Healthcare

An Issue Potent Enough To Divide Brown and Nader: The Malpractice Damage Cap

August 7, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Ralph Nader goes way back with Gov. Jerry Brown. Their relationship dates to the 1970s, when both men were eagerly shaking things up from their respective perches on the progressive left.</p> <p>Between them, they've run for president eight times. In 1992, Brown said he'd appoint Nader to his Cabinet if elected to the White House.</p> <p>But when I spoke with Nader this week, the man who wrote the playbook for consumer advocacy was mad as hell at his former comrade.</p>

Consumer Groups Urge the FTC to Block a Teva Takeover of Mylan

July 14, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<div class="mceTemp " style="text-align: left;"> <dl class="wp-caption alignright caption-alignright " style="width: 262px;"> <dt class="wp-caption-dt"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-5" height="174" src="http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-EI007_health_D_20090826130553.jpg" width="262" /></dt> </dl> </div>

Bill Aims To Reduce Prescription Drug Overdose Deaths

June 23, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<div class="story_body"> <p>Prescription drug overdoses are the <a data-ajax="false" data-transition="none" href="http://www.californiahealthline.org/articles/2015/6/18/overdoses-are-leading-cause-of--injuryrelated-deaths-in-calif" rel="external">leading cause</a> of accidental death in California.</p> <p>A bill in the state legislature, <a data-ajax="false" data-transition="none" href="http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/15-16/bill/sen/sb_0451-0500/sb_482_cfa_20150424_143645_sen_comm.html" rel="external">SB 482</a> (Lara), aims to reduce the problem.</p>

Hospital Bill Is High Enough To Raise Anyone’s Blood Pressure

June 5, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>A single dose of the anti-anxiety drug lorazepam — the generic version of Ativan — will run you about 14 cents at Safeway or Target.</p> <p>At Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, the same pill goes for nearly $2,000.</p> <p>At least that's the impression Laurie Leigh came away with after being so overcome with grief when her 90-year-old father died at the hospital that she fainted at his bedside. She subsequently received a pill to soothe her nerves.</p>

State Senate OKs Bill To Curb ‘Doctor Shopping’

May 28, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<div class="entrytext"> <p>Voters soundly rejected <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_46,_Medical_Malpractice_Lawsuits_Cap_and_Drug_Testing_of_Doctors_%282014%29">Proposition 46</a> – which would’ve raised California’s 40-year-old cap on certain medical malpractice damage awards – in November, but a lesser-known part of that measure moved forward Thursday in the Legislature.</p>

LA Times Editorial: CURES Bill Could Make A Dent In California Prescription Drug Abuse

May 8, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>When California lawmakers created the CURES database to fight prescription drug abuse, they left out an important piece. Although pharmacists were required to list in the database any customers who received potentially dangerous and addictive drugs, doctors weren't required to check those records before prescribing more pills. State Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) has a bill that would finally require doctors to do what they should have been doing all along. His colleagues should pass it.</p>

Contra Costa Times Editorial: Time To End “Doctor Shopping” For Addictive Drugs

May 5, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p class="editorialbodytext"><span id="default"><span id="MNGiSection">It's time for California doctors to get on board with the statewide effort to curb prescription drug abuse.</span></span></p> <p><span id="default"><span id="MNGiSection">The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has called the problem an epidemic. Per-capita use of highly addictive prescription opiates in the United States increased five-fold from 1997 to 2007. Medicare-covered opiate prescriptions increased 24 percent from 2007 to 2010.</span></span></p>

Prescription Drug Monitoring Helps Doctors and Chronic Pain Patients

April 29, 2015  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2865" alt="" class="right" src="http://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/images_pills.jpg" style="width: 136px; height: 111px; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px; float: right;" width="136" height="111" />Doctors are more confident in prescribing pain medication after reviewing a patient’s medical history.</p> <p>We’ve received a few messages from patients worried that a proposal to have doctors check a patient’s medical history before prescribing powerful pain medications could prevent or delay them from getting their medicine. In fact, all the evidence shows the opposite.</p>

Checking A Patient’s Medical Record Is Just Good Medicine

April 29, 2015  ·  Carmen Balber

<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2215" alt="" src="http://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/images_carmenbdrawingname.gif" style="width: 133px; height: 200px; float: right; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px;" width="133" height="200" />Check a patient’s medical record. It’s a simple fix to a tragic prescription drug epidemic.</p> <p>When you have an annual checkup, your doctor checks your vital signs and draws blood for testing. But before she even does that, what does she do? She checks your medical record.</p>

Consumer Group Sues Cigna, Alleges Discrimination

April 28, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Miami, FL -- A consumer advocacy group has filed a class-action lawsuit against <a class="r_lapi" href="http://abcnews.go.com/topics/business/companies/cigna.htm">Cigna</a> saying a new policy discriminates against people with HIV and AIDS and violates the federal health law by requiring them to get their medications from its mail-order pharmacy.</p>

Cigna Sued Over Mail-Order AIDS Drug Deliveries

April 28, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p><strong>A lawsuit filed against Cigna is the fourth attempt to force insurers to drop a mandatory mail-order drug program said to discriminate against people with HIV/AIDS.<br />  </strong><br /> South Florida-based plaintiffs law firm Podhurst Orseck is co-counsel for the potential class action brought by Consumer Watchdog. The nonprofit consumer advocate teamed with the national health care firm Whatley Kallas, which is co-counsel in the Cigna case, for lawsuits targeting United Healthcare Insurance Co., Anthem Insurance Cos. Inc. and Aetna Inc.<br />  <br />

Lawsuit Alleges Cigna Plans Discriminate Against HIV/AIDS Patients

April 28, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Consumer advocates argue in a complaint filed Tuesday that insurer <a href="http://www.modernhealthcare.com/section/articles?tagID=755">Cigna Corp.</a> is illegally forcing <a href="http://www.modernhealthcare.com/section/articles?tagID=5905">AIDS and HIV patients</a> to either get their prescriptions through the mail or pay high prices. The suit is the latest in a series of disputes involving access to HIV drugs under benefit structures that hold down costs.<br /> <br /> A Cigna spokeswoman said Tuesday the insurer does not comment on litigation.<br /> <br />