Latest California Healthline Stories
Overall Well-Being of U.S. Boys, Girls About Equal, Study Finds
The “overall well-being” of male and female children in the United States is about equal, according to a study published on Wednesday in the journal Social Indicators Research, the Washington Post reports.
Boxer Raises Questions About Perchlorate Levels After Study on Its Presence in Breast Milk
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) on Wednesday asked state and federal health officials to address perchlorate contamination after a Texas Tech University study found that the chemical is present in high levels in some breast milk samples, the Orange County Register reports.
Legislative Budget Hearings Address Increased Federal Funding for Medi-Cal, Other Social Services
Following a meeting with Bush administration officials last week in Washington, D.C., state officials are hopeful that the federal government will give the state an additional $500 million to cover rising hospital costs in Medi-Cal, Stan Rosenstein of the Department of Health Services said on Wednesday at an Assembly budget hearing, the Sacramento Bee reports.
New York Times, Wall Street Journal Examine Issues Related to Medicaid Reform
Two newspapers on Thursday examined issues related to proposed changes to Medicaid.
One in Ten Nursing Home Residents Experience Injuries Related to Medication Each Month, Study Finds
About one in 10 nursing home residents suffer medication-related injuries each month, according to a study published in the American Journal of Medicine, the Boston Globe reports.
Public Programs To Account for 49% of U.S. Health Care Spending by 2014, CMS Report Estimates
U.S. health care spending growth will continue to stabilize over the next 10 years, but public programs will account for almost half of total health care spending by 2014, in large part because of the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, according to a report conducted by CMS analysts published on the Health Affairs Web site, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Hemophilia Medication Might Benefit Patients With Intracerebral Hemorrhages, Study Finds
A medication approved for treating hemophilia reduced mortality in people with intracerebral hemorrhages by 38% and reduced additional bleeding by 50%, compared with those taking a placebo, according to results of a Phase II clinical trial published in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine, the Wall Street Journal reports.
NIH Director Elias Zerhouni on Thursday will meet with agency scientists who are “growing increasingly disturbed” by “stringent” new conflict-of-interest guidelines and plan to introduce an “alternative set of ethics regulations,” the Baltimore Sun reports.
El Camino Hospital Board Declines To Disclose Compensation of Top Executives
The board of El Camino Hospital in Mountain View has declined to disclose the salaries of its CEO and other top executives to the San Jose Mercury News, saying that revealing such information would be an invasion of the employees’ privacy, the Mercury News reports.
San Francisco Board of Supervisors Approve Syringe Distribution at Pharmacies
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved an ordinance allowing intravenous drug users to buy hypodermic needles at pharmacies without a prescription, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.