Latest California Healthline Stories
Experts Attribute Increased Suicides in Jails to Rise in Number of Inmates with Mental Illness
The number of inmates in California who committed suicide reached a record high last year, which some experts attributed to an increase in the number of mentally ill individuals in the state’s jail system, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Kennedy To ‘Move Quickly’ on Bill Allowing FDA To Regulate Tobacco Advertising
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) last Friday promised to “move quickly” this summer on a bill he has introduced with Sens. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) and Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) that would allow the FDA to regulate tobacco advertisements, CongressDaily reports.
Mt. Diablo Health Care District Settles Lawsuit Over Closure of Birthing Center in Concord
The Mt. Diablo Health Care District has settled a lawsuit that the district filed against the John Muir/Mt. Diablo Health System over the health system’s decision last year to close the birthing center at Mt. Diablo Medical Center, the Contra Costa Times reports.
Program Seeks to Reduce Spread of Infectious Diseases Among Ventura County Farm Workers
A new, two-year program in Ventura County is seeking to reduce the spread of infectious diseases by focusing on the county’s farm workers, providing them with disease screenings and encouraging them to seek follow-up care, the Los Angeles Times reports.
San Francisco-based Medem Inc., a company that develops Web sites for physicians, launched a service today that allows doctors to offer online consultations and bill patients for the interaction, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Newspapers Assess Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Plans
Democrats and Republicans made headlines last week by preparing several competing Medicare prescription drug plans for consideration this session.
AMA May Endorse New Guidelines Limiting Medical Residents’ Hours
The American Medical Association is considering endorsing new guidelines limiting the number of hours medical residents can work when it holds its annual meeting this week in Chicago, the AP/Washington Post reports.
Ventura County Supervisors Consider Budget, Warn Health Services Could Face Reductions
Ventura County supervisors meeting today to work out the details of the county’s fiscal year 2002-2003 budget have warned that health programs may face further cuts if state reductions are “as severe as expected,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
CBO Report Finds National Deficit Will Exceed $100B in 2002, Could Affect Government Health Spending
A new finding by the Congressional Budget Office that the national deficit will exceed $100 billion for 2002 could “squeeze money for the government’s health care programs,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Assembly Committee Should Pass Bill to Allow Needle Sales Without a Prescription, Mercury News Says
A vote in the Assembly to defeat a Senate-passed bill (SB 1785) that would allow adults to purchase as many as 30 hypodermic needles at licensed pharmacies without a doctor’s prescription “would show only that legislators are soft in the head but hard in the heart when it comes to protecting Californians” from HIV/AIDS, according to a San Jose Mercury News editorial.