Latest California Healthline Stories
Excessive eating, smoking and drinking by U.S. residents is partially responsible for rising health care costs, Treasury Secretary John Snow said Tuesday, Reuters/Washington Times reports.
Schwarzenegger Social Positions Exhibit Differences With Republican Party
The Los Angeles Times on Wednesday examined how Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s (R) “surprising endorsemen[t]” of Proposition 71, a bond measure on the Nov. 2 statewide ballot to fund human stem cell research, could “tackle his biggest dilemma as a Republican governor: how to appear like an outsider while frequently acting like an insider.”
The New York Times on Tuesday looked at disagreements between the Bush administration and scientists, who say the administration “has selected or suppressed” research findings to further predetermined policy goals; “skewed” advisory panels or disregarded “unwelcome advice”; and “quashed” discussions within federal research agencies.
Union, Advocacy Group Allege Understaffing in Nursing Home Lawsuit
The California Alliance for Retired Americans and Service Employees International Union Local 250 last week filed a lawsuit against Ensign Group alleging that 26 of its nursing home facilities violated state health and safety codes by understaffing during 2003, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Thousands of elderly California residents are not enrolled in the $600 annual subsidy that is part of the new Medicare prescription drug discount card program, largely because state agencies have been unable to inform beneficiaries about the program, the Knight Ridder/San Jose Mercury News reports.
A coalition of Canadian groups that represent pharmacies, patients and seniors on Monday called on the Canadian government to ban the export of prescription drugs to the United States, the AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports.
Schwarzenegger Endorses Measure To Fund Stem Cell Research
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Monday endorsed Proposition 71, a bond measure on the Nov. 2 statewide ballot to fund stem cell research, putting him “at odds with his party, statewide and nationally,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Santa Clara County health officials on Thursday sent a letter to Regional Medical Center of San Jose asking the hospital to “immediately cease publicizing” its trauma services because it is illegal for a hospital that is not officially licensed as a trauma center to do so, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
FDA Official Says Cardiovascular Risks Linked to Vioxx Might Not Apply to All COX-2 Inhibitors
The increased risk for heart attacks and strokes that prompted Merck last month to withdraw from the market the arthritis medication Vioxx, a COX-2 inhibitor, might not apply to similar treatments, according to Janet Woodcock, acting deputy commissioner for operations at FDA, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Catholic Healthcare West Reports Increase in Profits for Fiscal Year 2004
Not-for-profit hospital chain Catholic Healthcare West has reported an operating income of $147 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, up from $79 million a year earlier, the Sacramento Bee reports.