Latest California Healthline Stories
Medical Board Considers Expanding Amount of Physician Discipline Information Made Public
Medical malpractice settlements and misdemeanor crimes committed by physicians are among the information that the state Medical Board is considering disclosing to consumers, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
‘Smart House’ Monitoring Systems Could be Marketed by Next Year
A “smart house” designed to keep tabs on elderly patients and those with chronic conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease or osteoarthritis may be available to the public as early as next year, the AP/Nando Times reports.
Patient Lawsuit Challenges San Diego Medical Group’s Malpractice Policy
A San Diego resident has filed a lawsuit attempting to force Scripps Clinic to abandon its policy of “dropping patients if they file a malpractice suit against any of its 300 doctors,” the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
HIV/AIDS Neglected in Bush’s State of the Union Address, UCSF Researchers Write
“[I]n pointing out the ‘unprecedented dangers’ fac[ing] the nation in his State of the Union address, [President Bush] somehow fail[ed] to mention HIV/AIDS,” Thomas Coates, Stephen Morris and Jeff Sheehy of the AIDS Research Institute at the University of California-San Francisco write in a commentary for ABCNews.com.
GlaxoSmithKline to Launch Human Trials of HIV Vaccine
Drug maker GlaxoSmithKline announced yesterday that it will begin clinical trials of an HIV vaccine in the United States this year, Reuters/Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Opinion Pieces Offer Contrasting Views on Value of New Minimum Nurse Staffing Ratios
Although instituting minimum nursing ratios is a “good first step” toward strengthening California’s health care system, the plan “does not address the underlying structural defects” that contribute to the state’s nursing shortage and could cause more problems in the future, Pam Slater, a member of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, writes in a San Diego Union-Tribune opinion piece.
Blue Shield of California Introduces Tiered Copayments for Hospital Visits
Blue Shield of California yesterday announced a “two-tiered” hospital system that will charge members higher copayments for being treated at hospitals not included on the plan’s “choice” list of facilities, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
In Governor’s Race, Uninsured Have Become ‘Political Darlings,’ Bee Editorial Says
Republican gubernatorial candidate Richard Riordan, former mayor of Los Angeles, has “outflanked” Gov. Gray Davis (D) in his advocacy to help the uninsured and support for a waiver to expand Healthy Families to cover the parents of children enrolled in program, a Sacramento Bee editorial says.
Creation of Kidney from Cloned Cow Embryos May Impact Senate Stem Cell Research, Cloning Debate
The announcement by researchers at a Massachusetts biotechnology company that they have developed functioning “miniature kidneys” by using cells from cloned cow embryos could influence the congressional debate over stem cell research and human cloning, the New York Times reports.
Bush Administration Proposes ‘Eclectic’ Plan to Help Uninsured
The Bush administration yesterday outlined an “eclectic strategy” to help the nation’s uninsured, the Washington Post reports.