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Today's Globe: flu on campus, small business prep, bacteria in showerheads, health proposal cost, soda tax, overweight trouble

E-mail | Print | Comments () Posted by Elizabeth Cooney September 15, 2009 06:37 AM

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A small number of Massachusetts college and university students are reporting flu symptoms, health authorities said yesterday.

Owners of small businesses should be prepared to operate with fewer employees this fall as swine flu spreads, federal officials said yesterday.

A study has found that showerheads can harbor bacteria that come spraying into your face when you wash.

Senate health care negotiators said yesterday that they have cut the cost of their 10-year coverage plan to under $880 billion as they labored for an elusive bipartisan deal with just a day or so left after months of talks.

Coca-Cola Co.’s chairman and chief executive, Muhtar Kent, yesterday called the idea of a federal tax on soft drinks, under consideration by Congress and President Obama, outrageous.

"It’s not just big government that is anxious to levy economic sanctions on the overweight (into whose ranks I fall, according to the Centers for Disease Control, with a societally disapproved “body mass index’’ of 29)," columnist Alex Beam writes. "With Robespierrian ardor, school districts are removing Coke and Pepsi dispensers from their corridors, replacing them with machines that dole out orange and grape juice. Those have twice the sugar of the hated colas, but never mind that."

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About white coat notes

White Coat Notes covers the latest from the health care industry, hospitals, doctors offices, labs, insurers, and the corridors of government. Chelsea Conaboy previously covered health care for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Write her at cconaboy@boston.com. Follow her on Twitter: @cconaboy.

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