Morning Breakouts

Latest California Healthline Stories

California’s Fires And Drought Are A Preview Of Future, When Simultaneous Disasters May Become Commonplace

Florida has also been hit with multiple natural disasters recently: extreme drought but also Hurricane Michael. And New York can expect to be hit by four climate crises at a time by 2100 if carbon emissions continue at their current pace, a new study finds. While wealthy nations will be burdened with the costs of such disasters, poorer nations will experience great loss of life from them, the authors say.

Number Of Missing People Drops To Below 700 As Death Toll Continues To Rise In California’s Deadliest Fire

The Camp Fire has destroyed more than 15,000 structures, including more than 11,700 homes, according to the Monday evening incident report. As survivors begin returning home, media outlets report on updates from the scene of the disaster, from evacuees’ rough living conditions to the transmission line that may be linked to the blaze.

Pfizer Made Headlines By Rolling Back Price Increases To Appease Trump. In 2019, It Will Return To Business As Usual.

The company will raise the price of 41 of its drugs — about 10 percent of its portfolio of treatments. Trump administration officials did not take kindly to the announcement. The move illustrates the “perverse incentives of America’s drug pricing system,” said a spokeswoman for Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. In other drug cost news: brand-name price hikes drive up spending; an analysis looks at EpiPen’s cost-value ratio; and the FDA wants more funding so the agency can review influx of gene therapy products.

Republicans Dismayed By Scope Of FDA Crackdown On Tobacco Products

The FDA has been aggressively targeting electronic tobacco products and flavored cigarettes in an effort to curb an emerging epidemic of teenagers vaping, but some conservatives think the administration has gone too far. “I am concerned the FDA’s proposed actions could limit adult Americans’ access to e-cigarette products that help them quit a more dangerous habit. I am also concerned about regulatory overreach,” said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).

Combined Dignity, CHI Company To Be Called CommonSpirit To Reflect Mission Of Service, Officials Say

San Francisco-based Dignity announced its intention to merge with CHI, based in Englewood, Colo., in December 2017. “We appreciate how the manifestation of the Spirit is woven into so many messages—God’s gift of compassion, the calling to heal others, and serving the common good,” CHI CEO Kevin E. Lofton said.

California Regulators Release Guidelines Geared Toward Curbing Use Of Controversial Pesticide

The new restrictions on chlorpyrifos — which has been linked to developmental disabilities in kids — are temporary while the state works on permanent regulations for chlorpyrifos, a process that’s expected to take two years.

Success Of Medicaid Expansion Ballot Measures Has Advocates Eyeing Possibilities For 2020

California advocates for expansion used ballot measures in the 2018 elections to circumnavigate the Republican legislatures of three states. Now, they’re hoping to replicate that success in other states through the 2020 elections. They haven’t named their targets, but here are six states they might be eyeing: Florida, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming.