Many Gynecologists Still Using Surgical Tool Despite FDA Warning

Federal officials warned in April that the tool, called a morcellator, can spread undetected cancer.

The Wall Street Journal: Gynecologists Resist FDA Over Popular Surgical Tool
Doctors nationwide are still using a gynecological tool months after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned that it can spread undetected cancer, demonstrating the limits of the regulator's reach into clinical practice. Since the FDA warning in April, Johnson & Johnson pulled the device called a laparoscopic power morcellator from the market; many hospitals, such as Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital and Philadelphia's Temple University Hospital, put moratoriums on the tool; and some regional insurers stopped covering its use. Still, some gynecologists continue to employ morcellators to remove common benign uterine growths known as fibroids, often in minimally invasive hysterectomies (Levitz and Kamp, 9/21).

Meanwhile, NPR looks at the issue of Catholic health insurers' coverage of birth control.

NPR: Which Catholics Offer Birth Control? Look To The Insurers
The Affordable Care Act requires that most health plans offer birth control to women. Around the country, Catholic employers have been arguing in court that having anything to do with insurance coverage of contraceptives violates their freedom of religion. But when the insurance companies themselves are Catholic, contraceptive coverage comes without a hitch (9/21). 

Related KHN Coverage: Rise Of Catholic Insurance Plans Raises Questions About Contraceptive Coverage Rovner, 9/17).