Latest California Healthline Stories
New Study Recommends 90 Milligram Daily Dose of Ephedra
In the “latest salvo in a long-running battle between supplement-makers” and the FDA over the “popular and powerful” weight-loss aid ephedra, a Council for Responsible Nutrition-funded report released yesterday indicates that dieters can safely take up to 90 milligrams per day of the herbal stimulant, the Washington Post reports.
Community Memorial Hospital Ponders Prostate Cancer Center
Ventura County’s Community Memorial Hospital is considering building a ‘state-of-the-art” national prostate cancer center, the Ventura County Star reports.
Pay Raise Fails to Appease Striking St. Johns’ Nurses
Management at St. John’s Hospitals in Camarillo and Oxnard gave striking nurses an 11% raise yesterday, but negotiations “remained deadlocked” as the nurses said they are more concerned with staffing issues than wages, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Cytotec Off-Label Use to Induce Labor Raises Concern
Ever since peptic ulcer drug Cytotec was approved in 1988, a “growing number” of obstetricians have “embraced it as a ‘miracle’ drug” for inducing labor, despite data raising “serious” safety concerns, Mother Jones reports.
Health Industry Turns to Bush for Help on Patient Privacy Rules
Hospitals, health plans and other health care providers moved swiftly yesterday to combat new patient privacy rules issued by the Clinton administration, urging President-elect Bush to revise the regulations and “lessen the burden” on the industry, the New York Times reports.
HMO Patient Guide to Be Released Online
The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a Santa Monica-based consumer advocacy group, will release a guide for managed care patients explaining provisions of California’s HMO reform laws scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.
Panel Clears Pentagon of Cover-Up in Gulf War Syndrome
The Pentagon did not engage in a cover-up of gulf war syndrome and has worked “diligently” to determine the cause of the “unexplained ailments among veterans,” the final report of a presidential panel said yesterday.
Grand Jury Indicts Four in $20 Million Medi-Cal Scam
A Los Angeles federal grand jury yesterday indicted two laboratory owners and two clinic operators for allegedly defrauding Medi-Cal by billing it for “$20 million worth of bogus blood tests,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Blue Cross to Transfer Sutter Patients Regardless of Contract Negotiations
Blue Cross of California announced yesterday that it would reassign its 16,000 HMO members assigned to Sutter Health physicians regardless of whether the insurer reaches a contract agreement with the provider group by the time the existing contract expires on Dec. 31, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Aetna Abandons ‘All Products Policy’ for Doctors
Hoping to improve its relationship with physicians, Aetna Inc., the nation’s largest health insurer, dropped its “all products policy” that required doctors to serve patients in all Aetna plans, the Wall Street Journal reports.