Latest California Healthline Stories
Protesters Rally at Hearing on Proposed Closure of King/Drew Medical Center Trauma Unit
About 1,000 people on Monday rallied outside Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center to protest the proposed closure of the hospital’s trauma unit prior to a state-mandated public hearing of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on the issue, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports.
Los Angeles County To Open Nation’s Largest School-Based Community Health Clinic
Los Angeles County officials and the University of California-Los Angeles have agreed to partner with the Los Angeles Unified School District to open by 2007 a 14-room, 10,070-square-foot community health clinic on the grounds of Sun Valley Middle School, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.
FDA Asks Pfizer To Withdraw ‘Wild Thing’ Ads for Viagra
FDA has sent a letter to Pfizer that asks the company to withdraw “Wild Thing” television advertisements for Viagra because the ads fail to disclose the condition the medication treats — erectile dysfunction — and potential side effects, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Merck Officials Explain Internal Documents Related To Safety Risks of Vioxx
Merck has begun “offering explanations” for internal documents that allegedly indicated the company was aware of the safety risks of the COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx years before the voluntary withdrawal of the medication in late September, the Wall Street Journal reports.
JCAHO Overturns Findings Regarding Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center near Torrance will maintain full accreditation from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations after JCAHO overturned some earlier findings, group officials told Harbor-UCLA administrators Friday, the Los Angeles Times reports.
World Health Organization Holds Meeting To Discuss Potential for Flu Pandemic, Vaccine Development
Challenges to manufacturing a vaccine to combat a potential flu pandemic include a lack of funding and the absence of a likely candidate vaccine, according to worldwide flu experts speaking Friday at a World Health Organization meeting in Geneva, Long Island Newsday reports.
Schwarzenegger’s First Year Examined, Including Health Care Record
Several newspapers recently examined Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s (R) actions on several issues, including some health-related concerns, during his first year in office.
JCAHO Report Critical of Alta Bates Summit Medical Center
Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland and Berkeley has received a “draft” finding of Preliminary Denial of Accreditation from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations following a review that uncovered “numerous problems” at the hospital, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Chiron Allows FDA To Share Company Information on Flu Vaccine Production Process
In an effort to “preven[t] the kind of communication breakdown that contributed” to the recent national flu vaccine shortage, California-based Chiron will allow FDA in its ongoing joint investigation to share with the British Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency confidential documents that could include industry secrets, the Los Angeles Times reports.
FDA To Announce Plan To Use Radio Antennas To Track Medications
FDA and several major pharmaceutical companies are expected to announce Monday that beginning this week, small radio antennas will be placed on the labels of millions of medicine bottles for tracking purposes in an attempt to prevent counterfeiting and fraud, the New York Times reports.