Latest California Healthline Stories
Kern County Board of Supervisors Increase Supervision of Kern Medical Center
The Kern County Board of Supervisors is “stepping up its oversight” of county-owned Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield, as officials estimate the center will have a budget deficit of $8 million for the current fiscal year, the Bakersfield Californian reports.
California Senate Health and Human Services Committee Approves Prescription Drug Reimportation Bills
The Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday voted 8-2 to approve two bills that would allow the state to reimport prescription drugs from Canada, the Contra Costa Times reports.
San Joaquin General Hospital To Eliminate 150 Jobs
The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a proposal to eliminate 150 jobs across all departments at San Joaquin General Hospital in French Camp to reduce the facility’s $15 million budget deficit, the Stockton Record reports.
Texas Web Site Web Site With Plaintiff Database Shuts Down
DoctorsKnow.Us — a Texas Web site that included a database of patients who had filed medical malpractice lawsuits, their attorneys and expert witnesses — on Wednesday shut down voluntarily after the site “ignited a firestorm because it could potentially be used to deny care to patients,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Senate Committee Hearing Addresses Medicare Prescription Drug Discount Cards
Medicare prescription drug discount cards “will be very powerful incentives to lower the price of prescription drugs,” acting CMS Administrator Dennis Smith told members of the Senate Aging Committee on Tuesday during a hearing, CongressDaily reports.
District Approves Measure Allowing Residents To Vote on Tax for Doctors Medical Center
The West Contra Costa Healthcare District board on Tuesday unanimously approved a proposed June ballot measure that would establish an annual parcel tax to fund the Doctors Medical Center San Pablo/Pinole, which operates the only full-service emergency department in West Contra Costa County, the Contra Costa Times reports.
Workers’ Compensation Rating Bureau Estimates 2004 Losses To Shrink
The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau on Tuesday announced that its 2004 projected total losses for workers’ compensation insurance carriers would decrease by $7 billion to $17.9 billion, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Obesity Second Leading Cause of Preventable U.S. Deaths, CDC Study Finds
Poor eating habits and physical inactivity rank as the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States behind smoking, and if current trends continue, obesity could become the leading cause by next year, according to a CDC study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Washington Post reports.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday requested that the county Department of Health Services develop operating procedures to run county-owned Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center by May 1 without its affiliated medical school, Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science, the AP/Fresno Bee reports.