Latest California Healthline Stories
State Senate Passes Bill That Would Authorize Jail Time for Blocking Access to Abortion Clinics
The California Senate on Wednesday voted 26-12 to approve a bill (SB 780) by state Sen. Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento) that would authorize jail sentences of up to one year for protesters who block abortion clinics, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports.
Orange County Officials Concerned Over HIV Misinformation, Increasing Syphilis Rates
Citing a new study showing a “nonchalance” among HIV-positive residents about transmitting the virus and a rise in reported syphilis cases among men who have sex with men, health officials in Orange County are “concerned” that “unsafe sex is on the rise,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
New Web Site Offers Seniors Information on State, Federal Assistance Programs
The National Council on the Aging has set up a new Web site that provides seniors with information on approximately 1,000 federal and state assistance programs for the elderly, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
Labor Department Plans Public Forums on Ergonomics
The Labor Department plans to announce today that it will hold three public hearings in July to determine how it should act “to regulate — or not regulate” the workplace conditions that can lead to repetitive stress injuries, the Washington Post reports.
Delta Dental Receives State Grant to Expand Services to Healthy Families Beneficiaries
The Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board recently awarded Delta Dental of California $6.8 million to expand its participation in Healthy Families.
Jury Orders Philip Morris to Pay $3B to Smoker
A Los Angeles jury Wednesday ordered Philip Morris Inc. to pay more than $3 billion in damages to Richard Boeken, a 56-year-old smoker with lung cancer, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Wall Street Journal Outlines Patients’ Rights Debate
Today’s Wall Street Journal outlines the “new debate” over a patients’ bill of rights, on which Senate Democrats — in charge of setting the Senate’s agenda for the first time since the “demise of the Clinton health care plan in 1994” — intend to “speed up action.”
State Senate Passes Three Bills to Expand Medi-Cal, Healthy Families
The state Senate this week passed a package of bills that would expand access to public health care programs to an estimated two million state residents lacking health care coverage, the Sacramento Bee reports.
AMA Drops Unionization Plans After Supreme Court Ruling
In response to a recent Supreme Court decision, the American Medical Association’s Physicians for Responsible Negotiation is “backing off” plans to unionize physicians at private hospitals, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Public Citizen Charges That DEA Failed to Report Physicians to National Practitioner Databank
The consumer group Public Citizen has sent a letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft stating that the federal Drug Enforcement Agency has failed to report the names of “at least” 2,592 doctors who voluntarily surrendered their federal licenses to prescribe narcotics to the National Practioner Data Bank, the Wall Street Journal reports.