Latest California Healthline Stories
Los Angeles Times Looks at Alleged Link Between Thimerosal, Autism
The Los Angeles Times on Saturday looked at the controversy surrounding the use of thimerosal, a preservative that is 49.6% ethyl mercury, in infant vaccines.
Aventis-Pasteur, County Chief Medical Officers Oppose Bill To Ban Mercury in Vaccines
Aventis-Pasteur and the California Conference of Local Health Officers, which represents the chief medical officers of the state’s 58 counties, in the past week wrote separate letters to Assembly member Fran Pavley (D-Woodland Hills) to express their opposition to a bill she sponsored that would ban the use of thimerosal — a preservative that is about 50% ethyl mercury — in vaccines administered to pregnant women and children younger than age three, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Number of Penalties Assessed to Nursing Homes Has Decreased Since 2000, Government Data Indicate
New data from the federal government indicate a “significant decline” in the number of penalties assessed to nursing homes for violations of federal health and safety standards over the past four years, the New York Times reports.
Attorney Files Lawsuits Against Three For-Profit Hospital Chains Over Charges to Uninsured Patients
Alabama attorney Archie Lamb, who spearheaded a lengthy racketeering class-action lawsuit against the nation’s HMOs, on Thursday filed separate lawsuits against for-profit hospital chains HCA, Universal Health Services and Health Management Associates, alleging that they generated “hundreds of millions of dollars in profits” by charging uninsured patients “inflated rates,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Workers’ Compensation Reforms Not Translating Into Savings, Employers Say
Many employers say the state “has a long way to go” to reduce the cost of workers’ compensation insurance, and most do not believe that several workers’ compensation reform measures lawmakers passed last year and the workers’ compensation law (SB 899) enacted earlier this year have saved businesses a significant amount of money, according to a survey released Friday by Pacific Staffing, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Schwarzenegger Should Sign Bill To Permit Over-the-Counter Syringe Sales, Editorial States
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) “should have better sense” than to veto a bill (SB 1159) that would allow state pharmacists to sell clean needles without prescriptions because it “makes so much common sense it is hard to see how anybody could consider opposing it,” an Orange County Register editorial states.
Health Insurance for Employees Has Become Most Expensive Benfit for Employers, Study Finds
The cost of providing health care benefits to employees has become the most expensive benefit for employers, surpassing for the first time in a decade the cost of providing of paid leave, according to a study released Tuesday by the Employment Policy Foundation, CBS Marketwatch/Tallahassee Democrat reports.
Madera Community Hospital Signs Medi-Cal Contract After Three Years
Madera Community Hospital has signed a contract with the state to begin providing nonemergency services to Medi-Cal beneficiaries, the Fresno Bee reports.
John Muir/Mt. Diablo Health System To Consolidate Cardiac Services
The board of the John Muir/Mt. Diablo Health System has approved plans to construct a new cardiovascular center on the health system’s Concord campus to “streamline care and merge highly trained cardiac specialists and technology into a single program,” the Contra Costa Times reports.
A proposal announced by NIH Director Elias Zerhouni to revise the oversight system for consulting agreements between NIH employees and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies would not adequately address concerns about conflicts of interest, according to an Office of Government Ethics report dated July 26 obtained by the Los Angeles Times.