Latest California Healthline Stories
Proposed Cloning Bans ‘Appear Dead’ in Senate, Passage Not Likely Anytime Soon
A bill sponsored by Sens. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.) that would ban all forms of human cloning has “stalled” in the Senate, and it now appears unlikely that the bill — or an alternative measure sponsored by Sens. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) — will win passage anytime soon.
Nursing Home Operator to Pay $1.1 Million to Settle Federal Charges of Labor Violations
Pleasant Care Corp., a La Canada-based nursing home operator, has agreed to pay $1.1 million in back wages and penalties to settle a federal complaint alleging labor violations, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Resident Workweek Rule Raises Concerns Among Teaching Hospitals About Cost, Care
Many of the country’s teaching hospitals are concerned that the recent regulations limiting the number of hours medical residents can work will cost them “millions of dollars” and will force them to “think seriously about the best way to deliver care and educate residents,” the New York Times reports.
Drug Makers Turn to Customized Prescription Drug Ads
The Wall Street Journal today reports on a new type of marketing “quietly” being used by pharmaceutical companies in which “tailor-made ads are wrapped into the directions and warning labels” given to patients picking up prescriptions at the pharmacy.
Kaiser Permanente President and COO To Step Down in July
Kaiser Permanente President and Chief Operating Officer L. Dale Crandall will resign in July, the Los Angeles Times reports.
HHS Issues New Patients’ Rights Rules for Medicaid Beneficiaries in Managed Care Plans
The Bush administration yesterday issued new patients’ rights protections for Medicaid beneficiaries in managed-care plans, guaranteeing them a grievance process, access to a second opinion and coverage for emergency care, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Bush Approves Five-Year Reauthorization Measure for Prescription Drug User Fee Act
President Bush on Wednesday signed into law a measure that reauthorizes for five years the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, Reuters reports.
Increasing Sales Tax Could Help Los Angeles County Trauma Services, Anderson Says
Los Angeles County residents should “take action to protect the [county health] system even if it means paying more taxes,” Gail Anderson, medical director Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, writes today in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece.
House GOP to Send Different Versions of a Medicare Reform Bill Through Two Committees
As House Democrats unveiled their proposal for a $750 billion to $800 billion, 10-year Medicare prescription drug benefit yesterday, House Republicans said they will send different versions of their Medicare reform package to the Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce committees next week, CongressDaily reports.
Reiner Proposes Using Cigarette Tax Funds To Insure Low-Income and Undocumented Children
Actor and director Rob Reiner on Thursday proposed using some of the money from the state’s cigarette tax to fund health coverage for uninsured children in Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles Times reports.