Latest California Healthline Stories
FDA managers last month made anonymous telephone calls to a not-for-profit group that protects whistleblowers “in an attempt to discredit” David Graham, an agency safety reviewer who on Thursday testified before the Senate Finance Committee that FDA is “virtually incapable of protecting America,” the Washington Post reports.
FDA To Increase Efforts To Warn Pregnant Women Against Use of Acne Medication Accutane
FDA on Tuesday announced a new plan to strengthen efforts to prevent pregnant women from taking Roche’s acne drug Accutane and generic versions of the drug, known as isotretinoin, USA Today reports.
Seismic Retrofit Requirements Fueling Hospital Construction
The New York Times on Wednesday examined the “multibillion-dollar construction boom” in California as hospitals work toward compliance with new state seismic retrofit requirements.
AP/Long Island Newsday Profiles States’ Different Approaches To Address Health Care Issues
The AP/Long Island Newsday on Tuesday examined how state lawmakers are taking “dramatically divergent paths” and using a “mix of approaches” in an attempt to reduce health care costs while decreasing the number of uninsured state residents.
Wall Street Journal Profiles Efforts To Increase African-American Organ Donation
The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday examined efforts to increase awareness of the disproportionate number of African Americans on the organ transplant waiting list.
Hospital Replaces Anesthesiology Group After Health Insurance Contract Dispute
El Camino Hospital in Mountain View on Monday replaced Northern California Anesthesia Associates, a 19-member physician group, with a new group of anesthesiologists because of a disagreement with NCAA over health insurance contracts, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
WellPoint Health Networks Faces Suit Over Alleged Improper Use of State Tax Exemption
The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights on Monday filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court that asks Controller Steve Westly (D) to collect as much as $500 million in alleged owed taxes from California-based WellPoint Health Networks, the parent company of Blue Cross of California, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Sacramento Elder Abuse Team Report Identifies Few Suspicious Deaths Not Previously Reported
A review of more than 100 deaths of elderly Sacramento County residents found that few resulted from abuse and none of the cases were referred for prosecution, according to a report the county Elder Death Review Team will present to the county Board of Supervisors Tuesday, the Sacramento Bee reports.
About 8.7 million Medicare beneficiaries who have low incomes and enroll in the new prescription drug benefit are expected to pay 83% less for their medications in 2006 than if the Medicare law did not exist, according to a report released Monday by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the AP/Boston Globe reports.
The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and the county Department of Mental Health on Tuesday are scheduled to present to the county Board of Supervisors a strategy to address overcrowding in the county’s four public psychiatric emergency departments, the Los Angeles Times reports.