Today's Globe: Caritas bid in RI, Genzyme plight, healthcare compromise, asbestos, food safety, hospitals' unsung heroes

The financially strapped Caritas Christi Health Care hospital system is negotiating to buy the Landmark Medical Center, a 214-bed community hospital in Woonsocket, R.I., that has been in court-appointed receivership for a year.

On Tuesday, Genzyme Corp. reported that a virus was discovered in one of six bioreactors used to make Cerezyme and a second drug, Fabrazyme. While Genzyme’s inventory of both drugs was cleared for release yesterday, the plant will be decontaminated as a precaution. For the people worldwide who take one of the drugs, the incident - and the rationing of doses - is a stark reminder of how much their health depends on Genzyme.

Former Senate majority leaders, including Democrat Tom Daschle and Republican Robert Dole, are promoting a healthcare overhaul plan aimed at bridging differences between the two political parties and overcoming objections by doctors, hospitals, and insurers.

The Environmental Protection Agency yesterday declared its first-ever “public health emergency,’’ saying the federal government will funnel $6 million to provide medical care for people sickened by asbestos from a mine in a section of northwest Montana.

A House panel approved legislation aimed at safeguarding the nation’s food supply by giving federal regulators new powers to enforce tougher government safety standards.

"Since the birth of television, Hollywood has given doctors a permanent starring role in prime-time hospital dramas. But most doctor shows have relegated the nation’s largest healthcare profession - nursing - to the status of bit players," Suzanne Gordon, author of “Nursing Against the Odds,’’ writes on the opinion page. "That’s why it’s so remarkable that two new shows put the spotlight on a nurse."