Latest California Healthline Stories
HHS Creates Task Force to Eliminate Paperwork
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson announced Friday the creation of a task force that will “streamline the paperwork” that is “driving away private insurers” participating in the Medicare+Choice program, the AP/Las Vegas Sun reports.
State Board Of Pharmacy to Resume Undercover Inspections
The state Board of Pharmacy this month will resume conducting undercover investigations of pharmacies after inspections were stopped last year to allow investigators to focus on “resolving complaints,” the AP/Sacramento Bee reports.
GSK to Pay $6.4M for Murders Committed by Man Taking Antidepressant Paxil
A federal District Court jury in Wyoming ruled Wednesday that GlaxoSmithKline must pay $6.4 million to the relatives of a man who killed three family members and himself after taking the company’s antidepressant Paxil, Bloomberg News/Los Angeles Times reports.
Health Information Companies Passport Health, Medicheck Merge
Franklin, Tenn.-based Passport Health Communications has merged with Los Angeles-based Medicheck Inc., in a deal that will make the combined company one of the nation’s “largest providers of business transaction services to the health care industry,” the Nashville Tennessean reports.
Aetna Paid Millions in Error Due to Faulty Records
Aetna Inc. has been paying some claims twice and some bills for people it no longer covers, the Hartford Courant reports.
‘NewsHour’ Looks at Legislation Aimed at Preventing ‘Use and Abuse’ of Genetic Testing
PBS’ “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” last night explored the “use and abuse of genetic testing,” and reported on current legislation proposed in Congress.
FDA Proposes Returning Mailed Foreign Rx Drug Shipments
Following this week’s launch of an FDA investigation of counterfeit drugs found in American pharmacies, FDA officials yesterday recommended that “all but a trickle” of small foreign prescription drug shipments found by U.S. Customs Service agents at mail-inspection sites be returned, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Physicians Work to Keep Mt. Diablo Medical Center Obstetrics Unit Open
A group of doctors at Mt. Diablo Medical Center plans to launch an initiative to protest the transfer of “key programs,” such as obstetrics, to John Muir Medical Center, the hospital’s corporate partner, the Contra Costa Times reports.
Wall Street Journal Profiles California’s Fight Against Big Tobacco
Following a Los Angeles jury’s recent decision to award a smoker with lung cancer $3 billion in punitive damages, as well as two previous court losses for the tobacco industry in the state, the Wall Street Journal reports that California is “giving the tobacco industry a major case of nerves.”
Frist Patients’ Rights Bill Would Raise Premiums 2.9%
The patients’ rights proposal sponsored by Sens. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), James Jeffords (I-Vt.) and John Breaux (D-La.) and endorsed by President Bush would raise the “median annual insurance premium” by 2.9%, according to a new report from the Congressional Budget Office, the AP/Wichita Eagle reports.