Shots - Health Blog
3:14 pm
Tue July 3, 2012

Glaxo Settlement Pulls Back Curtain On Drug Marketing

Credit Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP
This week, GlaxoSmithKline agreed to the largest single health fraud settlement in U.S. history. Details from the case paint a rich picture of alleged abuses.

Originally published on Wed July 4, 2012 4:30 am

As part of a landmark $3 billion settlement of health fraud charges by GlaxoSmithKline, the government released a slew of documents that serve as a one-stop guide to alleged sales practices that ran rampant for years.

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The Two-Way
3:05 pm
Tue July 3, 2012

IMF Dims U.S. Outlook, Warns Against Dramatic Spending Cuts

Credit Haraz N. Ghanbari / AP
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde speaks during a news conference on Tuesday in Washington.

Like the Federal Reserve before them, the International Monetary Fund lowered its growth projections for the U.S. economy. The Los Angles Times says that in its annual report, the IMF calls the U.S. recovery "tepid" and warns U.S. lawmakers that hitting the brakes too hard on spending and tax cuts could threaten the weak recovery both at home and abroad.

The Times reports:

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U.S.
3:00 pm
Tue July 3, 2012

Illinois Services Threatened As Pension Hole Grows

Originally published on Thu July 5, 2012 2:16 pm

Fallout from the recession continues to hobble state finances, particularly in states crippled by pensions they can't afford to pay.

Chief among them is Illinois, which has racked up the largest unfunded liability in the nation. Politicians there pledge to fix it.

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Shots - Health Blog
2:32 pm
Tue July 3, 2012

True Or False? Elected Officials Interpret The Health Law

Credit Michael Conroy / AP
Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal wants the administration's health care law repealed.

How well do you remember what's actually in the Affordable Care Act?

Last week's Supreme Court decision upholding President Obama's signature domestic achievement has thrust the measure back into the spotlight, where it's likely to remain through the presidential election.

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Planet Money
2:16 pm
Tue July 3, 2012

Storm Stimulus Unlikely As Communities Recover

Credit Alex Wong / Getty Images
A fallen tree crushes a truck in Falls Church, Va., outside Washington. Storms across the Midwest and East downed trees and power lines and left millions without power.

Originally published on Tue July 3, 2012 4:40 pm

Once major storms pass, hard-hit communities sometimes discover an unexpected silver lining: a miniature economic boom, as insurance checks pay for homeowners to rebuild and businesses to restock.

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Robert Krulwich works on radio, podcasts, video, the blogosphere. He has been called "the most inventive network reporter in television" by TV Guide.

Krulwich is a Science Correspondent for NPR. His NPR blog, "Krulwich Wonders" features drawings, cartoons and videos that illustrate hard-to-see concepts in science.

He is the co-host of Radiolab, a nationally distributed radio/podcast series that explores new developments in science for people who are curious but not usually drawn to science shows. "There's nothing like it on the radio," says Ira Glass of This American Life, "It's a act of crazy genius." Radiolab won a Peabody Award in 2011.

His specialty is explaining complex subjects, science, technology, economics, in a style that is clear, compelling and entertaining. On television he has explored the structure of DNA using a banana; on radio he created an Italian opera, "Ratto Interesso" to explain how the Federal Reserve regulates interest rates; he has pioneered the use of new animation on ABC's Nightline and World News Tonight.

For 22 years, Krulwich was a science, economics, general assignment and foreign correspondent at ABC and CBS News.

He won Emmy awards for a cultural history of the Barbie doll, for a Frontline investigation of computers and privacy, a George Polk and Emmy for a look at the Savings & Loan bailout online advertising and the 2010 Essay Prize from the Iowa Writers' Workshop.

Krulwich earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Oberlin College and a law degree from Columbia University.

It's All Politics
1:45 pm
Tue July 3, 2012

Polls Show Americans, Like Their Justices, Are Still Divided Over Health Care

Credit Alex Wong / Getty Images
The scene outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday, when the justices released their ruling on President Obama's health care law.

Originally published on Tue July 3, 2012 1:50 pm

Americans remain about as polarized over President Obama's health care law as the nine members of the Supreme Court, according to polls taken after last week's ruling.

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Krulwich Wonders...
1:41 pm
Tue July 3, 2012

Showing Vultures A Little Love

Originally published on Wed August 1, 2012 12:32 pm

Think of a giraffe lying on the Serengeti plain. He has just died, maybe of disease, maybe he was killed by a pride of lions, but now he's a 19-foot-long, 4,000-pound mound of meat, which very soon is going to stink and rot and muck up the neighborhood.

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Remembrances
1:12 pm
Tue July 3, 2012

Andy Griffith: A TV Icon From Mayberry To 'Matlock'

Originally published on Tue July 3, 2012 7:06 pm

In a career that spanned half a century, actor and comedian Andy Griffith starred in five different television series, made more than 30 movies and even recorded a Grammy Award-winning gospel album. He died Tuesday morning in North Carolina at the age of 86.

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The Two-Way
1:01 pm
Tue July 3, 2012

After Apology, Pakistan Agrees To Reopen Military Supply Line, Says Clinton

Originally published on Tue July 3, 2012 6:03 pm

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton apologized for the "for the losses suffered by the Pakistani military" during a NATO airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani troops.

When announcing the apology, the AP reports, Clinton also said that Pakistan was reopening a crucial military supply line into Afghanistan. Pakistan had closed its border to the coalition forces since the attack in November.

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