Latest California Healthline Stories
HCA to Give San Jose Medical Center, Regional Medical Center $21.4M to Purchase New Equipment
HCA-The Healthcare Co. has approved a $21.4 million plan to purchase new equipment at Regional Medical Center and San Jose Medical Center in East San Jose, the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal reports.
FDA Issues Warnings to Drug Makers for ‘Misleading’ Ads
Drug makers AstraZeneca, Pharmacia Corp., Abbott Laboratories and ICN Pharmaceuticals have received FDA warning letters about using “misleading” advertising to promote their drugs to consumers and physicians, Bloomberg News/Los Angeles Times reports.
Study Finds States Not Following CDC Guidelines for Spending Tobacco Settlement Funds
Although state governments are receiving billions of dollars from the national tobacco settlement, few states are spending the money on antitobacco programs at the levels recommended by the CDC, a study released yesterday found, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Software ‘Glitch’ Reveals Names of Deceased Organ Donors to 410 Recipients
A software “glitch” at the University of Minnesota last month revealed the names of deceased kidney donors to the 410 recipients of their kidneys, a “serious violation of patient confidentiality and medical ethics,” the AP/Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports.
Most Americans Satisfied with Their Health Plans, Poll Finds
Although previous surveys have found that most Americans have “negative views” of managed care, and therefore favor patients’ rights legislation, the majority of American adults with health coverage continue to “think well” of their own health plans, including employer-provided plans, Medicare and Medicaid, a new Harris Poll finds.
A state appellate court yesterday ruled that trial court judges can allow felons convicted “in recent years” to receive drug treatment under Proposition 36, the voter-approved initiative that sends nonviolent first- and second-time drug offenders to treatment rather than jail, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Supreme Court Denies Eli Lilly’s Prozac Patent Appeal
The Supreme Court yesterday refused to consider Eli Lilly’s appeal of a ruling invalidating the patent on its anti-depressant Prozac, ending a six-year legal battle over the rights to the medication, the AP/Nando Times reports.
Judge Likely to Side with Blue Shield in Coverage Dispute with Department of Managed Health Care
A Sacramento Superior Court judge issued a “preliminary judgment” yesterday siding with Blue Shield of California in its lawsuit alleging that the Department of Managed Health Care improperly required the HMO to pay for a weight-loss drug not covered in a member’s contract, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Los Angeles Judge Denies Pallotta TeamWorks’ Request to Stop New California AIDS Ride
A Los Angeles judge yesterday ruled that two “competing” AIDS rides may both take place this spring, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Trade Group Expects HHS to Loosen HIPAA Medical Privacy Rules
An official of the National Association of Manufacturers, the nation’s largest industrial trade organization, said last week that he expects HHS to relax the HIPAA medical privacy rules dictating the level of patient consent required for companies to use individuals’ medical information, Technology Daily PM reports.