Get California Physician's Daily News Delivered to You by E-mail: SUBSCRIBE
National scorecard ranks palliative care across country
Washington Post - 10-03-2008 - In a new state-by-state ranking of palliative care, only Vermont, Montana, and New Hampshire get an A, while Oklahoma, Alabama, and Mississippi get an F. The rest of the states are somewhere in between, although Southern states did not fare well in general. The rankings were conducted by the National Palliative Care Research Center. "We gave letter grades based on the percentage of hospitals that had palliative care programs, appropriately set up to meet the needs of seriously ill patients," said R. Sean Morrison, MD, a professor of geriatrics and palliative care at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.
Judge stops expansion of California hospital
Los Angeles Times - 10-03-2008 - A judge has ordered San Fernando Valley-based Providence Holy Cross Medical Center to halt construction on its $180-million expansion until the Los Angeles City Council reconsiders the project and decides whether more environmental review is needed. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Thomas I. McKnew Jr. said the hospital must stop work until the council either approves the project with an eight-vote majority or orders an environmental impact report on the project. Attorney Ted Franklin, who represents groups challenging the hospital expansion, urged the council to demand the extra environmental review, a process that typically takes at least a year..
U.S. health care improved in '07
Salt Lake Tribune - 10-03-2008 - A new report scrutinizing America's health plans shows that health care quality continued to improve in 2007, with significant advances in the treatment of high blood pressure, one of the leading causes of death and disability. For nine years in a row, the health care delivered by participating health plans has continued to improve despite rising costs and a slowing national economy, based on data gathered by the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set, or HEDIS.
Business-friendly Supreme Court tackles corporate cases
McClatchy Washington Bureau - 10-02-2008 - A business-friendly Supreme Court will start another season Monday on familiar turf. With a closely watched case involving cigarette advertising, Chief Justice John G. Roberts is resuming the corporate focus that's marked his three-year tenure. The cases may not sound sexy, but they can be crucial for companies and consumers alike. "The question," noted Robin Conrad, the executive vice president of the National Chamber Litigation Center, "comes down to who gets to regulate business."
Lawmakers make a final push for mental health bill
(AP) - 10-03-2008 - Sen. Pete Domenici, R-NM, is still pushing for legislation that would require insurance plans to treat mental health patients on par with those who have physical ailments. In the past, employers and insurers were concerned that legislation would have required plans to cover a "telephone book" of conditions, raising costs beyond what companies and their workers could afford and potentially negating companies' ability to offer any health coverage at all. The legislation now before the House does not mandate that group health plans cover mental health or addiction treatment, only that when plans do so, the coverage must be equitable to other medical coverage. The insurance industry is also now a strong supporter of the parity legislation.
Two online health site operators to announce a merger
New York Times - 10-03-2008 - Revolution Health Network plans to announce that it has merged with Waterfront Media, a publisher that owns several health Web sites. The $300 million deal would give the combined companies enough traffic in the United States to compete with WebMD, now the market leader in the online health category. The new company will operate under the name Waterfront Media.
Drug disposal sites few in Valley
Fresno Bee - 10-03-2008 - Across the state, communities are opening disposal sites where people can drop off their unused medicines instead of flushing them down the drain. But not in most of the central San Joaquin Valley.
The Body as Bacterial Landlord
Wall Street Journal - 10-03-2008 - When scientists discovered that bacteria, not stress, caused most stomach ulcers, the insight overturned a century of medical dogma, transformed clinical practice and garnered a 2005 Nobel Prize for the two researchers who made the connection so many others had missed. After people adopted antibiotics to treat gastric distress, though, microbiologist Martin Blaser and his colleagues at New York University began to document an odd medical trend.
FDA Will Rewrite Rules For Marketing for Children
Wall Street Journal - 10-03-2008 - The Food and Drug Administration will rewrite decades-old federal regulations governing how over-the-counter cold and cough medicines are marketed to children amid concerns over whether the products are safe and effective.
