Latest From California Healthline:
KFF Health News Original Stories
Why Even Public Health Experts Have Limited Insight Into Stopping Gun Violence in America
After the 1996 Dickey Amendment halted federal spending on research into firearms risks, a small group of academics pressed on, with little money or political support, to document the nation’s growing gun violence problem and start to understand what can be done to curb the public health crisis. (Christine Spolar, 3/6)
Mental Health Funding Measure Leads In Early Returns: Proposition 1, the ballot measure to enact a key part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to get people off the streets and into treatment, is still too close to call. Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle. For live updates from the Los Angeles Times, click here.
San Francisco Voters Back Measure To Drug-Test Welfare Recipients: A contentious ballot measure sponsored by Mayor London Breed to mandate drug screenings for welfare recipients passed Tuesday, sending a clear message that voters want to see a more aggressive response to the city’s drug crisis. Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Is SF Still A Progressive City? Tuesday's vote suggests the political ground has shifted. Read more from Politico.
Below, check out the roundup of California Healthline’s coverage. For today's national health news, read KFF Health News’ Morning Briefing.
More News From Across The State
Politico:
California Will Be Without A Woman Senator For The First Time In 32 Years
California was the first state in the nation to have two women senators. Next year, it won’t have any. It’s a jarring about-face for a state that has long been considered a trailblazer in gender equality — having elected Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein in 1992, in what was known as the Year of the Woman. (Korte, 3/6)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
San Diego's Dexcom Gets First FDA Clearance For An Over-The-Counter Wearable Continuous Glucose Monitor
San Diego device maker Dexcom has received the first FDA clearance for a continuous glucose monitor that doesn’t require a doctor’s prescription. (Rocha, 3/5)
Stat:
Ozempic Has Benefits For Kidney Disease As Well As Diabetes
A Novo Nordisk study showed that its diabetes drug Ozempic lowered the risk that patients with kidney disease would see progression. (Joseph, 3/5)
Reuters:
WHO Warns Of Growing Resistance To GSK's HIV Drug
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday resistance to GSK's HIV drug dolutegravir has exceeded levels observed during its trials, citing observational and survey data received from a few countries. (3/5)
Voice Of San Diego:
Escondido’s New Homelessness Policy Could Put Future State And Federal Funding Dollars At Risk
Escondido’s City Council last week approved a new “public safety-first” homelessness policy that rejects the Housing First approach. But the move could impact the city’s ability to receive state or federal dollars that are tied to the Housing First policy. (Layne, 3/5)
Modern Healthcare:
CMS Offers Relief To Providers Affected By Change Healthcare Outage
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has rolled out efforts to help providers navigate the Change Healthcare outage disrupting healthcare operations nationwide, the Health and Human Services Department announced Tuesday. CMS ordered its claims administrators to assist pharmacies, hospitals and others that need to use alternate means to process transactions while Change Healthcare, part of UnitedHealth Group's Optum subsidiary, works to get its systems back online following a Feb. 21 cyberattack. (Berryman, 3/5)
Bloomberg:
UnitedHealth Unit Hack Muddies Humana’s View Of Care Expenses
The cyberattack on a UnitedHealth Group Inc. data service is making it harder for health insurers across the industry to gauge their medical care expenses, Humana Inc. executives said Tuesday. About 15% to 20% of Humana’s medical claims submitted by providers flow through Change Healthcare systems before they reach the insurer, Humana Chief Financial Officer Susan Diamond said at an investor conference. (Tozzi, 3/5)
Axios:
Change Cyberattack Spawns Threat Of Patient Lawsuits
The cyber attack on Change Healthcare that's reverberated across the medical system is now spawning threats of litigation from patients. Patients left scrambling to determine if insurance will cover drugs or treatments could seek damages from the UnitedHealth Group subsidiary, whose stricken payment network is a mainstay of hospitals, pharmacies and physician offices and processes 15 billion transactions annually. (Reed, 3/6)
Reuters:
'Exit Scam' - Hackers That Hit UnitedHealth Pull Disappearing Act
The hackers responsible for the breach at UnitedHealth Group appear to have pulled a disappearing act on Tuesday, leaving their cybercriminal associates in the lurch and replacing their old website with a bogus statement from law enforcement. The U.S. insurer disclosed on Feb. 21 that Blackcat hacking gang - also known as ALPHV - had perpetrated a cyberattack on its technology unit Change Healthcare, causing disruptions across the U.S. healthcare system. (Pearson and Bing, 3/5)
Bloomberg:
Salesforce CEO Gives $150 Million To Hawaii Hospitals
The donations were made in partnership with the University of California, San Francisco, and together make up the largest gift in the state’s history, according to a statement from UCSF. (Alexander, 3/5)
The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat:
Sebastopol Farmer Drops Lawsuit Against Roundup Manufacturer
At the behest of the Sebastopol couple who filed the claim, a Sonoma County judge has dismissed their lawsuit against Monsanto, which had accused the agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation’s Roundup weed killer of causing the husband’s cancer. (Atagi, 3/5)
Modern Healthcare:
Private Equity In Healthcare Under Scrutiny From FTC, DOJ, HHS
Federal regulators launched an investigation Tuesday probing private equity firms’ investment in healthcare. The Federal Trade Commission, Justice Department and Health and Human Services Department are seeking information on the effects of private equity and other corporate investor-backed healthcare transactions, particularly those that fall under regulators’ threshold for review. (Kacik, 3/5)
Modern Healthcare:
Private Equity Rapidly Acquiring Physician Groups, Study Shows
Private equity firms continue to acquire physician groups at an accelerating clip, prompting closer scrutiny from state and federal lawmakers. Private equity acquisitions of physician practices grew seven-fold between 2012 and 2021, according to a peer-reviewed study from University of California, Berkeley researchers. The study, published Monday in Health Affairs, said those acquisitions have led to a concentration of private equity firms’ market share. (Kacik, 3/5)
Stat:
Biden's 'March-In' Plan On Drug Prices Could Fall To New GOP Attack
Republicans in Congress might try to use a technical maneuver to block the Biden administration from using so-called march-in rights to seize pharmaceutical patents and lower drug prices. (Wilkerson, 3/6)
Politico:
‘The Worst Message We Could Find’: How Alabama’s IVF Ruling Raised The Stakes For Food Aid Fight
The Alabama Supreme Court’s IVF decision upped the pressure on House Republicans to back a funding increase for nutrition aid to low-income moms and babies in the spending deal Congress is poised to pass this week. Some GOP lawmakers facing tough reelections in more moderate districts had been pushing Speaker Mike Johnson to keep a dispute over the funding from becoming a major fight in the spending talks. (Hill, 3/5)
NPR:
How States Giving Rights To Fetuses Could Set Up A National Case On Abortion
Last month, when the Florida Supreme Court heard arguments for a proposed state constitutional amendment that would explicitly protect access to abortion, the discussion took a surprising turn for attendees like state House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell. "The chief justice seemed to really be trained on trying to understand what the effects of this ballot initiative would be on other areas of the law," Driskell said. (McCarthy, 3/5)
Stat:
Streamlined Flu Vaccines Recommended By FDA Advisory Panel
When Americans line up for flu vaccines next fall, they will almost certainly be getting vaccines that no longer contain protection against a family of flu viruses that appears to be extinct. (Branswell, 3/5)
CNN:
A Man Deliberately Got 217 Covid Shots. Here’s What Happened
One German man has redefined “man on a mission.” A 62-year-old from Magdeburg deliberately got 217 Covid-19 vaccine shots in the span of 29 months, according to a new study, going against national vaccine recommendations. That’s an average of one jab every four days. In the process, he became a walking experiment for what happens to the immune system when it is vaccinated against the same pathogen repeatedly. A correspondence published Monday in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases outlined his case and concluded that while his “hypervaccination” did not result in any adverse health effects, it also did not significantly improve or worsen his immune response. (Cheng, 3/6)
AP:
White House Lifting Its COVID-19 Testing Rule For People Around Biden
The White House on Monday lifted its COVID-19 testing requirement for those who plan to be in close contact with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and their spouses, bringing to an end the last coronavirus prevention protocol at the White House. The White House said the change aligns its policies with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance. (Miller, 3/4)
Fox News:
Chip Roy Unveils Bill To Let Americans Sue COVID-19 Vaccine Makers Over Injury, Negative Effects
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, is unveiling a new bill on Tuesday that would allow Americans to sue COVID-19 vaccine makers over adverse health effects allegedly caused by the shot. The Let Injured Americans Be Legally Empowered (LIABLE) Act is aimed at wiping away COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers’ statutory protections, opening them up to civil lawsuits. (Elkind, 3/5)