Latest California Healthline Stories
State Family Leave Law Takes Effect
Beginning Thursday, California workers who have contributions to the state disability fund deducted from their paychecks will be eligible to receive a portion of their wages while they care for a seriously ill relative or a newborn, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Stanislaus County Supervisors Approve Reductions in Health Spending, Eliminating Health Programs
Stanislaus County supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously to approve reductions in health services, the Modesto Bee reports.
Boarding School To Help Obese Teens Lose Weight Will Open in Reedley
A boarding school intended to help obese children lose weight and learn healthy lifestyles will open in Reedley in September, the Washington Times reports.
Sutter Health Added to Class-Action Suit Against Not-for-Profit Hospitals Over Charity Care
A coalition of trial lawyers on Wednesday filed a lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco against not-for-profit hospital chain Sutter Health for alleged charity care violations, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports.
Reimportation Bill Could Be Combined With Internet Pharmacy Measure
In an attempt to “bolster its outlook,” supporters of a bill (S 2328) that would allow the reimportation of prescription drugs from other nations could combine it with separate legislation that would regulate Internet pharmacies, CongressDaily reports.
Rate of Uninsrued Decreases Among Children, Increases for Working-Age Adults
The percentage of uninsured children decreased to the lowest recorded level ever in 2003, but the overall percentage of uninsured working-age adults increased slightly, according to an annual survey released Wednesday by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, the AP/Long Island Newsday reports
New Medicare Law Fails Seniors, Daschle States in Opinion Piece
With the new Medicare law and other recent events, the nation’s health care system has been “slanted in favor of the HMOs and big drug companies at the expense of regular Americans,” Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) writes in a Houston Chronicle opinion piece.
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America To Issue Clinical Trial Publication Guidelines
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America is expected this week to post on its Web site new standards on the disclosure of clinical drug trials, a move that would represent the “most specific response by the drug industry” to allegations that it downplays unfavorable trial results, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Health Net Lone Bidder for Kern County’s Healthy Kids Program
County officials have said that Woodland Hills-based Health Net was the only health insurer to bid on a contract to administer Kern County’s Healthy Kids program, a “controversial” initiative to provide health insurance to some county residents under age six, the Bakersfield Californian reports.
HHS Office of Inspector General Report Finds Drug Makers Overcharge Public Hospitals, Clinics
Pharmaceutical companies have “repeatedly overcharged” medical clinics and public hospitals for low-income patients’ medications, sometimes making them pay “more than the maximum prices allowed by federal law” under a discount program established in 1992 through the Public Health Service Act, investigators from the HHS Office of Inspector General said Tuesday, the New York Times reports.