> Austin, Texas, becomes the first municipality in the nation to make it illegal for pharmacists to refuse to dispense prescription drugs in "conscience cases." Story
> Chutes & Ladders: Troubled King/Drew in Los Angeles gets a new CEO: Antoinette Smith Epps arrives from Birmingham, Alabama's Baptist Health. Story
> The Hartford Courant has more on Aetna's pilot project, which will publish the rates the insurer negotiates with physicians online. Story
> Shares of Sanofi-Aventis jumped nearly 3 percent on word of positive data from a trial of its cancer drug Taxotere published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Story
> A bidding war breaks out over nursing home operator Beverly Enterprises. Story
> The Boston Globe profiles a MASH unit in Iraq with a specialized mission: helping soldiers overcome combat-related stress. Story
> A new study finds that workers who work long hours are more likely to suffer serious health problems. Story
> Federal officials say the US meatpacking industry has violated safety standards designed to prevent the spread of diseases like Mad Cow. Story (Wall Street Journal sub. req.)
> The Portland Press Herald examines the progress of the Maine Health Information Technology Project. Story
> Cybernet Medical announced that it has been awarded patents covering web-based electronic medical recording and home care telemedicine store and forward devices. Release
And Finally... A new class of exclusive private hospitals is luring wealthy patients in China. Story (Wall Street Journal sub. req.)