SENATE LEGISLATION: Davis Signs Cosmetic Surgery Bill, Others
Gov. Gray Davis signed three cosmetic surgery bills to protect "appearance-conscious Californians." A bill sponsored by Sen. Liz Figueroa (D-Fremont) bans cosmetic surgery ads that employ misleading before-and-after photos or make scientific claims that cannot be substantiated. Another bill sponsored by Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Daly City) requires physicians to specify they are "board certified" and the source of the certification. A third bill by Assemblyman Martin Gallegos (D-Montebello) requires physicians to carry malpractice insurance and have at least one staff member on hand while performing plastic surgery at an outpatient facility. Because he deemed it "too costly" and "unduly burdensome," Davis vetoed another Figueroa-sponsored bill that would have required cosmetic surgeons to provide the state Medical Board with information concerning their training and the number of procedures they have performed and then post that information on the Internet. Dr. Robert del Junco, a consultant to the Medical Board, said the bills were a "good first step," but "the public would want access to more information about their physicians" (AP/Contra Costa Times, 10/12).
That Time of Year Again
Here's the rundown on other Senate legislation signed by Davis:
- SB 514: Introduced by Sen. Wes Chesbro (D-Arcata), the bill establishes the Rural Health Care Equity Trust Fund to subsidize health care costs for rural-based state employees with no HMO access.
- SB 584: Also introduced by Chesbro, the measure orders the state DHS to give multi-year contracts and make prospective semiannual payments to farmworker clinics and rural health clinics. The bill also allots $1,653,000 of the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Surtax to the Expanded Access to Primary Care program.
- SB 741: Introduced by Sen. Dede Alpert (D-Coronado), the bill requires children to be immunized for chickenpox prior to beginning elementary school. The law takes effect July 1, 2001.
- SB 765: Introduced by Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), the law requires all licensed health care professionals who collect human biological specimens for testing to secure them in a locked container when placed in public locations.
- SB 816: Introduced by Sen. Martha Escutia (D-Montabello), the measure clarifies a current law allowing nurse practitioners and physician assistants to issue prescriptions under physician supervision, establishing that it is a prescribing activity for purposes of registering with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
- SB 847: Introduced by Sen. John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara), the bill creates a three-year research program at the University of California to investigate the safety and efficacy of medicinal marijuana.
- SB 1009: Introduced by Sen. Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento), the law orders the state DHS to award cancer research contracts, supported by the Cancer Research Fund, on an annual, instead of three-year, basis, and requires 65% of the allocations to go toward gender-based research.
- SB 1105: Introduced by Chesbro and designed to reduce the number of teenage and unwed pregnancies, the bill allows the Community Challenge Grant Program to be implemented by the state DHS regardless of whether it receives federal funds for the task.
- SB 1128: Introduced by Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough), the law permits the city and county of San Francisco to accept federal Medicaid reimbursement for some of the construction costs of rebuilding Laguna Honda Hospital (Davis release, 10/8). The measure also allows San Diego County officials to apply for federal reimbursement after Edgemoor Hospital is rebuilt (Rother, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10/9).
- SB 1270: An administration measure out of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, the bill eliminates obstacles to availability of Medi-Cal benefits to children receiving non- federal Adoption Assistance Program aid and allows state DHS and DPS directors to enter into interstate compacts for special needs children (Davis release, 10/8).