California Nursing News:

Friday February 20, 2004 09:56:43 AM

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Public hospitals frantic for funding -- Just steps away from Highland Hospital's crowded emergency room in Oakland -- which will treat 80,000 patients this year -- is a brand-new emergency department that's three times larger and hasn't seen a single patient. Called the Critical Care and Clinics Building, the $110 million facility was set to open in January -- except for one problem: money.  Oakland Tribune  2/19/04

White House Accused of Science Bias -- More than 60 leading scientists, including a dozen Nobel laureates, on Wednesday accused the Bush administration of frequently suppressing or distorting scientific analysis from federal agencies when it disagrees with administration policies. The research cited by the Union of Concerned Scientists covered a range of issues, from climate change to HIV/AIDS.  Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle  2/19/04

Medicare drug ads assailed as political -- A new advertising campaign about Medicare prescription-drug changes has debuted to criticism that it's more political than informative, prompting one TV network to pull the commercial for a while and Congress to investigate. The $12 million campaign features a 30-second commercial showing elderly people being reassured that the law means: "Same Medicare. More benefits." But so far, disputes over the adequacy of the new law outshadow the specifics.  Sacramento Bee  2/19/04

UC study explores obscure stem cells / Scientists hope they'll serve as brain repair kit -- A mysterious type of stem cell found in the brain appears to be a possible wellspring of fresh nerve cells and, when something goes haywire, the starting point of a common form of tumor, scientists are reporting.  San Francisco Chronicle  2/19/04

Wednesday, February 18

Cholesterol Drugs Cut Heart-Failure Deaths -- A UCLA study of statins sees 'dramatic' results of the medications' 'additional benefits.'  Los Angeles Times  2/18/04

Government begins campaign against drugs from Canada -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, along with the California Pharmacists Association, announced plans to distribute pamphlets and other materials to pharmacies and consumers about the dangers of buying drugs from foreign countries. This comes at a time when San Francisco, other local lawmakers and state officials are proposing ways to help customers buy their drugs from Canada.  San Francisco Chronicle and Sacramento Bee  2/18/04

Steroid affidavits implicate trainer -- Greg Anderson, longtime friend and personal weight trainer to San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds, told federal agents last year that "he had given steroids to several professional baseball players,'' the government alleged in an affidavit unsealed Tuesday.  San Francisco Chronicle , San Jose Mercury and Contra Costa Times  2/18/04

AIDS cases up in L.A., but only among males -- The number of new AIDS cases in Los Angeles County has increased for the first time since 1992, officials said Tuesday. According to preliminary findings by the county Department of Health Services, the number of new AIDS cases grew from 1,555 in 2001 to 1,562 in 2002, a 0.5 percent bump.  Los Angeles Daily News 2/18/04

Tuesday, February 17

Medical uncertainty for retirees -- As Sacramento County supervisors consider cutting medical insurance subsidies for retirees by a third, many of those same pensioners are cashing their portions of a $55 million class-action suit they won against the county in December. Retirees claimed the county wrongly calculated pension benefits on base pay alone - refusing to acknowledge added income the employees received for items such as bilingual skills and car and uniform allowances.  Sacramento Bee  2/17/04

Senior health care programs, oversight concerns both up -- A boom in the number of adult day health-care centers, fueled by lucrative Medi-Cal payments, has critics worried that marginally qualified providers are rushing into the field to collect fat checks from the state. At the same time the industry is expanding, Medi-Cal paid $157 million, to ADHC centers in Los Angeles County last year alone, and fraud complaints have skyrocketed, oversight from the state and local governments is shrinking.  Los Angeles Daily News  2/17/04

Orange County Clinic Sees Pot as a Valid Treatment -- Andy Kinnon recently walked into an Orange County doctor's office looking for relief. When he walked out an hour later, Kinnon said, he had just the thing he'd been seeking: a recommendation, on embossed white paper signed and dated by a physician, for all the marijuana he could smoke. "I suffer from migraine headaches," Kinnon, 41, explained. "They're wicked — you have to shut out light and sound." Los Angeles Times  2/17/04

Working on wellness -- Slowly, businesses are recognizing that sedentary lifestyles and poor eating habits of workers can affect their operations financially and are looking for ways to combat it. The lack of exercise, poor nutrition and obesity fall directly under smoking as the most unhealthy employee behaviors, according to a survey by the state's Department of Health Services. Yet, a major stumbling block is how businesses can account financially for investments in employee wellness.  San Diego Union-Trib  2/17/04

Kaiser Aluminum axes benefits -- After working 30 years for Kaiser Aluminum, Oakland resident Karen Wessenberg retired in 2000, ready to reap the rewards of a pension and low-cost lifetime medical benefits, just like her mom, who worked 27 years for Kaiser. But the 53-year-old Wessenberg took a new job last month to help pay for her health insurance, which has skyrocketed since Kaiser Aluminum filed for bankruptcy in February 2002.  Oakland Tribune  2/17/04

Monday, February 16

U.S. Nears Clash With Governors on Medicaid Cost -- The Bush administration is headed for a confrontation with states over the financing of Medicaid, the nation's largest health program, as federal officials crack down on arrangements used by many states to shift costs to the federal government. The federal action comes as states, struggling with severe fiscal problems, are cutting benefits and restricting eligibility for the program, which serves 50 million low-income people each year.  New York Times  2/16/04

RNs-to-be threatened by community college rate hikes -- The jobs Jessica Brockett landed after graduating from UC Davis in 2001 weren't fulfilling. For $12 an hour, she raised mice for diabetes studies, but they had to be destroyed when nobody bought them. In another, she punched numbers into a computer all day. So despite her bachelor's degree in animal science and management, she returned to community college to become a nurse, using all her savings to do so. Now Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposes charging students like Brockett who already have baccalaureate degrees $50 per unit to cope with the state's fiscal crisis. By comparison, other students would pay $26 a unit, up from $18. Contra Costa Times 2/16/04

Sunday, February 15

California's public hospital crisis at breaking point -- The statewide system is "on the brink of collapse," according to a 2003 study by the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems. The study warned that thousands of workers will lose their jobs and hospitals will close if the split between rising costs and declining revenues keeps growing. San Francisco Chronicle 2/15/03

Little new seen in governor's health plan -- Schwarzenegger's $2.7 billion in health and welfare cuts are among the most comprehensive expressions of his reformist agenda. The cuts – which total more than 10 percent of all health spending last year – take up a third of the governor's budget summary and involve major changes to nearly every health and welfare program.  Orange County Register  2/15/04

More shopping for drugs in Canada -- In Canada, prescriptions cost, on average, 40 percent less than they do in the United States and in some cases as much as 80 percent less. Medications are cheaper in Canada because the government limits what drug makers can charge for brand name prescriptions and also bans direct-to-consumer advertising. At times, exchange rates also contribute to the price breaks. Sacramento Bee 2/15/03

Discount cards for the uninsured often found lacking -- "It looked like an insurance card," said Mazer, who recognized the logo of a PPO network he contracted with. "It had all the same insignia as an insurance card." But it wasn't. The company sent the San Diego ear, nose and throat specialist a notice that no benefits had been paid. The patient owed him $70 for the visit. The company owed him nothing. Instead of an insurance card, Mazer's patient had flashed a medical discount card, a controversial product that caters to the uninsured.  San Diego Union-Trib  2/15/04

Inmate medical care expenses rise -- It costs $1.8 million annually to provide medical and mental health care for Napa County jail and juvenile hall inmates. For Larry Freitas, the care is essential.Under state law, the county is required to provide emergency and basic physical and mental health care for all male and female inmates at the facility, said Dan Cunningham, Napa Department of Corrections director. Napa Valley Register 2/15/03

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