Latest California Healthline Stories
The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights has asked the Senate Rules Committee to reject Bill Gausewitz — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s (R) nominee to head the Office of Administrative Law — unless he agrees to recuse himself from all regulatory matters concerning the insurance industry, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Men with prostate cancer that appears to be contained are more likely to survive after receiving short-term hormone treatments combined with standard radiation therapy compared with receiving radiation alone, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the AP/Boston Globe reports.
Many Physicians Recommend More Repeat Colonoscopies Than Required, Study Finds
Patients who have low-risk polyps removed after a colonoscopy do not require as many repeat colonoscopies as some physicians recommend, according to a study published on Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the Reuters/Arizona Daily Star reports.
CalPERS Discloses Dropped, Added Health Plan Contracts
Seventeen cities, counties, schools and special districts across the state have notified CalPERS that they are dropping their contracts with the public pension fund, but 14 local governments have signed new contracts to purchase health benefits through CalPERS, according to figures the fund released Tuesday, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Patients Treated by Hospitalists Receive More Efficient, Less Expensive Care, Study Finds
Patients treated by “hospitalists” — physicians who provide care in hospitals rather than operate outside clinical practices — have shorter hospital stays and lower hospitalization costs than those treated by non-hospitalists, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at the Department of Veterans Affairs Iowa City Health Care System and the University of Iowa, the AP/Birmingham News reports.
Assembly To Vote on Bill To Require Health Plans To Offer Maternity Benefits
The Assembly is expected this week to vote on a bill (SB 1555) that would require all health plans in the state to include maternity benefits, the Sacramento Bee reports.
San Diego County Board Unanimously Votes To Eliminate Funding for Children’s Mental Health Program
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously voted to end county funding for a $17.6 million state-mandated mental health program for schoolchildren with mental illnesses, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Bills To Establish State Prescription Drug Web Site Stalled in Legislature
Two bills that would establish a state Web site to direct residents to Canadian pharmacies from which they could purchase prescription drugs have “become unexpectedly bottled up in the Legislature” because of a “clash of egos and an institutional power struggle between the Senate and Assembly,” the Ventura County Star reports.
The antidepressant Prozac in conjunction with cognitive behavioral therapy is the most effective treatment for depression in adolescents, but Prozac does increase the risk that some patients might harm themselves or others, according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Washington Post reports.
PhRMA CEO Holmer Refutes Former NEJM Editor’s Assertions About Pharmaceutical Industry
There were “many inaccuracies” about the pharmaceutical industry put forth by Marcia Angell, former editor in chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, in her recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America CEO Alan Holmer states in a Times letter to the editor.