In California’s ‘Non-Medical’ Detox Facilities, Hope Can Turn Fatal
Grave health risks are associated with withdrawal, but facilities that provide non-medical detox are still allowed to operate under the state's medical requirements.
Orange County Register:
Detox Can End In Death At Some ‘Non-Medical’ Southern California Rehabs
Many believe centers like Above It All — which says on its website that it provides “clinically supervised” and “around-the-clock medical supervision” for patients in detox and aftercare — are medical facilities. Few know that detox typically happens in tract houses, or that the most stringent medical requirement might be the full-time presence of someone who knows CPR. (Sforza, 12/17)
In other public health news —
Los Angeles Times:
Santa Ana Winds Help Clear The Smoke From The Thomas Fire, But Health Risks Remain
Raging Santa Ana winds helped clear smoke from the massive Thomas fire out of Ventura County on Sunday, but health officials cautioned residents that "non-smoky" conditions don't mean the air is safe to breathe. The winds "will cause dust particulate to stir up, resulting in air quality that is at times unhealthy," according to an advisory from the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District. (Poston, 12/17)
The Desert Sun:
Football's Toll On Wayne Hawkins: Dementia, Money, Memories
The story of the 79-year-old Rancho Mirage resident is an all-too-familiar one for former and current football players these days. Years of battling in the football trenches, taking blows to the head, ignoring injuries and hard hits in a desire to get back on the field, have taken their toll on [Wayne] Hawkins' body and his brain. And now the money to provide him the constant care he needs is running out. ...By 2006, doctors provided a diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s, but that was later changed to traumatic brain injury and dementia. By 2012, as one of five former players in a UCLA study, doctors said Hawkins’ brain functions and P.E.T. scans were consistent with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease found in the brains of many former NFL players whose brains are examined after they die. (Bohannan, 12/15)