Today's Globe: Carney consultant, anesthestic coverage, Calif. prison healthcare costs

Caritas Carney Hospital in Dorchester has hired a consulting team led by hospital turnaround expert Dawn M. Gideon to analyze the institution's business and devise ways for it to improve its financial performance.

Aetna, one of the nation's largest private health plan managers, is the latest insurer to clamp down on the use of a powerful anesthetic during an increasingly common form of colon cancer screening.

Healthcare spending in California prisons has doubled in the last two years, one reason the state's prison spending has far outpaced the swelling number of inmates, contributing to the state's projected $14 billion budget gap.