Latest California Healthline Stories
Complementary and Alternative Therapies Gain Popularity, CDC Study Finds
U.S. residents are now commonly using complementary and alternative medical therapies — such as prayer for good health, herbal tonics, acupuncture, massage and yoga — either alone or in conjunction with conventional medicine, according to a survey conducted by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, the Washington Post reports.
Assembly Votes To Reject Bill To Ban Smoking in Vehicles With Young Children
The Assembly on Thursday voted to reject a bill (AB 2997) that would have required motorists to pay fines for smoking in vehicles with young children present, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports.
Workers’ Compensation Insurer Zenith To Lower Premium Rates 10%
Officials for Woodland Hills-based Zenith National Insurance on Wednesday announced that the company would reduce workers’ compensation insurance premiums by 10% this year as a result of the recently enacted workers’ compensation reform law (SB 899), the Los Angeles Times reports.
Aetna Drops Lawsuit Over 400% Price Increase of Abbott HIV/AIDS Drug Norvir
Aetna on Thursday “abruptly” dropped a class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco against Abbott Laboratories over the drug company’s recent 400% price increase for its antiretroviral drug Norvir, the Hartford Courant reports.
Retiree Concerns Over Impact of Medicare Law on Employer Prescription Drug Coverage Examined
The AP/Akron Beacon Journal on Thursday examined concerns from retirees with employer-sponsored health benefits that the new Medicare law will prompt companies to drop their prescription drug coverage.
Federal Appeals Court Panel Upholds Oregon Physician-Assisted Suicide Law
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled that Attorney General John Ashcroft “far exceeded his authority by interfering” with the 1997 Death With Dignity Act, an Oregon law that allows physician-assisted suicide, the Washington Post reports.
State Nurse Staffing Ratio Rules Upheld in District Court Decision
Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Gail Ohanesian on Wednesday dismissed a hospital industry challenge to recently enacted nurse staffing regulations, ruling that the California Healthcare Association’s request to remove regulations requiring extra nurses during break periods would render the law “meaningless,” the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Lawsuit Filed Over Medi-Cal Reimbursement for Assistive Speech Devices
A recent 20% cut in Medi-Cal reimbursement rates to providers of medical devices that facilitate language communication has resulted in a number of beneficiaries with severe speech impediments being illegally denied aid, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Sacramento, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Los Angeles County DHS Delays Plans To Downgrade Neonatal Unit at King/Drew Medical Center
Los Angeles County Department of Health Services officials said Thursday that they are delaying plans to downgrade the neonatal intensive care unit at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center because they need more time to study the possible effects of the move, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Rate of Health Insurance Premium Increases Likely To Slow to 10% in 2004
The rate of health insurance premium increases likely will slow this year to about 10%, compared with increases of 14% to 18% in the past several years but “still more than double the overall inflation rate,” the New York Times reports.