Latest California Healthline Stories
Plan to Close Mount Diablo Obstetrics Unit Raises Concerns
Community leaders are concerned that a cost-cutting proposal that would shift obstetrics and pediatric services from the Concord-based Mount Diablo Medical Center to its corporate partner, John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, will “shrink the only hospital in Contra Costa’s largest city into little more than an outpatient clinic,” the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Bush Excludes Some Private NGOs from WHO Delegation
Selection of the official U.S. delegation to this week’s meeting of the World Health Assembly, the World Health Organization’s governing body, has left many private-sector organizations, such as the American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association, feeling “shunned by the Bush administration,” the Washington Post reports.
FTC Nominee Says He Would Continue Generic Drug Probe
During a confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee yesterday, Timothy Muris, President Bush’s nominee to head the Federal Trade Commission, said that if he is approved, he would be likely to continue the FTC’s investigation of “anticompetitive behavior in the drug industry,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Health Forum Series Focuses on Hispanic Health
Policy makers in the Central Valley will convene tomorrow and Friday to discuss ways to improve health care for area Hispanics, the Fresno Bee reports.
Medical Center Offers Legal Program for Families
To “figh[t] the legal and administrative battles that the doctors deem necessary to improve childrens’ health in ways that pills and surgery cannot,” the Boston Medical Center has implemented the Family Advocacy Program, a hospital-based staff of three lawyers, the New York Times reports.
‘Paperless’ ENT Practice Featured in Washington Post
The Washington Post yesterday reported on the Washington ENT Group, a “paperless” private medical practice that relies almost exclusively on wirelesstechnology.
New Cholesterol Guidelines Call for Increased Drug Use
A federally sponsored panel issued new cholesterol guidelines yesterday, proposing that the number of Americans on cholesterol-lowering drugs triple to 36 million and that the number on cholesterol-lowering diets should increase from 52 million to 65 million, the New York Times reports.
DHS to Hold Public Hearing on HIV-Reporting Guidelines Today
The Department of Health Services will hold a public hearing today on a “controversial” HIV-reporting proposal that AIDS activists say might “keep people from getting tested for the virus,” the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Frist Patients’ Rights Bill ‘Denounced’ From All Sides
Sens. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), John Breaux (D-La.) and James Jeffords (R-Vt.) yesterday introduced their patients’ rights bill, which “was denounced with equal vigor by opposing sides in the debate,” making its “prospects … uncertain,” the Washington Post reports.
Eli Lilly Discloses Massachusetts Inquiry into Medicaid Pricing
The Massachusetts attorney general’s office in March served Eli Lilly & Co. with a subpoena regarding possible Medicaid reimbursement violations, according to a quarterly financial filing released yesterday by the drug maker.