Latest California Healthline Stories
CMS Proposes Extending Coverage to Fetuses
The Bush administration has drafted a policy that would permit states to make fetuses eligible for medical coverage under their CHIP programs, the New York Times reports.
San Francisco Physicians to Urge Federal Officials to Curb Overuse of Antibiotics in Animals
San Francisco physicians, concerned about “growing human resistance” to antibiotics used in livestock and poultry, plan to “push” Congress and the FDA to limit use of the drugs in agriculture, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
CMS Proposed Medicare Rate Reduction for Cheney Procedure
A proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (formerly known as HCFA) would reduce the Medicare reimbursement rate that hospitals receive for implanting cardiac defibrillators — the “device implanted in Vice President Dick Cheney’s chest last weekend to control rapid heartbeats,” the Baltimore Sun reports.
Mercy Healthcare Nurses Reject CHW Contract Offer
Nurses at four Catholic Healthcare West hospitals in Sacramento have rejected a tentative contract agreement and have authorized a strike if negotiations over salary increases remain stalled, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Medi-Cal Reimbursement Rates Trail Most States and Health Plans, Studies Find
Reimbursements to doctors who treat Medi-Cal beneficiaries lag behind those of other states, Medicare and private health plans, according to three new studies released Tuesday by the Medi-Cal Policy Institute, a project of the California HealthCare Foundation.
Columnist Calls for Genetic Privacy Protection
Dr. Francis Collins and J. Craig Venter, the two scientists who led competing efforts to “crack the genetic code,” made a joint appearance in San Diego this week to urge lawmakers to “enact legislation protecting genetic privacy,” nationally syndicated columnist Joseph Perkins writes in a Washington Times piece backing such a measure.
Eli Lilly ‘Inadvertently’ Lists Prozac Patients’ E-Mail
Eli Lilly and Co. last week “inadvertently” released the e-mail addresses of patients taking Prozac for depression, bulimia or obsessive-compulsive disorder, the Washington Post reports.
Chronicle Profiles Cedars-Sinai Handwriting Course for Physicians to Curb Medication Errors
To help avoid potential medication errors caused by physicians’ poor penmanship, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles has launched a “low-tech, low-cost solution” as a “stopgap” measure — free handwriting classes, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Man Gets Self-Contained Artificial Heart
In a seven-hour operation Monday, an unnamed man with only days to live received the “first totally implantable, permanent” artificial replacement heart, the Washington Post reports.
Hospital Staff Organ Donation Requests Are Less Effective
“[P]ublic education” is needed to “modify attitudes” about organ donation, according to researchers investigating the factors that influence families’ decisions on whether to donate a deceased family member’s organs.