Latest California Healthline Stories
Trump’s Rules Allowing More Employers To Opt Out Of Covering Contraception Get Day In Court
The rules, which California is challenging in court, relax requirements under the health law that birth control services be covered at no additional cost. The new guidelines would allow more categories of employers, including publicly traded companies, to back out of the requirement by claiming religious objections.
California’s Department Of Developmental Services Threatened With Sanctions Over Murder Defendant
Marc Carr’s attorney says the Department of Developmental Services has been “very resistant” to placing Carr in a mental institution. The hearing on Friday became contentious as the department pointed blame at the sheriff’s office. Judge Lewis Davis said that if Carr isn’t placed within 30 days, “I will impose sanctions.”
Judge Limits Scope That Plaintiffs Consider Crucial In Roundup Cancer Case In California
U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco is allowing the trial to be broken up into two parts, barring the plaintiffs at first from introducing evidence that the company allegedly attempted to influence regulators and manipulate public opinion.
Human Longevity’s complaint had accused Craig Venter of leaving the company with his company-issued laptop in tow so that he could take with him trade secrets to try to set up a competing business.
Planned Parenthood’s State Medicaid Funding Protected After Supreme Court Decides Not To Hear Case
The decision drew rebukes from the court’s more conservative judges, with Justice Clarence Thomas saying his colleagues’ refusal to hear the case over Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood was politically motivated. “What explains the court’s refusal to do its job here? I suspect it has something to do with the fact that some respondents in these cases are named ‘Planned Parenthood,’” Thomas wrote.
Ruling Expected In Case Over Insurer Coverage Limits On Mental Health Care Services
The impact of the ruling in the consolidated cases of Wit v. United Behavioral Health and Alexander v. United Behavioral Health could ripple across the country as many providers and patients say that, despite laws requiring insurers to cover behavioral care on parity with care for physical conditions, they often encounter significant problems getting carriers to pay for needed treatment.
Appeals Court Overturns Ruling That Had Briefly Blocked California’s Aid-In-Dying Law
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Daniel Ottolia halted enforcement of the law in May, ruling that state lawmakers had illegally considered and passed the legislation during a special session devoted to health care. However, the appeals court on Tuesday ruled that the doctors who had filed that suit had nothing to gain or lose from its enforcement, and thus lacked legal standing to sue.
There are more than 620 cases against Bayer’s Monsanto unit over allegations that its weed killer causes cancer. Edwin Hardeman’s case will mark the second trial in the U.S. litigation over glyphosate, after a California state court jury in August awarded $289 million to a school groundskeeper.
There wasn’t any hard evidence that the pipes the worker was cutting came from the company that was being sued. Other companies have settled with the contract worker, but Keenan Properties took the fight to court.
Judge Upholds Roundup Weed-Killer Verdict Against Monsanto, But Proposes Slashing Punitive Damages
While saying the punitive damages had been set too high, the judge rejected a request from the agribusiness for a new trial. A jury had ruled in favor of a groundskeeper who said his exposure to the glyphosate-based weed-killer caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Monsanto still plans to appeal the verdict.
