Daily Rounds: Waiver Nation; Zero Tolerance For Rogue Sponges; FDA Makeover; Justice For Honeybees

U.S. Waivers After Threats of Lost Health Coverage - NYTimes.com "To date, the administration has given about 30 insurers, employers and union plans, responsible for covering about one million people, one-year waivers on the new rules that phase out annual limits on coverage for limited-benefit plans, also known as “mini-meds.” Applicants said their premiums would increase significantly, in some cases doubling or more." (The New York Times)

Better Safe Than Sorry: Surgeons Get Help Counting Sponges : Shots - Health News Blog : NPR "Since early 2009, when the computerized system got rolled out at Mayo, Cima says there hasn't been a single sponge left in a patient. How many sponges has the clinic used: 1.8 million." (npr.org)

FDA to spend $25M to improve its science - USATODAY.com "The federal agency is looking to collaborate on a host of projects, including efforts to predict the side effects of drugs based on the genetic code of individual patients, to reduce or eliminate drug testing on animals and to prevent the spread of salmonella and other bacteria in the food supply." (USA Today)

Honeybee Killer Found by Army and Entomologists - NYTimes.com ""Since 2006, 20 to 40 percent of the bee colonies in the United States alone have suffered “colony collapse.'” Now, researchers may have honed in on the culprits: "A fungus tag-teaming with a virus have apparently interacted to cause the problem, according to a paper by Army scientists in Maryland and bee experts in Montana in the online science journal PLoS One."" (The New York Times)