Latest California Healthline Stories
New Advertising Campaign Touts Bill to Allow Needle Sales Without a Doctor’s Prescription
Proponents of a bill (SB 1785) that would allow adults to purchase as many as 30 hypodermic needles at licensed pharmacies without a doctor’s prescription have launched an advertising campaign to promote the legislation, the AP/Long Beach Press-Telegram reports.
Veterans Affairs Announces Plans To ‘Overhaul’ of Health Care System
The Department of Veterans Affairs today will announce plans to “overhaul” its health care system in an attempt to “shif[t] its focus to outpatient care” and “bring services closer to people who need them,” the AP/Arizona Republic reports.
Pentagon Adviser Questions Congress’ Bioterrorism Preparedness Plan
Congress’ plan for shoring up the nation’s defenses against biological attacks is inadequate, as lawmakers are not doing much more than simply “throwing money against a problem,” according to a top Pentagon adviser.
Senators Introduce Patient Safety Bill Based on Recommendations in 1999 IOM Medical Error Report
Sens. John Breaux (D-La.), Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and James Jeffords (I-Vt.) yesterday introduced the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act, which would implement many recommendations suggested by the Institute of Medicine on reporting medical errors, CongressDaily/AM reports.
Contra Costa County, San Diego County Jails ‘Struggling’ to Address Mental Health Issues
The mental health system in Contra Costa County has become “an overloaded bureaucracy struggling to help some of the county’s most fragile residents,” the Contra Costa Times reports.
USA Today, Wall Street Journal Examine Generic Drug Patents and Competition
USA Today and the Wall Street Journal today both feature several articles examining issues surrounding generic drugs.
Bristol-Myers’ Blood Thinner Plavix ‘Not Worth’ the Cost in Long Term, NEJM Study Finds
Plavix, a blood thinner manufactured by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., only “works slightly better” than aspirin to prevent repeat heart attacks or strokes and “is not worth the extra cost” in the long term, according to a study in today’s New England Journal of Medicine, the AP/Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports.
Medical Marijuana Supporters Launch Hunger Strike Outside Former Cooperative in West Hollywood
Medical marijuana activists yesterday began an “open-ended hunger strike and encampment” at the West Hollywood Los Angeles Cannabis Resources Center, a cooperative that had supplied marijuana to individuals with chronic health problems before federal agents shut down the center last October, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Wall Street Journal Examines Health Insurers’ Tiered Hospital Plans
The Wall Street Journal today reports on the trend of tiered hospital plans, which are designed to encourage patients in commercial managed care plans to utilize hospitals that cost insurers less.
Support Staff at Two San Jose-Area Hospitals Hold One-Day Strikes
In the latest action by hospital staff and nurses in contract negotiations, support staff at O’Connor Hospital in San Jose and Saint Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy yesterday held a 24-hour strike, the San Jose Mercury News reports.