Latest California Healthline Stories
CMS has begun distributing $31.7 million to help state programs educate Medicare beneficiaries about the new prescription drug benefit, CMS Administrator Mark McClellan announced on Monday, CQ HealthBeat reports.
New York A.G. Spitzer Subpoenas Three Largest Prescription Drug Wholesalers
New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (D) has issued subpoenas to the three largest prescription drug wholesalers in the United States — McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen — requesting information on how the companies purchase products from each other, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Associated Press Examines Allegations of Sexual Harassment, Safety Problems at NIH
AP/USA Today on Monday examined allegations of sexual harassment and “repeated disregard” for safety concerns in HIV/AIDS research at NIH.
CQ HealthBeat Obtains HHS List of States Using Accounting Tactics To Boost Federal Medicaid Funding
CQ HealthBeat has obtained a document that HHS “is using in a federal crackdown on dubious Medicaid accounting tactics.”
Crawford Nomination as FDA Commissioner Could Face Opposition on Senate Floor
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Wednesday likely will approve the nomination of Lester Crawford, acting commissioner of FDA, as permanent commissioner, but he “faces opposition on the Senate floor,” CQ Today reports.
Nursing Home Advocates Sue Schwarzenegger Over Asset Collection Emergency Regulation
The California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform on Friday filed a lawsuit against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) alleging that he illegally changed the state’s policy on collecting assets from Medi-Cal beneficiaries after they die, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Efforts by ICOC To Develop Guidelines for Stem Cell Research Grants Examined
The Oakland Tribune on Sunday examined efforts by the Independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to develop guidelines for the distribution of $3 billion in grants for stem cell research over the next decade.
PhRMA Plans To Spend More Than $8.2 Million in Campaign Against Prescription Drug Discount Proposal
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America plans to spend more than $8.2 million for a campaign against a proposed ballot measure that would require pharmaceutical companies that sell medications to Medi-Cal to provide discounts for as many as 10 million uninsured state residents, the AP/Sacramento Bee reports.
Zerhouni Should Maintain New NIH Conflict-of-Interest Rules, Los Angeles Times Editorial States
NIH Director Elias Zerhouni “should stand … off” against lawmakers and agency scientists who have asked him to “ease the strict conflict-of-interest rules he imposed last month,” a Los Angeles Times editorial states.
Assembly Committee Scheduled To Vote on Assisted-Suicide Measure
A bill (AB 654) sponsored by Assembly members Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys) and Patty Berg (D-Eureka) that would allow some patients diagnosed as having no more than six months to live to end their lives with a self-administered prescription is scheduled to be considered Tuesday by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, the Los Angeles Times reports.