Latest California Healthline Stories
Obama To Announce Plan To Combat Opioid Epidemic
The proposed rule would double the number of patients to whom physicians can prescribe buprenorphine, a medication used to help addicted people reduce or quit their use of heroin or painkillers.
Opioid Overdoses Strike Sacramento County
Officials, who say five have died and another 15 have been treated in the recent bout of overdoses, blame fentanyl, a potent synthetic drug up to 50 times more powerful than heroin.
A New Frontier: Scientists To Launch Fungi Into Space In Hopes Of Unlocking New Medical Properties
On Earth, scientists use stressed fungi to create medicine, like the antibiotic penicillin, and they hope that similar results will play out when the fungi are stressed by being in space.
Prisons Plagued By Medical Staff Shortages
Low salaries, grim working conditions and remote locations make it hard for the institutions to be competitive in wooing and retaining health care personnel.
San Diego Health Leaders Concerned About ERs Burdened By Non-Emergencies
Officials say better education about what constitutes a real emergency is pivotal to solving the problem.
Leaders Consider How Health Care Providers Should Handle Patient-Generated Data
As technical gadgets become increasingly more sophisticated, doctors are often faced with the question of how to handle health data that they receive from patients’ personal health monitors or trackers. More than 90 percent of those meeting about it said they believe patient-generated data should be included in a health system’s electronic medical records — as long as there are ways to verify it is accurate.
Study: Theranos Tests Differed Enough To Throw Off Medical Decisions
The study concluded that Theranos’ results for total cholesterol were lower by an average of 9.3 percent than those produced by Quest and LabCorp.
Pharma Mounts Vigorous Campaign Against LA County Drug Disposal Program
The measure would set up a network of sites where unused medication could be dropped off for disposal. The industry argues that the better route to take is to educate patients in how to dispose of their own medications safely.
Synthetic Painkiller Fentanyl Is The Latest Wave In Drug Epidemic
The drug, which can be 50 times more powerful than heroin and up to 100 times more potent than morphine, is causing, in some places, more deaths than heroin. “For the cartels, it’s their drug of choice,” says Maura Healey, the attorney general of Massachusetts. “They have figured out a way to make fentanyl more cheaply and easily than heroin and are manufacturing it at a record pace.”
A Quiet Revolution: Arkansas Doctors Changing The Way They Look At Health Care
In a state-wide effort to improve health care quality, providers have begun concentrating on what happens after the patients leave the doctor’s office.