Hurricane Irene left neighborhoods, towns and cities flooded along the eastern seaboard. Philadelphia was one of the worst hit in terms of floods, with bodies of water like the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers climbing to ten feet or more above normal levels. States like New Jersey and Vermont are also experiencing Irene-triggered floods.

Another judge has struck down the Obama administration’s sweeping health care reform law. So far two federal judges have ruled in favor of the law’s legality, while two have ruled it unconstitutional. Twenty-six states' attorneys general brought this latest lawsuit and it’s unclear how the ruling will be interpreted in each of them. This time Judge Rodger Vinson, of Federal District Court in Pensacola, Florida ruled that the mandate to buy health insurance was so intertwined with the rest of the law that the entire act was unconstitutional.

A major shortage of a drug called sodium thiopental is hampering the ability of states to put inmates to death. The first execution in California in four years was postponed this week, and it's likely not to be the last. Though nine states across the nation have 17 lethal injections scheduled between now and the end of January, it is uncertain whether they will be able to perform the executions due to the shortage.

State prison systems are scrambling to find supplies of sodium thiopental, but they have competition in their search. Over the last few years, the drug has become popular with hospitals, where it is used as an anesthetic for surgery and to induce medial comas. Hospitals had previously used a drug called propofol, though that too has become scarce.

Waiting lists for for government-funded life-sustaining antiretroviral drugs for people with H.I.V. and AIDS have ballooned to nearly 1,800 people from zero just three years ago. What's caused this change? Quite simply, the recession.

Diminished government coffers combined with widespread loss of medical insurance due to unemployment has created the perfect storm for a burgeoning public health and budgetary crisis. Louisiana, Florida, Arkansas and Utah are among numerous states that have either closed enrollment or narrowed eligibility in the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. Ten states are no longer covering treatments that do not directly combat H.I.V. or opportunistic infections, and Florida will likely winnow its list of 101 covered medications to 53.

The public option and the abortion-funding 'Stupak Amendment' have been hotly debated as health care reform grinds on, but another issue has been bubbling beneath the surface ever since Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) loosed his now infamous outburst, "You lie!", during President Obama's speech to Congress in September: the question of how – and whether – illegal immigrants will be covered under the various proposals for health care reform. The House and Senate bills offer different answers to that question, and some wonder if illegal immigration will become the next battleground on which the debate over health care reform is waged. We're joined by Ignacio Lopez, a 23-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico. He suffers from kidney failure, but the hospital where he used to receive dialysis closed its outpatient clinic because there were simply too many illegal immigrants getting free care. Kevin Sack covered the story for our partners, The New York Times.

One of the most expensive health-care markets in the country is Doctors Hospital at Renaissance in McAllen, Texas. Eighty-two percent of the hospital is owned by doctors who also practice there. That same hospital is one of the largest sources of campaign contributions to Senate Democrats. Is this a conflict of interest or just good business practice? The Takeaway talks to Kevin Sack, a National Correspondent for The New York Times who is covering the story.

For more, read Kevin Sack's article Texas Hospital Flexing Muscle in Health Fight, about what the hospital hopes to influence with it's large campaign contributions.