Cases Of Babies Born With Drugs In System Skyrocketing In San Diego
The county had 182 cases in 2014 but 289 in 2015 — a 59 percent jump.
inewsource:
Babies On Drugs: Another Sad Chapter In The Opioid Saga
Ever so quietly, a California health agency recently uploaded an alarming chart on its website. The graphic shows an especially steep rise in the number of newborns affected by drugs transmitted from their mothers during pregnancy or through breast milk starting in 2008, when the number statewide was 1,862. By 2014, the number rose to 3,007. But the biggest yearly jump came in 2015, when the number of affected babies hit 3,633, a 21 percent climb. (Clark, 4/17)
In other news from across California —
Los Angeles Times:
Costa Mesa City Council To Weigh Changes For Group Homes And Sober-Living Homes
Costa Mesa City Council members are slated Tuesday to discuss a slew of proposed changes to the city's rules regarding group homes and sober-living facilities. The staff-submitted revisions, which the Planning Commission reviewed last month, include proposals aimed at keeping former sober-living residents from becoming homeless. (Money, 4/14)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Hawaii Accused Of Downplaying Parasite That Struck SF Couple
Health officials in tourist-friendly Hawaii are defending themselves from criticism that they have for years downplayed the severity of a rare, brain-invading parasite that has infected dozens on the islands, including a San Francisco couple stricken by the disease on a recent honeymoon. A cluster of rat lungworm cases in Maui caught widespread attention last week when Eliza Lape of San Francisco and her husband, UC Berkeley journalism professor Ben Manilla, revealed they had become severely ill in January after they eloped on the island. (Lyons, 4/14)
East Bay Times:
Konrad & Carew: How An NFL Player’s Donated Heart Saved Life Of A Baseball Hall Of Famer
Konrad Reuland spent the last day of his life in a coma as his mother, resigned to her son’s fate, curled up close, rested her head on his broad chest and listened to his heartbeat for as long as she could. Reuland’s heart, strengthened by his days as a football player at Stanford and in the NFL, sounded as mighty as ever. And Mary lay there from sunrise to sundown savoring the pulsing rhythm. ... Reuland died of a brain aneurysm Dec. 12 and his organs were donated, ... By the time of the funeral, friends who had read about Rod Carew’s recent heart transplant in Los Angeles were putting two and two together. (Brown, 4/14)
KQED:
Casualties In Big Sur Blaze Point To Hazards Of ‘Wildfire Gig Economy’
The agencies that battle California wildfires every year rely on an army of private contractors for key firefighting roles. But two incidents during last year’s Soberanes Fire in Big Sur — one that killed a bulldozer operator and another that seriously injured a water tender driver — reveal that many of those involved in what amounts to a wildfire gig economy regularly face potentially deadly conditions with little or no guarantee of basic protections. (Goldberg, 4/17)