- California Healthline Original Stories 2
- Geriatric ERs Reduce Stress, Medical Risks For Elderly Patients
- Doctors Struggle With Medical Marijuana Knowledge Gap
- Public Health and Education 2
- State Officials Warn Travelers Who Visit Zika Hot Spots To Be 'Vigilant' On Return
- Few Dentists Participate In State Program To Provide Dental Care To Poor Residents
- Around California 2
- New Residential Facility For Mental Health Treatment Opens In Sacramento County
- On L.A.'s Skid Row, Synthetic Drug 'Spice' Suspected Of Series of Multi-Patient Illnesses
Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Geriatric ERs Reduce Stress, Medical Risks For Elderly Patients
Overcrowding and chaos in traditional emergency rooms can harm seniors’ health. That’s prompting some hospitals to open ERs designed specifically for the elderly. (Anna Gorman, )
Doctors Struggle With Medical Marijuana Knowledge Gap
Some states are beginning to require physicians to take courses to learn how and when marijuana might work for their patients. There is no such requirement in California. (Shefali Luthra and Ana B. Ibarra, )
More News From Across The State
Legislature Poised To Send Gov. Brown The 'Right-To-Try' Drug Bill Again
Brown vetoed the bill last year, but legislators are on the verge of the final approval vote for the second time.
KPCC:
Audio: 'Right-To-Try' Experimental Drug Bill Again Appears Headed To Gov. Brown
A bill that would allow terminally ill people to obtain experimental drugs appears headed to Governor Brown's desk for the second year in a row. Brown vetoed a similar measure last year, but supporters believe conditions are right for him to sign it this time around. Brown said he vetoed last year’s "Right-to-Try" measure because he wanted time to see how changes to the FDA’s "Compassionate Use" program streamlined the process of getting experimental drugs to terminal patients. Nearly a year later, the new bill’s supporters say it's time for California to step in with its own solution, because the modified federal initiative has not reduced the minimum 30-day wait for drugs. (O'Neill, 8/22)
State Officials Warn Travelers Who Visit Zika Hot Spots To Be 'Vigilant' On Return
As of Friday, there were 170 travel-related Zika infections in 26 California counties, according to the California Department of Public Health. Meanwhile, Politico reports that the virus could potentially change the shape of the political debate surrounding late-term abortion.
Capital Public Radio:
Travelers Still Need To Prevent Zika Infections After Coming Home
There are 170 travel related Zika virus infections in 26 California counties as of Friday, according to the California Department of Public Health. State health officials say travelers returning to California from popular vacation destinations where Zika virus is known to be circulating still need to be vigilant once they arrive home. Those returning to California should continue using insect repellent for three weeks to prevent the virus from spreading to mosquitoes that may go on to bite and infect others. (Johnson, 8/22)
Politico:
How Zika Could Change The Politics Of Late-Term Abortion
For years, most Americans have opposed abortions late in pregnancy. Zika could change that, potentially undermining support for a national ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy as more women infected with the virus find themselves in the crosshairs of the abortion wars if they choose to end their pregnancies. (Haberkorn, 8/22)
Few Dentists Participate In State Program To Provide Dental Care To Poor Residents
The lack of providers in Denti-Cal leaves thousands of people without dental care. A 2014 state audit found 11 counties have no dentists taking new Denti-Cal patients, while another sixteen are underserved, according to Capital Public Radio. Also in news about public health, a look at the fight over a ballot measure to increase the cost of cigarettes and efforts to remove contaminated soil at schools near the Exide Technologies battery recycling plant.
Capital Public Radio:
How A Broken, $1 Billion State Program Leaves Californians With Cavities
The government spends more than $1 billion annually on California teeth, offering dental coverage to 13 million low-income residents who qualify for Medi-Cal services. But, most California dentists refuse to participate in the Denti-Cal program, leaving patients with impossible wait times that lead to expensive health consequences. The Asian Health Services dental clinic in Oakland is the rare office that sees patients who get their dental coverage through Medi-Cal. Even with six dentists working on 50 patients a day, office assistant Tiffany Sitlin says the clinic can’t keep up with demand. (Bradford, 8/22)
San Francisco Business Times:
Why Some Business Groups Are Supporting A $2-Per-Pack Tax Hike On Cigarettes
Two large business organizations in San Francisco and Los Angeles are backing a tax measure that will appear on the November ballot that would hike the cost of cigarettes by $2 a pack. Their endorsements may not make a difference, however, as tobacco companies and other opposing business groups have outspent backers of the initiative by more than two-to-one so far. (Young, 8/22)
Los Angeles Times:
Exide Cleanup: Lead-Contaminated Soil To Be Removed From 2 L.A. Schools, District Says
Amid an outcry from parents over lead contamination, Los Angeles school officials said Monday that they will remove soil with elevated levels of the brain-damaging metal from two elementary schools near the closed Exide Technologies battery recycling plant. Soil will be replaced in a front lawn and around a tree at Lorena Street Elementary in Boyle Heights and in a front lawn and around two trees at Rowan Avenue Elementary in East Los Angeles, said Robert Laughton, director of environmental health and safety for the L.A. Unified School District. (Barboza, 8/22)
New Residential Facility For Mental Health Treatment Opens In Sacramento County
Turning Point Community Programs operates the 15-bed center in Rio Linda for the county, which committed $1.7 million annually for treatment services.
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento County Expands Services For People In Mental Health Crisis: ‘I Just Want To Feel Happy’
The treatment center opened Aug. 1 in a gray stucco building that looks more like a home than a medical institution. It marks the county’s latest effort to expand its mental health treatment options to provide midlevel services that span the gap between outpatient counseling and hospitalization. Called a crisis residential program, the center gives people with dire mental health needs a place to live for 30 days while getting services. (Caiola, 8/23)
Sacramento Bee:
Turning Point Fills Void For Mental Health Residents In Crisis (Video)
Every month in Sacramento County, more than 1,600 children and adults land in a hospital emergency room because of mental health issues; those patients are generally refered to a psychiatric hospital for a two week stay and released once again, usually beginning the pattern once again. Sacramento County is hoping Turning Point, a crisis residential program that has had a successful track record, both nationally and locally will patients feel like themselves again. (Sterling, 8/23)
On L.A.'s Skid Row, Synthetic Drug 'Spice' Suspected Of Series of Multi-Patient Illnesses
Police and fire officials suspect this cheap illicit drug may be responsible. It mimics the effects of marijuana but can be much stronger.
Los Angeles Times:
Another Multi-Patient Illness Strikes Skid Row As 14 Are Transported To Hospitals
Three days after 18 people were rushed to hospitals from downtown’s skid row, the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to another multi-patient medical emergency there on Monday. The patients may have shared an illicit drug or other intoxicant, said Margaret Stewart of the Los Angeles Fire Department, but the source of the illnesses has not yet been identified. The Fire Department received a 911 call at 10:21 a.m. that led them to 429 E 5th St., where they found multiple people suffering from a variety of symptoms. (Evans, 8/22)
KPCC:
Audio: 'Spice' Suspected To Have Sickened More People On Skid Row
A synthetic street drug is believed to have sickened people in Los Angeles' Skid Row area for the second time in the last three days. Since Friday, more than 50 people have ended up in the hospital with similar symptoms. Police and fire officials suspect the culprit is a drug called “spice." It’s a cheap synthetic that mimics the effects of marijuana, but can be much stronger. Authorities are asking those with loved ones on Skid Row to re-engage with them and bring them home, LAPD Capt. Don Graham told KPCC. (Agullera, 8/22)
Medical Innovations Make Patient Care More Precise
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports on a burgeoning field of medicine -- sometimes known by names such as translational medicine, personalized medicine, individualized medicine and precision medicine -- that focuses on smoothing out the path between patients and new products and technologies.
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Making Innovative Patient Care More Precise, Accessible Through The Precision Medicine Movement
With the use of “big data” and other powerful information technologies, more genetic variations linked to cancer are being identified. Patients’ genomes are screened against drugs such as the blood thinner Plavix to determine if those medications will be effective, a practice pioneered by the local Scripps Health network. Such testing is also occurring at Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine in San Diego. Infants and children with undiagnosed diseases are screened there in a bid to find treatments for them. (Fikes, 8/22)
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times covers a sweeping research effort designed to help women determine their risk of breast cancer and when they should be screened for the disease —
Los Angeles Times:
How Often Should You Get A Mammogram? It Depends On Whether You Have Dense Breast Tissue, Experts Say
For women older than 50 who have been confused by conflicting advice on how frequently to get a mammogram, some new science is here to guide their decisions. An ambitious research effort published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine set out to tailor women’s breast cancer screening practices to match their actual risk of breast cancer. It concludes that a woman’s breast density should influence the frequency with which she is screened for breast cancer, in addition to such long-recognized breast cancer risk factors as age, ethnicity, personal history of abnormal breast findings and a family history of breast cancer. (Healy, 8/22)
Year-Long Study Leads Health-Services Company To Rethink Worker Wellness Program
Equity Healthcare, owned by the Blackstone Group, conducted the study to better focus efforts to prod employees to lose weight or quit smoking by determining which ones were most likely to heed these messages or most in need of help.
The Wall Street Journal:
Blackstone Unit Finds Some Health Nudges Just Don’t Work
A major health-services company is revamping the employee wellness and care-management programs supplied to its clients after a yearslong study of who actually benefits from calls offering health advice. (Wilde Mathews, 8/22)
Clinton Seeks To Use Tax Credits To Help Small Businesses Offer Workers Insurance
The Wall Street Journal reports that this proposal would simplify an underused tax credit created by the Affordable Care Act and expand it to companies with up to 50 workers. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that some Republicans suggest that a shift in the debate over the health law -- from kill it to tweak it -- could result from a Hillary Clinton presidency.
The Wall Street Journal:
Clinton To Offer Plan For Small Businesses
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is proposing a package of ideas aimed at helping small businesses, including a new standard deduction that could simplify tax filing and improvements to a little-used tax credit for companies that offer workers health insurance. (Meckler, 8/23)
Bloomberg:
Clinton Win Could Pressure GOP To Heal, Not Repeal, Obamacare
Republicans in Congress have insisted the only way to fix Obamacare is to repeal it. But with Barack Obama about to leave the White House, several Republicans sound willing to tweak it rather than kill it. These Republicans suggest that a Hillary Clinton presidency could shift the debate over the Affordable Care Act just enough to work on improvements with someone who isn’t the law’s namesake. (Wayne and House, 8/23)
And on late night television, Jimmy Kimmel and Clinton joke about her health issues -
Politico:
On Kimmel's Show, Clinton Mocks ‘Failing Health’ Conspiracies
Hillary Clinton poked fun at the Donald Trump’s repeated claims that her health is failing Monday night, jokingly asking ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel to take her pulse while they spoke on his late-night TV show. The Democratic nominee’s physical well-being has been a topic of discussion on the campaign trail ever since Trump claimed she "lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS" last Monday. The allegation, a staple of right-wing media critiques of Clinton, was quickly denounced by her campaign, which pointed to a doctor’s letter released last year that pronounced her health “excellent.” (Lima, 8/23)
U.S. Senators Press Mylan To Explain 400-Percent Cost Increase For EpiPen Pack
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, wrote to Mylan Laboratories requesting the company's pricing data while Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., asked the Federal Trade Commission and Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate the price hikes.
The New York Times:
Congress Presses Pharmaceutical Company To Explain Surge In Cost Of EpiPen
It’s back-to-school time — as well as campaign season — and lawmakers are becoming increasingly focused on the growing cost of pens: EpiPens, that is. Members of Congress are expressing rising alarm about the increasing costs of the lifesaving injection device for people with severe allergies, and they are hearing from anxious parents. (Hulse, 8/23)
Stat:
Senators Press Mylan Labs Over 'Outrageous' EpiPen Pricing
Responding to the high cost of the EpiPen auto-injector for reversing life-threatening allergic reactions, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Monday wrote Mylan Laboratories asking for pricing data on the device. At the same time, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) asked the US Federal Trade Commission and the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate price hikes taken by Mylan. Klobuchar happens to be the ranking member of Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee. And Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) also wrote the company for data about assistance programs to patients and first responders. And he also demanded that Mylan lower its price. (Silverman, 8/22)
Reuters:
U.S. Lawmakers Press Mylan On EpiPen Price Increases
Two senior lawmakers on the U.S. Senate's Judiciary Committee on Monday pushed for information regarding sharp price increases for EpiPens, drug-filled injectable devices used by people to counter potentially deadly allergic reactions. (Bartz, 8/22)
The Hill:
Grassley Presses EpiPen Maker On 400 Percent Price Increase
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is asking the maker of EpiPens to explain sharp increases in the device's price. Grassley wrote a letter to Mylan, the company that makes EpiPens, asking for an explanation of a 400 percent increase in the price since 2007. (Sullivan, 8/22)