Latest California Healthline Stories
Eli Lilly Made Public Documents on Link Between Prozac, Suicide Risk in 1994, Company Officials Say
Eli Lilly on Wednesday, in response to allegations brought forth last week by the British Medical Journal, said it shared documents that showed a link between the antidepressant Prozac and the risk of suicide with regulatory authorities 10 years ago, and the documents showed “no new clinical or scientific information,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
CRP Levels as Important as Cholesterol as Indicator of Cardiac Health, Studies Find
Lowering levels of C-reactive protein, which causes arterial inflammation, in the blood is as important as lowering LDL, or bad, cholesterol levels in preventing heart attacks and strokes, according to two studies published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, USA Today reports.
Alarcon Announces Plans To Introduce Legislation To Regulate Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rates
Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee Chair Richard Alarcon (D-Van Nuys) on Wednesday announced plans to introduce legislation that would allow the state to regulate workers’ compensation insurance premiums, saying that employers in the state have not seen a significant premium rate decrease despite legislation to reform the state workers’ compensation insurance system enacted in April, the Los Angeles Times reports.
US Airways Agrees Not To Eliminate Retiree Health Benefits
US Airways on Wednesday “backed off” from a plan to eliminate health benefits for retirees and agreed to continue to cover some of the cost of their health care, the Washington Post reports.
Some advocates for open government are calling on members of the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee — charged with determining how to distribute funds for stem cell research available through Proposition 71 — to sell any holdings in biomedical and real estate companies that could benefit from the funds, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) in his State of the State speech on Wednesday announced a plan to create a prescription drug discount card that would be made “available to nearly five million low-income Californians, at prices competitive with those from Canada,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Judges Cannot Revoke Doctors’ Licenses Without Due Process, San Francisco Appeals Court Rules
Physicians and other professional license-holders who are charged with crimes may retain their licenses unless the state grants them a hearing to defend their rights or proves that they pose “an immediate risk to the public,” a three-member panel of the Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled unanimously Wednesday, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Contra Costa County to date is the only county in the state to approve a program allowing pharmacies to sell sterile syringes without a prescription to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C, as allowed under a law (SB 1159) that took effect Saturday, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
President Bush Names HHS Deputy Secretary Claude Allen as Domestic Policy Adviser
President Bush has chosen HHS Deputy Secretary Claude Allen to serve as his domestic policy adviser, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan announced Wednesday, the Associated Press reports.
Some Conservative House Republicans Hope To Revise Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit, Lawmaker Says
Some House Republicans in the 109th Congress hope to “roll back” a large portion of the new Medicare prescription drug benefit scheduled to take effect in 2006, among other “conservative goals,” Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) told National Press Club members at a breakfast briefing on Wednesday, the AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.