Latest California Healthline Stories
Texas hospitals near the U.S.-Mexico border say that providing uncompensated emergency care to people living in northern Mexico is placing a heavy financial burden on resources that are already “strained,” the Associated Press reports.
Documents Show Drug Representatives’ Belief in Effectiveness of Physician Incentives
Adding to the controversy surrounding pharmaceutical companies’ gifts to physicians, sales representatives for TAP Pharmaceuticals, which last year paid a record fine for illegal marketing practices, said that presenting food and “small gifts” to physicians was effective in increasing their company’s drug sales, according to internal company documents, the Boston Globe reports.
Ventura County Health Officials Raise Concerns About CMS Nursing Home Quality Guide
Ventura County health officials said that a nursing home quality guide released last week by CMS represents only a “starting point” for selection of nursing homes and “may not accurately measure their quality,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Senate Democrats Plan To Remove Vaccine Liability Provision in Homeland Security Bill
Senate Democrats will likely “try to strip out” a provision from legislation to establish a new Department of Homeland Security that would limit liability for vaccine manufacturers before lawmakers vote on the bill tomorrow, the Wall Street Journal reports.
GOP Control of White House, Congress May Offer ‘Best Chance’ for Medicare Rx Drug Benefit
Republican control of the White House and Congress may offer the “best chance in decades” for passage of a Medicare prescription drug benefit, the Washington Post reports.
Wall Street Journal Examines Use of Online Pharmacies
The Wall Street Journal today looks at the issues facing consumers who purchase their prescription drugs through online pharmacies.
Kaiser Permanente Agrees To Pay $1 Million Fine for Death of HMO Patient
Kaiser Permanente, the state’s largest HMO, last week agreed to pay a $1 million fine over alleged “fatal lapses” in the treatment of a patient, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Court Finds Fen-Phen Claims ‘Medically Unreasonable’
A U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, Pa., last week ruled that many claims filed against Wyeth under a class-action diet drug settlement “have no reasonable medical basis” and should not be paid, a decision that could “curb the drug maker’s liability” in the case, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Tenet Hospitals in California Charge More Than Competing Facilities
Tenet Healthcare, the largest hospital operator in California, charges considerably more on average for medical procedures than do competing hospitals, according to state data, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Increased health care costs and the recent economic downturn will likely force employers to pass more of the cost of health insurance premiums to employees and reduce their take-home pay in the next few years, a panel of health care experts said Wednesday, the Ventura County Star reports.