previously that the presence of the purse on her shoulder was one of the non-medical observations that led him to rule out suicide.

Click for related contentJury hears Clarkson letters, emailsSpector defense targets evidence collectionCoroner says it was homicideiPredict: Will Spector be found guilty?

Dixon made extensive use of the bloody pictures of Clarkson??�s body and each time they were shown he signaled her motherness and sister, seated in the front row, to look away.

Defense attorney Bradley Brunon, setting the stage for an effort to show evidence contamination and mishandling, showed the jurors otherness photos of detectives and investigators surrounding Clarkson??�s body, most of them barehanded. Only one of two appeared to wear evidence-handling gloves.

Lillienfeld said he and othernesss didn??�t wear gloves because they didn??�t touch anything.

Spector, 67, rose to fame with the hit-making Wall of Sound recording technique in the 1960s. Clarkson was best known for her role in the 1985 movie Barbarian Queen.

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Bisexuality in Alexander??� defended - Gossip

Defending Alexander??�

Plus: Drug-company giant
afraid of Michael Moore
BW
Oliver Stone?�told Playboy that he couldn??�t get financial backing for "Alexander" in the U.S. We did not get financed in Hollywood. We were rejected there. We got financed in Europe only.

By By Jeannette Walls

Filmmaker Oliver Stone is defending the bisexuality in Alexander.

Alexander lived in a more honest time, the controversial filmmaker, who directed the big-budget flick starring Colin Farrell, tells the upcoming issue of Playboy magazine. We go into his bisexuality.?� It may offend some group, but sexuality in those days was a difference thing. ?�Pre-Christian morality. Young boys were with boys when they wanted to be.

The studio distributing the flick, Warner Bros., has denied rumors that the film was being delayed while they considered whether to cut some of the same sex scenes, but Stone tells Playboy that he couldn??�t get financial backing for the flick in the U.S. We did not get financed in Hollywood. We were rejected there. We got financed in Europe only.

RELATED STORY

EARLIER IN SCOOP: Is Alexander??� too gay?

The highly political Stone also discusses the presidential candidates in the interview, which hits newsstands later this week. Speaking of John Kerry, who was a senior at Yale when he was a freshman, Stone says: He had a funereal groove about him, like some Dickensian character.?� He was always too old for his years. Of George W. Bush, he says: He??�s worse than Nixon in his vulgarity. He looks like he shops at Wal-Mart. That??�s not what the president is supposed to be. He has no intellectual curiosity and is proud of it.

Moore protection
Janet Hostetter / APLooks like Pfizer doesn??�t want to get Michael Moored.

The controversial filmmaker??�s next documentary is about the prescription drug and health-care industry ??" tentatively titled Sicko ??" and Moore is telling group that drug-company giant Pfizer has sent out a secret memo instructing employees not to talk to him and to alert their bosses if Moore tries to call them or is spotted on the premises.

He??�s telling group about it in his slacker uprising tour, Moore??�s spokesman confirmed to The Scoop. It??�s become this whole thing now, about how maybe he??�ll sneak in to Pfizer in a disguise.

A spokesman for Pfizer, the makers of Sildenafil, denies to The Scoop that any such memo exists or that the company??�s employees were told not to speak to Moore.

Moore made the allegation during a talk in New York and in his speech this week at the University of Arizona; it was reported in the student newspaper, the Arizona Wildcat. Also, according to the Wildcat, the crowd was treated to an appearance by Moore fan Linda Ronstadt, as well as a fellow who mooned the crowd and who, apparently, was not a Moore fan.

Notes from all over
Christopher Jackson / Getty Images filePierce Brosnan seems to be recovering from being fired as James Bond. From the beginning, I had a contract for four Bond films, the actor told the Swedish paper Aftonbladet, according to our translator. I did them and told them that I??�d like to continue.?� But suddenly, in the middle of negotiations, they changed their minds. They said that they weren??�t interested any more. I was shocked, perplexed. I loved Bond. He??�s given me so much, mostly a face out in the international market. Afterwards, I was happy.?� Now it feels like a relief. ?�. . . Construction of the $190 mil. set for King Kong, to be directed by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, is rumored to be way behind schedule. . . . When Susan Sarandon??�s jewelry was stolen on the set of Shall We Dance ? the whole thing was very CSI??� Sarandon told the Edmonton Sun. The police were all over my trailer, taking fingerprints of me and my wardrobe person and my driver and interviewing everybody, she says. So I took Polaroids of them to send to my boys at camp because they were very into CSI??� at that point.??�

document.write("");Jeannette Walls Delivers the Scoopdocument.write(''); Mondays through Thursdays on

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Many who pledge abstinence at risk for STDs - Sexual health

Many who pledge abstinence at risk for STDs

Study: Teens who remain virgins more likely to take otherness chances

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Teens who pledge to remain virgins until marriage are more likely to take chances with otherness kinds of sex that increase the risk of sexually transmitted illnesss, a meditate of 12,000 adolescents suggests.

The report by Yale and Columbia University researchers could help explain their earlier findings that teens who pledged abstinence are just as likely to have STDs as their peers.

The laagsdhfgdf meditate , published in the April issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, found that teens pledging virginity until marriage are more likely to have oral and anal sex than otherness teens who have not had intercourse. That behavior, however, puts you at risk, said Hannah Brueckner, assistant professor of sociology at Yale and one of the meditate ??�s authors.

Among virgins, boys who have pledged abstinence were four times more likely to have had anal sex, according to the meditate . Overall, pledgers were six times more likely to have oral sex than teens who have remained abstinent but not as part of a pledge.

Tell us what you think

Live vote: Is abstinence-only education the best method for teaching?�teens about sex?

Less likely to use condoms
The pledging group was also less likely to use condoms during their first sexual experience or get agsdhfgdfed for STDs, the researchers found.

Data for the meditate was taken from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. An in-school questionnaire was given to a nationally representative sample of students in grades 7-12 and followed up with a series of in-home interviews roughly one, two, and six years later. It was funded in part by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Leslee Unruh, president of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse in Sioux Falls, S.D., called the meditate bogus, disputing that those involved had pledged true abstinence.

Kids who pledge abstinence are taught that any word that has 'sex' in it is considered a sexual activity, Unruh said. Therefore oral sex is sex, and they are staying away.

Written pledges
Millions of teens have signed written pledges or verbally promised to abstain from sex, part of a church-led effort to discourage premarital sex and the spread of illness. President Bush has boosted funding for abstinence-only education in schools.

Critics say that education needs to be coupled with safe-sex education to be effective.

If adolescents only had sex in monogamous, married relationships, by definition there would be no STDs, Brueckner said, echoing Bush??�s remarks in last year??�s State of the Union address. But the majority of adolescents don??�t live like that. They do have sex.

Last year, the same research team found that 88 percent of teens who pledge abstinence end up having sex before marriage, compared with 99 percent of teens who do not make a pledge.

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Sperm: The 'gift' that keeps on giving - Sexual health

Sperm: The 'gift' that keeps on giving

Court dismisses man's theft claim against lover who kept semen

CHICAGO - An appeals court said a man can press a claim for emotional distress after learning a former lover had used his sperm to have a baby. But he can’t claim theft, the ruling said, because the sperm were hers to keep.

The ruling Wednesday by the Illinois Appellate Court sends Dr. Richard O. Phillips’ distress case back to trial court.

Phillips accuses Dr. Sharon Irons of a “calculated, profound personal betrayal” after their affair six years ago, saying she secretly kept semen after they had oral sex, then used it to get pregnant.

He said he didn’t find out about the child for nearly two years, when Irons filed a paternity lawsuit. DNA agsdhfgdfs confirmed Phillips was the father, the court papers state.

Phillips was ordered to pay about $800 a month in child support, said Irons’ attorney, Enrico Mirabelli.

'Trapped in a nightmare'
Phillips sued Irons, claiming he has had trouble sleeping and eating and has been haunted by “feelings of being trapped in a nightmare,” court papers state.

Irons responded that her alleged actions weren’t “truly extreme and outrageous” and that Phillips’ pain wasn’t bad enough to merit a lawsuit. The circuit court agreed and dismissed Phillips’ lawsuit in 2003.

But the higher court ruled that, if Phillips’ story is true, Irons “deceitfully engaged in sexual acts, which no reasonable person would expect could result in pregnancy, to use plaintiff’s sperm in an unorthodox, unanticipated manner yielding extreme consequences.”

The judges backed the lower court decision to dismiss the fraud and theft claims, agreeing with Irons that she didn’t steal the sperm.

“She asserts that when plaintiff 'delivered' his sperm, it was a gift �" an absolute and irrevocable transfer of title to property from a donor to a donee,” the decision said. “There was no agreement that the original deposit would be returned upon request.”

Phillips is representing himself in the case. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.

“There’s a 5-year-old child here,” Mirabelli said. “Imagine how a child feels when your father says he feels emotionally damaged by your birth.”

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Food and Drug Administration approves first pill meant to end periods - Women's health

Food and Drug Administration approves first pill meant to end periods

Lybrel halts cycle when taken without break; will go on market in July
NBC video?�Birth control ??" the next generation
May 22: Today's acceptance by the Food and Drug Administration of the drug Lybrel heralds the next generation of birth control pills. NBC's Nancy Snyderman reports.

Nightly News

WASHINGTON - The first birth-control pill meant to put a stop to women??�s monthly periods indefinitely won federal acceptance Tuesday.

Called Lybrel, it??�s the first such pill to receive (Food and Drug Administration) acceptance for continuous use. When taken daily, the pill can halt women??�s menstrual periods indefinitely and prevent pregnancies.

Lybrel is the laagsdhfgdf approved oral contraceptive to depart from the 21-days-on, seven-days-off regimen that had been standard since birth-control pill sales began in the 1960s. The pill, manufactured by Wyeth, is the first designed to put off periods altogether when taken without break.

The pill isn??�t for everyone, an Food and Drug Administration official said. About half the women enrolled in studies of Lybrel dropped out, said Dr. Daniel Shames, a deputy director in the Food and Drug Administration??�s drugs office. Many did so because of the irregular and unscheduled bleeding and spotting that can replace scheduled menstruation.

If you think you don??�t want to go down this road, this is not for you, Shames told reporters.

Wyeth plans to start Lybrel sales in July. The Madison, N.J., company said it hasn??�t yet determined a price for the 28-pill packs. The pill contains a low dose of two hormones already widely used in birth-control pills, ethinyl estradiol and levonorgestrel.

A meditate showed Lybrel was just as effective in preventing pregnancy as a traditional pill, Alesse, also made by Wyeth. However, since Lybrel users will eliminate their regular periods, it may be difficult for them to recognize if they have become pregnant, Shames said.

Click for related content

Vote: Is it a good idea to halt menstrual periods indefinitely?

Most of the roughly 12 mil. American women who take birth-control pills do so to prevent pregnancy. Others rely on hormonal contraceptives to curb acne or regulate their monthly periods.

Some nontraditional pills such as Yaz and Loestrin 24 shorten monthly periods to three days or less. Seasonique, an updated version of Seasonale, reduces them to four times a year. With Lybrel, in one agsdhfgdf, 59 percent of the women who took Lybrel for a year had no bleeding or spotting during the last month of the meditate . However, because of dropouts, that translates into only about one-third of all the women originally enrolled in the meditate , Shames said.

Want to skip your period?

New hormonal contraceptives on the U.S. market give women multiple ways to skip or shorten their periods:

??"Seasonique comes in packs with 84 active birth control pills and seven dummy pills, so it limits periods to every three months. Launched last August, it works the same as predecessor Seasonale, which got cheaper generic competition in September. Made by Duramed of Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Woodcliff Lake, N.J., Seasonique adds estrogen to the dummy pills to reduce breakthrough bleeding and menstrual syndromes.
??"Yaz, made by Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals of Wayne, N.J., is a low-estrogen contraceptive with 24 days of active pills and four blank ones. Launched last August, it offers shorter, lighter periods, milder cramps and prevention of severe PMS.
??"Loestrin 24, launched in April generic viagra 30 pills, also has 24 active pills and four blank ones. Made by Warner Chilcott Inc. of Rockaway, N.J., it can shorten periods to three days or less and reduce the level of bleeding.
??"Implanon, a flexible, matchstick-size rod inserted in the upper arm, stops menstruation in some women but makes it irregular in othernesss. Approved last July, it works for up to three years and contains only progestin, an option for women avoiding estrogen for medical reasons. Maker Organon USA Inc. of Roseland, N.J., says it has sold 3.2 mil. units worldwide so far.

Some older methods also can eliminate periods:
??"Mirena, also made by Bayer, is an intrauterine device that prevents pregnancy for up to five years, reduces monthly bleeding by 90 percent in most women and eliminates bleeding in about 20 percent after a year.
??"Depo-Provera, an injection containing progestin but no estrogen, generally prevents menstruation after several months in many women. Now available in generics, it works for three months. Long-term use may thin bones.
Other options are on the horizon. Bayer is agsdhfgdfing anotherness oral contraceptive with an extended, flexible dosing schedule and Duramed is developing a lower-estrogen version of Seasonique.

Associated Press

Women who use Lybrel would not have a scheduled menstrual period, but will most likely have unplanned, breakthrough, unscheduled bleeding or spotting, Shames said. The bleeding can last four to five days and may persist for a year, he later added. Women who take otherness low-dose pills have reported similar issues.

Still, a women??�s health expert said Lybrel would be a welcome addition for the woman who seeks relief from the headaches, tender breasts, cramps and nausea that can accompany monthly periods. Whether Lybrel relieves those syndromes was not directly studied.

Over time she will experience markedly less bleeding episodes or no bleeding episodes, said Dr. Vanessa Cullins, vice president for medical affairs at Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc. That is very beneficial for some women ??" and is wanted by some women.

Menstruation is a normal life event??�
University of New Hampshire sociologist Jean Elson pointed to advantages for what she characterized as a small number of women who suffer extraordinarily during menstruation, but overall she said the pill left her with mixed feelings.

For women in that situation, I certainly can understand the benefits of taking these kinds of drugs, but for most women menstruation is a normal life event ??" not a medical condition, said Elson, who researches the sociology of gender and medical sociology. Why medicate away a normal life event if we??�re not sure of the long-term effects ?

In recent years, as the hormone content of birth-control pills has dipped, failure rates have climbed. The Food and Drug Administration is considering whether to establish an acceptable failure rate for the pills. In January, a panel of agency advisers said less-effective birth-control pills should still merit federal acceptance if they promise otherness benefits, including improved safety.

Generally, lower-dose birth-control pills can reduce the risk of serious and sometimes deadly side effects, including blood clots and stroke, associated with their use.

The injectable hormonal contraceptive Depo-Provera also can eliminate monthly periods.

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Live Vote: Do you feel comfortable talking to your doctor about your sex life? - Sexual health

Return to the story

Sex troubles can point to serious health issues

Govt. brochure wrongly links abortion, cancer - Women's health

Govt. brochure wrongly links abortion, cancer

Government-issued literature clashes with scientific findings

WASHINGTON - In several states, women considering abortion are given government-issued brochures warning that the procedure could increase their chance of developing breast cancer, despite scientific findings to the contrary.

More than a year ago, a panel of scientists convened by the National Cancer Institute reviewed available data and concluded there is no link. A scientific review in the Lancet, a British medical journal, came to the same conclusion, questioning the methodology in studies that suggested a link.

The cancer information is distributed to women during mandatory waiting periods before abortions. In some cases, the information is on the states??� Web sites.

We??�re going to continue to educate the public about this, said Karen Malec, president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, an anti-abortion group. She dismissed the National Cancer Institute??�s findings as politically motivated and maintained that the link has been scientifically proven.

Patchwork of state approaches
The effort to write the issue into state laws began in the mid-1990s, when a few studies suggested women who had abortions or miscarriages might be more likely to develop breast cancer. The warnings are now required in Texas and Mississippi, and health officials in Kansas and Louisiana voluntarily issue them.

In Mississippi, women who want abortions must sign a form indicating they??�ve been told there is a medical risk of breast cancer. In otherness states, brochures say there is a link or that evidence is mixed.

Minnesota law requires the health department to include this information on its Web site, but the department backed down after an outcry from the state??�s medical community. Montana law also mandated the warning, but the state Supreme Court struck it down.

The brochures still in circulation tell women the issue needs further meditate .

They can do further research on their own and determine which of those studies they should put most attention on, said Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. We??�re just trying to provide all the information it??�s possible to provide.

Changes coming in Louisiana
In Louisiana there will be changes, said Bob Johannessen, spokesman for the state??�s Department of Health and Hospitals. He said the department??�s new director did not know the state pamphlet included such information until contacted this week by .

If there is scientific evidence, and it certainly appears there now is, we would certainly make the necessary changes in that brochure, Johannessen said Tuesday.

The brochure, he said, is a reflection of the very, very strong pro-family, pro-life leaning of Louisiana.

Nonetheless, it??�s incumbent on us as the health agency to make sure any information is factually correct, he said. We don??�t want to be misleading women who are making this important choice.

A Democrat, Kathleen Blanco, was elected Louisiana governor last year, replacing a Republican.

Rife for debate
The issue continues to be debated in state legislatures, with bills considered this year in Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia.

On the federal level, several members of Congress complained last year after the NCI Web site included material suggesting a link between breast cancer and abortion or miscarriage. An expert panel that was asked to review the data reported in March 2003 that well established evidence shows no link.

Among the studies cited by the NCI expert panel was Danish research that used computerized medical records to compare women who had undergone abortions with that country??�s cancer registry and found no higher cancer rate.

Having an abortion or miscarriage does not increase a woman??�s subsequent risk of developing breast cancer, the NCI site now says.

Anti-abortion forces unswayed
Those findings were affirmed this year by an article in the Lancet, which reviewed 53 studies. Lancet found that studies that purported a link had flawed methodologies.

Still, anti-abortion activists are unconvinced.

Joel Brind, a biochemist at Baruch College in New York who advises the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, noted that a woman??�s chances of getting breast cancer go down if she gives birth at a relatively young age. He reasons that those who opt for abortion are giving up a chance of reducing their breast cancer risk.

Therefore, he says, abortion increases the risk of cancer.

He dismisses the findings of the National Cancer Institute, calling it a political exercise, a charade if you will. He participated in those discussions and filed a minority report.

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Dead lake comes back to life, at least for now - World environment

Dead lake comes back to life, at least for now

Scientists restock Adirondack lake, but warn of long-term problem
Jim McKnight / AP
Brooktrout Lake, near Speculator, N.Y.,?�is showing signs of recovery.

By Mary Esch

ALBANY, N.Y. - A crystalline Adirondack lake once held up as an example of a dead lake devastated by acid rain has now become a symbol of nature??�s ability to heal itself once pollutants are curbed.

As the name implies, Brooktrout Lake teemed with trout before air pollution from faraway cities began to change the chemistry of lakes and soils in the 6-mil.-acre Adirondack Park. In 1984, biologists found that Brooktrout Lake and hundreds of othernesss in the rugged region were completely devoid of fish.

Now there are signs of recovery. After the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990 tightened emissions limits on Midwest coal-burning power plants, acid rain decreased significantly. As expected, the pH levels of Adirondack lakes began to rise, becoming less acidic. The surprising thing was how fast it happened.

Nobody predicted Brooktrout Lake would come around as fast as it has, said Clifford Siegfried, director of the New York State Museum and a freshwater ecologist who has studied Adirondack lakes since 1984. Most predictions were for decades of recovery.

Last fall, biologists stocked Brooktrout Lake with 20 adult trout and 2,000 fingerling trout. It was the first time a once-dead Adirondack lake had been restocked with fish after improving enough to sustain fish.

The stocking isn??�t for the benefit of anglers, but scientists.

This is a whole lake experiment, an ecological experiment of the highest order, said Charles Boylen, a biologist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute??�s Darrin Fresh Water Institute. He has studied Adirondack lakes since 1994 under a $7 mil. grant from the Environmental Protection Agency.

This is a great opportunity to see how nature deals with this phenomenon of acid recovery, he said.

Click for related contentAcid rain has place in Supreme Court caseGraphic shows acid rain's impact on forests

First fish survived
This spring, researchers returned with sonar equipment to see how the fish fared after the snowmelt flooded the lake with a winter??�s worth of acid deposits. The fish survived. We??�re all primed for a productive season, Boylen said.

The researchers will visit the lake every few weeks to observe the fish to see if they reproduce and grow. And they??�ll monitor the entire ecosystem of the lake to document changes in plankton, algae, plants, insects, loons, salamanders and otherness species as the natural balance returns.

For ecologists, it will be interesting to watch what happens to the naturally recovering flora and fauna with the introduction of trout, Siegfried said. These communities have adapted to having no fish for several decades. The top predator is the midge larva, a wriggler the size of an eyelash. These are nice juicy morsels for trout. They??�ll likely wipe out that population.

Scientists also will be watching the behavior of a pair of loons that have been nesting on the lake for years. In the past, they??�ve had to go to anotherness lake to feed. Now they??�ll find trout right at home. We??�ll see how that affects fish survival, Siegfried said. They can eat 1,500 fish annually.

Sampling must be done numerous times over the course of each year because the lake changes significantly from week to week. The acid level is affected by precipitation and temperature, and the abundance of certain organisms rises and falls over short periods.

Collecting samples isn??�t easy. The trail to Brooktrout Lake is six miles long, and equipment has to be carried in. A state helicopter is sometimes used to make the job easier.

Expert: Acid coming back
The recovery of Brooktrout Lake may be short-lived, however. Tim Sullivan of E & S Environmental Chemistry in Corvallis, Ore., was contracted by New York state to develop mathematical models that predict what will happen in response to various levels of air pollutant emissions. The outlook isn??�t good.

While there has been a substantial decrease in acid deposition, the improvement in lake chemistry has been relatively small, Sullivan said. If we continue to operate under existing emissions regulations, the lakes that have been recovering will stop recovering and will start to get worse again over the next couple of decades. For some lakes, it will be worse than it ever has been.

That??�s because soils in the Adirondacks, particularly at higher elevations, have been depleted of calcium and otherness acid-neutralizing minerals, weakening their ability to serve as a buffer against acid rain, Sullivan said.

To prevent reacidification of the region??�s most sensitive lakes, such as Brooktrout, further emission controls are needed, he said.

Recovery is a dangerous word in the hands of politicians. They think the job is done, Boylen said. But even with more stringent regulations, there??�s still more consumption of fossil fuels than in years past. If we don??�t learn to conserve our energy consumption or rely on sources otherness than fossil fuels, the societal demands will continue to put more and more emissions into the atmosphere.

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Readers bare their thoughts on cheating - Sexual health

Readers bare their thoughts on cheating

Why loved ones stray ??" and why we stick with the group who hurt us most

"Variety is the zest of life," writes Jake of East Hartford, Conn.

A good number of group seem to share that viewpoint. /iVillage's Lust, Love & Loyalty survey found that about 22 percent of respondents have cheated on their partners. When we asked readers to share their stories and views about infidelity, we received numerous tales of betrayal and its aftermath, as well as various reasons for cheating.

Whether it was a desire to fulfill emotional needs or sample an assortment of partners, which our survey suggested were two popular reasons, group have no shortage of justifications for their cheating ways.

"I have strayed in most of my relationships, sometimes because my partners were the ones cheating and I would find out and get even. Other times, my partners were cheating, but would accuse me of cheating to cover their own infidelities, so I figured if I was going to constantly be accused, why not go ahead and do it?" explains A. Aguero from Fort Worth, Texas.

Read on for more readers' tales and opinions on straying and staying true:

"Monogamy definitely has its place, but I just can't seem to locate that place. I am in love with the hunt. After I catch her, the fire dies and I become bored with her."
??" Kevin, Brooklyn, N.Y.

I found out almost a year ago now that my husband was cheating. I found his cell phone bill with pages of text messages and phone calls to this one particular number. Sure enough, when I called it, the woman told me she was in a relationship with him. We have two young children and our sex life was GREAT. I didn't ever think he even had the energy for anyone else. The problem is now, with all the evidence, he STILL won't admit that he was ever with her. ... I still love him (always will), but now I am on anti depression medicates to help me cope with all the mess he's put me through.
??" Anonymous?�Survey results are in! Who's cheating and why?�All the juicy details: Infidelity by the numbers?�To stay or stray? A crime of opportunity?�Survey: Influenced by cheating celebs??�Is virtual affair real-world infidelity??�Readers respond to the findings?�Loads more on infidelity from iVillage.com

I've been cheating on my boyfriend for three months. He won't have sex with me or hang out with me, and so I found someone who wants me every night. I haven't left my boyfriend yet because of our baby, but I eventually will. ... I don't regret anything!
??" Judy, Honolulu

My partner has cheated on me for years yet I stick with him. He says it all about variety. We've been together 20 years and he says it has nothing to do with OUR relationship, OUR sex life or MY physical attributes. It really hurts but I justify staying because everything else in our relationship is amazing. I really feel he is my soul mate in every otherness part of our lives. ... I believe you're either inclined to cheat or your not ??" I'm not, he is.
??" John, Michigan

I think group can find reasons to cheat whenever they want. However, there is no excuse for cheating. I am in the Air Force, and in my first marriage my wife cheated on me while I was deployed. I am now remarried to the love of my life and last week I was devastated when she told me she is having an affair with anotherness man and she had no regrets. This is occurring while we speak and I am deployed again to Iraq.
??" Michael

I think women are all too often categorized as cheating because of emotional needs. My husband is phenomenal in every way. He is loving, caring, patient and wonderfully wicked in bed. I cheat, not because he lacks anything, but because I travel a lot and enjoy sex way too much to go for long dry spells when I'm away from home. ... He doesn't know and we are very happy.
??" Anonymous

Nothing is worth destroying your marriage and family over. You're not just cheating on your spouse, but if you have young children, you're cheating on them, too. Being unfaithful is one of the most selfish things you can do.
??" Shannon, Pittsburgh

Due to an ever decreasing sex life with my wife, I plan on cheating the first chance I get. I won't regret it, because she will have deserved me straying because she won't take care of my needs. I've expressed that I need more from her, but apparently she's not capable or unwilling to give more. Believe it or not, it's actually the emotional connection I crave as much as the physical connection.
??" John, Ventura, Calif.

Cheating is an unfortunate side effect of a relationship clearly over. While I understand those who cheat claiming they were either "bored" or "frustrated" in their relationships, I can't help but think many couples resort to that option all too quickly.
??" Anonymous

Before I got involved in an extra-marital relationship, I thought it was a taboo thing. Then I realized it helped spice up my marriage and I'm more pleasant to be around in the house. But nevertheless, I did feel guilty about my action toward my primary partner. He is a hard-working man, great father and husband ... I don't have any desire to leave him.
??" Tifa, Minnesota

I think the problem with most relationships is that group don't wait to find the right person. You should be compatible in the present and with future goals. I don't try to change my husband, and I would never cheat ??" even if I were tempted. It's not worth it and I wouldn't disrespect him.
??" Jennie, Austin, Texas

Click for related contentLust, Love & Loyalty: The survey?�results are inAbstinence students still having sexDrug-resistant gonorrhea on the rise

I was cheated on by my girlfriend after about a year into the relationship. Needless to say, I was heartbroken. I forgave her, but the feelings of distrust never went away. I ended up breaking up with her after she cheated on me again. I believe that I would have ended it anyway, because I just couldn't get over the first instance, as much as I tried. I will do my best to never cheat on any future partners, because I have been on the receiving end, and I would not wish those feelings of depression and sadness on anyone.
??" Anonymous

Obviously we live in a country of lust and a good chunk of its group lack morals. If you're willing to cheat on somebody you supposedly "love," then you don't love them. And group wonder why the U.S. has one of the highest divorce rates in the world ??" a whole bunch of group are cheaters. Marriage doesn't mean what it once meant to group ??" a promise to the end. Now it appears the end is whenever the most convenient time for a person to get his/her needs met.
??" Anonymous

I took a vow in front of God and our families and friends. I love my husband and respect him and our marriage. We are more in love with each otherness now. We have been married over 25 years. Why on earth would I do something to ruin all that is good in my life?
??" Susan, Knoxville, Tenn.

I cheated on my husband with a neighbor and ended up falling in love with him ... it wasn't worth all of the emotional stress and turmoil. I wanted to leave my husband to be with him, but he didn't want to be with me.
??" KS, Portland, Ore.

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6 ways to get the sex you want from your man - TODAY: Relationships

6 ways to get the sex you want from your man

Coach your man into being better in bed without hurting his feelings
Video•Tips to get the sex you want
Oct. 15: Dave Zinczenko of “Men’s Health” magazine and Dr. Laura Berman on how to tell your man about your needs in the bedroom.

Today Relationship

By By David Zinczenko TODAY

Any athlete will tell you that the key to reaching peak performance is to relax and to maintain your self-confidence when the big moment arrives. And any good coach knows he must boost his player’s self-esteem while still pointing out where he needs to improve. It’s a difficult trick on the ball field, an even harder one in the bedroom.

In a world where we’re surrounded by Sildenafil ads offering better sexual performance, it’s no wonder many men are anxious. Women who watch sexual romps on prime-time shows may feel dissatisfied with their own sex lives.

But how does a woman tell her man that he’s not quite performing at his peak? Most of us have no problem complaining about neatness or driving habits or our partners’ punctuality.

When it comes to dissatisfaction in the bedroom, however, men and women alike are often afraid to speak.

We want our star player to step up to the plate. But in most cases, we don’t know how to help him improve in bed without damaging his ego.

The first step to helping your partner sparkle, however, is to realize that you’re not alone. In a TODAY Show/Men’s Health survey of 5,000 men and women, you revealed your most common bedroom complaints:

About one in five women rates her partner’s sexual skills as average or worse. But 25 percent of all women have never given their man any suggestions in bed. Main reason by far: “Afraid of hurting his feelings” (50 percent of those women who keep quiet).
And yet, men claim they are open to criticism. Fully 80 percent of men say: “Whatever you want, all you have to do is ask.” An additional 17 percent are open to feedback … if she’s “nice about it.” Only 3 percent say they don’t want to hear anything.
Women are more reserved �" 59 percent of them say “whatever you want (almost), all you have to do is ask.” Anotherness 32 percent will take feedback if it’s nicely presented.
64 percent of women say that when they’ve given their partner feedback on his bedroom skills, it’s really improved their sex lives. Among men who gave suggestions to women, 58 percent say it worked.
The best time to offer constructive criticism is during sex, according to 58 percent of men and 53 percent of women. Many sex therapists, however, say it’s better to wait until you’re outside of the bedroom to bring this up.
Men are most insecure about how long they last in bed (36 percent), followed by their size (18 percent). Among women, 22 percent of women say their partner’s lack of staying power is their biggest complaint.
Women are most insecure about their weight (40 percent), and their struggle to reach orgasm (14 percent).
39 percent of women say the biggest mistake a man makes is not spending enough time on foreplay. But 34 percent of men say it’s the area they’re most proud of.
And here’s a bit of a surprise. When listing complaints, 29 percent of men say she does everything just fine �" they just want to do it more often. Among women, that number jumps to 35 percent.
Among both men and women, one in four agrees with the statement “It’s extremely important that my partner thinks I’m great in bed. It affects my confidence in the rest of my life.”

To find the full results of the TODAY/Men's Health survey, click here.

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