Latest California Healthline Stories
GOP-Sponsored Medicare Rx Drug Amendment Passes Narrowly
The Senate narrowly approved a GOP-sponsored amendment to President Bush’s proposed budget package that would allow Congress to spend up to $300 billion over 10 years for a Medicare prescription drug benefit, but only as part of an “overhaul” of the program, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
PUC Exempts All Acute-Care Hospitals from Rolling Blackouts
Adding to its earlier decision to exempt acute-care hospitals with at least 100 beds from rolling blackouts, the California Public Utilities Commission yesterday approved an exemption for all acute-care hospitals regardless of bed number.
Community Health Foundation Loses Contract with Los Angeles County
As expected, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted yesterday to rescind $3.4 million in county contracts with Community Health Foundation of East Los Angeles, one of the largest private health groups treating the county’s uninsured, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Los Angeles Times Calls for Combining Tax Credits, CHIP Expansion
The goal of expanding health coverage to the uninsured is “excruciatingly close” to being realized, with a variety of proposals to do so through tax credits, expansions of public health programs, monetary incentives to employers or a combination of these measures, a Los Angeles Times editorial states.
Schering-Plough Will Fight FTC Charges ‘Vigorously’
Schering-Plough Corp. announced plans to “contest” a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission yesterday that alleged that patent settlements between the pharmaceutical company and two generic drug companies included “illegal payments” to delay a low-cost generic version a “widely used” blood pressure drug from reaching the market.
How Close Are the Bush Administration’s Tobacco Ties?
At least five members of the Bush administration have ties to the tobacco industry, which critics “contend” could “sway the outcome” of a “multi-billion dollar” lawsuit and “stifle a
push” for FDA “regulatory power” over cigarettes, Media General News Service/Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.
New DHS Report Shows Public Health Improvements
More expectant mothers in California are receiving adequate prenatal care, and the incidence of AIDS among residents ages 13 and older has decreased, according to a new report from the Department of Health Services and the California Conference of Local Health Officers.
New York Man Sues CVS for Buying Medical Records
A Manhattan man has filed a $200 million class action lawsuit against the CVS drugstore chain for buying his medical records after his neighborhood pharmacy closed, charging that the chain had “no right to the sensitive information without his consent,” the New York Daily News reports.
FDA Investigation Finds ‘Unlisted’ Ingredients in Food
As many as one-fourth of all food manufacturers do not list all of the ingredients contained in their products, posing a danger to individuals with food allergies, a new FDA investigation finds.
Tri-City Medical Center Working to Improve JCAHO Rating
During a meeting of the Tri-City Hospital District’s board of directors last week, Tri-City Medical Center President and CEO Dr. Arthur Gonzalez said the hospital is “well on its way” to implementing improvements suggested by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and the state Department of Health Services, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.