Morning Breakouts

Latest California Healthline Stories

NIH Pressed to Base Disease Funding on Mortality Rates

Some lawmakers and health advocates are pressuring Congress to base funding for disease research on mortality, an effort that would “sharply reduce” HIV/AIDS research funding if successful, the Washington Times reports.

Burton Calls for More Autism Research Funding

Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) said yesterday that an increase in government-funded “basic and clinical” research into the cause of autism is necessary because the number of U.S. children diagnosed with the disease is increasing, the AP/South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports.

State Lawmakers Should Not Mandate Health Coverage ‘One Treatment at a Time,’ Los Angeles Times Says

State lawmakers often “play a vital role in ensuring that patients get essential care,” but they should not pass the “raft” of bills introduced in the Legislature this year that would “regulate one treatment at a time,” according to a Los Angeles Times editorial.

Nursing Homes Will Be First Industry to Face Ergonomic Guidelines

Moving forward with the Bush administration’s plan to develop voluntary guidelines to protect workers in industries with high rates of muscular-skeletal injuries, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao announced yesterday that nursing homes will be the first industry to face such regulations, the AP/Nando Times reports.

Contra Costa County Begins Crackdown on Over-the-Counter Sales of Prescription Drugs in Latino Supermarkets

Contra Costa County health officials yesterday raided several supermarkets that illegally sold prescription medications over the counter, seizing hundreds of pharmaceuticals including Viagra, Accutane and birth control pills, the Contra Costa Times reports.

Doctors Say Proposed Ballot Measure to Ban Identification of Race on Documents Could Endanger Public Health

A measure that would prohibit the identification of individuals’ race in state and local government documents, including hospital records, may appear on the California ballot as early as November, but some doctors fear that the proposal could endanger public health, the AP/Baltimore Sun reports.