Latest California Healthline Stories
Additional Hearings Likely To Delay, Not Kill Anthem-WellPoint Merger
Issues raised in a five-hour legislative hearing Wednesday before a joint Assembly and Senate committee “may stall, but will not likely kill” a proposed $15.5 billion merger between Indiana-based Anthem and California-based WellPoint Health Networks, according to some analysts, Reuters/Orange Country Register reports.
Ventura County Inmates Receive Good Care, Grand Jury Report Finds
Inmates at Ventura County’s three jails receive health care that is “first-rate” and “beyond what is required under state law,” according to a final report released Tuesday by the 2003-2004 Ventura County Grand Jury, the Ventura County Star reports.
CalPERS Projects Premium Rate Increases Consistent With National Average
Officials for CalPERS, the third-largest purchaser of health care in the nation, on Tuesday announced that premium increases for 2005 for its health program will be consistent with the projected national average of about 14%, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
FDA Orders Abbott Laboratories To Revise Marketing Materials for Antiretroviral Medication Norvir
FDA regulators on Thursday ordered Abbott Laboratories to stop including in marketing materials and on its Web site, misleading claims that its antiretroviral drug Norvir is the lowest-priced drug in its class, Reuters reports.
Despite the recent development of a number of new technologies that aim to improve screening methods for breast cancer, mammograms still offer “the greatest potential to save lives for the immediate future,” and medical experts need to find ways to expand and improve their use, according to a new Institute of Medicine report, the Chicago Tribune reports.
San Joaquin County Supervisors Approve Merger of Substance Abuse Services, Mental Health Department
The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted 4-1 to merge the Office of Substance Abuse with the Mental Health Services department, citing a consultant’s report that found OSA “has no effective administrative structure,” the Stockton Record reports.
United Senior Action of Indiana on Thursday filed a federal class-action lawsuit against nine pharmaceutical companies for an alleged conspiracy that began in 2002 to block the sale of prescription drugs from Canadian wholesalers and pharmacies to U.S. residents in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, the Indianapolis Star reports.
Congressional Action on Mental Health Parity Legislation Stalled
A bill (S 486) that would require mental health parity in insurance coverage has been “bog[ged] down in Congress” despite efforts by supporters to scale back the measure’s requirements, the AP/Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.
San Francisco Chronicle Opinion Pieces Address Prescription Drug Reimportation
Two opinion pieces in the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday addressed the reimportation of lower-cost, U.S.-made prescription drugs and a bill (SB 1144) that would allow the state to reimport medications from Canada for Medi-Cal and other state health programs.
Orange County To Use Tobacco Settlement Funds To Finance Care at Medical Clinics
Orange County is planning to use most of the funds it will collect in fiscal year 2004-2005 from the national tobacco settlement to finance operations at community medical clinics and to cover charity care costs at local health care facilities, the Orange County Register reports.