Stories

A 54-year-old physician from Belle Plain, who allegedly engaged in a pattern of sexual misconduct, has entered into a formal agreement with the Iowa Board of Medicine not to treat patients.
Robert A. Bischoff, was charged in September with sexual misconduct, unprofessional conduct and disruptive behavior in the practice of medicine by the state board. The [...]

Some Des Moines-area Catholics received a little extra information along with their bulletin during services this week: an insert encouraging them to take political action on potential health care reform in Congress.

While the insert is “an example of permissible issue advocacy,” some abortion rights advocates see the action as their own call to arms.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius teamed with U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) on Tuesday to pitch health care reform as one of the few remaining ways to level the playing field for many Americans who reside in rural areas.

Expanding insurance coverage is important, experts say, but that is only half the battle. For many Americans, particularly in rural parts of the country, access to high quality health care services could remain elusive even after insurance becomes available.

Nick Rhoades is the first to admit that he was wrong, and that he deserved reprimand for failing to disclose to an intimate partner that he had tested positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. What he isn’t sure of, however, is the effectiveness of the decade-old Iowa law with which he was charged.

Although knowledge about HIV has increased in the decade since Iowa wrote its criminal transmission law, the law itself remains untouched. Donald Baxter, who was once almost charged under the law, acknowledges that another decade will bring more knowledge and perhaps changes.

A federal program that provides financial assistance to more than half a million Americans who have contracted HIV or have AIDS will sunset on Sept. 30 unless Congress reauthorizes it, and its prospects seem uncertain.

BELLEVUE, Neb. — The battle over a woman’s right to choose abortion has been reignited in Kansas since the May 31 murder of Dr. George Tiller. Over the weekend, the battle moved north to this small town near Omaha where Dr. LeRoy Carhart provides abortion services. Several Iowans were among the individuals from at least 17 states who came to let their voices be heard.

Attorneys for an Iowa surgeon accused of sterilizing a woman without her consent are requesting that a scheduled Sept. 9 hearing before the Iowa Board of Medicine be postponed — a request that is typically granted.

Dave Leach, a Des Moines anti-abortion activist who is in touch with the man accused of killing Kansas doctor George Tiller, is working on a legal strategy that he hopes will result in an acquittal of the alleged assassin.