Latest California Healthline Stories
Guidelines Needed for Live Liver Donation, Doctors Say
Writing in today’s issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, several doctors propose appointing an “external regulator” to review hospitals that perform live liver transplants, the AP/Albany Times Union reports.
California’s Medical Malpractice Law Should be a Model for Other States, CMA’s Lewin Says
With several states, including Nevada, Pennsylvania and Florida, struggling with problems linked to “extraordinary” increases in malpractice insurance, California Medical Association Executive Vice President Dr. Jack Lewin said yesterday on NPR’s “All Things Considered” that the nationwide problem “will only get worse” unless states adopt laws similar to one California has had in place for 25 years.
Cleland to Propose Bill to Establish New CDC Bioterrorism Center
Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.) yesterday announced plans to propose legislation that would establish a new bioterrorism center at the Atlanta-based CDC, the Wall Street Journal reports.
HIAA Releases Spanish-Language Version of Long-Term Care Insurance Guide
The Health Insurance Association of America has released a Spanish-language version of the group’s “Guide to Long-Term Care.”
PacifiCare Lowers Medicare HMO Cancer Treatment Copays
PacifiCare’s Secure Horizons Medicare+Choice plan, one of the nation’s largest Medicare HMOs, announced yesterday that it will lower copayments for cancer treatment, following “widespread complaints” from cancer patients, some of whom paid “hundreds, even thousands” of dollars a month for treatment, USA Today reports.
California Pacific Medical Center’s Institute for HIV Treatment and Research to Close Next Month
The Institute for HIV Treatment and Research at California Pacific Medical Center’s Davies campus will close next month, the San Francisco Examiner reports.
L.A. Times Examines Herbal Supplement Industry, Debate
The Los Angeles Times today examines the “largely unregulated” herbal supplement industry, which has “grown rapidly in recent years” and faces legal scrutiny.
State Has Improved in Several ‘Key Health Status Indicators,’ New DHS Report Finds
The state continues to make progress in several “key health status indicators,” including prenatal care and AIDS, syphilis and measles rates, according to a new report issued yesterday by the Department of Health Services in cooperation with the California Conference of Local Health Officers.
Davis May Borrow $4 Billion in Tobacco Settlement Funds to Cover State Budget Deficit
In response to “worsening” budget revenue estimates, Gov. Gray Davis (D) plans to borrow as much as $4 billion in future tobacco settlement funds to cover the state’s estimated $17.5 billion budget deficit, which could affect a number of state health care programs, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
States Look to Boost Cigarette, Alcohol Taxes
Faced with “massive” budget deficits, many states are “grappling with an uncomfortable choice” of cutting programs or raising taxes on items such as cigarettes and alcohol, MPR’s “Marketplace” reports.