Latest California Healthline Stories
Beverage Companies To Announce Voluntary Guidelines To Limit Sale of Soda in Schools
Beverage makers including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and others plan to announce on Wednesday a set of voluntary restrictions to limit sales of soda in schools as a way to “appease the growing chorus of critics who blame soft-drink sellers for rising obesity among U.S. children, while still protecting the industry’s financial interests in marketing to young people,” according to beverage industry officials, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Number of Public Hospitals Has Decreased in Large Suburban Areas, Study Finds
The number of public hospitals in large metropolitan areas declined between 1996 and 2002, according to a study by the State University of New York’s Downstate Medical Center, the Washington Times reports.
Consumer Group Petitions Garamendi for New Rules for AHPs
The Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights has filed a petition with Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi (D) to make rules governing association health plans more stringent, a spokesperson for Garamendi’s office said Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Heart Attack Patients Wait Longer for Treatment on Nights, Weekends, Study Finds
Heart attack patients who go to the hospital after business hours or on the weekend have longer wait times to receive emergency angioplasty or clot-busting drugs than patients who came in during regular hours, according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the AP/Lexington Herald-Leader reports.
Exposure to Secondhand Smoke Costs U.S. $10B Annually, Study Finds
Exposure to secondhand smoke adds $10 billion in annual costs to the U.S. economy for medical expenses, lost wages and other costs, according to a study scheduled for release on Wednesday by researchers at the Society of Actuaries and the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted 3-2 to formally consider closing Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center’s pediatric, obstetric and neonatology wards, the Los Angeles Times reports.
AMA Past President Warns on Scheduled Medicare Physician Payment Cuts
The immediate past president of the American Medical Association warned on Monday that many doctors will stop treating Medicare beneficiaries if a scheduled 4.3% reduction in Medicare physician payments takes place on Jan. 1, 2006, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports.
Lawmakers Expected To Address Medi-Cal, Children’s Health Measure in Coming Weeks
A number of health care measures remain on the legislative agenda in the last three weeks of this year’s session, including a “raft of measures that would expand health care benefits to the poor,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
DOJ Racketeering Lawsuit Against Tobacco Companies Nears End
The Department of Justice and tobacco companies on Monday released individual “proposed findings of fact” intended to help U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler analyze testimony and documents in DOJ’s case against several large U.S. tobacco companies, Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal reports.
Critics, Employees Differ on Wal-Mart Benefits, Including Health Care Coverage
Opponents of a new Wal-Mart store in Oakland scheduled to open this month have “lambaste[d]” the company’s employment practices, including its employee health care benefits, but some store employees say Wal-Mart’s benefits packages are better than unemployment benefits or those offered by previous employers, the Contra Costa Times reports.