- Sacramento Watch 1
- California Bill Aimed At Reining In Health Prices Would Cost Hospitals $18 Billion In First Year Alone
- Elections 1
- Fiscally Responsible Realist Versus The Bold Visionary: How Single-Payer Is Defining The Gubernatorial Race
- Marketplace 2
- In Last-Ditch Effort To Avert Bankruptcy, Theranos Lays Off Most Of Remaining Workers
- Specialists Slam Diabetes Treatments As A 'Sham' And A Waste Of Time
- Public Health and Education 1
- Elevated Cardiovascular Risks Follow In Wake Of Wildfires, Study Finds
- Around California 2
- 'We Are Living In Communities That Are Like War Zones': The Mental Health Fallout From Stephon Clark's Death
- In Midst Of Orange County's Crisis, Irvine Residents Protest Opening Up City To Displaced Homeless Population
Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Applying Silicon Valley Smarts To Age-Old Diseases
Customized iPhones are just one example of devices that can be used to combat health threats in developing countries. They are helping scientists in California and Cameroon attack the parasite that causes river blindness, an African scourge. (Brian Rinker, )
More News From Across The State
The measure that would put the state in charge of setting prices on certain health services is backed by labor unions and patient advocates. But providers are expected to come out strongly against it.
Modern Healthcare:
Calif. Hospitals Blast New Rate-Setting Proposal For Providers
California hospitals are on edge over a bill dropped late Monday that would mandate regulated rate-setting for providers. The measure would use Medicare rates as the benchmark to calculate commercial insurer payments, and would cost state hospitals $18 billion in the first year alone, according to preliminary projections. The California effort is being pushed by patient advocates and labor unions who say the rising cost of healthcare is cutting into wage growth. It is the first signal from the country's most populous state that legislators are wading into the minefield of addressing healthcare prices as consumers grow increasingly unhappy. (Luthi, 4/10)
"Single-payer healthcare has become a clear litmus test. If you support it, you're a pure progressive. If you're opposed to it, you're a pragmatist," UC San Diego political scientist Thad Kousser said.
Los Angeles Times:
How Single-Payer Healthcare Has Divided Democrats In California's Race For Governor
When Gavin Newsom campaigns on his support for a California single-payer healthcare system, he's talking about more than the virtues of universal care. He's trying to sell himself as a bold visionary. When Antonio Villariagosa warns of the financial calamity that awaits if the state adopts single payer, he's trying to send a different message — that he's a fiscally responsible realist who won't make promises he can't keep. (Willon, 4/11)
In Last-Ditch Effort To Avert Bankruptcy, Theranos Lays Off Most Of Remaining Workers
The latest round of layoffs is the company’s third since it was revealed in October 2015 that it was misleading investors and the public about the state of its technology.
The Wall Street Journal:
Theranos Lays Off Most Of Its Remaining Workforce
Blood-testing firm Theranos Inc. laid off most of its remaining workforce in a last-ditch effort to preserve cash and avert bankruptcy for a few more months, according to people familiar with the matter. Tuesday’s layoffs take the company’s head count from about 125 employees to two dozen or fewer, according to the people familiar with the matter. As recently as late 2015, Theranos had about 800 employees. (Carreyrou, 4/10)
In other health industry news —
The San Diego Union-Tribune:
Mega-Deals Drive Big Gains In Venture Capital Funding For San Diego Start-Ups
San Diego start-ups raised more money in the first quarter of 2018 than they did during the same quarter the prior year, led by a few large deals in the life sciences industry. That’s the good news. The bad news is fewer fledgling local companies managed to get funded – with one survey showing only 15 firms raising money in the first quarter compared with 34 firms for the same quarter a year ago. (Freeman, 4/11)
Specialists Slam Diabetes Treatments As A 'Sham' And A Waste Of Time
G. Ford Gilbert was recently indicted on fraud and bribery charges in Alabama in connection with his Trina clinics, which offer a controversial treatment to diabetes patients. A San Diego clinic offers the treatment.
inewsource:
Hustling Hope: San Diego Doctor Runs Controversial Diabetes Clinic
Just about every Tuesday morning around 7:30, John McCreary of Poway can be found waiting for Dr. James Novak’s office to open. Almost always, McCreary said, he’s the first one there. Novak’s practice is listed as the only one in the San Diego area offering Trina Health’s “Artificial Pancreas Treatment,” a four-hour IV insulin infusion procedure for people with diabetes. Some people like McCreary, 69, who has wrestled with diabetic nerve pain for years, said they think the procedure is working for them. (Clark, 4/11)
Elevated Cardiovascular Risks Follow In Wake Of Wildfires, Study Finds
The study found that exposure to wildfire smoke correlates with more hospital visits for coronary heart disease, irregular heart rhythm, heart failure, pulmonary embolism and stroke.
San Francisco Chronicle:
California Wildfires Linked To Heart Problems, Study Shows
One of the most comprehensive studies yet on the impacts of wildfire smoke in California, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association, suggests that heart problems are as much a concern as respiratory problems, perhaps even more so. The finding of elevated cardiovascular risk, as much as 40 percent higher when dense smoke is present, provides not only one more reason to steer clear of ash-filled air but another thing for health care providers to consider when responding to wildfires. (Alexander, 4/10)
Capital Public Radio:
Did California Wildfires Contaminate Backyard Chicken Eggs? UC Researchers Aim To Find Out.
As fires blazed through Sonoma and Ventura counties, all kinds of materials went up in flames, notes Pitesky, like computers, office furniture, chemicals, transformer fluids and roofing materials. Did harmful chemicals end up in backyard chicken eggs? (Mitric, 4/10)
In other public health news —
KPCC:
LAUSD Just Decided To Use Shooting, Asthma Rates To Help Decide Which Schools Get More Money
Starting next year, Los Angeles Unified School District officials will consider asthma rates and injuries from gun violence in neighborhoods near its campuses to help decide which district schools are most in need of extra funding. And those are among nearly a dozen new factors L.A. Unified officials will use to rank schools by their level of student need. (Stokes, 4/10)
Los Angeles Times:
What Ails America? The Answer Varies From State To State
The state of the union's health is improving. But it is doing so very unequally, and recent signs of progress are in danger of being reversed by diseases of excess and despair, including obesity, depression, suicide and substance abuse. Those are the broad conclusions of a new roundup of Americans' vital signs published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. (Healy, 4/10)
Experts say people who live in neighborhoods impacted by violence often cope with “toxic stress,” due to the constant feeling of being threatened. But oftentimes they're unable to get mental health help.
Capital Public Radio:
Why Stephon’s Clark Death Is Having Serious Mental Health Impacts — Especially On His Brother Ste’Vante
Flojaune Cofer, an epidemiologist with Davis-area nonprofit Public Health Advocates, studies trauma and the brain. She said safety is as essential to health as food and water. Without it, the brain shifts into “fight or flight” mode: Cortisol levels rise, heart rates increase, and defensive strategies go full-throttle while other functions, like memory and processing, take a backseat. (Caiola, 4/10)
In other news from across the state —
The San Diego Union-Tribune:
Wound Botulism Hospitalizes Three Black Tar Heroin Users
Three recent wound botulism cases are linked to black tar heroin use, according to an alert issued Tuesday by the county Health and Human Services Agency. In the past month, public health investigators have confirmed two cases and are in the process of confirming a third among men age 28, 42 and 67. Though the trio did not appear to know each other, each used black tar heroin. They were hospitalized after experiencing a range of symptoms including double vision, drooping eyelids, difficulty swallowing, slurred speech and generalized weakness. (Sisson, 4/10)
Ventura County Star:
Audit Of VCMC Financial Safeguards Ahead If Funding Gets Approved
County Auditor-Controller Jeff Burgh is asking for $100,000 to hire an external auditor to look at the fiscal safeguards at Ventura County Medical Center. “I want to do a deep dive,” Burgh said Tuesday.Burgh said he is seeking the investigation based on problems discovered in doctors’ timesheets and an independent annual audit for county government presented Tuesday to the Ventura County Board of Supervisors. Although the board has the final say-so, County Executive Officer Mike Powers plans to recommend the funding in Burgh’s budget for the next fiscal year. (Wilson, 4/10)
"It's very troubling to have the county shove their housing responsibilities to the cities," Councilwoman Christina Shea said.
Los Angeles Times:
Protesters Fight Against Homeless Moving To Irvine: 'We Will Decide Who Comes Into The City'
They wanted to make an impact by filling up the City Council chambers Tuesday to fight against the homeless moving to Irvine, but officials turned most of the crowd away at an unexpectedly short meeting. No matter, organizers had planned a protest in the plaza outside City Hall, and with about 100 people gathered, they kept chanting: "All our kids deserve better! All our kids deserve better!" (Do, 4/10)
Meanwhile —
San Francisco Chronicle:
SF Mayor Farrell Blames Delay Of Homeless Psychiatric Beds On State Agency
The 54 psychiatric beds intended to help homeless people that Mayor Mark Farrell announced last month at St. Mary’s Medical Center still haven’t opened. On Tuesday, Farrell blamed a state agency for the delay. (Swan, 4/10)
Legal Cannabis Revenue Falls Short Of Projections, But Analysis Comes With Caveats
For one, cannabis sales go up significantly in March in other states with legalized sales, perhaps because of warmer weather.
Sacramento Bee:
Analyst: California's Cannabis-Revenue Projections High
In the first two months of cannabis legalization, consumers bought an estimated $339 million worth of marijuana products from retailers in California, 13 percent less than state projections, according to a leading analytics firm. The state has estimated that retail cannabis sales for the remaining six months of this fiscal year would be $1.15 billion, or $383 million every two months. (Branan, 4/10)
In other news —
Sacramento Bee:
Forget The Emerald Triangle. The Central Coast Is Becoming California's Weed Hotspot
The law contained protections for small farmers worried they would be crushed by big agricultural interests. But in an unexpected move, the California Department of Food and Agriculture scrapped a planned 1-acre cap on cannabis farms in November. No place has benefited more from that change than the Central Coast, which covers Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. (Branan and Vaughn, 4/11)
KPBS:
UC San Diego Doctor Uses Cannabis To Treat Pain
In recent research from UC San Diego’s Center for Medical Cannabis Research, doctors say they are finding cannabis useful in treating chronic pain and weaning people off of opioids. But they are running into barriers when it comes to advancing that research. (Hindmon, 4/10)
Conservatives are using the executive order to push federal health officials to approve pending Medicaid work requirement requests in several other Republican-led states. But many poverty experts say the majority of those receiving help from the government already work if they're able to.
The New York Times:
Trump Signs Order To Require Recipients Of Federal Aid Programs To Work
President Trump quietly signed a long-anticipated executive order on Tuesday intended to force low-income recipients of food assistance, Medicaid and low-income housing subsidies to join the work force or face the loss of their benefits. The order, in the works since last year, has an ambitious title — “Reducing Poverty in America” — and is directed at “any program that provides means-tested assistance or other assistance that provides benefits to people, households or families that have low incomes,” according to the order’s text. (Thrush, 4/10)
The Associated Press:
Trump Signs Executive Order Pushing Work For Welfare
"Part of President Trump's effort to create a booming American economy includes moving Americans from welfare to work and supporting and encouraging others to support common-sense reforms that restore American prosperity and help them reclaim their independence," he said. The order focuses on looking for ways to strengthen existing work requirements and exploring new requirements for benefits such as food stamps, cash and housing assistance programs. (4/10)
The Washington Post:
Trump Executive Order Strengthens Work Requirements For Neediest Americans
The executive order is the strongest statement Trump has made about the country’s social safety net program since his February budget proposal to slash billions of dollars in food stamps, health insurance and federal housing subsidies. Trump indicated at the time that he would push legislation to institute broad work requirements for families receiving housing vouchers, expanding on moves by some states to require recipients of Medicaid and food stamps to work. (Jan, 4/10)
The Wall Street Journal:
Trump Signs Executive Order For Revamp Of Federal Aid Programs
Democratic and liberal critics of the policies have countered that many programs help low-income families that are already working, and additional requirements would increase bureaucracy for them and for local and state governments. “The evidence shows that such requirements have few long-term positive effects on employment and often result in families losing help they need to afford the basics,” said Sharon Parrott, a senior fellow at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. (Radnofsky, 4/10)
Veterans Affairs Department Has Tens Of Thousands Of Vacancies It Can't Fill
“It’s crippling our ability to deliver health care to our vets,” Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said of the personnel crisis.
The Washington Post:
Trump Says Veterans Wait Too Long For Health Care. VA’s 33,000 Vacancies Might Have Something To Do With That.
The Department of Veterans Affairs, facing intense scrutiny amid reports of widespread dysfunction and a push by the Trump administration to outsource more medical care, has tens of thousands of full- and part-time vacancies nationwide, according to data compiled by veterans advocates, lawmakers and federal unions. Most urgently, the agency’s health-care network needs thousands of primary care physicians, mental-health providers, physical therapists, social workers — even janitorial staff, Sen. Jon Tester (Mont.), ranking Democrat of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, told The Washington Post in an interview. Of equal concern, he said, VA lacks enough human resources personnel to vet candidates and make the hires. (Wax-Thibodeaux, 4/10)
In other news —
The Hill:
VA Privatization Fight Could Erupt In Confirmation Hearing
Long-simmering tensions about privatizing the Department of Veterans Affairs could erupt into a confirmation battle over President Trump's pick to lead the department. Trump’s decision to oust former VA Secretary David Shulkin late last month and replace him with White House physician Ronny Jackson stoked speculation that the White House wants to allow veterans more access to private-sector health care providers. (Weixel, 4/11)