Abortion clinic in Cancun for Americans; Tuberculosis at UMass Boston; $100 ambulance rides - Morning Medical Update

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Abortion clinic in Cancun for Americans

The international reproductive health non-profit MSI Reproductive Choices plans to open a branch in Cancun, Mexico, partly to cater to Americans who can’t get an abortion in their home state. MSI has 10 clinics in Mexico and workers estimate half of the women who go to their Tijuana location are American. “You have a lot more direct flights to Cancun than to any other city in Mexico,” Araceli Lopez Nava Vázquez, regional managing director of MSI Reproductive Choices in Latin America said in an interview. “We’re aiming to help more American women.”

Tuberculosis at UMass Boston

A person at the UMass Boston campus in South Boston has been diagnosed with active tuberculosis, according to a news release. Experts say there is no threat to the public and that everyone in close contact with the infected person is being tested. If tests are negative, another test will be administered in eight to 10 weeks. If tests are positive, antibiotics will be prescribed.

$100 ambulance rides

Government advisors have endorsed proposals to cap ambulance rides at $100. The committee is mostly made up of people who work in the ground ambulance industry. “It’s just poor public health to have question marks in people’s heads about the cost of calling an ambulance,” Patricia Kelmar, senior director for health care campaigns at the consumer advocacy group U.S. PIRG said in an interview. The next challenge is figuring out how much ambulances will get paid.