Latest California Healthline Stories
Newspapers Publish Recommendations on Ballot Initiatives, Including Health-Related Measures
The San Francisco Chronicle published its recommendations on how state residents should vote on initiatives on the Nov. 2 ballot, including five health-related measures.
Internal E-mails Indicate Merck Was Aware of Vioxx Risks
Internal e-mails, marketing documents and interviews with outside scientists who questioned the safety of the arthritis medication Vioxx — a COX-2 inhibitor that Merck in September decided to withdraw from the market — indicate that the company “fought forcefully for years to keep safety concerns from destroying the drug’s commercial prospects,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
The World Health Organization has called for an “unprecedented summit” to discuss the recent U.S. flu vaccine shortage and the possibility of a global flu pandemic triggered by the emergence of avian flu in Asia, the AP/Las Vegas Sun reports.
New York Times Examines Kaiser Permanente Business Model
The New York Times in two articles on Sunday examined the business model of California-based not-for-profit HMO Kaiser Permanente, which has become “a leader in the drive both to increase the quality of care and to spend health dollars more wisely, using technology and incentives tailored to those goals.”
Sacramento City Council Revises Ordinance Addressing Protests Near Reproductive Health Clinics
Sacramento City Council members have revised a city ordinance on reproductive health clinics to include similar provisions as a Colorado U.S. Supreme Court decision on a Colorado law that prohibited protesters from approaching within eight feet of another person for speech-related purposes as they enter or leave a clinic, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Newspapers Weigh National Significance of State Health-Related Ballot Initiatives
The AP/San Luis Obispo Tribune on Friday examined four health-related measures on the Nov. 2 statewide ballot that would provide about $5 billion in funding for children’s hospitals, mental health care, emergency and trauma systems and stem cell research.
New York Times Examines Debate Over Wal-Mart Health Coverage Policies
The New York Times on Monday examined the growing pressure on Wal-Mart to solve “what critics see as its miserly approach to employee health care,” which some say forces many employees to rely on public health insurance programs or charity care.
Schwarzenegger Campaigns for Repeal of Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage Law
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) this weekend “played” on his “extraordinary popularity” at rallies across the state, hoping to “sway opinion” on a number of ballot initiatives and “urg[ing]” state residents to vote to repeal a state law (SB 2) that will mandate employer-sponsored health coverage for some businesses, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
The Department of Health Services through Medi-Cal will provide speech-generating devices to 53 low-income residents with severe speech disabilities under a settlement U.S. District Judge Garland Burrell approved Tuesday, the Sacramento Bee reports.
The American Medical Association Political Action Committee on Tuesday announced the purchase of independent expenditure advertisements for Senate candidate Rep. Dave Vitter (R-La.), whom the group supports because of his “pro-medicine” position, CongressDaily reports.