Latest California Healthline Stories
CMA Files Brief in Opposition to Federal Efforts To Overturn Oregon Assisted-Suicide Law
The California Medical Association yesterday filed a brief with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco in opposition to efforts by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to overturn an Oregon law that allows physician-assisted suicide, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Delay of Potassium Iodide Pill Distribution Endangers Residents, Los Angeles Times Says
California’s plan to delay distribution of potassium iodide pills to protect residents who live near nuclear power plants from radiation exposure “is more than insulting — it endangers people who need to protect themselves,” according to a Los Angeles Times editorial.
San Mateo County Health Plan for Low-Income Residents May End Next Year
The San Mateo County Commission on Public Assisted Medical Care yesterday voted to send notices to physicians as early as this week that the county’s health plan for low-income residents “could be on the verge of extinction,” the San Jose Mercury News reports.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday decided to delay a vote until Jan. 21, 2003, on whether to convert Harbor-UCLA and Olive View-UCLA medical centers to outpatient facilities to help cover a budget deficit in the county’s health system, the Copley News/Torrance Daily Breeze reports.
House Passes Homeland Security Legislation To Reorganize 22 Existing Agencies
In what would be the largest government reorganization since the creation of the Defense Department in 1947, the House yesterday in a 299-121 vote approved legislation (HR 5710) that would create a new Department of Homeland Security, the Washington Post reports.
Service Workers at Stanford, Lucille Salter Packard Hospitals Strike
As expected, hospital workers at Stanford University and Lucile Salter Packard hospitals yesterday held a one-day strike, several days after they rejected a new contract proposal, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
GAO Report Calls CMS Nursing Home Quality Guide ‘Premature’
One day after CMS launched a guide detailing the quality of care at all 17,000 nursing homes nationwide, the General Accounting Office released a report labeling the guide “premature” and saying that its information might be “confusing and inaccurate,” the Contra Costa Times reports.
USA Today Op-Ed Looks at State Prescription Drug Formularies
The federal government should move to stop the pharmaceutical industry from blocking states’ implementation of preferred drug lists to reduce health care costs, Joel Gurin, executive vice president of Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, writes in a USA Today opinion piece.
A California Superior Court judge yesterday ruled that the Medical Board of California’s case seeking to temporarily suspend the licenses of two doctors under federal investigation for performing unnecessary surgeries was without merit, allowing the doctors to continue practicing, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Advocacy Group Calls for 50% Salt Reduction in Processed Foods To Improve Public Health
The American Public Health Association on Tuesday recommended a 50% reduction in the amount of salt in processed and restaurant foods over the next 10 years, the Contra Costa Times reports.