Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Home Visits Help New Parents Overcome Tough Histories, Raise Healthy Children
A program that provides $400 million in federal funding for the visits expires next month. Advocates and providers hope it will be reauthorized with a higher level of funding — but some worry that might not happen. (Anna Gorman, )
Dying At Home In An Opioid Crisis: Hospices Grapple With Stolen Meds
As more patients receive hospice care at home, some of the powerful, addictive drugs they’re prescribed are ending up in the wrong hands. (Melissa Bailey, )
More News From Across The State
State Lawmakers Mull Ways To Rein In Out-Of-Control Drug Prices
Under one of the measures being considered, pharmaceutical companies would have to explain to the state periodically why they’re raising prices, and they’d have to give 60 days notice to purchasers before raising prices by a certain amount.
KPCC:
Will Transparency In Drug Pricing Force Down Costs?
As the state legislature returned to work in Sacramento Monday, lawmakers were considering a number of bills intended to restrain the rise of health care prices, including one that would require drug makers to notify the public before raising the price of certain medications. ... If the bill passes, next year the state’s insurance regulators will keep an annual list of the 25 mostly costly drugs, the 25 most commonly prescribed drugs, and which 25 drugs’ prices went up the most. (Faust, 8/21)
In other news from Sacramento —
San Francisco Chronicle:
State Bills Seek To Cut Children’s Exposure To Lead
Tests have turned up harmful levels of lead in water fountains and taps at other schools in San Diego and Los Angeles, where the district long ago decided to identify, flush and fix or seal hundreds of contaminated fountains. And in the wake of the much-publicized toxic lead contamination of water in Flint, Mich., a Reuters report revealed dozens of California neighborhoods in which tested children showed elevated levels of lead — a neurotoxin that causes developmental disorders and brain damage. (Aguilera, 8/21)
Johnson & Johnson Ordered To Pay $417M In Case Linking Talcum Powder, Ovarian Cancer
Eva Echeverria, 63, of East Los Angeles, is one of thousands of women who sued the consumer products giant, claiming Johnson's baby powder caused their disease.
The New York Times:
$417 Million Awarded In Suit Tying Johnson’s Baby Powder To Cancer
In what may be the largest award so far in a lawsuit tying ovarian cancer to talcum powder, a Los Angeles jury on Monday ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $417 million in damages to a medical receptionist who developed ovarian cancer after using the company’s trademark Johnson’s Baby Powder on her perineum for decades. (Rabin, 8/22)
USA Today:
Jury Awards $417M In Lawsuit Linking Talcum Powder To Cancer
The judgment, reached after a roughly one-month long trial in Los Angeles Superior Court, includes $347 million in punitive damages against Johnson & Johnson. It was the latest among several verdicts against the consumer-products maker, with about 2,000 women having filed similar cases. In the latest verdict, plaintiff Eva Echeverria alleged that Johnson & Johnson was aware of potential dangers from consistently using its talcum-based products for personal hygiene but refused to warn the public. (Jones, 8/21)
The Associated Press:
Record $417M Award In Lawsuit Linking Baby Powder To Cancer
The verdict in the lawsuit brought by the California woman, Eva Echeverria, marks the largest sum awarded in a series of talcum powder lawsuit verdicts against Johnson & Johnson in courts around the U.S. Echeverria alleged Johnson & Johnson failed to adequately warn consumers about talcum powder’s potential cancer risks. She used the company’s baby powder on a daily basis beginning in the 1950s until 2016 and was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2007, according to court papers. (Balsamo, 8/21)
The Wall Street Journal:
Johnson & Johnson Hit With $417 Million Verdict In Baby Powder Case
The verdict here comes in the sixth completed trial alleging the talcum powder in J&J’s popular bath product causes ovarian cancer, and that the company failed to warn about the risks. The company won a trial in March but lost four others, leading to jury awards totaling more than $300 million that are now on appeal. (Randazzo, 8/21)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. Jury Hits Johnson & Johnson With $417-Million Verdict Over Cancer Link To Its Talc
Johnson & Johnson immediately announced it would seek to overturn the verdict. “We will appeal today's verdict because we are guided by the science, which supports the safety of Johnson's Baby Powder,” the company said in a statement. (Winton, 8/21)
Legal Battle Over UC Researcher May Be Shaken By Former Med School Dean Scandal
“With all that’s out there about [Dr. Carmen Puliafito], he’s going to have a serious problem coming off as credible and being believed,” said Los Angeles attorney Brian Panish, a civil litigator who has represented clients in suits against both schools.
Los Angeles Times:
USC's Dean Drug Scandal Could Take A Costly Toll On The School's Legal Battle With The UC System
Six months after Dr. Carmen Puliafito stepped down as dean of USC’s medical school, he was called by the university to give sworn testimony as a witness in a lawsuit the institution was facing. It was a sensitive matter with hundreds of millions of dollars potentially at stake, and two attorneys for the university sat with him as he answered questions. Almost immediately, the opposing lawyer hit on a topic that was a closely guarded secret at USC: The circumstances of Puliafito’s abrupt resignation in March 2016. (Ryan, 8/21)
'Sensory-Friendly' Dance Performances Help Autistic Children Enjoy The Theater
At these performances the lights will be dimmed but not dark, the sound will be low and traditional theater etiquette will be tossed out the window.
Capital Public Radio:
Capital Dance Project Serves Autistic Children With Sensory Friendly Performance
The Studio Movie Grill in Rocklin offers special needs showings, and the Crocker Art Museum has programs for autistic children, but the Capital Dance Project ballet is Sacramento’s first sensory-friendly dance performance. ... The need for autism-inclusive performances has grown clearer as the disorder becomes more prevalent. (Caiola, 8/21)
In other public health news —
Sacramento Bee:
Demographic Breakdown Of California Adults Reporting Lack Of Sex
About 1 in 10 Californians between ages 25 and 45 did not have sex in the last 12 months, according to the state’s largest health survey. ... Lack of sex correlated with a number of health problems, including obesity and psychological distress. (Reese, 8/21)
Orange County Register:
900-Gallon Sewage Spill Closes Baby Beach In Dana Point Harbor
The Orange County Health Care Agency shut down Baby Beach in Dana Point late Sunday because of a 900-gallon sewage spill. ... The spill was caused by a blockage in a sewer line operated by South Coast Water District, according to the Health Care Agency. (Connelly, 8/21)
'It's Only Getting Worse': Hospitals Flooded With Opioid Patients As Crisis Rages On
There's been a 64 percent increase in inpatient stays, while emergency room visits related to opioids have doubled since 2005. Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price praises China's help in cracking down on opioids.
The New York Times:
Hospitals Are Clogged With Patients Struggling With Opioids
President Trump this month declared the opioid epidemic a national emergency, a move intended to direct more funding and attention toward the crisis. Recent research on hospitalizations related to opioid use depicts a problem of increasing urgency. According to a series of government briefs published this year, nearly 1.3 million hospitalizations involving opioids occurred in the United States in 2014. The figure includes hospitalizations for abuse of both prescription and illegal drugs, including heroin. (Yin, 8/21)
The Associated Press:
US Health Chief Lauds China For Help With Opioid Control
China has been an "incredible partner" in cracking down on synthetic opioids seen as fueling fast-rising overdose deaths in the United States, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said Monday during a visit to the country considered the source of many of the deadly substances sought by addicts. Price said China has been quick to respond when regulators identify a threat from a dangerous drug such as fentanyl, the powerful opioid blamed for thousands of fatal overdoses, including the death of entertainer Prince. (Bodeen, 8/21)
In other national health care news —
The New York Times:
Coal Mining Health Study Is Halted By Interior Department
The Interior Department has ordered a halt to a scientific study begun under President Obama of the public health risks of mountaintop-removal coal mining. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, which was conducting the study, said in a statement Monday that they were ordered to stop work because the Interior Department is conducting an agencywide budgetary review. (Friedman and Plumer, 8/21)
The Associated Press:
VA Seeks To Funnel More Nursing Home Money To Rural Areas
Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin said Monday during a visit to Montana that his agency will propose changes to make it easier for rural areas to receive funding to build nursing homes for veterans. Rural areas are often bypassed under the agency’s existing guidelines for awarding grants for veterans’ homes, Shulkin told reporters after touring VA facilities and meeting with veterans in Helena. (Volz, 8/21)
The New York Times:
Is This Treatment The Cure For Hair Loss?
When Heidi Imhof started losing her hair at 42, she also started losing sleep. Ms. Imhof, a lawyer, was afraid that blow-drying her straight dark hair would hasten the shedding, so she got up two hours early to shower and apply mousse and volumizers. When her hair finally air-dried, she’d pull it back, hoping to hide the bald patches on her scalp.“I was desperate,” she said. (Rubin, 8/21)
The Wall Street Journal:
A Striking Rise In Serious Allergy Cases
The rate of reports of severe allergic reactions to foods like peanuts has increased by nearly five times over the past decade, according to a new analysis of private insurance claims. The analysis looked at private insurance claims with a diagnosis of an anaphylactic food reaction from 2007 to 2016. Anaphylaxis is a systemic allergic reaction in which the immune system affects multiple parts of the body at the same time, often leading to trouble breathing. It can be fatal if not treated promptly and requires an injection of epinephrine and a trip to the emergency room. (Reddy, 8/21)