Today's Globe: health bill opposition, student health plans, drug abuse, hospital security, CVS Caremark review, flu vaccine, AIDS fight

The sweeping health care overhaul package before Congress is under an 11th-hour attack over a pair of emotional issues, abortion and immigration, that are complicating Democrats’ efforts to piece together the coalition they need to pass the bill.

Chanting “Kill the bill,’" thousands of conservatives incensed over the Democrats’ health care overhaul protested at the Capitol yesterday, arguing that the legislation amounts to a government takeover of the nation’s medical system.

Insurance companies rack up much higher profits on health coverage sold to nearly 100,000 Massachusetts college students than on plans available to the general public, according to long-awaited data released late yesterday by the state. The figures also show that college-student plans also have higher administrative costs.

Abuse of OxyContin and heroin in Massachusetts has reached epidemic levels and must be attacked with the same fervor now being directed toward controlling the H1N1 flu virus, a special state commission said yesterday.

Boston police met yesterday with security chiefs from the city’s hospitals to discuss ways to make their facilities safer in the wake of several brutal crimes at hospitals in recent weeks.

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating some of CVS Caremark Corp.'s business practices, the company said yesterday.

Some of New York City’s largest employers - including Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs and big universities - have started receiving doses of the much-in-demand swine flu vaccine for their at-risk employees.

The global recession and pressure to divert funds to other health crises are hurting the fight against AIDS, a medical group warned yesterday, with one health worker saying he feared a return to the days when the disease was a death sentence in Africa.