Latest California Healthline Stories
Attorney General Issues Subpoena to Watson Pharmaceuticals in Medi-Cal Price Investigation
Watson Pharmaceuticals was issued a subpoena from Attorney General Bill Lockyer (D) requesting records on the company’s drug pricing, according to documents filed by the generic drug maker on Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bloomberg/New York Times reports.
San Francisco Chronicle Features Three Health Care Opinion Pieces
The San Francisco Chronicle on Friday featured an opinion series titled, “Health Care: A Right or a Privilege.”
Stanislaus County Approves Pay Raises for Nurses, Psychiatric Staff
The Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously to pay nearly $1 million for wage raises, retention incentives, recruitment efforts and additional salaries for licensed vocational nurses and other psychiatric staff at the Stanislaus Behavioral Health Center, the Modesto Bee reports.
CDC To Develop State Scoring System for Bioterrorism, Natural Disaster Preparedness
The CDC is working to develop a scoring system to measure states’ preparedness for bioterrorism and other health emergencies, the AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Nurse Strike Increases Personnel Costs at Doctors Medical Center
Doctors Medical Center San Pablo/Pinole is spending about $2.6 million per month on staffing costs related to an ongoing nurses strike at the facility, the Contra Costa Times reports.
Contra Costa Health Services Launches Twice-Monthly Health Column in Contra Costa Times
The Contra Costa Health Services on Sunday launched a twice-monthly column in the Contra Costa Times called “Healthy Outlook.”
Medicare Conferees May Abandon Reimportation Language
Negotiators attempting to reconcile the House and Senate Medicare bills (HR 1 and S 1) might not include language that would permit people in the United States to purchase cheaper prescription drugs from Canada and other foreign nations, the Washington Post reports.
Education Group Holds Meeting To Inform Ventura Seniors of Health Insurance Options
The Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program, an education group, on Monday discussed health insurance options with more than 100 seniors in Ventura who are among the 6,400 Medicare+Choice beneficiaries whose policies will not be renewed next year by Kaiser Permanente and Blue Cross of California, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Prescription Drug Prices 33% to 80% Lower in Canada Than in United States, Report Finds
Prices for 10 of the most popular drugs in Canada are 33% to 80% less expensive than in the United States, according to a survey of drug prices on U.S. and Canadian pharmacies Web sites conducted by the Associated Press, the AP/Washington Times reports.
Bush Signs ‘Partial-Birth’ Abortion Ban Into Law
President Bush on Wednesday signed a bill (S 3) that bans so-called “partial-birth” abortion, enacting the first federal law to criminalize an established abortion procedure, but a federal judge in Nebraska “minutes” after the measure was signed issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Justice Department from enforcing the law in some states, the Los Angeles Times reports.