Latest California Healthline Stories
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.
Mississippi Health System Agrees To Settle Lawsuit Filed Over Alleged Charity Care Violations
North Mississippi Medical Center on Thursday agreed to provide “almost-free care” to low-income, uninsured patients to settle a lawsuit that accused the health system of charity care violations, the New York Times reports.
New York Attorney General Files Suit Against Express Scripts, Alleging $100 Million in Fraud
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (D) on Wednesday filed suit against pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts — which manages drug benefits for New York state employees – alleging the company defrauded the state of up to $100 million over five years, USA Today reports.
Savings and Loan Executives Contribute $1 Million to Campaign Supporting Proposition 71
Marion and Herbert Sandler, co-CEOs of the Oakland-based World Savings Bank, on Friday contributed $1 million to the campaign supporting Proposition 71, which would provide funding for stem cell research, the AP/Fresno Bee reports.
San Jose Mercury News Examines ‘Controversial’ Health Proposals in California Performance Review
The San Jose Mercury News on Thursday examined some of the most “controversial health and human services proposals” in the recently released California Performance Review.
National Labor Relations Board Overturns Cedars-Sinai Nurses’ Decision To Unionize
The National Labor Relations Board on Monday “thr[ew] out” a vote by nurses at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles to join the California Nurses Association, ruling that CNA “engaged in unfair tactics that influenced the election,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
NIH Rejects Request To Override Abbott’s Norvir Patent
NIH on Wednesday rejected a request from the consumer group Essential Inventions to override patents on Abbott Laboratories’ antiretroviral drug Norvir to allow the production of a generic version of the drug, “effectively allowing” Abbott’s recent 400% price increase for the drug to stand, the AP/ABCNews.com reports.
Newspapers Feature Presidential Candidates’ Health Care Proposals
Two recent articles examined the health plans proposed by President Bush and Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (Mass.).
CMS Report Highlights Treatment Errors at King/Drew
CMS inspectors on Wednesday made public a report that found nine patients at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center were not given “vital antibiotics” and breathing treatments, the Los Angeles Times reports.
FDA Analysis Supports Mosholder Report on Antidepressants
An FDA draft document analysis reviewed by the Wall Street Journal indicates a link between antidepressants and suicidal behavior and thoughts among children and teenagers, “consistent with the controversial earlier analysis” written by FDA medical officer Dr. Andrew Mosholder.