Latest California Healthline Stories
Legislature Should Pass Mental Health Treatment Measure, Los Angeles Times Says
The California Legislature should pass at least the “cost-neutral portions” of a bill (AB 1421) that would expand the circumstances under which mentally ill individuals could be ordered to undergo involuntary treatment, a Los Angeles Times editorial states.
Bill Would Help Farm Workers Obtain Health Coverage
Speaking at the Sequoia Community Health Center, a Fresno-based community clinic that predominantly serves field laborers, Assembly member Dean Florez (D-Shafter) on Friday announced legislation (AB 883) that would allow growers, the state and not-for-profit groups to pool funds to purchase affordable insurance for farm workers, the Fresno Bee reports.
Healthy Families Enrollment Tops 400,000
Healthy Families has enrolled more than 400,000 low-income children, California First Lady Sharon Davis and state health officials announced last week, the Orange County Register reports.
Drug Companies Use ‘Subtle’ Approach in Online Advertising
The pharmaceutical industry is increasingly turning to online marketing — a seemingly “natural fit” — but in more subtle ways than their direct-to-consumer television ads, the Wall Street Journal reports.
HHS To Develop Internet Reporting System for Medical Errors
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson is expected to announce the creation of a task force today that will develop an “Internet-based clearinghouse” of medical errors, the AP/Chicago Sun-Times reports.
New Privacy Rules to Enhance Rights of Californians
New federal medical privacy rules that took effect on April 14 will help bolster patient privacy in California, which already has “fewer cracks and holes” in its privacy standards “than most states,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Bush May Give Nod to ‘Hard-liner’ for Drug Czar
After a “frustrating search,” President Bush will likely appoint John Walters, president of the Philanthropy Roundtable, to “assume the controls” at the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
EPA Study Review Links Soot to Early Deaths
After reviewing the studies that influenced its proposed rule to curtail soot emissions, the Environmental Protection Agency has determined there is a “stronger link than ever” between the “tiniest particles” of soot and thousands of premature deaths, the New York Times reports.
Oakland, San Francisco May Mandate Hiring Bilingual Workers for City Public Services
To provide services to a “fast-growing population of immigrants not proficient in English,” the cities of San Francisco and Oakland are considering ordinances that would require many city government departments to hire bilingual workers, the Los Angeles Times reports.
‘Rate-Setting’ Would Worsen Physician Group Insolvency, Times Says
While doctors are “not entirely wrong to blame penny-pinching health plans” for the near-bankruptcy of over half of California’s physician-managed medical practices, they “are attempting a cure that is worse than the disease,” a Los Angeles Times editorial states.