People: Streisand, lawmakers talk heart disease funding, research
Barbra Streisand appealed Wednesday to lawmakers on Capitol Hill for more funding and research devoted to women and heart disease, calling it the No. 1 killer of women even as most research into the disease focuses on men.
“A woman’s heart is different from a man’s, yet women’s hearts are under-researched, go untreated and are misdiagnosed,” Streisand said in a statement. “Together, we can change that.”
The Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony winner and two cardiologists spoke during a closed meeting with the House Bipartisan Women’s Caucus. She also met with the Senate women’s caucus and with other lawmakers.
In 2012, Streisand founded the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles to help research the disease that kills more women than all forms of cancer combined.
Judge: Kerri Kasem can withhold food
Casey Kasem’s daughter has the authority to withhold food and fluids from her ailing father, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Daniel S. Murphy reversed a ruling from Monday that stated that Kasem should receive food, fluids and certain medications until after a court-appointed attorney met with the former radio host and his doctors.
Murphy reviewed additional medical records on Wednesday and concluded that Kasem would endure more pain if he was given food or fluids, said attorney Troy Martin, who represents Kasem’s daughter Kerri.
He also presented the judge with documents in which Kasem stated he did not want his life prolonged by food or fluids if he was mentally incapacitated.
“It’s just flat out wrong,” said Steve Haney, an attorney for Kasem’s wife, Jean.
Casey Kasem remains in critical condition in a Washington state hospital.
Rowling against Scots’ independence
“Harry Potter” creator J.K. Rowling waded into in the world of Muggle politics Wednesday, announcing a $1.68 million donation to the campaign against Scottish independence.
Scots will vote in a Sept. 18 referendum on whether to leave their 300-year-old union with England and become an independent country.
Rowling, who lives in Edinburgh, wrote on her website that she had decided that “while independence might give us opportunities … it also carries serious risks.”
Rowling said she was particularly concerned about the impact on the economy and on funding for medical research in Scotland. She has donated millions to the fight against multiple sclerosis, the disease that killed her mother.
Polls show the anti-independence side narrowly ahead among Scottish voters, but pro-independence forces have run a better-funded and more energetic campaign.
The birthday bunch
Singer Vic Damone is 86. Actor-singer Jim Nabors is 84. Jazz musician Chick Corea is 73.