Latest California Healthline Stories
Schumer Asks FTC To Investigate Rx Drug Promotional Tactics Used by Manufacturers, Pharmacies
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate advertising programs used by drug makers and pharmacies to promote certain drugs to their customers through letters and phone calls, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Individuals, Small Businesses Face Increasingly Difficult Health Plan Choices, CHCF Report Says
Individuals purchasing their own health insurance and small businesses offering their employees health coverage are paying higher monthly premiums or receiving “scaled-down” benefits as medical costs continue to rise, according to a report released last week by the California HealthCare Foundation.
Henderson Resigns as Director of HHS Office of Public Health Preparedness
Donald Henderson last Friday resigned his position as director of the HHS Office of Public Health Preparedness, a post created to coordinate U.S. defenses against bioterrorist threats, the AP/Nando Times reports.
Los Angeles Times Examines Tiered Hospital Plans
The Los Angeles Times today reports on the trend of tiered hospital plans, new health plans developed in California that a number of national health insurers may adopt next year.
Federal Judge Denies Appeal to Reopen Medical Marijuana Distribution Case
A federal judge last Friday denied a request by the Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Cooperative to lift an injunction that bars the group from distributing marijuana for medicinal purposes and rejected its appeal to reopen a case regarding whether the group may legally distribute the drug, the AP/Nando Times reports.
Thompson ‘Confident’ Congress Will Approve Medicare Rx Benefit By Election Day
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson said on Saturday that he is confident that Congress will approve a Medicare prescription drug benefit by the November elections and that the Bush administration supports a House Republican proposal to create such a benefit, the Washington Times reports.
New York Times Examines Debate Over Nurse Staffing Ratios
The New York Times today examines the nation’s nursing shortage and the debate between hospitals and nurses over how many patients nurses can safely care for at one time.
Health Net Reports $7.4 Million Increase in First-Quarter Earnings
Woodland Hills-based Health Net Inc. last Thursday announced that first-quarter net income in 2002 rose to $49.8 million, or 40 cents per share, from $42.4 million, or 34 cents per share, a year earlier, despite a drop in revenue, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Rising Malpractice Insurance Premiums Prompt OB/GYNs To Leave Field
If the “skyrocketing” costs of malpractice insurance for obstetricians continue to rise, the nation’s growing shortage of OB/GYNs will “worsen” as more physicians leave the field due to financial constraints, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Boxer Criticizes Proposed Changes to Medical Privacy Rules in San Diego Union-Tribune Opinion Piece
The Bush administration’s proposal to alter some elements of the federal medical privacy rules enacted by the Clinton administration in December 2000 “threaten[s] to disrupt the current balanced approach” of protecting individual privacy while allowing for efficient delivery of health care services, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) writes in a San Diego Union-Tribune opinion piece.