Latest California Healthline Stories
Bush Sends Congress $2.23 Trillion Fiscal Year 2004 Budget Proposal
President Bush yesterday sent Congress a $2.23 trillion budget proposal for fiscal year 2004 that would create a $307 billion deficit in the next budget year and a deficit of more than $1 trillion over the next five years, the New York Times reports.
San Diego Council To Debate Ordinance To Legalize Medical Marijuana
The San Diego City Council today will debate a proposal that would make medical marijuana use legal for as many as 3,000 “seriously ill” people, the Los Angeles Times reports.
KPC Medical Management Patient Records May Be Destroyed
Medical records for 250,000 former patients of now-defunct KPC Medical Management, formerly Southern California’s largest for-profit medical group, may be destroyed by the company that has been storing them because it is no longer receiving money to keep the records, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Children’s Stimulant Prescription Rates Greater in South, Midwest United States
Children in the South and Midwest are much more likely to be prescribed stimulant drugs such as Ritalin for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder than are children in other areas of the United States, USA Today reports.
Los Angeles Times Profiles Laguna Beach Clinic, Examines Impact of Proposed State Budget Reductions
The Los Angeles Times on Sunday profiled the Laguna Beach Community Clinic, which treats thousands of low-income and uninsured patients and may have to reduce services because of proposed local and state budget reductions.
FDA Approves Biotechnology Drug To Treat Skin Condition Psoriasis
The FDA has approved Biogen’s Amevive, the first-ever drug developed by a biotechnology company to treat psoriasis, the New York Times reports.
Extensive CDC Study on Levels of Toxins in U.S. Residents Finds Mixed Results
An “unprecedented array” of toxins were detected in the blood and urine of U.S. residents in the “most exhaustive and detailed” study to date of such toxins, according to a CDC report released Friday, the Washington Post reports.
Thompson Unveils Bush Administration’s Medicaid Reform Proposal
In response to recent appeals by states for federal relief from “soaring” Medicaid costs, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson on Friday unveiled the Bush administration’s proposal to “revamp” Medicaid by giving states more freedom to decide what medical services are provided to the one-third of Medicaid beneficiaries to whom states are not required by law to give benefits but who are covered at the states’ discretion, the Washington Post reports.
CalPERS paid Tenet Healthcare hospitals in California about 50% more on average than other hospitals in the state for member hospital stays in 2002, according to a report prepared by CalPERS, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Federal Jury Convicts Medical Marijuana Grower for Conspiracy, Cultivation
In a “triumph for federal prosecutors seeking to override California’s endorsement” of medical marijuana, a federal jury on Friday convicted Oakland medical marijuana grower and advocate Edward Rosenthal of felony conspiracy and cultivation charges, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.