Latest California Healthline Stories
Pharmaceutical Industry Backing Could Weaken Support for Proposition 78
The pharmaceutical industry, which is the primary supporter of the Proposition 78 campaign, also is the campaign’s “biggest liability,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Senate Approves Measure To Provide $4B for U.S. Avian Flu Preparedness
The Senate on Thursday by voice vote agreed to attach to the $440 billion fiscal year 2006 defense appropriations bill a measure that would provide $4 billion to CDC to stockpile the antiviral medication Tamiflu in preparation for a potential avian flu outbreak, the AP/Chicago Tribune reports.
Fresno County Mental Health Board Approves Final Draft of Plan for Use of Proposition 63 Funds
The Fresno County Mental Health Board on Monday approved the final draft of a 230-page plan for using the county’s portion of mental health funding from Proposition 63, the Fresno Bee reports.
Lawmakers Ask HHS Inspector General To Investigate Resignation of Former FDA Commissioner
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee leaders on Thursday in a letter to HHS Inspector General Daniel Levinson requested a “thorough review of the reasons surrounding” the resignation of former FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford last week, Reuters reports.
California Healthline Rounds Up Recent Hospital News
California Pacific Medical Center takes over St. Luke’s Hospital in San Francisco; Desert Healthcare District in Palm Springs to pursue lawsuit to maintain psychiatric services
San Francisco Chronicle Examines Provisions of Parental Notification Measure
The San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday examined Proposition 73, which would amend the state constitution to require health care providers to notify a parent or guardian 48 hours before performing an abortion on an unmarried minor.
MedImmune Partners with NIAID To Develop ‘Library’ of Vaccines for Avian Flu
Maryland-based MedImmune and NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases have reached an agreement to collaborate on the production and testing of a “library of vaccines for more than a dozen strains of avian flu,” the Washington Post reports.
Fresno Unified Retirees Association Considers Lawsuit Against School District Over Health Coverage
Members of the Fresno Unified Retirees Association on Tuesday met to consider whether to file a lawsuit to seek the lifetime health coverage without premiums that the Fresno Unified School District promised when they were hired, the Fresno Bee reports.
Rodham Clinton, Obama Propose Medical Error Disclosure Program
Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Wednesday introduced a bill (S 1784) that would provide liability protections for physicians who disclose medical errors and offer to enter compensation negotiations with affected patients out of court, CQ HealthBeat reports.
Kaiser Permanente, Workers Tentatively Agree to New Contract, Await Final Approval
Kaiser Permanente has reached a tentative agreement for a five-year contract covering 82,000 employees nationwide, the Oakland-based HMO and its unions were expected to announce Thursday, the Sacramento Bee reports (Osterman, Sacramento Bee, 9/29).