Viewpoints: How To Regulate Medical Pot Deliveries; A Doctor’s View Of Opioid Epidemic
A selection of opinions on health care developments from around the state.
The Mercury News:
San Jose Must Deliver On Managing Medical Marijuana
There is no question that San Jose residents want legal medical marijuana delivery. In fact 69 percent of residents polled are in favor of delivery. The real question is whether policymakers will do anything about it. The poll, commissioned by Eaze and completed by Tusk Ventures, asked more than 500 San Jose residents their opinions regarding medical marijuana. The results revealed a desire for common sense medical marijuana policies, particularly when it comes to delivery. (Keith McCarty, 9/13)
East Bay Times:
Opioid Epidemic From Primary Care Doctors’ View
In my primary care clinic in Oakland, I can often change the mind of the patient before me. But I cannot sway the opinion of entire communities where opioid use is so common that prevalence confers a veneer of safety and normality. To overcome the opioid epidemic, everyone, not just doctors, must see opioids for what they can be: dangerous substances that destroy lives. (Blake Gregory, 9/12)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Liver Transplants Hard To Come By In California
And here in the Golden State, getting a liver is apparently harder than winning the Super Lotto. Too much demand, too little supply. Hence, the rules for who can qualify are stacked against Laura [McKay], who’s married to local conservative radio host Jaz McKay. It’s all about the MELD score. MELD stands for Model for End-Stage Liver Disease and is a numerical ranking that goes from six (less sick) to 40 (gravely ill). In California, a person’s MELD has to be in the red, so to speak, to get priority on the transplant waiting list. (Lois Henry, 9/13)
Health Affairs:
Could Foundations Have Mounted A Better Defense Of The ACA?
In hindsight, President Obama’s signing of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on March 23, 2010, was not the cheerful ending point that some might have expected. Rather, the ACA debate would play on long after—a center-stage feature for toxic partisanship that had begun years earlier. ... Yet even as advocates and lawmakers were struggling to build their new craft, opponents kept busy trying to tear it apart. Given the ongoing vulnerability of the ACA, what could philanthropy have done differently to better support advocacy around implementation and to help shore up this nascent law? (9/15)