Latest California Healthline Stories
San Jose Hospital Resumes Medi-Cal Contract Negotiations
Regional Medical Center of San Jose has resumed negotiations with state officials for a contract to provide nonemergency services to some Medi-Cal beneficiaries, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Some See Benefits for State Following Approval of Measure To Fund Stem Cell Research
Experts expect California’s approval of Proposition 71 to cause a “21st century gold rush,” including a large movement of scientists to the state from around the world, Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal reports.
Voters’ rejection of a state law (SB 2) that would have required some employers to provide employees with health insurance and a failed move in the state Legislature to increase taxes to finance health care programs could indicate that it is “time to move in the other direction,” columnist Daniel Weintraub writes in Sacramento Bee opinion piece.
Attorney General Ashcroft Asks Supreme Court To Ban Assisted Suicide
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to give federal agents the authority to punish physicians who aid patients in suicide, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Expanded Medicare Coverage of Preventive Services Starts Jan. 1, Thompson Says
Medicare will begin covering initial physical examinations and more types of health screenings beginning Jan. 1, 2005, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson announced Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Sanofi-Aventis Drug Effectively Aids and Maintains Weight Loss, Study Finds
Patients who took a high dose of rimonabant, a weight-loss medication manufactured by Sanofi-Aventis, lost an average of 19 pounds and maintained the weight loss, provided that they continued to take the treatment, according to a study presented on Tuesday at the American Heart Association annual conference, USA Today reports.
Los Angeles Times Looks at Financial Deals Involving Two Rural Ventura County Hospitals
The Los Angeles Times on Sunday examined how Ojai Valley Community Hospital and Santa Paula Memorial Hospital are “[b]ucking a trend toward larger and fewer hospitals” in the state through financial deals “that could ensure their existence for years to come.”
CDC Announces Distribution Plan for Remaining Flu Vaccine Doses
CDC officials on Tuesday announced a flu vaccine distribution plan that directs states to allocate the nation’s remaining 10.3 million doses based on states’ populations of high-risk residents and the number of doses states have received amid a nationwide vaccine shortage, the Washington Post reports.
Missouri-based Express Scripts, one of the largest U.S. pharmacy benefit managers, on Monday announced plans to launch a new program this week that will offer discounts on dozens of generic medications to low-income U.S. residents nationwide, the AP/Las Vegas Sun reports.
Merck in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday reported that the Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into company actions related to the arthritis medication Vioxx and that SEC also has begun an informal inquiry, the Wall Street Journal reports.