Latest California Healthline Stories
Bush Will Not Nominate Wood for FDA Commissioner
Vanderbilt University pharmacology professor Alastair Wood will not be nominated by President Bush to be commissioner of the FDA, the Nashville Tennessean reports.
For the first time in at least eight years, the percentage of Californians enrolled in HMOs has decreased, dropping below 50% in 2001, according to a survey released yesterday by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust.
Many Diabetes Patients Unaware of Heart Disease Risk
More than two-thirds of Americans with diabetes “do not realize they have a much higher than normal risk” of heart disease and stroke, a new survey released yesterday found.
States Look to Tobacco Tax Hikes to Cure Budget Woes
The Wall Street Journal today examines how more states are looking to increase their cigarette taxes in order to balance budget shortfalls, a tactic that pleases health economists and anti-smoking groups, “who say that price increases are the most effective way to discourage smoking.”
Thompson Announces HHS Regulatory Reform Committee
To address federal regulations that often overburden physicians with “[t]oo much paperwork,” HHS has created the Advisory Committee on Regulatory Reform, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson writes in a Miami Herald opinion piece.
KQED’s ‘Health Dialogues’ Program Focuses on Community Health Efforts
KQED’s “Health Dialogues,” a live monthly call-in program funded by the California Endowment to examine health care issues in California, will focus tonight on community efforts to “navigate the state’s deteriorating health care structure.”
Walgreen Executives Criticize Bush Rx Drug Discount Plan
Executives at Walgreen Co., a national drugstore chain, said Tuesday that President Bush’s pharmacy discount card plan would “hurt the bottom line of pharmacies while failing to provide real savings” for Medicare beneficiaries, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Florida Doctor Convicted of Manslaughter in OxyContin Overdose Case
Dr. James Graves was found guilty of manslaughter by a Florida circuit court jury yesterday for prescribing the “powerful painkiller” OxyContin to four patients who died from an overdose of the drug, the AP/St. Petersburg Times reports.
The California Endowment yesterday announced that it has awarded $10.5 million in grants to 30 organizations that address agricultural workers’ health care needs.
New Campaign for Uninsured May ‘Sputter,’ Columnist Warns
A campaign to reduce the nation’s uninsured population launched last week by a broad coalition of business, health and advocacy groups began “to sputter as soon as the health care moguls were asked about solutions,” Abigail Trafford writes in a Washington Post opinion piece.