Latest California Healthline Stories
Estrogen Might Reduce Risk of Alzheimer’s disease, JAMA Study Says
Women who take estrogen to relieve the symptoms of menopause might also reduce their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by 41% or more, according to a study published in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association.
AstraZeneca Will Appeal Prilosec Patent Decision that ‘Paves the Way’ for Generic Competition
Drug maker AstraZeneca said yesterday that it will appeal a court ruling issued last month that “paved the way” for the introduction of a generic version of its ulcer medicine Prilosec, AP/Long Island Newsday reports.
Attorneys for the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana yesterday asked a federal judge to order the return of 167 marijuana plants seized in a raid by Drug Enforcement Administration agents in September, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
‘Share-of-Cost’ Payments Hurt Finances of Many Medi-Cal Beneficiaries
The Sacramento Bee today examines the situation faced by a group of Medi-Cal beneficiaries who must pay a portion of their health care costs out-of-pocket because they earn slightly too much money.
Minnesota Gov. Ventura Appoints Independent To Finish Wellstone’s Term
Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura (I) yesterday named his longtime political adviser, Dean Barkley (I), to fill the Senate seat left vacant last month by the death of Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.), the Washington Post reports.
Medical and public health schools need to “increase[e] cooperation” with one another, and there needs to be greater funding for public health research and education, according to a new Institute of Medicine report released yesterday, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports.
Many Patients Who Seek Routine Care at ERs Could Safely Delay Care, Study Says
Many patients who use hospital emergency rooms to receive treatment for “ordinary aches and pains” could be safely turned away with instructions to return the following day for care, according to a new study in the current issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, the AP/Wichita Eagle reports.
Tenet Hires Independent Medical Auditor, Sends Investigators to Redding Medical Center
Tenet Healthcare has hired an independent medical auditor and sent a team of investigators to look into allegations that two surgeons at Redding Medical Center performed unnecessary surgeries and into questions surrounding the company’s “unusually high” Medicare payments, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Registered Nurses at Doctors Medical Center on Strike ‘Indefinitely’
All 450 registered nurses working at Doctors Medical Center, which has facilities in San Pablo and Pinole, are now on strike “indefinitely,” according to California Nurses Association officials, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Wall Street Journal Looks at End-of-Year ‘Scramble’ To Use Flexible Spending Account Funds
The Wall Street Journal today examines the increased number of individuals “scrambling” to physicians and massage therapists to use the funds that remain in their flexible spending accounts before the end of the year.