Latest California Healthline Stories
SEIU Members To Vote on Agreement With Catholic Healthcare West
The Service Employees International Union on Tuesday announced that union leaders have agreed to a four-year contract with hospital chain Catholic Healthcare West, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Prescription Drug Prices Vary Widely in Bay Area, Survey Finds
Prescription drug prices vary widely by category and by store in the Bay Area, according to a survey of local independent pharmacies, drugstore chains, mail-order outlets and Canadian online pharmacies, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
In a “novel claim testing the way that the $400 billion worldwide pharmaceutical industry is regulated,” New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (D) on Wednesday filed suit in New York State Supreme Court accusing GlaxoSmithKline of “fraud in concealing negative information” concerning its antidepressant Paxil, the New York Times reports.
Bush Administration Will Not Submit Technical Corrections To Medicare Law Before Deadline Next Week
The Bush administration will not submit technical corrections to the Medicare prescription drug bill to Congress before next week’s deadline, The Hill reports.
More Than One-Third of Nursing Homes Not in Compliance With State Staffing Law, Report Finds
More than one-third of nursing homes in California do not meet state-mandated nurse staffing levels, a factor that affects the quality of patient care, results in weight loss in some patients and causes some patients to spend more time in physical restraints, according to a report released Thursday by the California HealthCare Foundation, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Presidential Candidates Have Not Addressed Health Care Cost Issue, Los Angeles Times States
The issue of increased health care costs has become the “elephant on the 2004 campaign trail, the threat” that neither President Bush nor presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) has “confronted squarely,” a Los Angeles Times editorial states.
Bioterrorism Preparedness Varies Throughout State, Study Finds
Preparedness for bioterrorist attacks or large-scale disease outbreaks varies widely among counties, reflecting budget cuts in local jurisdictions that maintain most of the oversight over public health preparedness, according to a study released Wednesday by RAND Health, the Sacramento Bee reports.
The cost of retiree health insurance for former Contra Costa county employees has increased by more than 127% over the last five years, according to a report released Friday by the county grand jury, the Contra Costa Times reports.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento and its Catholic Charities affiliate on Friday filed papers requesting that the U.S. Supreme Court review a state law that requires employers to include contraceptive coverage in health plans that cover other prescription drugs, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Federal Judge Rules Ban on So-Called ‘Partial-Birth’ Abortion Is Unconstitutional
U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton in San Francisco on Tuesday ruled that a federal ban on so-called “partial-birth” abortion is unconstitutional because the law would “endanger women’s health and violate their right of access to abortion,” the San Francisco Chronicle reports.