Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
New California Law May Expand Use Of HIV Prevention Drugs, With Caveats
Legislation that takes effect next July will let people buy the medications without a prescription for a limited period. Medical professionals say it’s a step in the right direction but will not significantly increase the use of the medicine without additional efforts. (Mark Kreidler, )
Good morning! A new report finds that more than 72,000 children in California could suffer long-lasting health consequences if DACA is repealed. More on that below, but first here are your other top California health stories for the day.
California Joins Ranks Of Those Suing Juul Over Marketing Tactics: California and Los Angeles County officials announced a lawsuit against Juul Labs Inc. on Monday, alleging the vaping brand targeted young people through advertising and failed to give warnings about health risks posed by using e-cigarettes with nicotine. Although the state bars sales of the devices to people younger than 21, the lawsuit alleges electronic cigarette firms made products with nicotine that appealed to young smokers by marketing flavors such as mango, cool mint, crème brûlée and cucumber. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said on Monday that Juul "targeted underage Californians with its marketing and sales practices," and is engaging in business practices that are "endangering lives, especially of our children." And Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said that Juul’s decision to stop selling some flavored vaping products has come “too late.” Read more from Patrick McGreevy of the Los Angeles Times; Chris Kirkham of Reuters; Andrew Sheeler of the Sacramento Bee; and Nicole Hayden and Melissa Daniels of the Palm Springs Desert Sun.
Single-Payer Promises Were Hallmark Of Newsom’s Campaign. Can 2020 Candidates Learn Lessons From Him?: As governor, Gavin Newsom’s health care program has been more incremental than promised on the campaign trail, annoying some allies in the single-payer movement while winning some unexpected praise from industry groups. But he also may have found something larger than his own agenda: A health care path that builds on past successes, enacts fresh reforms and may eventually lead to a single-payer system — without the political earthquake that so many predict under other “Medicare for All” type plans. “This is the signature issue of the progressive left, and it’s absolutely driven by what’s happening in California,” said Doug Herman, a Democratic strategist based in Los Angeles, who attests to the appeal of single-payer as an issue. “‘Medicare for All’ could help Bernie [Sanders] and Elizabeth [Warren] in the Democratic primary the same way it helped Gavin Newsom win the primary in California. But the deeper you go, the harder it is to explain how you’re going to pay for it.” Read more from Angela Hart of Politico.
Below, check out the full round-up of California Healthline original stories, state coverage and the best of the rest of the national news for the day.
More News From Across The State
The California Health Report:
DACA Repeal Efforts Threaten Health Of Thousands Of California Children, Pediatricians Say
More than 72,000 children in California could suffer long-lasting health consequences if a federal program that shields their parents from deportation is repealed, experts warn. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA program, enacted by President Barack Obama in 2012, currently allows nearly 700,000 young people brought to the United States as children to remain in the country and work. On average, DACA recipients arrived in the U.S. between 1997 and 2002, when they were around 8 years old. Now, many are parents with their own young children.Trump administration plans to repeal DACA would disrupt the lives not only of people enrolled in the program, but those of their children. (Boyd-Barrett, 11/18)
San Jose Mercury News:
San Jose Police Want Years To Produce Shooting Records Required Under State Transparency Law
Nearly 11 months after receiving a Public Records Act request for officer misconduct and use of force documents under the state’s new law-enforcement transparency law, San Jose Police have released one case — and say it will take them nearly four more years to provide the rest. Until October, 1, 2023 to be precise. (Peele and Salonga, 11/19)
Sacramento Bee:
Citrus Heights CA Settles Police Excessive Force Case
When Citrus Heights police pinned a shirtless James Bradford Nelson III to the pavement at a KFC restaurant on June 23, 2017, the temperature of the asphalt was estimated to be 170 degrees, eight degrees higher than what it takes to instantly destroy human skin. Nelson, who was 27 at the time and had lived with schizophrenia for years, was detained after a day of mental episodes that ended with him in the parking lot, where he was accused of trying to take a restaurant employee’s wallet, a charge that later was dropped. (Stanton, 11/18)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Hundreds Of SFPD Officers Sue Hunters Point Contractor Over Health Problems
The engineering and consulting firm Tetra Tech Inc. and a pair of subsidiaries exposed hundreds of police employees to unsafe levels of hazardous materials at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, leading to chronic health problems and at least two deaths, according to a federal lawsuit brought by nearly 400 current and former officers and staff of the San Francisco Police Department, as well as 150 of their spouses and partners. The shipyard, which is owned by the Navy, was named a Superfund waste site in 1989 because it was heavily contaminated by radioactive substances and industrial chemicals. (Fagone and Dizikes, 11/18)
Los Angeles Times:
PG&E Power Outage Was 'a Big Screw You' To California, Lawmaker Says
With the threat of another power outage looming, state lawmakers hammered Pacific Gas & Electric at the state Capitol on Monday for botching shut-offs that left millions of Californians in the dark this fall and blamed the company for failing to upgrade its system over time. During an all-day hearing that included testimony from California’s investor-owned utilities, state officials and representatives of communities affected by outages, state senators vented their frustrations as they tried to identify legislative solutions to problems caused by this year’s wildfire-prevention blackouts. (Luna, 11/18)
Sacramento Bee:
PG&E Shutoff: 264,000 Northern CA Customers Given Notice
PG&E says it has given a 48-hour notice to 264,000 customers who could potentially lose power across 22 Northern California counties during a possible planned power shutoff that would start Wednesday. The notice follows a weekend announcement by the company that it may shut off power due to dry, windy weather conditions expected to bring wildfire weather conditions Wednesday through Thursday morning. The utility on Sunday had estimated a total of 250,000 customers in 19 counties would be affected, as the wind event is expected to have the biggest impact on the North Coast, northern Sierra Nevada and northern Sacramento Valley. (McGough, 11/18)
The Washington Post:
Trump Administration Ousts Top Homelessness Official As White House Prepares Broad Crackdown
A top federal homelessness official announced Friday that he has left his post at the Trump administration’s request, an unexpected move that comes as the White House plans a sweeping crackdown aimed at homelessness in California. Matthew Doherty, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, wrote in an email to colleagues that the administration “no longer wishes to have me” in the position. Doherty also announced on Twitter that he was leaving at the administration’s request. (Stein, 11/16)
Los Angeles Times:
Poll: Homelessness Is A Disaster Despite L.A.'s Attempts To Fix It
As homelessness has exploded in Los Angeles in recent years, taxpayers have been willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on housing, shelters and services to help get people off the streets. But a new poll shows that a broad majority of voters think the city and county have been ineffective in spending that money and that new policies are needed to address a crisis that they now equate with a natural disaster. (Smith and Oreskes, 11/18)
Fresno Bee:
Guilds Of Valley Children’s Announce $5 Million Endowment
Valley Children’s Healthcare announced on Monday a $5 million endowment to help improve the health of area children outside of the hospital. The endowment establishes the Guilds Center for Community Health, “a first of its kind in the Central Valley,” linking “clinical care, community partners and the healthcare network’s current community health initiatives,” according to a news release from Valley Children’s. (Tehee, 11/18)
Sacramento Bee:
Davis Firefighters Want To Keep CalPERS Pension Overpayments
Two retired Davis firefighters want CalPERS to let them keep $70,000 of overpayments to their pensions, arguing the retirement fund should have identified the payments as improper before they retired. Judi Cutaia and Mark Bills received the overpayments based on an agreement between their union and the City of Davis that let them convert unused health benefits to longevity pay, according to information submitted as part of their case with CalPERS. (Venteicher, 11/19)
Modern Healthcare:
Sutter To Pay $46 Million To Settle Stark Law Claims
Sutter Health and a group of physicians agreed to pay the federal government $46.1 million to settle allegations that it violated the Stark law by billing Medicare for services by physicians with whom it had improper financial relationships, the Justice Department announced Friday. A 2014 whistleblower suit filed by former Sutter compliance officer Laurie Hanvey claimed Sutter Memorial Center Sacramento billed Medicare for services referred by Sacramento Cardiovascular Surgeons Medical Group physicians to whom it made payments that exceeded fair market value from 2002 through at least 2012. (Meyer, 11/18)
Capital Public Radio:
What Issues Matter This Election? We Spoke To California Democratic Party Delegates In Long Beach — And Residents Outside The State Convention Bubble.
Democratic conventions in California bring out a certain crowd — the diehards, the activists, the politically engaged. That was on full display at the Democratic Convention in Long Beach last weekend, where party presidential candidates — minus Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren — stumped for support. But instead of letting the candidates determine the issues that matter, CapRadio sought to learn what issues mattered most to voters — both inside and outside the convention. (Rodd, 11/18)
The Associated Press:
Warren’s ‘Medicare For All’ Plan Reignites Health Care Clash
Elizabeth Warren’s proposal to gradually move the country to a government-funded health care system has further inflamed the debate over “Medicare for All,” likely ensuring the issue will play a significant role in this week’s Democratic presidential debate. The Massachusetts senator announced Friday that her administration would immediately build on existing laws, including the Affordable Care Act, to expand access to health care while taking up to three years to fully implement Medicare for All. That attempt to thread the political needle has roiled her more moderate rivals, who say she’s waffling, while worrying some on the left, who see Warren’s commitment to a single-payer system wavering. (11/18)
Stat:
Warren's Health Care Evolution Earns Friends On The Left, Foes Back Home
[Sen. Elizabeth's] Warren’s hardline stance on [The 21st Century Cures Act] was the exclamation point on her yearslong health care transformation — a shift from a senator, sympathetic to her home state’s health care interests, to a national political figure with her sights on more sweeping policy shifts. That metamorphosis has bolstered her credentials as a progressive presidential candidate and leading advocate of “Medicare for All.” But her broadsides against drug companies have also angered Massachusetts health industry figures, who have accused her of “demonizing her constituents who work in biopharma.” (Facher and Goodwin, 11/19)
Reuters:
Trump Was Not Treated For Any Urgent Health Issues In Saturday's Exam: Physician
U.S. President Donald Trump's health examination on Saturday was "routine" and he was not treated for any urgent or acute issues, his physician said in a statement on Monday. Trump's unexpected trip to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in the Washington suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, led to a variety of rumors about the health of the 73-year-old president, who generally eschews exercise and has waved away advice to lose some weight. (11/18)
The Wall Street Journal:
Lawmakers Slam Trump For Delaying Proposed Vaping Restrictions
President Trump’s decision to hold off on a possible ban of flavored e-cigarettes drew a harsh response from some members of Congress, who say it appears the White House is doing an about-face. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D., Ill.), whose House subcommittee held a recent hearing on youth vaping, wrote Monday to the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Food and Drug Administration to inquire into the status of the proposed regulation on flavors. “The strong promises made by the President and his Administration to address the youth vaping epidemic were incredibly encouraging,” he wrote. “Now, however, the delay in finalizing the Administration’s compliance policy raises deep concerns.” (Burton and Leary, 11/18)
Stat:
Bill Would Let More Doctors Prescribe Addiction Meds Without Insurer Signoff
Fewer doctors would have to wait for permission to prescribe addiction treatment drugs under new, bipartisan legislation being unveiled this week by two lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Under a new bill authored by Reps. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) and David McKinley (R-W.Va.), the practice of “prior authorization,” in which insurers require doctors to seek approval before they can proceed with a prescription or procedure, would be banned in state Medicaid programs for addiction treatment medicines like buprenorphine. (Facher, 11/18)
The Associated Press:
US Prison System Long Plagued By Staffing Crisis, Violence
For years, the federal Bureau of Prisons has been plagued by systematic failures, from massive staffing shortages to chronic violence. But the largest agency in the Justice Department has largely stayed out of the public view. The death of billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein and the revelation that he was able to kill himself while behind bars at one of the most secure jails in America has cast a spotlight on the agency, which has also been besieged by serious misconduct in recent years. (Balsamo and Sisak, 11/19)
Stat:
Watchdog: No Evidence Fertility Supplements Help Women Get Pregnant
A health and science watchdog group petitioned federal regulators on Monday to take enforcement action against 27 manufacturers of dietary supplements marketed as helping women become pregnant, but for which the makers provided no scientific evidence of efficacy. In letters to the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission, the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest said its nearly yearlong investigation of 39 “fertility” supplements — pills and powders with names such as Fertile CM, Pregnitude, FertilHerb for Women, OvaBoost, and Pink Stork — found no evidence they increase a woman’s chance of conceiving. (Begley, 11/18)