Barriers Remain To California Women Getting Proper Breast Cancer Treatment
Obstacles such as narrow networks, lack of coverage and cultural challenges are preventing women from getting the care they need, researchers find.
Sacramento Bee:
California Lawmakers And UCLA Researchers Cite Roadblocks To Breast Cancer Care
It’s one of the most high-profile, well-funded cancers out there, but breast cancer treatment is still hobbled by obstacles for thousands of California women who get diagnosed each year. That’s the prognosis by a UCLA research team that cited three main roadblocks: uneven insurance coverage, time limits on treatment programs and language/cultural barriers. (Buck, 1/12)
In other public health news —
Sacramento Bee:
Diabetes Deaths Exploding In California’s Under-55 Population
In 2015, 390 Californians under age 55 died from the disease, according to new figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Deaths from Type II diabetes have risen across all age groups. About 4,900 Californians died from the disease last year, for a rate of 12.5 deaths per 100,000 people, up from 2 deaths per 100,000 people in 1999. (Reese, 1/12)
Los Angeles Times:
Experts Have Only A Hazy Idea Of Marijuana’s Myriad Health Effects, And Federal Laws Are To Blame
More than 22 million Americans use some form of marijuana each month, and it’s now approved for medicinal or recreational use in 28 states plus the District of Columbia. Nationwide, legal sales of the drug reached an estimated $7.1 billion last year. Yet for all its ubiquity, a comprehensive new report says the precise health effects of marijuana on those who use it remain something of a mystery — and the federal government continues to erect major barriers to research that would provide much-needed answers. (Healy, 1/12)