Latest California Healthline Stories
Drug Enforcement Agency Withdraws Support for New Controlled Substances Prescription Guidelines
The Drug Enforcement Administration has withdrawn support for new guidelines “designed to end a controversy” over the arrests and prosecutions of hundreds of pain treatment specialists who prescribe controlled substances such as OxyContin and morphine, the Washington Post reports.
Hospital Site Under Proposition BB Would Be in Escondido, Palomar Pomerado Health Board Says
Palomar Pomerado Health district board members on Monday voted unanimously to build a $531 million hospital in Escondido if Proposition BB, a $496 million bond measure that would help finance a hospital expansion in North San Diego County, is approved in the Nov. 2 election, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
California Performance Review Commission Recommends Against Most Health-Related Proposals
The California Performance Review Commission, a panel appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) to examine a 2,500-page plan to overhaul the state government, on Wednesday recommended abandoning, rewriting or delaying major health care, education and regulatory reforms, partly because some aspects of the plan do not address the state’s “true problems,” the Orange County Register reports.
Flu Vaccine Shortage Not Likely To Influence Voters, Analysts Say
President Bush and Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) in the past week have discussed the U.S. flu vaccine shortage in recent campaign appearances and advertisements, but political analysts predict that the issue will not “remain a significant theme” in their campaigns after this week, the Newark Star-Ledger reports.
Boxer Television Advertisement Addresses New Medicare Law, Prescription Drug Policies
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) on Wednesday as part of her re-election campaign began airing a television advertisement focused on prescription drugs, the AP/Orange County Register reports.
Although measures to reform the state workers’ compensation insurance system that lawmakers passed last year and a similar law (SB 899) enacted earlier this year were implemented with “great fanfare,” some workers, employers and insurers have criticized the reforms for failing to provide lower costs and speedier care, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Civilian Draft of Health Care Workers Not Required, Pentagon Says
A senior Pentagon official on Wednesday said that no war or other national emergency would “overwhelm the military’s medical care system” and require the United States to draft civilian physicians, nurses and other health care workers, the AP/New York Times reports.
The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation on Wednesday denied plaintiff attorneys’ request to consolidate 28 class-action lawsuits against the American Hospital Association and not-for-profit health systems that allege the hospitals violate their duties as tax-exempt organizations by overcharging the uninsured, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Schwarzenegger To Campaign for Effort To Repeal Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage Law
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) will encourage state residents to vote “no” on Proposition 72 to repeal a state law (SB 2) that will require some employers to provide health insurance to employees, a spokesperson for the governor said, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Questions Arise Over Chiron Flu Vaccine Production Capabilities for Next Season
Chiron CEO and Chair Howard Pien said Wednesday in a conference call with investors that the company must design a plan to address sterility and quality control problems at its vaccine manufacturing plant in Liverpool, England, and receive input from British and U.S. regulators before announcing whether it would be able to produce enough influenza vaccine in 2005 to meet U.S. demand, the New York Times reports.