Minnesota plays a unique role in the arena of health, with impactful political/cultural moments, and important contributions from institutions such as Mayo Clinic, Hazelden, UCare, among others. Over the decades, MPR News and American RadioWorks have produced a breadth of reports and programming specifically dedicated to the subject of health. This collection includes interviews, debates, speeches, and documentaries that provide greater detail to the many facets of healthcare, from both a local and national perspective.
July 12, 2000 - Minnesota has long been known for its concentration of medical device and food companies. Now a number of local entrepreneurs are building a cluster of new biotechnology businesses. Several companies have sprung up around the University of Minnesota to profit from new breakthroughs in genetics. Commercial breakthroughs could help assuage critics who say the U has lagged behind in capitalizing on technological developments. But biotechis new to Minnesota, and some fear the state lacks what entrepreneurs need to thrive. Minnesota Public Radio's Andrew Haeg reports.
July 12, 2000 - Saying AIDS is the Number one problem facing the world, United Nations ambassador, Richard Holbrooke, said today the U.N. Security Council will soon approve a resolution to intensify the international battle against the disease. In Minnesota, more than 3600 people have contracted AIDS since it was first discovered in the state some 20 years ago. Another 2700 have H-I-V, the virus that causes AIDS. Dr. Keith Henry directs the H-I-V clinic at Regions Hospital in St. Paul. He says advances in the treatment of H-I-V and AIDS make it harder to track infection rates:
July 13, 2000 - The strike at the Pepsi bottling plant in Burnsville has entered its second month, and there's no end in sight. About 450 workers who bottle and deliver Pepsi products in the Twin Cities area walked off the job in mid-June. They say the company's last offer fell short on several issues, including retirement and health care benefits. Kelly McAndrew is a spokewoman at Pepsi Bottling Group's headquarters in New York. She's on the line now.
July 13, 2000 - DFL Senate candidate Mark Dayton has started his advertising blitz, spending more than 300-thousand dollars on television ads running statewide this week. Dayton is the third Democrat to buy up large chunks of airtime before the September primary. Attorney Michael Ciresi has had ads on the air for months, and DFL'er Rebecca Yanisch just finished a big television ad buy. In the latest in our series of Ad Watches, Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum talks with analyst Dean Alger about the Dayton and Yanisch ads...
July 14, 2000 - The University of Minnesota Board of Regents has given President Mark Yudof another raise and a longer contract. Regents have been generous in their praise of Yudof's leadership during the past three years. They've also been generous with his compensation, fearing another university might lure him away. But as Yudof's check gets bigger, other U of M employees claim they're barely making enough to get by. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports...
July 18, 2000 - Minnesota's D-F-L candidates for U.S. Senate faced some of the toughest questions of the campaign Monday when they met with activists and retired politicians in their own party at a Minneapolis drug store. A group known as "Tom's Salon" for Schneider Drug owner Tom SenGupta has been meeting at the drug store for the past twelves years to argue thorny policy issues. About 45 people crowded into the drug store's awkward spaces between greeting cards and figurines to put the candidates through their paces. Minnesota Public Radio's Amy Radil has this report.
July 21, 2000 - MPR’s Perry Finelli interviews Mark Ritchie, president of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, about concerns in the rapid advancements in biotechnology. Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, a nonprofit organization based in Minneapolis.
July 24, 2000 - The rising cost of prescription drugs has become a prominent issue this election year, pushed by growing ranks of seniors whose prescriptions aren't covered by Medicare. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck looks at the problem in the first of part of our series Prescription for Change.
July 25, 2000 - The high cost of prescription drugs has become one of the top political issues this year - candidate after candidate has expressed outrage over senior citizens forced to choose between buying food and buying medicine. It's a key issue In Minnesota's U-S Senate race, with all of the major D-F-L candidates and Republican Senator Rod Grams calling for changes to make prescription drugs more affordable for seniors. In part two of our series Prescription for Change, Minnesota Public Radio's Laura McCallum looks at the Senate candidates' proposals, and whether they're more than just election year rhetoric...
July 26, 2000 - The third annual rural summit wrapped up this afternoon in Rochester with speeches from members of the Ventura administration. For two days a statewide mix of government officials, tribal groups, business leaders and community organizations, focused on techniques for recharging rural economies. Minnesota Public Radio's Erin Galbally reports there's a lot of work ahead. {More than 600 people gathered for this year's rural summit, filling up the main floor of the Mayo Civic center and rotating in and out of tiny meeting rooms for sessions on tourism, technology, business development and agriculture. Duluth resident Carol Willoughby participated in panel called Energizing Entrepreneurs.