Nation in brief

Minds meet on drug benefit deal

WASHINGTON - House and Senate negotiators said Monday that they had reached a tentative agreement on one of the most important issues in the Medicare bill. Under the agreement, the government would guarantee prescription drug benefits in any area where private insurers failed to do so.

Medicare would offer drug benefits through a federal backup plan if fewer than two private companies offered freestanding insurance policies to cover drugs for the elderly and the disabled, the negotiators said.

Republicans have generally insisted that drug benefits be provided, whenever possible, by private insurers, with a minimum of government control. But Democrats, some Republicans and many health policy experts say they doubt private insurance companies will sell "drug only" coverage.

After more than two hours of discussion by the negotiators, Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, said, "We have a fair consensus on what we ought to do."

House negotiators confirmed that account.

The administration had expressed concern that if the government directly provided drug benefits to the elderly, it would discourage private insurers from entering the market.

WASHINGTON - Apples, peppers, celery and cherries top a list compiled by an environmental research organization of the 12 fruits and vegetables it says are most contaminated by pesticides.

The report from the Environmental Working Group ranks pesticide contamination for 46 fruits and vegetables and is based on over 100,000 lab tests conducted between 1992 and 2001 by the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration, with additional testing done on organic produce by the state of California. The top 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables also include imported grapes, nectarines, peaches, pears, potatoes, red raspberries, spinach and strawberries.

The 12 least contaminated are asparagus, avocados, bananas, broccoli, cauliflower, corn, kiwi, mangoes, onions, papayas, pineapples and sweet peas.

The group recommends buying organic produce in place of the most contaminated conventional produce, but says that that conventional produce is acceptable for the least contaminated list.

WASHINGTON - The feminist leader Patricia Ireland has been dismissed as chief executive officer of the YWCA less than six months after she was hired. Ireland was notified of the board's decision on Thursday in New York, where she was attending a conference.

"I was uncharacteristically speechless," Ireland said. "There had been no notice."

The YWCA's appointment of Ireland last May was strongly criticized by some conservative groups, which said that her background made her unfit to run the organization, which was founded 144 years ago as the Young Women's Christian Association.

Among the concerns they cited then were Ireland's tenure as president of the National Organization for Women, which supports gay rights and a woman's right to seek an abortion, and her living with a woman in the early '90s while remaining married.

PLAINTIFFS AGREE TO CHURCH SEX ABUSE SETTLEMENT: Lawyers for 552 people who accused Roman Catholic priests of sexual abuse say they have obtained the 80 percent of plaintiff approval necessary for a record-setting $85-million settlement with the Archdiocese of Boston to go into effect. The minimum of 442 signed settlement agreements was secured three days before a deadline set when the agreement was completed last month. Under the terms of the agreement, each plaintiff will receive $80,000 to $300,000.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times 490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 Contact the Times | Privacy Policy Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright