Just last weekend, a patient at a Los Angeles hospital stabbed a nurse with a pencil. The same day, another nurse at another L.A. hospital was attacked with a knife. Nurses across the state are calling for greater protections from violent patients. Lawmakers will vote on a bill Thursday that would require hospitals to do more to prevent violence at their facilities.

Two nurses wounded in two separate attacks at two different Los Angeles County medical centers continued to recover Monday, but their injuries further illustrate the need to improve hospital workplace safety, an association said. “We can not stand by while nurses, other hospital staff, patients, families, and visitors are put in harms way in hospitals that fail to provide the measures that will protect their staff and the community,” said Malinda Markowitz, co-president of the California Nurses Association. “It is time for the Legislature to act.”

Dr. Theodore Corwin jumps through numerous hoops to get UnitedHealthcare to pay for a patient's breast reduction — only to finally be told the surgery wasn't covered by her policy. A 26-year-old woman recently came to his office complaining of back, neck and shoulder pain, as well as numbness in her hands and arms, resulting from her unusually ample bust. She's 5-foot-6, not overweight, Corwin said. She wanted a breast reduction.

The National Labor Relations Board has upheld a judge’s ruling that found that management of Fallbrook Hospital did not negotiate in good faith with a union representing registered nurses, and has also ordered the hospital to reimburse the union for its expenses.