- Courts 1
- Aid-In-Dying Law No Longer In Effect After Judge Formally Deems Legislation Unconstitutional
- Coverage And Access 1
- Single-Payer Is Becoming Litmus Test For Democrats, But Reality Is Far More Complicated Than Rhetoric
- Sacramento Watch 1
- Legislation To Create Government-Set Prices On Medical Services Shelved, But Backers Remain Optimistic
- Health Care Personnel 1
- 'We Have Heard The Message That Something Is Broken': Following Gynecologist Scandal, USC President To Step Down
- Public Health and Education 2
- Transfusions, Bone Marrow Transplant Push Limits Of Already Daring Fetal Therapy Field
- Scientists Stumble Onto Possible Treatment For Diabetes While Experimenting With Deep Brain Stimulation
Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Health Care Looms Large In Race For California’s Top Cop
Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who has made a name for himself opposing Trump administration policies on health care and other matters, is running against opponents who say they wouldn’t make such resistance their primary focus. (Anna Gorman, )
VAPING UNVEILED: Nicotine-loaded e-cig juices that spoof popular treats may be luring youths into addiction. Tune in to Facebook Live on Thursday, May 31 at 11:30 a.m. PT, when columnist Emily Bazar, reporter Ana Ibarra and Yolo County health program manager Steven Jensen discuss. You can send questions and watch here.
More News From Across The State
Aid-In-Dying Law No Longer In Effect After Judge Formally Deems Legislation Unconstitutional
The judge had previously granted California Attorney General Xavier Becerra more time to make his case, but last week he made his decision against the legislation formal. “It is a bit of a mess,” said Kathryn Tucker, an attorney who heads the End of Life Liberty Project.
Los Angeles Times:
California's Physician-Assisted Suicide Law Is Overturned — For Now
Nearly two years after it was enacted, California’s physician-assisted suicide law is, at least for the moment, no longer in effect. A Riverside County judge who ruled against the law last week issued a formal judgment Friday deeming it unconstitutional. Legal experts said that meant the law had been overturned. (Karlamangla, 5/25)
Orange County Register:
Riverside Judge Strikes Down California’s Right-To-Die Law
The law’s existence became jeopardized on May 15 when Judge Daniel A. Ottolia issued a ruling invalidating it, saying the legislature violated the state’s constitution by passing the right-to-die law during a special session that was limited to health care issues. Attorney General Xavier Becerra on Monday, May 21 filed an emergency request with the state court of appeals to reverse the judge’s ruling and sought a stay order that would keep the law in effect. The appellate court denied the stay order and gave the plaintiffs 25 days to explain why the appellate court should not overturn the ruling. However, on Friday, Ottiola issue a final judgment Friday in favor of the plaintiffs, essentially giving effect to the ruling he made last week and invalidating the existing assisted death law. (Bharath, 5/25)
San Jose Mercury News:
Right To Die: Judgment Interrupts Access To Life-Ending Drug
Sen. Bill Monning, D-Carmel, who sponsored the original legislation, said “I am disappointed and outraged with today’s interpretation of the Riverside Court’s ruling to invalidate the End of Life Option Act while an appeal is pending.” “I fear for the terminally ill patients, their physicians, hospice centers, and families who will be further burdened as they face already challenging end of life care decisions,” he said. (Krieger, 5/25)
California's gubernatorial race is acting as a microcosm of the larger push toward universal health care. But, experts say the issue is complicated. “Voters are thinking about the fundamental values associated with single-payer,” said Kelly Hall, an independent health consultant. “Almost zero voters have thought about the policy implications.” Those implications range from funding challenges to a vocal opposition to unanswered legal questions.
The New York Times:
Single-Payer Health Care In California: Here’s What It Would Take
If wholesale opposition to President Trump is one litmus test for progressive Democrats, another — as the governor’s race in California is proving — is health care. All the leading Democratic contenders in the June 5 primary have pledged support for a single-payer system run by the state. The front-runner, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the former mayor of San Francisco, has made it the centerpiece of his campaign. “There’s no reason to wait around on universal health care and single-payer in California,” he has declared. (Cohen and Abelson, 5/25)
Labor unions and consumer advocates backed the bill, but it was opposed by physicians and hospitals.
Los Angeles Times:
California Bill To Cap Prices On Many Healthcare Services Is Shelved In Assembly
A sweeping California proposal to curb healthcare costs by imposing price controls sputtered Friday, but backers vowed to continue the effort next year. The measure, Assembly Bill 3087 by Assemblyman Ash Kalra (D-San Jose), would have created a state commission to determine prices for a large swath of healthcare services, including doctor’s visits, hospital stays and medical procedures. (Mason, 5/25)
The Associated Press:
Bill To Create Health Care Price Controls In California Dies
The measure was a longshot from the beginning, but it drew national attention from health care policy observers. Hospitals, doctors and other influential health care providers lobbied intensely against the bill, which they said would lead to longer waits for medical care. The bill has helped to change the national debate over health care costs and brought a wide variety of health care interests to the table, said Assemblyman Ash Kalra, a San Jose Democrat who wrote the bill. (5/25)
In other news from Sacramento —
KQED:
A Scaled-Back Bid To Care For Undocumented Californians
An estimated 1.8 million adult immigrants live in California without authorization, and roughly 1.2 million of them are poor enough to qualify for Medi-Cal, the state’s version of Medicaid. They can get care in emergency rooms, but a proposed new law would have provided them with full Medi-Cal benefits, including preventive care. (Gorn, 5/28)
The decision followed a call from students, faculty and alumni for C. L. Max Nikias' resignation after reports emerged that the university knew of allegations against campus gynecologist George Tyndall for years and failed to act on them.
The New York Times:
U.S.C. President Agrees To Step Down Over Scandal Involving Gynecologist
The president of the University of Southern California, C. L. Max Nikias, agreed to step down Friday in the wake of a scandal over a gynecologist accused of abusing students at the campus health center. Rick J. Caruso, a member of the university board of trustees, said in a statement that the board had “agreed to begin an orderly transition and commence the process of selecting a new president.” (Medina, 5/25)
Reuters:
University Of Southern California President To Step Down In Wake Of Scandal
"President Nikias and the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees have agreed to begin an orderly transition and commence the process of selecting a new president," committee chairman Rick Caruso said. Nikias could not be reached immediately for comment. His resignation comes three days after 200 faculty members demanded in an open letter he quit as USC faces a rising tide of litigation accusing Dr. George Tyndall of misconduct and the university of complicity and negligence. (5/26)
The Wall Street Journal:
USC President C.L. Max Nikias Steps Down
Two hundred faculty members, as well as many alums and current students, called in recent days for Dr. Nikias to resign, following a report in the Los Angeles Times about the allegations. That article included claims that for decades, the gynecologist, George Tyndall, conducted improper pelvic exams on female students and made sexually and racially inappropriate comments. (Korn, 5/25)
Los Angeles Times:
USC President C.L. Max Nikias To Step Down
A prolific fundraiser during his eight years as president, Nikias pushed USC to imagine itself as an elite global research university and to dramatically expand and renovate its South Los Angeles campus. He oversaw a major construction boom that transformed parts of the campus community and extended USC's ties to China and the Pacific Rim. The departure of Nikias, an engineering professor whose ambition took him from a childhood in a Cypriot village to a post leading one of the nation's top private universities, was once considered unthinkable, and signifies the end of an era at USC. The cornerstone of Nikias' legacy is a $6-billion campaign launched in 2011, then described as the largest such drive in academic history. (Hamilton, Pringle, Ryan and Lopez, 5/25)
Los Angeles Times:
As More Women File Lawsuits Against USC, Gynecologist Defends Himself In Letter To The Times
Fourteen more women have sued USC alleging that a campus gynecologist sexually abused them during medical exams and that the university failed to take action when patients and clinic staff complained about his behavior. The new filings brought the total number of women suing the university by Friday afternoon to 21. (Elmahrek and Hamilton, 5/25)
Kaiser Permanente Embraces Technology As Company Strives For Better Patient Experience
The Wall Street Journal talks with Dick Daniels, the company’s chief information officer, about the technology push and what's coming in the future.
The Wall Street Journal:
Kaiser Permanente Cultivates The Digital Doctor-Patient Relationship
Kaiser Permanente, based in Oakland, Calif., closely manages the medical care of people enrolled in its health-insurance plan, who use Kaiser’s integrated network of hospitals and doctors. Increasingly, that network is also a digital one. In the past year, the percentage of Kaiser’s insurance enrollees who used its online prescription refill, scheduling and laboratory-result tools climbed, as did use of secure emails between Kaiser and its patients. The company also is redesigning its hospitals, using technology to make patient visits more efficient, from the check-in process to the interaction between doctors and patients. Doctors also have access to a platform that enables video consultations with patients. Virtual interactions with patients rose to 59% of total interactions last year from 56% in 2015, as total interactions grew to 131 million from 113 million, according to Kaiser. (Evans, 5/28)
Transfusions, Bone Marrow Transplant Push Limits Of Already Daring Fetal Therapy Field
Elianna Constantino and her mother Nichelle Obar were the first patients in an experiment to treat a normally fatal disorder while Elianna was still in the womb.
The New York Times:
Five Blood Transfusions, One Bone Marrow Transplant — All Before Birth
In the three months before she was even born, Elianna Constantino received five blood transfusions and a bone-marrow transplant. All were given with a needle passed through her mother’s abdomen and uterus, into the vein in her umbilical cord. Elianna, born Feb. 1 with a robust cry and a cap of gleaming black hair, has a genetic disease that usually kills a fetus before birth. The condition, alpha thalassemia major, leaves red blood cells unable to carry oxygen around the body, causing severe anemia, heart failure and brain damage. (Grady, 5/25)
In more news —
The Wall Street Journal:
New Promise For Bone-Marrow Transplants
Few procedures in medicine present patients with a sharper double-edged sword than a bone-marrow transplant. The treatment offers a potential cure for lethal blood cancers such as leukemia or lymphoma and other blood disorders. But it is a highly toxic and sometimes fatal procedure in which patients’ immune systems typically are severely weakened or wiped out with high-dose chemotherapy or radiation. Many patients turn down the potentially lifesaving treatment, fearing that the cure is at least as bad as the disease. (Winslow, 5/28)
A patient with type 2 diabetes was being treated with deep brain stimulation for repetitive thoughts and behaviors of OCD. After the procedure he noticed that his blood sugar control improved, and his daily need for insulin injections decreased by roughly 80 percent.
Los Angeles Times:
Deep Brain Stimulation May Offer Treatment For Type 2 Diabetes, Study Suggests
A surprising (but welcome) side effect of a therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder may pave the way for a new approach to treating type 2 diabetes — and offer new insights into the links between obesity and the metabolic disease that afflicts close to 1 in 10 American adults. The therapy in question is deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens, a structure best known for its role in motivation, reward and addiction. It now appears that deep brain stimulation also increases the liver's and muscles' ability to take up and use insulin, researchers reported this week. (Healy, 5/26)
In other public health news —
San Francisco Chronicle:
As Juul Vaping Surges Among Teens, Health Concerns Grow
Yet health officials have been sounding the alarm over the escalating use of e-cigarettes, and especially Juuls, among young people for a few years. The products, they say, come in hundreds of fruit and candy flavors — mango, sweet tart, watermelon, caramel cappuccino — making them attractive to teens. (Tucker, 5/26)
Though Somewhat Insulated From Opioid Crisis, California Sees Startling Increase In Fentanyl Deaths
The powerful fentanyl is often mixed with other street drugs, and is behind many of the deaths linked to the opioid crisis.
KQED:
California Deaths From Powerful Opioid Fentanyl Triple In 2017
Preliminary numbers show California's overdose deaths from the synthetic opioid fentanyl tripled in 2017, according to the state's Opioid Overdose Surveillance Dashboard. Fentanyl overdoses claimed 746 Californians, according to the Dashboard, an online tool that gathers data from the California Department of Public Health, the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, and the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System. (Klivans, 5/25)
In other news from across the state —
The Associated Press:
San Francisco To Decide Whether To Ban Flavored Tobacco
A major tobacco company is pumping millions of dollars into a campaign to persuade San Francisco voters to reject a ban on selling flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, certain chewing tobaccos and vaping liquids with flavors like cotton candy, mango and cool cucumber. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. has contributed nearly $12 million to the "No on Proposition E" campaign, filling television and radio airwaves and mailboxes with ads urging voters to reject a law supervisors approved last year that is now on the June 5 ballot. (5/28)
Sacramento Bee:
Are Giant Tents The Answer To Sacramento's Homeless Crisis? Observers Aren't So Sure
Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who has made curbing homelessness a centerpiece of his administration, announced earlier this week plans to place pop-up structures resembling giant tents in at least three neighborhoods he has yet to identify. Known as "Sprung" shelters, they would each have beds for as many as 200 clients, as well as paid "navigators" who would help connect people to insurance, health care, social services and ultimately permanent housing. (Hubert, 5/27)
KPBS:
San Diego County Prepares For Mosquito Season By Offering Free Home Inspections
San Diego County health officials say the populations of the invasive Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes — which can carry diseases including Zika, dengue and yellow fever — are increasing. To safeguard your home, county inspectors will come to your property to look for mosquito breeding grounds for free. (Trageser, 5/28)
The Mercury News:
Half Moon Bay Feud Over Future Of Family Farms: Pumpkins To Pot?
In early June, the city will debate an ordinance to allow farmers to grow legal marijuana sprouts in “nurseries” in existing greenhouses. Locals are currently circulating a new petition that calls for a moratorium on all cannabis cultivation and sales, and several ballot measures are headed to November’s election. (Krieger, 5/28)
Veterans Groups Praise Trump's VA Pick As Safe, Stabilizing Choice In Wake Of Years Of Scandal
If confirmed, Robert Wilkie will have to tread carefully between the administration and veterans advocates who are on opposing sides when it comes to privatization. But for now, he's winning praise from Republicans and Democrats alike.
The Hill:
Trump VA Pick Boosts Hopes For Reform
President Trump's selection of Robert Wilkie to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is being praised by veterans groups as a safe, stabilizing move in the aftermath of the failed nomination of former White House physician Ronny Jackson. Wilkie, who is serving as acting VA secretary, is a Washington insider with years of administrative experience who has previously worked on Capitol Hill as well as in the Pentagon for two presidents. (Weixel, 5/28)
In other national health care news —
The Hill:
Abortion Wars Flare For Midterm Election Campaign
President Trump and anti-abortion activists this week touted recent actions restricting abortion as helping to galvanize Republican voters for the midterm elections. But Democrats see it the other way around, arguing Trump’s actions to defund Planned Parenthood and roll back ObamaCare’s contraception mandate are going to hurt, not help, Republican candidates on the ballot in November. (Hellmann, 5/26)
The New York Times:
Origins Of An Epidemic: Purdue Pharma Knew Its Opioids Were Widely Abused
Purdue Pharma, the company that planted the seeds of the opioid epidemic through its aggressive marketing of OxyContin, has long claimed it was unaware of the powerful opioid painkiller’s growing abuse until years after it went on the market. But a copy of a confidential Justice Department report shows that federal prosecutors investigating the company found that Purdue Pharma knew about “significant” abuse of OxyContin in the first years after the drug’s introduction in 1996 and concealed that information. (Meier, 5/29)
The Wall Street Journal:
Do Doctors And Nurses Skip Hand Washing? Cue The Video
Hospitals have spent considerable resources trying to reduce the number of preventable mistakes that doctors and nurses make, such as skipping hand washing. But it’s hard to ensure that caregivers take every preventive step every time. Perhaps they need to be watched all the time. (Ward, 5/28)
The Wall Street Journal:
Doctors Face Scrutiny About Defining Death
What is the definition of death—and who gets to make the call? For decades, physicians have had the authority to declare a person brain-dead—defined in the U.S. as the irreversible cessation of all brain function, including the brainstem—even if heart and lung activity can be maintained with machines. The medical profession determined the acceptable tests and procedures used to make the diagnosis. (Marcus, 5/28)
Bloomberg:
Your Outdated U.S. Sunscreen Exposes You To Needless Cancer Risk
Dermatologist Steve Wang treats skin-cancer patients all day at a Sloan Kettering hospital in New Jersey, so he knows better than most that U.S. sunscreens aren’t up to the job. The oily stuff Americans are slathering on before heading to the beach this summer probably won’t give them as much protection as the products sold in other countries. Europe, Japan, Australia, Canada: All have sunscreens that do a better job shielding against cancer-causing skin damage, and feel better on the skin, too. (Kaskey, 5/25)
The Wall Street Journal:
The Operating Room Of The Future
The operating room is getting smarter, more effective—and a lot less risky for patients. Hospitals are investing in new devices, designs and digital technologies that promise a new era of innovation for surgery. The moves are part of a growing shift away from traditional open procedures that involve big incisions, lots of blood loss and long hospitalizations. They point toward a future where more patients can choose minimally invasive outpatient surgeries, with faster recoveries, fewer complications, and less pain and scarring. (Landro, 5/28)