Health

A federal judge has struck down portions of Indiana laws that regulate abortion clinics.

In a preliminary ruling, U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson writes that part of the law attempting to regulate Planned Parenthood centers that provide non-surgical abortions more strictly than regular doctor‘s offices who provide the same services violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana legal director Ken Falk represents Planned Parenthood in the case.

The Indiana Department of Insurance is warning people purchasing health care on the federal marketplace to be on the lookout for scammers. 

Open enrollment in the federal marketplace known as Healthcare.gov began earlier this month.  More than a hundred thousand Hoosiers enrolled last year. 

Department of Insurance Chief Actuary Karl Knable says people re-enrolling or seeking insurance on the marketplace for the first time should be alert about potential scams. 

The estimated 600,000 people in Indiana without health-care coverage have an opportunity to shop for plans when the Indiana Health Insurance Marketplace opens for business on Saturday. It's the second enrollment period for the marketplace, created as part of the Affordable Care Act.

Kathleen Falk, regional director of the Department of Health and Human Services, said residents have many more options because the number of insurers for 2015 has jumped from four to nine.

Indiana State Department of Health officials say they're monitoring six people who have traveled to Indiana from West Africa. Those being monitored are considered low risk for Ebola infection and are cooperating with health officials.

The health department says these measures are in accordance with new travel guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC says all travelers to Indiana from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea will be under what it calls "direct active monitoring" by their local health department for 21 days upon entering the country.

Hospitals across Indiana are on guard for Ebola. There haven‘t been any confirmed cases in the Hoosier state as of yet. However, various facilities are evaluating their plans in an effort to reassure the public.

A Purdue professor says Ebola is ‘primed‘ to go airborne.

In the first case of Ebola transmission in the United States, a Texas nurse who treated an Ebola-stricken Liberian man has tested positive for the deadly virus.

Professor David Sanders has been studying the virus since 2003 – specifically how this particular Zaire strain of Ebola enters human cells.

While the virus has thus far only been shown to be transferred via bodily fluids, Sanders argues that it could become airborne.

Kokomo‘s city council has rejected a proposal to go smoke-free.

An ordinance to extend Kokomo‘s workplace smoking ban to bars and clubs passed a preliminary vote last month 5-4. But on Monday‘s final vote, Republican Kevin Summers switched from yes to no, joining four of the council‘s six Democrats to defeat the measure.

The Centers for Disease Control says Indiana ranks well when it comes to childhood immunizations.

The CDC released its National Immunization Survey Thursday.

he survey says the entire nation did better in 2013 than in 2012 in immunizing infants between the ages of 19 months to 35 months of age.

CDC Pediatrician Dr. Amanda Cohn says Indiana‘s measles coverage is 92%.

She says that comes as the CDC has noted a rise in measles cases.

A new report from the American Cancer Society‘s Cancer Action Network says most states - including Indiana - are falling far short in the battle against cancer.

The report, now in its 12th year, says 75% of states aren‘t making progress in passing or strengthening policies that aid in addressing cancer issues.

The report says almost 36,000 Hoosiers will be diagnosed with cancer this year and about 13,000 of them will die from it.

Government Relations Director Brianna Herndon says Indiana scored well in only one of 12 benchmarks.