Today's Globe: testing the water, second opinion

Three months ago, David A. Reckhow and other University of Massachusetts at Amherst researchers' efforts to learn about the compounds being formed as tiny amounts of prescription drugs slip into drinking water supplies received a major boost from Waters Corp., which allowed them to use one of its AquaAnalysis machines.

"The recent series of Globe Spotlight articles detailing the way Partners Healthcare uses its market power to exact high reimbursement rates from insurers - and to fund expansion into the suburbs - could simply be a Harvard Business School case study were the impact on the cost of healthcare not so great," a Globe editorial says. But "now that the state is committed to health coverage for all its residents, anything that pushes up overall costs is the state's business."