Doctor

California's health insurance rates for a new state-run marketplace came in lower than expected this week, but one downside for many consumers will be far fewer doctors and hospitals to choose from. People who want UCLA Medical Center and its doctors in their health plan network next year, for instance, may have only one choice in California's exchange: Anthem Blue Cross. Another major insurer in the state-run market, Blue Shield of California, said its exchange customers will be restricted to 36% of its regular physician network statewide.

The central question in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death trial is who employed Dr. Conrad Murray: Jackson or concert promoter AEG. In testimony that appeared to undercut AEG's claims that the doctor worked for Jackson, a company executive said Thursday that negotiations over Murray's $150,000-a-month contract did not include the singer or his advisors. He also said that the performer's camp never saw the drafts of the agreement. The admission by Shawn Trell, AEG Live's senior vice president and general counsel, appeared to help the Jackson family members who insist the company negligently hired and supervised Murray, now serving time for involuntary manslaughter after giving the singer a fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol.

A new anti-tobacco campaign is urging smokers to turn to their physicians for help in quitting. The campaign - " Talk With Your Doctor" - also encourages clinicians to ask patients whether they smoke and to offer them assistance giving up cigarettes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in partnership with several national physicians' organizations, unveiled the initiative Wednesday. Though 70% of smokers see doctors regularly, most try to quit smoking without professional help, said CDC Director Thomas Frieden, himself a physician.

Dr. Conrad Murray, who administered the fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol to Michael Jackson, did not have a signed contract with the promoter of the London concerts by the singer, who died two weeks before they were scheduled to begin. Whether the contract was valid is a major issue in the wrongful death suit Jackson's mother and three children have filed against Anschutz Entertainment Group. Murray, who worked with the singer for two months to prepare him for the concerts, signed his contract the night before Jackson died, but neither the singer nor a company executive signed.

As more people get their health information from TV and the Internet, it becomes crucial to have experts on the small screen who can provide accurate information. That's where Travis Stork, co-host of the TV show "The Doctors," comes in. Stork, an emergency room physician, is passionate about educating the public on how to prevent the illnesses that bring so many people in to see him in a crisis. Here, Stork, a onetime contestant on "The Bachelor," talks about getting outdoors, redefining fast food and using television as a positive influence.

Customized TV Listings are available here: www.latimes.com/tvtimes Click here to download TV listings for the week of May 19 - 25, 2013 in PDF format This week's TV Movies     SERIES Doctor Who The Doctor's (Matt Smith) greatest secret is discovered in the season finale. With Alex Kingston and Jenna-Louise Coleman. 5 and 8 p.m. BBC America Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives In this new episode Guy Fieri takes viewers behind the scenes.

A professional concert tour director testified Friday in the Michael Jackson wrongful death trial that a doctor's demand for $5 million to serve as the singer's tour physician "raised a red flag. " Marty Hom, who has spent 25 to 30 years as a tour director and tour manager, said that Dr. Conrad Murray's original demand was "outrageous. " Murray, a cardiologist who closed his practice to serve Jackson, eventually agreed to work for $150,000 a month. Hom, who testified as an expert witness, also said he would never tell a director he had checked out a doctor if he hadn't, a reference to claims by the Jackson family about an AEG executive.

Josh Hamilton said he was assured by doctors this week that the allergies that lead to occasional sinus and throat discomfort and dizziness were not caused or exacerbated by his heavy cocaine use from 2002-2005. "You have a hallway up the middle of your nose and sinus cavities on each side," said Hamilton, whose addiction to drugs and alcohol led to a ban from baseball from 2003-2005. "When you breathe air, it goes up and down the hallway. "Same thing when you do drugs, it goes up the hallway, not into the sinus cavities.

The opening day of the murder trial of a woman accused of strangling aspiring model and actress Juliana Redding focused on a doctor the victim once dated. Deputy Dist. Atty. Stacy Okun-Wiese said Redding, 21, was killed by Kelly Soo Park, an associate of a doctor Redding once dated. Redding was killed five days after her father broke off negotiations on a business deal with her ex-boyfriend, Dr. Munir Uwaydah, prosecutors said in opening statements, and Park's DNA was discovered on the victim's neck and clothing and in her apartment.

His wife was a patient at the clinic where I worked in my early days as a doctor. I saw her regularly for hypertension. But on one visit, she was more concerned about her husband - let's call him Pedro. He was having stomach pains and difficulty swallowing. I told her to make an appointment for him with me. When I saw him, Pedro explained that he had lost weight and was having trouble swallowing solid food. A barium swallow study confirmed my fears: He had esophageal cancer. Another doctor at the clinic received the report before I saw Pedro again and made an urgent referral to surgery.