‘Our Lives Will Never Be The Same Again’: California Burn Survivors On A Long Road To Recovery
Those who were burned but survived the Camp Fire are only beginning to deal with the consequences of the wildfire. To deal with the possibility of a large increase in fire burn patients, U.C. Davis has formed a consortium with 25 hospitals across eight Western states, and has added another specialist to its team.
The New York Times:
The Wildfire May Be Over, But Those It Burned ‘Live That Nightmare Every Day'
Bill Blevins had pulled himself out of homelessness and addiction with a job as an alarm systems repairman, dexterous work with tiny electrical components that he enjoyed. But last week he was forced to confront a new hurdle: His left pinkie finger was amputated. It was his third surgery since his hands were ravaged by the wildfire that devastated the town of Paradise, Calif., last month. And now he’s not sure if he will be able to work again. (Nir, 12/8)
In other public health news —
KQED:
Doctor Detectives Take On Rare Diseases
Individual rare diseases are very uncommon, but taken together into a single category, they afflict one in 20 people. All across the country, teams of medical sleuths are cracking these mystery cases and providing hope for families including some right here in the Bay Area. (Levi, 12/9)
Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
Bay Area Firm At Forefront Of Science Seeking Arthritis Cure
Unity co-founder Nathaniel David, an inventor and entrepreneur, was impressed by their work, calling it the “coolest biology” he had ever seen. Unity, his fifth startup, was founded in 2011 with more than $300 million in funding, including investments by billionaires Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. David, a Harvard and UC Berkeley-trained molecular and cell biologist, sold two of his first four companies — one that produced a diabetes drug, the other a remedy for double chins — for well over $2 billion. His lone business whiff is a company that managed to make a crude oil substitute from algae but was thwarted when oil prices plummeted. (Kovner, 12/8)
Los Angeles Times:
#ThisIsOurLane: Doctors Tell The NRA Why They Are Experts On The Effects Of Gun Violence
It was the kind of imperious broadside that would strike fear into the hearts of most politicians. In a contemptuous tweet, the National Rifle Assn. admonished a medical group for speaking out about gun injuries and dismissed their concern by saying that physicians should mind their own business. “Someone should tell self-important anti-gun doctors to stay in their lane,” the NRA tweeted on Nov. 7. In drafting a policy statement that “reflects every anti-gunner’s public policy wish list,” the American College of Physicians “seems to have consulted NO ONE but themselves,” the NRA complained. (Healy, 12/7)