Mo. bill would require prescriptions for Sudafed
Eds: Retransmitting to correct writethru sequence. UPDATES with 2008 figures on lab busts, testimony from hearing; CORRECTS spelling of ‘pseudoephedrine’ throughout.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A doctor’s visit and a prescription would be needed for many cold medicines under a Missouri bill aimed at targeting methamphetamine production.
Supporters say requiring a prescription for medicine containing Read the rest of this entry »

We don’t need another diet book. There are already far too many plans that all basically come down to the same thing: you have to cut something (carbs, fat, calories, anything but cabbage soup) and usually add exercise as well, in order to get results. Probably any of them could be effective if a person could follow them consistently for a long period of time.
But the trouble with diets is, first, a lot of people can’t seem to follow them religiously; Read the rest of this entry »

“This is going to be a real plus for people who would like to have health insurance between jobs,” said Stuart Altman, a professor of health policy at Brandeis University.
Individual workers would get a $400 tax credit and couples $800 in 2009 and 2010. Unlike last year’s stimulus program, which sent out one-time checks, the stimulus would take less tax money from workers’ paychecks. The tax cut, estimated at about $13 a week in 2009, would begin Read the rest of this entry »

Since announcing our intention not to renew the lease for Community Hospital of Los Gatos, we have diligently worked with the hospital owner, HCP, as it sought a new facility operator. Once informed that HCP had selected El Camino Hospital to fill this role, we engaged in negotiations with the hope of transitioning a fully functional and operating hospital to ECH.
Unfortunately, we were unable to reach an agreement with ECH. After being informed Read the rest of this entry »

AUSTIN, Texas
— Texas would close some of its large state homes for the mentally disabled and move residents into community settings under bills filed Monday to fix a system wracked by reports of abuse and neglect.
Although closing any of the 13 facilities known as state schools could be several years away, the bills were sure to ramp up the emotional debate of how best to care for nearly 5,000 residents.
Some activists have called for Read the rest of this entry »

President-elect Barack Obama’s universal health insurance plans would look a lot like the program being tried in Massachusetts. It would cost $75 billion a year and $1 trillion over the next decade, according to a new analysis.
placed those price tags on Obama’s plans in a report released Wednesday. Obama wants to expand some government health programs and mandate and subsidize coverage in other areas to provide insurance for the 46 Read the rest of this entry »

Dr. Howard Dean III is the best candidate for FDA Commissioner. Further, I strongly support legislation elevating the FDA job to a Cabinet position, since, after all, it oversees in a regulatory capacity 25% of the US Economy, and as such, deserves to be at a Cabinet level.
Drug makers and Big Pharma are promoting Dr. Janet Woodcock, presently head of the Food & Drug Administration's drug division, but consumer advocates favor FDA critics like Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday we reported about a bill in the Montana Legislature that would revoke registration cards of medical marijuana users for violating conditions of state law on the use of marijuana.
On Wednesday, another bill was heard on the subject of medical marijuana.
House Bill 73, if passed, would revise existing state law to allow physician assistants and nurse practitioners the authority to prescribe medical marijuana. Currently, only physicians Read the rest of this entry »

Snoqualmie Valley Hospital won’t be allowed to move its hospital to a rural-zoned site on the edge of Snoqualmie, the Metropolitan King County Council decided Monday.
The hospital’s proposal to build just north of the Interstate 90-Highway 18 interchange at the entrance to Snoqualmie Ridge was one of the most closely watched requests for changes in the county’s urban-growth boundary.
Some property owners were more successful. The council voted Read the rest of this entry »

Eileen and Robert Korjenek wish Santa Clara County voters could understand what they now know all too well: that critical care is something you never know you need until you’re waiting desperately outside emergency-room doors.
The Gilroy couple, whose 22-year-old son suffered a traumatic brain injury in a 1995 car accident, are among the fiercest supporters of Measure A on the county ballot this November.
If approved by two-thirds of voters, the Read the rest of this entry »