- California Healthline Original Stories 1
- Reverberations From War Complicate Vietnam Veterans’ End-Of-Life Care
Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Reverberations From War Complicate Vietnam Veterans’ End-Of-Life Care
Vietnam veterans’ wartime experiences — and their lasting psychological toll — can make it harder to treat their physical and emotional pain as they approach death. (April Dembosky, KQED, )
More News From Across The State
Drugmakers Files Lawsuit Fighting California's Drug Pricing Law
The drug industry’s primary lobbying group is challenging the constitutionality of a California law intended to make prescription drug pricing more transparent.
The Associated Press:
Drug Companies Sue To Block California Drug Price Law
Pharmaceutical companies on Friday sued to block a new California law that would require them to give advance notice before big price increases. The law was approved this year in response to consumer outrage over a rise in drug spending and high costs for some prescription treatments, including new Hepatitis C medications and EpiPens to control allergic reactions. (12/8)
Los Angeles Times:
Drug Manufacturers Ask Federal Court To Block California's New Prescription Medicine Transparency Law
If successful, the lawsuit by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America could either delay or derail implementation of what supporters predicted would be a major improvement in the transparency of drug pricing. The industry effort argues the state law is unconstitutional.
“The law creates bureaucracy, thwarts private market competition, and ignores the role of insurers, pharmacy benefit managers and hospitals in what patients pay for their medicines,” said James Stansel, the trade group’s executive vice president, in a written statement. (Myers, 12/8)
San Jose Mercury News:
Drug Companies Sue California Over Drug Pricing Transparency Law
Two months after Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law what many consider to be the nation’s most comprehensive legislation on transparency in prescription drug prices, the phamaceutical industry on Friday fired back with a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality. ...The 36-page complaint filed in California U.S. District Court in Sacramento, also says SB 17 — which is scheduled to take effect next month — singles out drug manufacturers as the sole determinant of drug costs, ignores the role other entities play in the costs patients pay for prescription drugs, and will lead to drug stockpiling and reduced competition. (Seipel, 12/8)
Health Officials, Hospitals On High Alert As Wildfires Burn Across California
Officials advise that people limit their outdoor activity, close windows and use air conditioning that recirculates inside air to avoid the negative health consequences of the fires.
Los Angeles Times:
Southern California's Hospitals Prepare For The Worst As Embers Ignite Throughout The Region
Hospitals across Southern California reported that high numbers of patients with breathing problems caused by this week's wildfires visited emergency rooms. Health officials in Ventura, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties warned of high pollution levels caused by smoke. The microscopic particles in smoke can penetrate deep into the lungs, creating a hazard for those who already have heart or lung problems such as asthma, emphysema or COPD. (Karlamangla, 12/8)
Los Angeles Times:
Polluted Air, Health Problems Brought By Southern California Fires Are Expected To Linger
A week of major wind-whipped fires across Southern California has caused significant air pollution and health problems. The air quality is worst in and around fires burning from Ventura County to San Diego County, but the smoke has traveled to places not threatened by the flames. And with the Santa Ana winds dying down, officials say the smoke could stick around for a while. (Karlamangla and Vives, 12/9)
PBS NewsHour:
How Smoke From California’s Fires Is Harming The Most Vulnerable
Climate change-focused research published in the journal Environmental Research Letters a year ago concluded smoke could send 30 more people to hospitals across the West each year during the late 2040s than was the case 40 years earlier as smoke waves become more frequent and severe, mostly in the late summer and early fall. ...Impacts could be heavy in parts of central Colorado and Washington — and in Southern California. (Upton and Wheeling, 12/9)
KPCC:
Unprotected Farm Workers Toiled In Fields During Thomas Fire
As the Thomas Fire raged in Ventura County and smoke thickened the air in the past week, some farm workers continued to toil in local fields without face protection, according to field worker advocates. State regulations do not explicitly require that employers equip farm workers with masks and other protective equipment, although they are advised to consider doing so. (Berenstein Rojas, 12/11)
Experts Point Fingers At El Niño, Other Weather Events For Rise In Valley Fever Cases
“We are seeing very many people with valley fever,��� said Dr. Demosthenes Pappagianis. “It is probably the greatest occurrence in recorded history on the disease."
Modesto Bee:
The Valley Really Needed The Rain Last Winter. But Did We Need The Disease That Came With It?
What has caused the record number of valley fever cases in California? El Nino and other winter storm phenomena are most likely to blame, according to the best available information on the disease. Stanislaus County’s almond harvest dust is off the hook. Last year, the state recorded the largest number of valley fever cases since the disease became reportable to public health agencies in 1995. The numbers kept surging this year in counties such as Stanislaus, which has seen more than 50 percent annual increases since 2014. (Carlson, 12/10)
In other public health news —
San Francisco Chronicle:
Scientists Aim To Wipe Out Dementia And Other Diseases Of Aging
In 1997, when Japanese researchers accidentally discovered a gene variant that appeared to speed up aging in lab mice — which they stumbled upon while conducting an unrelated study on high blood pressure — they named it Klotho. ... [Dena] Dubal’s lab runs one of dozens of research initiatives under way at Bay Area universities, institutions and biotech firms — some funded by a new influx of venture capital — that show promise that modern medicine may be able to eradicate or prevent diseases for which aging is the biggest risk factor. (Ho, 12/8)
Sacramento Bee:
Her Grandson Died On The Streets. She’s Planning A Hospice For The Homeless In His Name
Homeless people with cancers or other illnesses that pose an imminent threat to their lives typically wind up in emergency rooms, where they are treated for their symptoms and released back to the streets. ... Soon, an alternative may be available to people who are facing death within weeks or months and have no place to go for care. (Hubert, 12/11)
Looking To Compare Prices For Health Care? The Internet Is Not Your Friend
New research shows that patients who are trying to be savvy consumers are not going to have much luck if they turn to the internet.
Los Angeles Times:
Shopping For Healthcare Online? The Odds Are Stacked Against You
The internet is great place to shop for plane tickets, laundry detergent, artisan jewelry and pretty much anything else you might ever want to buy. But a new report says there's one big exception — healthcare. If you expect the World Wide Web to help you figure out how much you'll need to pay to get your hip replaced, a painful joint isn't your only problem. And if you think Google can tell you the cheapest place to go for a cholesterol test, just type "reality check" into that rectangular search bar. (Kaplan, 12/8)
Opioid Epidemic May Be Behind 'Alarming' Uptick In Calif. Pharmacy Robberies
The head of the California Pharmacists Association added that a move to increase public safety – restricting cough syrup access to reduce abuse of the drug – may also have inadvertently put more pharmacists at risk.
Sacramento Bee:
What’s Behind The Spike In Drug Store Robberies?
Over the last two years, pharmacy robberies in California are up 163 percent, according to numbers complied by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. ...The opioid epidemic has been well documented, with about 33,000 Americans dying in 2015 from an opioid overdose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Fletcher, 12/8)
In other news from across the state —
Los Angeles Times:
Philanthropy Officer For Glendale Memorial Health Foundation Receives State Honor
Wayne Herron, chief philanthropy officer for the Glendale Memorial Health Foundation, recently received the Outstanding Leader Award from the Southern California Assn. of Health Care Development. The foundation helps support Dignity Health Glendale Memorial Hospital. Herron has been a professional fundraiser since 1996. Over the course of his career, Herron’s teams have raised over $100 million. (Kellam, 12/8)
Modesto Bee:
Should Modesto Allow Marijuana Dispensaries Downtown?
Modesto is considering allowing as many as 10 dispensaries — including up to three in downtown — as it moves to regulate commercial marijuana. The City Council on Tuesday is expected to discuss and approve regulations governing commercial activities, including cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, microbusinesses, testing facilities and dispensaries. (Valine, 12/10)
With Many Already Exempt From Individual Mandate, Will Repealing It Actually Damage Markets?
Republicans are touting their anticipated victory and Democrats are warning of an oncoming disaster, but experts say it might not actually be that big of a deal if the mandate is repealed.
The Wall Street Journal:
Obamacare’s Individual Mandate: On Its Way Out, Or Already Gone?
With Congress seemingly on the brink of repealing the Affordable Care Act’s centerpiece requirement that most people get insurance or pay a penalty, Democrats are warning such a move would be disastrous, and Republicans are anticipating a sweeping symbolic victory. Senate Republicans included a measure to repeal the mandate in their recently passed tax overhaul; the House didn’t, leaving GOP leaders to hammer out a final agreement for the compromise bill they hope to pass by year’s end. President Donald Trump on Friday night threw his weight behind the push to strike the mandate, promising a crowd in Pensacola, Fla., that it would soon be gone. (Radnofsky and Armour, 12/10)
In other national health care news —
The Wall Street Journal:
Tax Overhaul Looks Set To Cut Credits For Drugs Targeting Rare Diseases
A tax overhaul bill being hammered into its final form by Senate and House Republicans is all but certain to cut tax credits designed to encourage development of “orphan drugs” meant to treat rare diseases afflicting limited numbers of patients. Since 1983, a federal law has allowed fledgling companies to write off 50% of the cost of human clinical studies to develop drugs aimed at small markets of patients who wouldn’t otherwise have access to drugs specifically designed for their ailments. The law was designed to address crippling diseases afflicting a few thousand, or fewer, adults and children. (Burton, 12/8)
The Washington Post:
‘Very, Very Scary’: 8.8 Million Americans Face Big Tax Hike If Republicans Scrap The Medical Deduction
Anne Hammer is one of millions of elderly Americans who could face a substantial tax hike in 2018 depending on the final negotiations over the Republican tax bill. In her retirement community in Chestertown, Md., it’s the big topic of conversation. Hammer is 71. Like many seniors, her medical bills are piling up. There are doctor visits, insurance premiums, drugs, a colonoscopy, a heart scan, an unexpected trip to the emergency room that lasted three days, ongoing monitoring for breast and ovarian cancer that run in her family and the costs of medical staff at her retirement community. Her out-of-pocket medical expenses vary, but she estimates they are about $20,000 a year. (Long, 12/10)
The Associated Press:
Deadline Week Crunch For Health Law Sign-Ups Under Trump
The Trump administration came into office looking to dismantle Barack Obama's health care law, but the Affordable Care Act survived. Now the administration is on the hook to deliver a smooth ending to sign-up season, with a crush of customers expected this week. For millions of eligible consumers time runs out on Friday. (12/11)
The Associated Press:
Price Hikes Push Health Insurance Shoppers Into Hard Choices
Margaret Leatherwood has eight choices for health insurance next year but no good options. The cheapest individual coverage available in her market would eat up nearly a quarter of the income her husband brings home from the oilfields. The Bryson, Texas, couple makes too much to qualify for Affordable Care Act tax credits that help people buy coverage. But they don't make enough to comfortably afford insurance on their own, even though Paul Leatherwood works seven days a week. (12/10)
The Hill:
Democrats Rip 'Highly Partisan' Bill To Fund Children's Insurance
Nearly 100 House Democrats are urging congressional leaders to pass a bipartisan extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). In a letter sent Friday, 99 House Democrats urged leaders of the House and Senate to reject the House-passed CHIP extension and instead work on a bipartisan solution. (Weixel, 12/8)
The New York Times:
Prescription Drugs May Cost More With Insurance Than Without It
Having health insurance is supposed to save you money on your prescriptions. But increasingly, consumers are finding that isn’t the case. Patrik Swanljung found this out when he went to fill a prescription for a generic cholesterol drug. In May, Mr. Swanljung handed his Medicare prescription card to the pharmacist at his local Walgreens and was told that he owed $83.94 for a three-month supply. Alarmed at that price, Mr. Swanljung went online and found Blink Health, a start-up, offering the same drug — generic Crestor — for $45.89. (Ornstein and Thomas, 12/9)
The New York Times:
How To Save Money On Your Prescription Drugs
If you’re willing to do a little extra work, it is possible to lower your prescription bills. A reporter for The New York Times and a reporter for ProPublica both found instances this year in which drugs prescribed for family members could be purchased for less money without using their insurance coverage. (Ornstein and Thomas, 12/9)