HEALTH AND SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

April 3, 2013 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights brings you cutting edge news each week that could impact your health and our future.

• Delay seen in health law feature for small firms (UT San Diego)
• Could Wind Turbines Be Toxic To The Ear? (NPR)
• US quake linked to oil wastewater (BBC)
• Sand From Fracking Could Pose Lung Disease Risk To Workers (NPR)
• Certificate-of-Need Laws Prevent Access to Lifesaving Medical Technology (Reason)

Scroll down for excerpts and full stories. 

Delay seen in health law feature for small firms (UT San Diego)

The Obama administration is proposing a one-year delay in a feature of the new health care law intended to give workers at small companies health plan choices similar to what employees of large businesses enjoy.  Starting Jan. 1 small companies with up to 100 workers will be able to buy coverage through new health insurance marketplaces called exchanges. These exchanges are the small business version of new markets also opening up for individuals.  As originally envisioned, employees would have been the ones to pick their plans. But now, for the first year, the employer will choose for the entire company.

Could Wind Turbines Be Toxic To The Ear? (NPR)

Critics argue that wind turbine syndrome is a fictional malady perpetuated by people angered by the wind turbines in their communities. Now ear, nose and throat experts are finally weighing in on whether it could be real.

US quake linked to oil wastewater (BBC)

Scientists link drilling-operation wastewater injection to a magnitude-5.7 earthquake that struck the US state of Oklahoma in 2011.

Sand From Fracking Could Pose Lung Disease Risk To Workers (NPR)

The sand is pumped underground along with water and other chemicals to extract oil and natural gas trapped deep in rock. But researchers found that air samples taken at some drilling sites contained high enough levels of very fine silica particles to be dangerous to workers.

Certificate-of-Need Laws Prevent Access to Lifesaving Medical Technology (Reason)

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. In large part, that’s because less than half of the population that should be getting screened isn’t getting screened.  It doesn’t have to be this way. Medical science has found a way to use CT scanners to do screenings non-invasively, negating the need to insert a colonoscope into the rectum and large intestine.