High court turns away challenge to Obama administration stem cell policy

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case involving Medicaid and malpractice awards. In addition, the justices rejected an appeal from Social Security recipients who don't want Medicare benefits.

Los Angeles Times: Supreme Court Rejects Challenge To Obama Stem Cell Policy
The Supreme Court has turned away a challenge to President Obama's policy of expanding government-funded research using embryonic stem cells that scientists say may offer hope for new treatments for spinal injuries and Parkinson's disease (Savage, 1/7).

McClatchy: Supreme Court Case Involves Medical Malpractice Awards, Medicaid
Sandra and William E. Armstrong's 12-year-old daughter will never learn of the Supreme Court's deliberations Tuesday, though the results could change her life. The young Taylorsville, N.C., resident is deaf and blind. She cannot sit, crawl, walk or converse. She's the victim, her parents say, of negligence by the troubled doctor who delivered her. She's at the center of a high-level legal case that pits state governments against the Obama administration and afflicted families. What the high court ultimately decides, after the hourlong oral argument Tuesday, could shape how states stake claims on medical malpractice awards that Medicaid beneficiaries win (Doyle, 1/7).

The Associated Press/Washington Post: Supreme Court Turns Down Appeal From Social Security Recipients Who Don't Want Medicare
The Supreme Court has turned away a challenge from former House Majority Leader Dick Armey and other Social Security recipients who say they have the right to reject Medicare in favor of continuing health coverage from private insurers (1/7).