Healthcare

Patients Can Change Patient Safety

March 13, 2013  ·  Jamie Court

<p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; "><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2612" alt="" class="right" src="http://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/jamie_caoc_medrallycup.jpg" style="width: 188px; height: 250px; float: right; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px;" width="188" height="250" />There aren't too many great days for patient safety in state capitols, where the medical establishment tends to rule the roost through the power of its political giving and tentacles.

Parents Of Prescription Overdose Victims Plead With Legislators

March 12, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p><b>Lawmakers want the medical board to use a state database to identify doctors who prescribe drugs recklessly.</b></p> <p>SACRAMENTO — After hearing emotional testimony from parents whose children died of drug overdoses, lawmakers in Sacramento called Monday for the Medical Board of California to mine a statewide database of prescriptions to help identify doctors who recklessly prescribe narcotics.</p>

Lawmakers Want State Medical Board To Mine CURES Data

March 12, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

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Groups Want To See Sate Medical Board Undergo Overhaul

March 12, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Consumer groups and families of patients who have died as a result of prescription overdose tried to make their case Monday at the state's Capitol as to why the Medical Board of California should undergo a major overhaul.</p> <p>Several activists testified before two legislative committees on issues they think need to be addressed, including more accountability and responsibility from the board to protect patients from doctors.</p> <p>"Our message was that it needs drastic reform or it should not be renewed," said Carmen Balber of Consumer Watchdog.</p>

Lawmakers, Advocates Press Medical Board To Investigate Doctors Who Over-Prescribe Painkillers

March 11, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>State lawmakers took a close look at the Medical Board of California Monday—and whether it’s doing enough to police doctors who freely prescribe painkillers</p> <p>A recent L.A. Times investigation found that the Medical Board took so long to investigate doctors suspected of prescription abuse that 30 of their patients died while the probe was underway.</p> <p>Relatives of some of those who died spoke at the legislative hearing Monday.</p>

Emotional Hearing about Future of Medical Board of California

March 11, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>A bureaucratic hearing in Sacramento took an emotional Monday morning, as parent after parent told state legislators how their children died from overdosing on prescription drugs.</p> <p>The parents who testified during the Medical Board of California’s “sunset review” hearing all said the agency should do more to crack down on doctors who abuse their prescription-writing powers.</p>

Op-Ed Commentary: Do No Harm: Kill The Medical Board

March 11, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>A former meth user who was convicted on federal criminal charges for drug dealing will be treating California patients again within a year under an agreement recently announced by the <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=opinion%2Fopenforum&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22California+Medical+Board%22">California Medical Board</a>. Pilots, lawyers or professional athletes would have lost their jobs for life.

Patient Safety Is No Laughing Matter…Unless You Are On The CA Medical Board

March 11, 2013  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2610" alt="" src="http://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/images_images_16.jpg" style="width: 1px; height: 1px; float: right;" width="240" height="192" />Is patient safety really a laughing matter? California Medical Board member Dr. Silvia Diego (see video below) seems to think so.  Dr. Diego literally laughs during the October medical board meeting at the notion of doctors paying a modest increase in physician license fees to fund better policing of overprescribing physicians.<br /> <br />

Drug Retailer Targets HIV Patients

March 1, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>A class action lawsuit that was filed last month against Anthem Blue Cross in California could greatly impact HIV/AIDS patients across the country, including thousands who live in the metro New York area.</p> <p>In response to the complaints and a plethora of negative publicity, the insurance company temporarily suspended the specialty drug mail-order rule.</p>

Businesses May Turn Increasingly to Captives for Medical Stop Loss Insurance

February 20, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>OLDWICK, N.J. -- Businesses may increasingly turn to self-insurance, and their use of captives for medical stop-loss insurance may grow as a result of the U.S. health care reform law, some industry experts predict.<br /> <br />

Anthem Backtracks On Mail-Order Pharmacy Requirement

February 20, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Anthem Blue Cross is backtracking away from its previous requirement that certain members with chronic diseases, including HIV/AIDS and cancer, buy prescription drugs from a mail-order pharmacy.</p>

Anthem Blue Cross Halts Implementation of Mail-Order Rx Drug Program

February 20, 2013  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Anthem Blue Cross has halted implementation of a program that would have required policyholders to use a mail-order pharmacy to acquire certain drugs, the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-anthem-drugs-20130219,0,581809.story" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><i>Los Angeles Times</i></a> reports.</p> <p class="subheading"><strong>About Anthem's Rx Program</strong></p>