Latest California Healthline Stories
Rx Drug Benefit, Patients’ Rights in Jeopardy
Despite last week’s terrorist attacks, several lawmakers have indicated that Congress intends to press on with domestic issues, including health care, the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin reports.
Experts Question Health System’s Readiness for Potential Bioterrorism
As the United States continues to recover from last week’s terrorist attacks, many federal officials and medical workers are examining a “new worry” — the possibility that terrorists could use biological or chemical weapons, such as anthrax or smallpox toxins, the Wall Street Journal reports.
World Trade Center Debris May Pose Health Risks for Rescue Teams, Public
In the aftermath of the attack on the World Trade Center last Tuesday, “dust, debris and shards of razor-sharp metal” may pose health risks for those “still alive in the ruins” and rescue teams “combing through the debris,” the New York Times News Service/Baltimore Sun reports.
Florida Supreme Court to Review Drug Treatment Plan
The Florida Supreme Court will review a proposal to amend the state constitution to allow judges to send first- and second-time drug offenders to treatment instead of jail, the AP/South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports.
Internet Program Allows U.S. Seniors to Purchase Less-Expensive Pharmaceuticals from Canada
With prescription drug costs on the rise, United Health Alliance, a not-for-profit health group, runs a program to help seniors import drugs from two Canadian pharmacies, the Chicago Tribune reports.
DMHC Takes Over Control of ‘Financially Troubled’ Tower Health
The Department of Managed Health Care Friday seized control of financially troubled Tower Health, the third managed care company to be taken over by the agency this year, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Report Finds That Even Low Levels of Arsenic Can Cause Cancer
Even “minute amounts” of arsenic in drinking water could lead to an increased risk of lung and bladder cancer, according to a new National Academy of Sciences study, which concludes that the substance is “more hazardous than earlier thought.”
Drug Company, Medical Stocks Could be ‘Refuge’ for Investors
With U.S. markets opening today for the first time since last Tuesday’s terrorist attacks, shares of medical device and pharmaceutical makers may be a “refuge” for investors, Bloomberg News/Contra Costa Times reports.
Parents’ Concern Over Emergency Contraception Bill Should Prompt Better Communication with Kids
If Gov. Gray Davis (D) signs into law a bill passed by the Legislature, California women could “walk up to their pharmacist’s counter without a prescription and get the ‘morning after pill,'” a Sacramento Bee editorial says.
Legislature Passes Companion Bill to Workers’ Comp Measure
The state Legislature on Saturday approved a “companion measure” to “offset some of the costs” of a bill passed earlier this month that would increase workers’ compensation benefits, the Sacramento Bee reports.