July 6, 2010 (Washington D.C.) -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on July 1st unveiled an innovative new on-line tool aimed at helping consumers take control of their health care by connecting them to new information and resources to access quality, affordable health care coverage.
Affordable Care Act Program provides temporary coverage for Americans without insurance due to pre-existing conditions through 2014 when new insurance exchanges are established; Californians may apply starting in August
Restrictive new ordinance passes 4-1, sharply limits sites where dispensaries may locate
“Virtually all of them are either undeveloped land, cement factories, mining operations, even land that’s zoned for treatment of radioactive materials,” -- Kate Valentine of Americans for Safe Access
July 2, 2010 (San Diego) – A restrictive new ordinance passed Wednesday by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors will sharply limit locations where medical marijuana dispensaries are allowed and make it extremely costly for operators. The measure passed by a four-to-one vote. Supervisor Ron Roberts cast the lone dissenting vote.
“I think we’re violating the spirit of the law,” said Roberts, referring to the ballot initiative approved by California voters 14 years ago to legalize medical marijuana.
Local legislators split on support, opposition to measure
June 25, 2010 (Sacramento) – On Wednesday, the State Senate Health Committee passed AB 2578, the Healthcare Accountability Act. The measure aims to protect California consumers from excessive health insurance rate hikes, such as the 39% rate increase announced by Anthem Blue Cross earlier this year and an up to 75% increase imposed on businesses by Blue Shield.
June 25, 2010 (La Mesa) -- Sharp Grossmont Hospital’s Senior Resource Center offers free or low-cost educational programs and health screenings each month. The Senior Resource Center also provides information and assistance for health information and community resources. For more information, call 619-740-4214. For other programs, call 1-800-827-4277 or visit their website.
June 24, 2010 (Valley Center) -- The Indian Health Council, Inc., (IHC) is celebrating its 40th anniversary June 25 with a festive Open House, featuring health screenings, raffle prizes and giveaways, tours of the facility, and a Fun Zone for children that includes a bike rodeo. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the council headquarters, 50100 Golsh Road, Valley Center (on the Rincon Reservation).
June 17, 2010 (La Mesa) -- The San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce is organizing the East County’s largest free health fair, called Summer Healthcare Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., on Saturday, June 19, at the Grossmont Center shopping center, 5500 Grossmont Center Dr., in La Mesa.
June 18, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) -- Campbell Soup Supply Company is recalling approximately 15,000,000 pounds of "SpaghettiOs with Meatballs" canned products due to possible under-processing, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced yesterday.
CORRECTION: Our newsletter contained an incorrect date for the Powerlink town hall meeting. The event will be held on Wednesday, June 23.
June 18, 2010 (Alpine) – Supervisor Dianne Jacob and The Protect Our Communities Foundation will host a town hall meeting Wednesday, June 23 in Alpine to provide the public a forum for comments to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), which is considering whether to allow the controversial Sunrise Powerlink high-voltage power lines to cross 19 miles of Cleveland National Forest in East County.
May 24, 2010 (La Mesa) – Councilmember Ernest Ewin has proposed that La Mesa create a program to encourage residents to turn in unused and expired prescription drugs and also launch a “No Drugs Down the Toilet or Drain” campaign. The proposal will be considered by Council on Tuesday, May 25 during the Council meeting starting at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
“Prescription drugs have long been recognized as a threat to child health and related criminal activity,” Ewin wrote in a memo to the Mayor and members of the City Council. “Also, drugs in landfills, our streams, bays and ocean are also of concern.”
May 21, 2010 (San Diego) -- The County of San Diego Department of Environmental Health is investigating three illnesses that match a Salmonella outbreak linked to three brands of alfalfa sprouts. Consumers and local grocery stores are urged to check for the recalled products.
The products are connected to 23 illnesses in 10 states, including 11 people in California. The latest known illness was on May 2. Six cases nationwide have required hospitalization.
May 7, 2010 (Washington D.C.) The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with C&T International Sorelle, announces a voluntary recall of numerous drop-side cribs sold from 2000 through March 2010 in retailers nationwide for approximately $300-$600. This recall involves C&T International, Sorelle and Golden Baby wood cribs. The full-size cribs were sold in natural, white and cherry finishes.
Proceeds benefit Komen San Diego fund for breast cancer cure
SAN DIEGO, May 5, 2010 – Sports and stilettos will unite at San Diego State University’s (SDSU) Second Annual Women’s Football Academy benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure, San Diego on Saturday, June 5. SDSU’s head football coach, Brady Hoke, and his staff will teach women how to be football savvy.
Lead levels 10,000 times higher than legal level found
May 3, 2010 (Washington D.C.) --The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is advising consumers not to purchase nor consume Vita Breath, a dietary supplement manufactured by American Herbal Lab Inc. of Rosemead, Calif., and marketed at health fairs and on the Internet, because the product may contain hazardous levels of lead.
May 2, 2010 (La Mesa) -- Mike Justo, representing the Better Business Bureau, led a discussion at the William C Herrick Medical Library in La Mesa last week on medical and health scams and frauds. The event was cosponsored by the library and Grossmont/Sharp Hospital.
The recently passed national health legislation has already prompted fraudulent vending of health policies to “cover the holes,” the BBB warns. Consumers are advised to view any door-to-door health salespersons with a healthy dose of skepticism.
Justo enumerated several other common scams in our community.
Tylenol, Motrin, Bendryl, and Zyrtec on list; FDA offers consumer advice
May 1, 2010 (Washington D.C.) –Working in consultation with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), McNeil Consumer Healthcare is implementing a voluntary recall of infant and children’s liquid products due to manufacturing deficiencies which may affect quality, purity or potency. Following McNeil’s recall announcement on Friday evening, the FDA is providing additional the following advice to consumers.
Bill to regulate rate hikes introduced by Insurance Commissioner candidate Dave Jones
April 30, 2010 (Sacramento - Following a storm of criticism, Anthem Blue Cross announced yesterday that it will withdraw its request to raise premiums by as much as 39% on California policy holders.
“The hearings I chaired revealed that Anthem Blue Cross and its parent company, Wellpoint, have made billions in profits at the expense of Californians,” Assemblyman Dave Jones, candidate for State Insurance Commissioner, said in a press release issued today. When the insurer refused to provide information on salary packages of its executives, Jones said, “I issued the first Legislative subpoena in a decade to get that information.”
Insurer also targeted breast cancer patients with computer program to terminate their coverage
April 27, 2010 (Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) expressed outrage after Reuters published a story detailing how WellPoint Inc. used a special computer program to target breast cancer patients and terminate their health coverage. (Read the story here.) WellPoint is the parent company of Anthem Blue Cross of California, which plans to hike premium rates by up to 39 percent on 800,000 California policyholders on May 1.
"We have a duty to protect the American people from the corporate greed of these for-profit, publically traded health insurance companies," said Senator Feinstein. "If a CEO thinks it is okay to deprive women of their health coverage when they become seriously ill with breast cancer, we can't trust them to do the right thing, period. Left to their own devices, companies like WellPoint will throw paying customers to the sharks for the sake of profit."
April 25, 2010 (La Mesa) – Last weekend, CBS “60 Minutes” ran a story titled “21st Century Snake Oil” accusing Lawrence R. Stowe of Stowe Bio Therapy Medical Oasis in La Mesa of running a con scheme to bilk dying patients.
April 15, 2010 (San Diego) California Attorney General Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown Jr. today announced the arrests of a Chula Vista doctor and two employees operating a "complex, multi-level scheme" that bilked more than $200,000 from low-income patients and government agencies by overcharging and prescribed pain medication to individuals who had no medical need for it.
"These individuals operated a complex, multi-level fraud scheme," Brown said. "Today's arrests are a result of the cooperative efforts of state and federal law enforcement to take this dirty doctor off the streets."
April 6, 2010 (San Diego) -- Spring has officially arrived and mosquito breeding season is here. County officials are working hard to prevent the spread of West Nile virus (WNV).
“Controlling mosquito populations is the key to WNV prevention,” said Jack Miller, Director of the County Department of Environmental Health. “The recent rains will certainly create new mosquito breeding habitats.”
April 3, 2010 (La Mesa) -- Grossmont Healthcare District’s Dr. William C. Herrick Community Health Care Library, 9001 Wakarusa St., La Mesa, will host a free senior discussion group on the latest health scams with a guest speaker from the San Diego Better Business Bureau from 10 to 11 a.m. on Wednesday, April 28. The public is invited to attend.
March 26, 2010 (San Diego) -- County staff spent a day teaching Monarch School students about jobs in public service by hosting a career day at the County Administration Center.
“We want to help the Monarch School provide these young people with bright futures by showing them how to prepare for a career in government or any other area they want to pursue,” said Helen Robbins-Meyer, the County Assistant Chief Administrative Officer.
Beyond the hype, snipes and myths, what will the landmark measure really do?
By Miriam Raftery
March 22, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – How will the landmark healthcare bill passed last night by the House of Representatives impact you, your family and your business? The answers, detailed extensively below, may surprise you.
President Barack Obama is expected to sign the measure in the next couple of days, though the Senate has yet to vote on whether to accept House changes to a version of the bill that the Senate recently passed. While some changes may yet be made, major elements include provisions to take effect immediately, as well as many others that will be phased in over several years. These include:
March 21, 2010 (El Cajon) - The San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) is working with Grossmont Union High School officials to notify students and faculty who may have been exposed to a Granite Hills High School student who has been diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB). The student last attended classes on March 8 and officials have notified students, staff and faculty who have been identified as being at risk.
March 21, 2010 (San Diego) --The County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) has been awarded $16 million from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to promote physical activity and healthy eating.
July 6, 2010 (Washington D.C.) -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on July 1st unveiled an innovative new on-line tool aimed at helping consumers take control of their health care by connecting them to new information and resources to access quality, affordable health care coverage.
“Virtually all of them are either undeveloped land, cement factories, mining operations, even land that’s zoned for treatment of radioactive materials,” -- Kate Valentine of Americans for Safe Access
June 25, 2010 (La Mesa) -- Sharp Grossmont Hospital’s Senior Resource Center offers free or low-cost educational programs and health screenings each month. The Senior Resource Center also provides information and assistance for health information and community resources. For more information, call 619-740-4214. For other programs, call 1-800-827-4277 or visit their 
June 18, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) -- Campbell Soup Supply Company is recalling approximately 15,000,000 pounds of "SpaghettiOs with Meatballs" canned products due to possible under-processing, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced yesterday.
May 24, 2010 (La Mesa) – Councilmember Ernest Ewin has proposed that La Mesa create a program to encourage residents to turn in unused and expired prescription drugs and also launch a “No Drugs Down the Toilet or Drain” campaign. The proposal will be considered by Council on Tuesday, May 25 during the Council meeting starting at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
May 21, 2010 (San Diego) -- The County of San Diego Department of Environmental Health is investigating three illnesses that match a Salmonella outbreak linked to three brands of alfalfa sprouts. Consumers and local grocery stores are urged to check for the recalled products.
Proceeds benefit Komen San Diego fund for breast cancer cure
Lead levels 10,000 times higher than legal level found
By Bill Pogue
Tylenol, Motrin, Bendryl, and Zyrtec on list; FDA offers consumer advice
Bill to regulate rate hikes introduced by Insurance Commissioner candidate Dave Jones
April 15, 2010 (San Diego) California Attorney General Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown Jr. today announced the arrests of a Chula Vista doctor and two employees operating a "complex, multi-level scheme" that bilked more than $200,000 from low-income patients and government agencies by overcharging and prescribed pain medication to individuals who had no medical need for it.
By Miriam Raftery
April 6, 2010 (San Diego) -- Spring has officially arrived and mosquito breeding season is here. County officials are working hard to prevent the spread of West Nile virus (WNV).
April 3, 2010 (La Mesa) -- Grossmont Healthcare District’s Dr. William C. Herrick Community Health Care Library, 9001 Wakarusa St., La Mesa, will host a free senior discussion group on the latest health scams with a guest speaker from the San Diego Better Business Bureau from 10 to 11 a.m. on Wednesday, April 28. The public is invited to attend.
March 26, 2010 (San Diego) -- County staff spent a day teaching Monarch School students about jobs in public service by hosting a career day at the County Administration Center.
Beyond the hype, snipes and myths, what will the landmark measure really do?
March 21, 2010 (El Cajon) - The San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) is working with Grossmont Union High School officials to notify students and faculty who may have been exposed to a Granite Hills High School student who has been diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB). The student last attended classes on March 8 and officials have notified students, staff and faculty who have been identified as being at risk.
March 21, 2010 (San Diego) --The County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) has been awarded $16 million from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to promote physical activity and healthy eating.
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