Latest California Healthline Stories
Workers Plan Strike at Nine Sutter Hospitals in Bay Area
Workers at nine Sutter Health-owned Bay area medical facilities will strike for three days beginning Monday if contract negotiations do not progress, the Bay City News Service/Contra Costa Times reports.
Bush Budget Cuts Required FEHBP Contraceptive Coverage
In his budget sent to Capitol Hill this week, President Bush has proposed eliminating a requirement that federal employees’ health insurance cover a broad range of contraceptives, a move that “sends a message of support to social conservative groups that do not believe that the federal government should be in the business of making contraceptives available to all,” the Washington Post reports.
Fresno County Asthma Education Program Reduces ED Visits, Hospital Admissions
Teaching people with asthma about their condition can reduce trips to the emergency room and hospital admissions by more than half, according to a four-year study of the Asthma Education and Management Program at Community Medical Centers in Fresno County, the Fresno Bee reports.
‘Social Conservatives’ Hope to Block ‘AIDS Czar’ Nomination
In a “significant break” with the Bush administration, “social conservatives … are mobilizing to try to kill” the nomination of Scott Evertz to the position of director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, the Washington Post reports.
Legislature Should Broaden ‘Compassionate Release’ for Sick, Aging Inmates, Sacramento Bee Says
Pointing to a “massive” class-action lawsuit filed last week against the Department of Corrections over the quality of prison health care, a Sacramento Bee editorial says that no matter who prevails, “California will have to spend more on inmate health care.”
Computers Prevent, Reduce Medication Errors, AHRQ Report Finds
A new report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has found that using computers to prescribe drugs could cut medication errors by more than two-thirds, the AP/Arizona Republic reports.
Aetna Announces Lower-than-Expected Earnings, Stock Falls
Aetna Inc. delivered some “bleak news” yesterday, saying that its first-quarter financial results would be “significantly lower” than analysts’ predictions and that operating forecasts would likely fall short of its own projections, the Hartford Courant reports.
Debate Surrounding CVS Lawsuit and Medical Privacy Heats Up
The lawsuit filed by a man with AIDS over the transfer of his pharmacy records has “broken legal ground” and prompted discussions on the extent to which pharmacy records are kept private, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Four Million Americans Abused Prescription Drugs in 1999
Four million Americans abused prescription drugs in 1999, and two million of them used prescription medications for nonmedical purposes for the first time that year, a new report from the NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse says.
Telemedicine Improves Access to Specialty Care for Rural California Residents
To help expand access to medical specialists and cut costs for patients in rural California, clinics and hospitals have turned to telemedicine, the California Journal reports.