Latest California Healthline Stories
Los Angeles County Installs Temporary Management Team at King/Drew Medical Center
Los Angeles County health officials on Thursday installed a temporary management team to oversee operations at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center after the hospital received an “unfavorable” assessment that may force the closure of 18 medical residency programs, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Schwarzenegger Meets With Garamendi on Workers’ Compensation
Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Thursday met with Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi (D) to discuss further workers’ compensation reform, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
FDA Will Not Sue Cities, States That Reimport Rx Drugs
The FDA on Thursday announced that it will not sue cities and states that set up plans to reimport lower-cost U.S.-made prescription drugs from Canada, the Boston Globe reports.
Health Net Agrees to $137 Million Settlement for Lawsuit Over Sale of Workers’ Compensation Firm
Woodland Hills-based insurer Health Net on Thursday agreed to settle a lawsuit filed in 2000 by now-defunct Calabasas-based Superior National Insurance Group for $137 million, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Democrats Call for Vote on Mental Health Parity Bill
A group of Democratic senators on Thursday called for an “immediate vote” on a mental health parity bill (S 486) supported by the late Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.), who died last Oct. 25 in a plane crash, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
BRCA Genetic Mutations Sharply Raise Risks of Breast and Ovarian Cancers, Study Finds
Women who have inherited mutated versions of either of two genes linked to breast and ovarian cancer have “extremely high odds” of getting one of the cancers even if they do not have a family history of the diseases, according to the New York Breast Cancer Study, the results of which were published in Friday’s issue of the journal Science, the Washington Post reports.
Democratic Presidential Candidate Edwards Announces 10-Year, $3.5 Billion Long-Term Care Proposal
Presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) on Thursday announced a 10-year, $3.5 billion proposal to improve long-term care for seniors, the AP/Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.
A woman in Pakistan doing medical transcription for the University of California-San Francisco Medical Center through a subcontractor threatened to post patients’ medical records on the Internet unless she was paid more money, David Lazarus reports in his San Francisco Chronicle column.
King/Drew Medical Center May Have To Close All Resident Training Programs
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education on Wednesday found Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center’s oversight of its medical resident training programs to be “substandard,” a “first step” in a process that could force the hospital to close all 18 of its resident training programs, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Union for Grocery Store Clerks Explains How Contract Might Affect Health Care
United Food and Commercial Workers officials at a press conference on Wednesday contested supermarket chains’ portrayal of an ongoing strike as a “tussle over just $5 to $15 a week” in newspaper advertisements and letters to workers, the Los Angeles Times reports.