Case to Proceed: A federal judge says the assertion by 20 states that the health-care overhaul law’s individual coverage mandate is unconstitutional is “a plausible claim,” theWSJ reports. Judge Roger Vinson of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida is permitting the states’ case to go forward. He was more skeptical about the claim that the expansion of Medicaid included in the bill is also unconstitutional, but permitted it to go forward as well. The case is likely to make it to the Supreme Court, the WSJ says.Offering Suggestions: UnitedHealth Group suggests that to save money, health benefits for the nine million people eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid should be administered via managed-care plans, Bloomberg News reports. The insurer issued a report proposing several measures for Medicare and Medicaid it says can save $3.5 trillion over the next 25 years.
FDA Reversal: The FDA said it shouldn’t have allowed the Menaflex knee implant to reach the market because political influence affected the approval process, and is now revoking its approval of the device, the WSJ reports. As the paper wrote in 2009, the implant, made by ReGen Biologics, was approved following a lobbying campaign by four members of Congress — even after FDA staff questioned its safety and efficacy. ReGen says it’s weighing its options, which include an appeal of the decision.
Fighting Bacteria?: Chiquita Brands’ Fresh Express, which makes bagged salad mixes, says washing greens in a mixture of two organic acids — rather than the usual chlorine — is a more effective way to kill off potentially dangerous bacteria, the New York Times reports. The company will switch to the FreshRinse wash and will also license it to other producers; food-safety experts tell the NYT that without published data, it’s impossible to verify the wash’s effectiveness. Fresh Express has recalled packaged greens three times this year over bacterial contamination worries, the NYT says.
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