CMA Press Clips
Daily  reports on health care policy and medicine from newspapers and magazines throughout California and around the nation.

Physician faces off against Modesto hospital
Modesto Bee - 7/8/10 - Dr. Mark Fahlen isn't afraid to criticize what he calls "corporate medicine" and the pressures exerted on doctors working for large health care systems.

Twice a doctor; He fled Iran and had to start over
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin - 7/7/10 - Sometimes when he stands for too long, Dr. Jamsheed J. Shamloo, a cosmetic and facial reconstruction surgeon who recently opened a clinic in Colton, escaped from his home country of Iran in the early 1980s.

Nursing home firm hit with $670-million judgment
Los Angeles Times - 7/8/10 - Nursing home operator Skilled Healthcare Group Inc. was ordered Tuesday to pay more than $670 million in damages for understaffing at its 22 assisted-living facilities in California.

Whooping cough cases skyrocket in S.J.
Stockton Record - 7/8/10 - There's been a dramatic increase in the number of whooping cough cases showing up at doctor's offices and medical clinics in San Joaquin County in recent weeks.

Schwarzenegger moves to implement health insurance rate review
Los Angeles Times - 7/8/10 - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger moved Wednesday to implement a major element of the new national healthcare overhaul, seeking a $1-million federal grant to strengthen the state’s review of health insurance rates.

Opinion: Eliminating Medi-Cal drug treatment costs much more than it saves
Capitol Weekly - 7/8/10 - The governor has proposed to eliminate all Medi-Cal funding for drug treatment. On a single day this fall, the governor’s proposal would cut off methadone treatment for 35,000 heroin and prescription drug addicts.

Some states say they're not receiving the Medicaid services they're paying for
Washington Post - 7/8/10 - The day after the House passed the landmark health-care bill in March, St. Louis-based insurer Centene saw its stock jump 11 percent. That was perhaps the first signal that the major changes ahead would be a boon to one subset of the health-care industry: companies that manage Medicaid for the states.

Obesity surgery seems to help diabetics
San Francisco Chronicle - 7/8/10 - For years, Cristina Iaboni tried to tame her diabetes the usual way, through daily shots of insulin and other medicine. Still, her blood sugar raged out of control. So Iaboni combed the Internet for another solution and found a doctor who is testing weight loss surgery on diabetics who, like herself, are merely overweight or a tad obese in an attempt to curb the disease.

Appointee will have big role in health care law
USA Today - 7/8/10 - The pediatrician and Harvard University professor President Obama appointed Wednesday to run Medicare and Medicaid will play a central role in implementing the nation's new health care law, predecessors and outside experts said.

Opinion: Finally, a Medicare/Medicaid Chief
New York Times - 7/8/10 - President Obama made a sensible move Wednesday when he bypassed the Senate and appointed Dr. Donald Berwick, an expert on reducing health care costs, to oversee Medicare and Medicaid.