Latest California Healthline Stories
Labor Unions Form Coalition To Address Hospital Costs, Health Care Quality
Labor unions representing 500,000 California residents have formed a coalition to address hospital costs and establish standards for health care quality and prices, the Contra Costa Times reports.
Senate Bill To Limit Class-Action Lawsuits Reintroduced
A “landmark bill” that would transfer many class-action lawsuits seeking more than $5 million in damages from state to federal courts in an effort to limit damage awards “is likely to pass soon,” according to congressional leaders from both parties, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Access to Mental Health Services Varies Across State, Survey Finds
Alameda and San Francisco counties have a significantly higher proportion of residents who delay or experience difficulty in receiving mental health treatment than other California counties, according to a study released Wednesday, the Oakland Tribune reports.
Infant Mortality Rises for First Time in 40 Years, CDC Says
The U.S. infant mortality rate has risen for the first time in more than 40 years, in large part because more women gave birth to low-birthweight infants who died before age one, according to a CDC report released on Monday, the Washington Times reports.
Nearly Half of African Americans Believe HIV Is Manmade, Survey Finds
A “significant proportion” of surveyed African Americans believe that U.S. government scientists created HIV to eradicate or “control” African-American communities, according to a study released Tuesday and published in the Feb. 1 issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, the Washington Post reports.
A group of five San Diego County residents on Monday filed a class-action lawsuit in San Diego Superior Court over allegations that the county illegally denied them medical care because their monthly incomes exceeded the county eligibility level for indigent care, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Drug Manufacturers Raising Prices on Popular Prescription Medications
Ending a “summer lull ahead of the politically sensitive election season,” pharmaceutical companies have begun raising prices on their products, with many increases surpassing economists’ estimates of a 2.5% consumer inflation rate, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Report Finds Some Youths With Mental Illnesses Held in Detention Centers While Awaiting Treatment
An average of 281 youths with mental illnesses are placed in California detention facilities daily while they wait for openings in community mental health programs or treatment, according to a congressional report released Monday, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports.
Lancet Publishes Previously Held Study on Safety Risks of Vioxx
The COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx, which Merck withdrew from the market in late September over potential safety risks, could have resulted in as many as 140,000 heart attacks, many of which were fatal, according a study previously withheld by FDA and published on Tuesday in the journal Lancet, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Some Critics Say Schwarzenegger Plan To Consolidate Boards Favors Some Campaign Contributors
Leaders of some consumer and labor groups say Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s (R) plan to eliminate 88 state boards and commissions, including some health-related commissions, amounts to “favors for business interests who are major campaign contributors,” the Sacramento Bee reports.