Tuesday, June 15, 2004

Lautenschlager to sue drug-makers over high prices (Wisconsin)
June 2 Journal-Sentinel story - "In a new state attack on high drug prices, Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager plans to announce today that she will sue about 20 major drug manufacturers on allegations that they violated Wisconsin's wholesale pricing laws. Wisconsin would become the 14th state whose attorney general has sued drug manufacturers for allegedly breaking wholesale pricing laws. Lawsuits filed in other states are still pending. Lautenschlager was to make the announcement at the Green Bay convention of the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups, whose leaders welcomed the lawsuits and offered their event as a forum for the attorney general."  
  

County health care cuts go to bone (California)
Contra Costa Times story - "A standing-room-only crowd of clients, parents and advocates put a face behind the numbers Monday as Contra Costa supervisors contemplated deep cuts in the county's Health Services Department. About 100 people addressed the board at an emotional hearing, urging the supervisors to maintain services at the county hospital, homeless shelters, mental health and substance abuse clinics and the George Miller centers."  
  

Mental health advocates fight House cuts (South Carolina)
Sun-News story - "Advocates for North Carolina's mentally ill and disabled raised their voices this past week outside the Legislative Building at their annual rally. Chanting 'No More Cuts,' the protesters' aggravation centered on a $5 million reduction in the House budget for community mental health programs. The reduction is but a small portion of a public mental health budget that clears $2 billion when Medicaid dollars are included. The cut was $10 million before it was reduced on the floor. Even critics acknowledged that the one-time reduction won't eliminate current services..."  
  

Rally urges more funds for mental health care (New Jersey)
Story at the Courier-Post - "More than 1,500 mental health consumers, caregivers and other advocates rallied on the State House steps Monday to urge New Jersey officials to spend more on a community mental health system they say is in shambles. Staff at the nonprofit agencies that make up the mental health safety net haven't had a raise in years, workers said, and turnover is extreme. Patients sometimes wait up to six months to get an appointment with a counselor. And - despite a nationwide focus on getting patients out of institutions - patients ready to leave state hospitals linger due to a severe lack of community housing."