The runaway popularity of robotic prostate surgery is a case study in the triumph of marketing over medicine, and for that reason, it could be a glimpse into the future.

Health care lobbyists are blitzing lawmakers to shape a trillion-dollar health-care overhaul that will affect most Americans. While the legislators take a summer break, starting Friday, interest groups are urging members to snare their Congresspeople this month at their home districts. The mobilization of lobbyists already has turned ugly for some legislators.

In an effort to keep control of the health care reform debate, President Barack Obama on Tuesday ridiculed critics of his government-run health care plan saying private insurers have nothing to fear if they are efficient and consumer-friendly. Insurers write back: Public plan would devastate the industry.

U. S. health insurance companies are offering to cut insurance rates for millions of woman and to accept close federal regulation of their industry in a bid to head off creation of a government health plan.