Disclosure Of Information

Ever been to the eye doctor, asked for a copy of your contact lens prescription and been told that you can't have it? Wait a minute! Isn't your vision prescription a part of your medical record that your doctor is obligated to provide to you upon request? Actually, no. Here's why. Federal law requires any eye doctor to provide patients with a written copy of their eyeglass prescription, but it's silent on getting copies of prescriptions for contact lenses.

Amid a squall of criticism, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa late Wednesday ordered his Fire Department chief to stop withholding basic information about responses to medical emergencies. The mayor's unusually blunt order came after a day in which council members criticized the department for halting its years-long practice of providing the public with basic rescue response details, including times, locations and the nature of emergencies, as well as the age and gender of victims.

Investigators recovered nearly 200 shells and casings, including 41 live rounds, after the 1999 Columbine High School shootings, according to FBI documents released Thursday. The federal report pointed to a large amount of gunfire traced to weapons used by the two gunmen and police officers, FBI Special Agent Carle Schlaff wrote in a report. "Basically, the entire campus was a crime scene except for the gym," Schlaff wrote.

Officials directing the California High-Speed Rail Authority have taken a series of overseas trips paid for by foreign governments jockeying to help their homeland firms win contracts on the multibillion-dollar project. And the rail agency has been unable to document the costs, sponsors or other details of the trips as generally required by state ethics regulations. Several board members and the former executive director took tours of train systems in Spain, France or Germany last year, according to interviews and records.

Results of the autopsies on Laci Peterson and her son will remain sealed, Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Al Girolami ruled in Modesto Friday. Girolami also rejected requests by reporters to listen to wiretaps of phone calls they made to Scott Peterson, and declined to issue a gag order on lawyers in the case. Prosecutors have said they support some form of a gag order, but defense attorney Mark Geragos said in court papers that he opposes any effort to curtail discussions about the case.

On the night he was murdered, barrel-chested millionaire Stanley Cohen went to bed as usual--nude and alone. His glamorous young wife, Joyce, stayed up late. After 11 years of marriage, the couple's relationship had hit the shoals. Both were having affairs. They had not slept together for two years. In a downstairs bedroom of their bluff-top Coconut Grove home, Joyce said, she was sorting through clothing for a garage sale when she heard a loud banging noise.

In the first official acknowledgment of its kind, the State Department has provided a detailed account of major covert operations launched by the CIA in Indonesia during the 1950s, when it feared growing Communist influence over President Sukarno. A 600-page documentary history published this month shows that the Dwight D.

Rap artist Eazy-E, a major figure in the commercial development of "gangsta" rap, has AIDS, his record company announced Thursday. Eazy-E, co-founder of the Compton rap group N.W.A., is one of the first major music performers to announce he has the disease.

A Los Angeles court late Friday unsealed documents revealing details of billionaire Ronald W. Burkle's bitter divorce fight -- records that he went to extraordinary lengths over the last three years to keep private. The 1,200 pages of documents were made public two days after the California Supreme Court rejected Burkle's effort to keep them under seal, which he said was necessary to protect the safety of his children.

Can a convicted child molester successfully sue someone for damaging his reputation? That is the overriding issue in a lawsuit filed by political consultant Timothy M. Carey of Torrance against former state controller candidate William Snow Hume of Fullerton.

In an effort to combat the rising tide of online censorship, Google Inc. released a new tool Tuesday to show users where it gets the most pressure to remove content from its services and turn over personal information about its users as a part of criminal investigations. The move marked the first time that Google has provided detailed information on such requests. The Internet giant, which pulled its search engine out of mainland China last month, is taking a harder stance against online censorship.

California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown said Tuesday that he was launching an expanded investigation into the finances and actions of a Cal State Stanislaus foundation that has invited former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to give a speech, after allegations that it may have illegally discarded documents related to the event. Brown already was investigating whether the Cal State Stanislaus Foundation violated the California Public Records Act when it refused the request of state Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco)

An executive for Toyota Motor Corp. in January urged colleagues in an e-mail to "not mention about the mechanical failures" of accelerator pedals in its vehicles, prompting a response from the company's top U.S. spokesman that said, "We are not protecting our customers by keeping this quiet," according to internal company documents reviewed by The Times. "The time to hide on this one is over," the e-mail from spokesman Irv Miller continued. "We need to come clean." The exchange, which occurred just days before a massive recall of Toyota vehicles to repair accelerator pedals, is the clearest indication so far that the Japanese carmaker was debating internally when to disclose that its accelerators pedals could become stuck and cause drivers to lose control of vehicles.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge Thursday rejected an eleventh-hour attempt by the sheriff's deputies' union to block the release of the identities of deputies involved in three controversial shootings. The Assn. of Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriffs sought to get involved in the case after Judge James C. Chalfant ruled Friday that the deputies' names should be made public. In his decision, Chalfant said state law generally requires the disclosure of the identities of officers who use deadly force.

Chain restaurants across the nation will be required to post calorie counts on their menus for each item that they serve, under legislation approved Sunday. The new rules, passed by the House as part of the huge healthcare reform package and sent to President Obama to sign into law, were lauded by nutrition advocates as well as the restaurant industry. "People will be able to see that the order of chili cheese fries they are considering will be 3,000 calories," said nutrition advocate Margo Wootan, who helped write the bill.

A Los Angeles County judge ordered the Sheriff's Department on Friday to make public the names of deputies involved in three controversial shootings, concluding that state law generally requires law enforcement agencies to disclose the identities of officers who use deadly force. Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant made the ruling in response to a court filing by The Times that sought the names, ranks, assignments and years of employment of the deputies in the three deadly confrontations last year.

Amid a squall of criticism, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa late Wednesday ordered his Fire Department chief to stop withholding basic information about responses to medical emergencies. The mayor's unusually blunt order came after a day in which council members criticized the department for halting its years-long practice of providing the public with basic rescue response details, including times, locations and the nature of emergencies, as well as the age and gender of victims.

'DO I have AIDS?" Sixteen-year-old Alexander Ghaffari was eating breakfast, getting ready for school, when he put the question to his mother. It wasn't a charged or dreaded moment. He can't even remember what prompted him to ask. Maybe he'd overheard someone talking about it, although he doesn't think so. More likely it was all the visits to infectious-disease specialists or the fistful of pills he took twice a day. But Ghaffari, now 25, remembers well what followed. "She said, 'Yes,' " he said.

A consumer group Thursday called on California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner to release all documents related to his investigation of proposed double-digit rate increases by Anthem Blue Cross for customers who buy individual policies. Consumer Watchdog also asked Poizner to hold at least four public hearings across the state as part of his inquiry into premium increases by California's largest for-profit insurer. Woodland Hills-based Anthem agreed to delay its rate hikes of as much as 39% until May 1 while an outside actuary, hired by Poizner's office, reviews the company's spending on medical claims.

Los Angeles County's embattled child welfare agency has clamped down on the release of information about 12 recent deaths among children who have passed through the child welfare system. The decision follows a series of articles in The Times last year that detailed flawed casework. The cases prompted some reforms at the county's Department of Children and Family Services, including enhanced training for social workers. But the state law that allowed much of the information to reach the public has been a source of discontent for Department of Children and Family Services Director Trish Ploehn.