Latest California Healthline Stories
Solutions to Rising Health Care Costs Will Be Harder Today Than in the Early 1990s, Columnist Says
Although the U.S. health care system looked as bleak in the early 1990s as it does now, “[t]aking the steps required to restrain costs … will be even harder today than it would have been” then, David Wessel writes in his “Capital” column in the Wall Street Journal.
WebMD Reports ‘Significant’ Drop in Net Loss in First Quarter of 2002
WebMD Corp. Tuesday reported that the company’s first-quarter loss “narrowed significantly” in 2002, as the Internet health care company moved “beyond its restructuring phase” and received a “relative boost” from a new accounting rule, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Southern California Hospitals Not Prepared to Address Bioterrorist Attacks, Expert Warns
California must “do far more” to prepare hospitals for biological and chemical attacks, Amy Smithson, an expert on biological and chemical warfare, told state health officials on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times reports.
At U.N. Conference, Thompson Urges Inactive Children to ‘Get Moving’
Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly Special Session on Children yesterday, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson said that although the health of American children is improving, too many children are inactive and should “get moving,” the AP/Las Vegas Sun reports.
Survey Indicates Many Californians Unaware of Needs, Costs Associated with Long-Term Care
Many state residents are “woefully ignorant” about the need and cost of long-term care, according to a new survey of 1,003 residents conducted by the Field Institute.
A “conservative group with ties to the pharmaceutical industry” has announced plans to launch a multimillion-dollar television advertising campaign in support of the House Republican Medicare prescription drug benefit proposal, the AP/Las Vegas Sun reports.
Hoping to reduce prescription drug costs, Senate Democrats unveiled a bill yesterday that would limit the amount of marketing expenses drug makers can claim as a tax deduction, AP/Newsday reports.
California Supreme Court Considers Whether Tobacco Industry Protected from Certain Lawsuits
The California Supreme Court yesterday heard arguments in two cases that will determine the “ground rules” for future litigation against tobacco companies, the Los Angeles Times reports.
KQED ‘Health Dialogues’ Program to Examine Patient Health Literacy Tonight
KQED’s “Health Dialogues,” a live monthly call-in program sponsored by the California Endowment to examine health care issues in the state, tonight will address the problems faced by a number of patients “who are increasingly taking responsibility” for their health care.
UCSF to Use $117,000 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Grant to Study Video Doctor Program
The University of California-San Francisco Center for Health Improvement and Prevention Studies has received a $117,000 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant to determine whether the center’s multimedia patient risk assessment program “could be seamlessly integrated” into primary care.