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Archive of Health Care on Thursday December 01, 2005
Study says states don't use tobacco money for prevention
WASHINGTON - Just a fraction of the money that states received from tobacco settlements and taxes is being used to prevent smoking, advocacy groups reported in a study Wednesday. Read More
4 pharmacists suspended over morning-after pill
ST. LOUIS -- Walgreen Co. said it has put four Illinois pharmacists in the St. Louis area on unpaid leave for refusing to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception in violation of a state rule. Read More
Study defends abortion pill safety
Government researchers investigating the deaths of four California women who contracted infections after taking RU-486 and another drug to induce abortion have found that the risk of infection from the controversial drug combination is "low," according to a study released today. Read More
Parental notification argued
Washington, D.C. - With protesters from both sides assembled on the street outside, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday from New Hampshire's attorney general and Planned Parenthood of Northern New England in the court's first abortion-rights case in five years. Read More
State denies insurers' request for stay on fee order
AUGUSTA, Maine - Gov. John Baldacci on Wednesday said he was pleased with a decision by state insurance regulators upholding fees insurers must pay to fund the Dirigo Health insurance program. Read More
Nurse shortage blamed in part on lack of profs
GREELEY, Colo. - Colorado faces a severe nursing shortage because there aren't enough nursing instructors, and that's because nurses take a huge pay cut to become instructors, according to testimony during a hearing here Wednesday. Read More
High state taxes get credit for smoking decline
Fewer New Yorkers are lighting up cigarettes, thanks in part to the state's aggressive anti-smoking programs and steep tobacco taxes, according to a report issued Wednesday. Read More
Physicians split over life support
Doctors are split over whether the state should remove the feeding tube from a comatose 11-year-old girl at the center of a right-to-die legal battle who was allegedly beaten by her adoptive mother and stepfather. Read More
State, U.S. strike deal for senior drug benefits
PITTSBURGH -- The state has struck a deal with the federal government that would give seniors federal Medicare prescription-drug benefits without harming their benefits under a similar state program, Gov. Rendell said yesterday. Read More
Justices scold attorneys in doctor-lawyer battle
The bitter showdown between Florida's doctors and lawyers moved to the state's Supreme Court on Wednesday, as justices were asked to cap the money that lawyers can earn in medical-malpractice cases. Read More
Judge certifies class-action lawsuit for inmate wanting abortion
More than five weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court said Missouri had to let a pregnant inmate have an abortion, the question over whether other state prisoners can get abortions on demand is far from settled. Read More
Pharmacies, insurer face off
An angry response from consumers prompted Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota on Wednesday to delay its shift to a new payment scheme for pharmacy services. Read More
Malpractice cap is headed for veto
Assembly leaders on Wednesday sent Gov. Jim Doyle a bill that would restore pain and suffering damage limits in malpractice lawsuits. But they might have saved themselves the trouble. Read More
Doctor cleared in death of abortion recipient
An abortion doctor has been cleared by state regulators in the death of a mentally retarded Texas woman who received a late-term abortion at his Wichita clinic. Read More
State wants to stockpile anti-flu drugs
A stockpile of drugs to fight the flu and an electronic registry of vaccination histories are among the public health programs that will see increased state funding, state health officials said. Read More
Evangelical churches venture into homegrown AIDS activism
LAKE FOREST, Calif. - After years of ministering to AIDS patients overseas, evangelical Christians are turning attention to the disease in their own backyard - and one of the nation's largest and best-known megachurches is leading the way. Read More
151,000 in state living with AIDS
An estimated 150,000 people in California are living with HIV, the largest number since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, a new analysis shows. Read More
More looks at care sites?
In a policy shift, the Schwarzenegger administration will seek more funds for inspections of day care centers, foster homes and residences for the elderly and disabled in next year's budget, state officials said Wednesday. Read More
Lab takes shape to fight bioterrorism, seek cures
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Construction has begun on a $33 million laboratory to develop tools against bioterrorism and find cures for infectious diseases. Colorado State University officials broke ground on the Regional Biocontainment Laboratory on Wednesday at the Foothills Research Campus, some 8 miles west of downtown Fort Collins. The new facility is scheduled to be completed by summer 2007. Read More
Colorado ill-prepared for bird-flu epidemic
Colorado is not prepared for an avian-flu outbreak, state and federal health officials said Wednesday. Read More
Providers must release data
Advocates seeking decisions on access to health services offered by the four Medicaid managed care providers won a major victory in a freedom of information ruling Wednesday. Read More
State anti-smoking effort faulted
When it comes to spending money to keep children off cigarettes, Connecticut is still blowing smoke, according to a new state-by-state analysis. Read More
HUD secretary announces housing grants for AIDS patients
TAMPA, Fla. - Florida, New Hampshire and 11 other states will receive $18.8 million in grant money to help cover housing costs for those infected with HIV and AIDS, federal officials said Wednesday. Read More
Complaint count up on nursing home care
Before she entered a nursing home, Agnes Smith lived much of her life in Marion and worked side by side with her daughter running the Country Cafe on Highway 30 . Later, Smith took a job as a housekeeper in a church rectory, and she continued to work well into her late 70s . Read More
Tests show another woman died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Final test results on brain tissue have confirmed another Idaho woman died from the classic form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and not the variant form related to mad cow disease, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. Read More
Abortion doctor cleared in death
A state board has cleared Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller of any wrongdoing in the Jan. 13 death of a Texas woman who got a late-term abortion. Read More
Report looks at tobacco, children
Kentucky, like most other states, isn't spending enough to protect its youngsters from the health dangers of tobacco, a coalition of public health organizations said in a national report yesterday. Read More
Study - States fall short in anti-smoking efforts
Smoking-prevention efforts by Kentucky and Indiana state governments represent only a fraction of the amount recommended by a federal health agency, according to a report released yesterday by several advocacy groups. Read More
7,500 Orleans parish school employees fired
All of the nearly 7,500 furloughed New Orleans public school employees who have not returned to work or have found other jobs will officially be fired and lose their health insurance Jan. 31, despite an earlier vote by the School Board to offer them catastrophic coverage through June. Read More
Insurance program for poor stalled by inefficiencies
Spurred by hundreds of complaints, Maryland regulators have uncovered widespread inefficiencies in a state-run health insurance program intended to provide coverage for the poor, program officials said Wednesday. Read More
Workers cite growth of caseload
Medicines for people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS are much more effective than they were years ago and, as a result, there are fewer deaths occurring from AIDS in Maine. Read More
Insurers' request for stay denied
The state's top insurance regulator on Wednesday denied a request that would have kept the state from assessing a new fee on health insurers to help fund its Dirigo Health program. Read More
Lawsuit challenges new workers' compensation law
More than 70 labor groups filed suit Wednesday challenging the constitutionality of Missouri's new workers' compensation law, claiming it reduces the rights of employees so greatly that it denies them justice for their injuries. Read More
Old Fund insurance needs $14 million, state told
A state-owned insurance agency for injured workers may need another $42 million to pay all of its bills, a Montana State Fund executive said this week. Read More
Ayotte expected, got hard questions
New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte said the minute she opened her mouth yesterday, she stopped feeling nervous about arguing a pivotal abortion case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Read More
N.J. panel urges benefits cuts for teachers, others
A state advisory panel today will recommend that the retirement age for teachers and state workers be raised from 55 to 60 and that employees of the state and some local governments pay a greater share of their health insurance premiums to stem soaring fringe benefit costs. Read More
Mental hospital criticized
"Serious deficiencies" at the Southern Nevada Mental Health Hospital contributed to the death of two patients and have resulted in the lack of treatment for others, a federal audit found. Read More
State's efforts praised
Oklahoma is one of the most-improved states for funding programs encouraging adolescents to stay away from tobacco. Read More
S.D. spending little to stop tobacco use, report shows
South Dakota isn't spending enough money on tobacco prevention programs, according to a national report, while at the same time tobacco companies are investing millions in advertising. Read More
Texas ranks 40th in protecting kids from tobacco
Texas ranks 40th in the country in funding for preventing tobacco use among children, according to a study released Wednesday by a coalition of public health organizations. Read More
Study says states don't use tobacco money for prevention
WASHINGTON - A new study shows that only a fraction of the money that states received from tobacco settlements and taxes is being used for smoking prevention programs. Read More
Abortion debate grows testy in Supreme Court
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Wednesday wrestled with a New Hampshire law that requires a parent to be told before a daughter ends her pregnancy, with no hint the justices were ready for a dramatic retreat on abortion rights under their new chief. Read More
For new court, abortion case takes old path
WASHINGTON - Well before the argument in a New Hampshire abortion case was over, the question that had drawn the crowds to the Supreme Court on a crisp Wednesday morning had an answer. No, abortion law was not about to undergo a major change in the hands of the new Roberts court, at least not yet. Read More
State AGs fight teen smoking -- onscreen
More than 30 attorneys general are mounting a campaign to add anti-smoking ads to the beginning of films in which actors light up onscreen. The bid to fight teen smoking was prompted by a study that showed a marked increase in smoking among children who watch movie characters puffing away. Read More
States abstain from federal sex ed money
It isn't often that states turn down federal dollars. But Maine is joining California and Pennsylvania as the only states to reject federal funding for sex education programs that teach only abstinence. Read More
States adjust disaster plans for elders
Drawing a lesson from this year's deadly hurricane season, state aging departments and emergency planners are updating their disaster playbooks to ensure that senior citizens are not left behind. Under review are nursing home evacuation procedures and state registries of at-risk elders. Read More
White House seeks state aging solutions
On the brink of the first baby boomers turning 60, the White House is about to assemble 1,200 state delegates to focus on ways state aging departments, the private sector and federal officials can gird for the nation's much-heralded retirement stampede. Read More
Medicaid - Cost and complexity tax reform efforts
UPDATED SEPT. 15, 2005 - Medicaid, the cooperative federal-state effort to provide health care to needy Americans, is the single biggest problem facing state governments because of its soaring costs. In this report - the first of a series of new "Backgrounders" - Stateline.org seeks to clarify issues in the current debate over how to sustain the program. Read More |
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