Latest California Healthline Stories
Davis Approves a Number of Health-Related Bills
Gov. Gray Davis (D) recently signed several health-related bills into law.
Tenet To Release ‘Stronger-Than-Expected’ First-Quarter Earnings Estimates
Officials at Santa Barbara-based Tenet Healthcare, the nation’s second-largest for-profit hospital chain and a “bellwether of sorts” for the health care industry, yesterday said that the company will report “stronger-than-expected” earnings for the first quarter, which ended Aug. 31, the Los Angeles Times reports.
DMHC Officials Expected To Announce Future of Lifeguard Today
Officials from the Department of Managed Health Care today are expected to announce the future prospects of San Jose-based HMO Lifeguard, which the state took over last week, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Senate Democrats Work on Package To Increase Providers’ Medicare Reimbursements
Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee are completing work on a $45 billion package that would boost payments to Medicare providers, CongressDaily/AM reports.
Bush Administration Has Right To Replace Experts on HHS Advisory Committees
Although a number of critics have accused the Bush administration of “playing politics” in recent moves to replace Clinton administration appointees serving on HHS scientific advisory committees, Elizabeth Whelan, president of the American Council on Science and Health, writes in a Philadelphia Inquirer opinion piece that the White House has “got every right to replace the last regime’s experts.”
Los Angeles County in October will begin to require physicians and hospitals to report cases of invasive pneumococcal disease — an “aggressive bacterial illness” — to county health officials to help track the level of antibiotic resistance to the disease, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Justice Department Files Appeal in Attempt To ‘Strike Down’ Oregon’s Assisted-Suicide Law
The Department of Justice on Monday filed an appeal with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco in an attempt to “strike down” Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act, the AP/Oregonian reports.
Jury Deliberations Slated To Begin in Ex-Smoker’s Lawsuit Against Philip Morris
A Los Angeles Superior Court jury is scheduled to begin deliberations today in a “closely watched” lawsuit filed by a California ex-smoker who has lung cancer accusing Philip Morris of negligence, fraud and making a defective product, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Davis Approves Four Bills To Bolster State Oversight of HMOs
Gov. Gray Davis (D) on Sunday signed four bills to strengthen state HMO regulations enacted earlier in his administration, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Davis Signs Legislation To Bolster Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Therapeutic Cloning
Gov. Gray Davis (D) yesterday signed into law a bill (SB 253) that will “make California a haven” for embryonic stem cell research, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.