Aetna is holding back its plan to stop paying for use of powerful anesthesia used during colonoscopies - at least for a limited time only. But the insurer said that it expected that new drugs and devices may be made available that will end the argument over payments for the anesthesia.

The company said that they postponed its plan to stop paying for propofol, the drug which doctors use in colonoscopies that puts patients in a quick twilight state thus making the examination less uncomfortable

House lawmakers on Wednesday voted to spend three times more on global HIV/AIDS programs over the next five years. Members of House Foreign Affairs Committee reached a compromise following a long-night discussion Tuesday, finally ironing out some disagreements in certain provisions of the AIDS bill.

"Many of us in this room concluded that a collapse of the political consensus on this issue would do irreparable damage to what is arguably the most successful U.S. foreign assistance program of the last half century," Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) said

Canada has reported a new case of mad cow disease on Tuesday, saying it originated from a six-year-old dairy cow in Alberta. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirms this is the 12th case since 2003.

George Luterbach, a senior veterinarian with the agency, described the cow, according to Calgary Herald, as thin and weak and with deteriorating health causing it to collapse ten days ago in its farm located in Edmonton, Alberta

As Britain's population ages, the government is amending its home construction rules to build houses that would suit the needs of senior Britons. The age-friendly features of lifetime homes must include mobility for wheelchair-bound residents, better access to toilets, improved lights and well-designed parking slots.

British Communities Secretary Hazel Blears and Housing Minister Caroline Flint recently came up with a list of 16 features the age-friendly units must have. In 2010, the government will initiate a review how fast has the private sector adapted the new requirements. By 2011 all new social housing must be built per lifetime homes specifications, while by 2013 all new homes must be wheelchair friendly

With most of the potentially "tainted" beef believed to already have been consumed, civic groups and legislators criticized the United States Department of Agriculture for doing too little, too late in ensuring public safety.

Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at Consumers Union said more should have been done sooner