Latest California Healthline Stories
Nguyen Anthrax Strain ‘Indistinguishable’ from Others
The strain of anthrax that killed 61-year-old Kathy Nguyen, a Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital supply clerk, is “indistinguishable” from that sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), the New York Post and NBC News, the New York Times reports.
Frist, Kennedy Prepare Two-Track Approach for Legislation
After several delays, Sens. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) said yesterday they will likely introduce a “joint bioterrorism authorization bill” next week to bolster preparedness for a possible attack, CongressDaily reports.
FDA Warns Foreign Online Rx Companies Against U.S. Cipro Sales
The FDA has sent letters to 16 foreign online pharmacies warning them not to sell Cipro in the United States, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Stem Cells, Cloning Dropped From Labor-HHS Spending Bill
A measure that would have allowed an expansion of federally funded embryonic stem cell research and proposed amendments that would have banned all forms of human cloning have been dropped from the $123.1 billion FY 2002 Labor-HHS Appropriations bill to avoid “lengthy debate” over the bill on the Senate floor, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Sen. Cleland to Introduce Bill to Boost CDC Authority
Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.) said yesterday that he plans to introduce legislation that would name the CDC “primary responder” in bioterrorism cases and allow the agency to have “first access” to bioterrorism crime scenes to determine the “magnitude of any health risk,” Cox News Service/Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Appeals Court Says Proposition 36 Applies to Those Convicted, But not Sentenced, Before July 1
The 2nd District Court of Appeals in Los Angeles ruled yesterday that Proposition 36, the voter-approved initiative that sends nonviolent first- and second-time drug offenders to treatment instead of jail, does apply to people convicted but not sentenced before July 1, the date the law took effect, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Study Examines Managed Care ‘Gatekeeping’
A new study published in today’s New England Journal of Medicine found “no overall increase” in visits to specialists when the Massachusetts HMO Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates began to allow members to make such visits without a referral from a primary care physician.
Siemens, Microsoft Announce New Partnership to Optimize Health Information Applications
Siemens Medical Solutions Health Services Corp. and Microsoft Corp. announced Tuesday that they have entered into a “new strategic alliance” aimed at “optimiz[ing]” Siemens’ health information applications on the Microsoft .NET Enterprise technology platform.
2001 Medicare Spending Rose 10%; Physician Cuts Likely
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced yesterday that Medicare spending rose 10% in fiscal year 2001, the largest increase since 1995, the AP/Nando Times reports.
Labor Representatives Urge Lawmakers to Address Nursing Shortage
Saying that the quality of care in California hospitals is being affected by the nursing shortage, labor representatives this week called on state lawmakers to keep the issue “at the top of their political agendas,” the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports.