Today's Globe: hospital death award, Mass. healthcare model, migraines and breast cancer, cancer patient's genome, Baystate Health cuts, psychiatrist payments

The family of a 40-year-old Hopkinton woman who died following a cycle of experimental chemotherapy at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute was awarded a total of $13.5 million yesterday by a Suffolk Superior Court jury, according to the family's attorney.

With Barack Obama heading to the White House, Massachusetts' pioneering experiment with near-universal healthcare suddenly takes on new meaning as a potential model.

In a puzzling twist, women who have a history of migraine headaches are far less likely to develop breast cancer than other women, US researchers said today.

Scientists for the first time have decoded the entire genome of a cancer patient, identifying a series of genes never before linked to the type of white blood cell cancer that ultimately killed the woman.

The Western Massachusetts healthcare network that runs Baystate Medical Center in Springfield says a $37 million budget gap is forcing it to cut 55 jobs and eliminate 120 vacant positions (second item).

Two senators have asked Johnson & Johnson to turn over information about its payments to physicians as part of a widening investigation into drug makers' influence over medical professionals. Senators Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, and Herb Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat, are investigating its relationship with psychiatrists (sixth item).