Folic acid supplementation is lowering rates of neural tube defects, according to the May 7 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. In the two years after the government mandated the addition of folic acid to grain cereals, researchers determined that the rate of spina bifida decreased 31%, and the rate of anencephaly decreased by 16%. An accompanying editorial note suggests that the rates of both would decline even further if clinicians were more diligent about encouraging all women of childbearing age to ingest 400 [mu]g of folic acid daily, regardless of their intention to have children.

An attempt to document illegal immigrants in health care facilities is being opposed by the American Hospital Association, among others. Representative Dana Rohrabacher (D-CA) has introduced a bill, the Undocumented Alien Emergency Medical Assistance Amendments of 2004 (HR 3722), which would require hospitals and other health care providers to report undocumented immigrants to the federal government if they wish to receive reimbursement for emergency care. Providers would be required to keep records of such patients available for examination by the "Secretary of Homeland Security or [his] designees." The greatest fear among those who oppose the bill is that the new requirements would make undocumented aliens afraid to seek emergency treatment when needed-an action that could have incalculable effects on individual and public health.