April 26, 2001 - MPR’s Dan Gunderson reports that Minnesota counties are concerned about a legislative proposal to cut off cash welfare payments to thousands of Minnesotans starting next summer. County officials fear they will be responsible for paying the cost of caring for those who lose state assistance. Advocacy groups say many of Minnesota’s working poor will forced to seek charity to survive….but the author of the House bill says those concerns are largely unfounded.
April 27, 2001 - The physician-assisted dying movement began taking shape about thirty years ago with laws allowing patients to refuse medical treatment, including life-prolonging therapy. Over the past decade some doctors, most notably Jack Kevorkian, have argued for a more active role in assisting patients who want to die on their own terms. The Center for Bioethics at the University of Minnesota is co-sponsoring a conference today Helms reports.
April 27, 2001 - The Minnesota Nurses Association and 13 Twin Cities Hospitals are negotiating new contracts for nearly 9 thousand nurses. The current contract is up on May 31st and both sides say they need to create a system that will attract and keep nurses in the field. The nursing union says a shortage of nurses has increased workloads , causing some to retire and others to seek new jobs. They say local hospitals have to increase pay levels dramatically to keep nurses working. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports...
April 30, 2001 -
May 1, 2001 -
May 3, 2001 - A University of Minnesota professor has published a study that says a popular drug used to treat heart failure is less effective in blacks than in whites. The author says the findings, published in the latest edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, are important because blacks have higher rates of heart failure. But others argue the findings are skewed and say there's no biological differences between the two races. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports...
May 3, 2001 -
May 4, 2001 - The Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, a research group, reports lead, cadmium, chromium and arsenic are just a few of the toxic metals that appear in many fertilizers.
May 4, 2001 -
May 4, 2001 - Allergies are spurred from the late start of spring.