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Daily Rounds: DNA-Tested Family; Oral Sex & Mouth Cancer; Gay Marriage In Washington; Calls For Cost Control

With DNA Testing, Suddenly They Are A Family (The New York Times) "A growing number of adoptees, now in the thousands, are turning to DNA testing companies in hopes of piecing together the puzzles of their beginnings. Some long to learn whether their family trees first bloomed in Ireland or Italy, Europe or South America. Others want to know whether they are genetically predisposed to developing diabetes, cancer or other diseases. Most adoptees are hungry for information that will lead to their birth parents, but some are also expanding their conception of family as they embrace a far-flung constellation of second, third and fourth cousins." Is Oral Sex to Blame for the Surge in Cancer of the Mouth and Throat? - Elaine Schattner - Health - The Atlantic (The Atlantic) "The epidemiology is perplexing," he says. "The assumption, when we noticed the trend eight or nine years ago, was that this was a sexually transmitted disease due to more oral sex," he says. "But at least at Georgetown, we have patients in their 80s with this kind of cancer," he notes. "That raises questions about the sexual habits of Americans who are older, or about HPV."

Washington State Has Enough Votes To Legalize Gay Marriage : NPR (npr.org) "As lawmakers held their first public hearing on legalizing same-sex marriage, a previously undecided Democratic senator on Monday announced her support for the measure, all but ensuring that Washington will become the seventh state to allow gay and lesbian couples to get married. The announcement by Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, that she would cast the 25th and deciding vote in favor of the issue came as hundreds of people filled the Capitol to advocate for and against gay marriage. In a written statement issued at the end of a Senate committee hearing on the bill, Haugen said she took her time making up her mind to "to reconcile my religious beliefs with my beliefs as an American, as a legislator, and as a wife and mother who cannot deny to others the joys and benefits I enjoy." "This is the right vote and it is the vote I will cast when this measure comes to the floor," she said.' Mass. Gov. Patrick: Overhaul health care costs - Boston.com (boston.com) "In his state of the state address Monday, Patrick said Massachusetts has to end to the "fee-for-service" model that rewards doctors and hospitals for the amount of care they deliver instead of the quality. Patrick said the system needs to be changed to reward doctors and other health care providers for coordinating patient care and focusing on keeping patients healthy instead of treating each illness."

This program aired on January 24, 2012. The audio for this program is not available.

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