New US legislation aims to curb cancer drug shortages

"Generic drugs are shown in a Wal-Mart pharmacy in Clearwater, Florida in 2006. A critical shortage of generic drugs in the United States, particularly in cancer care, could be curbed with legislation now being hammered out by the US House and Senate, doctors said. (AFP Photo/Robert Sullivan)" title

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Justices Meet to Decide Fate of Health-Reform Legislation

HealthDay – 1 hr 17 mins ago FRIDAY, March 30 (HealthDay News) -- Now comes the hard part.

Following three days of arguments that ended Wednesday over the constitutionality of the health-reform legislation passed by Congress in 2010, the nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court will meet Friday and begin to decide whether the entire law -- or key provisions -- can stand.

While their final decision won't be announced until June, an initial vote on the fate of the polarizing legislation will take place Friday. Then during the weeks to follow, individual votes can change as the justices read each other's working drafts of opinions and dissents, the Associated Press reported.

Equally hard is trying to predict just how the justices -- typically described as four conservatives, four liberals and one "swing" member -- will vote.

Twenty-six states have challenged the constitutionality of the law, primarily over two provisions -- a requirement that most adults have health insurance by 2014 or face a penalty, and an expansion of Medicaid, the government-run insurance program for lower-income individuals.

Arguments over those provisions dominated much of this week's hearing before the high court.

"It's very hard to tell what can happen as a result of the oral arguments.

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