Latest California Healthline Stories
Sacramento Has Had More ‘Code Red’ Air Quality Days This Year Than It’s Had In Nearly A Decade
“Fine particulate matter that you find in wildfire smoke is very unhealthy to breathe,” said Lori Kobza, spokeswoman for the Sacramento Air Quality Management District. “Not only does it get into your lungs, it gets into your blood stream. It can trigger cardiac problems and other respiratory problems.”
Butte County Shelter Housing Camp Fire Evacuees Hit With Norovirus Outbreak
About 170 people are staying at the Chico shelter where the outbreak is. Fire evacuees staying at Oroville Church of the Nazarene shelter are also showing symptoms of the virus.
Death Toll In California Wildfires Keeps Climbing With More Than A Hundred Still Missing
“I can’t imagine that he is alive, but we have not stopped looking. We are still calling the shelters every day. We are calling the hospitals every day,” said Angela Loo of her stepbrother.
Lawmakers Campaigned On Promises To Curb High Drug Prices. Now This Coalition Is Holding Them To It.
The initial ads from Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing will focus on insulin costs, and feature a man with diabetes penning a letter pleading with his congressman to follow through on a pledge to lower drug costs. “In your campaign, you said you would act,” the man reads aloud to an unspecified lawmaker. “You said you would do something about drug prices. Keep your commitment: hold Big Pharma accountable.”
The company’s move gets ahead of the FDA, which is expected later this week to announce a ban on sales of flavored e-cigarettes in convenience stores and gas stations and strengthen the requirements for age verification of online sales of e-cigarettes. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has taken a forceful stance against what he calls an epidemic of teenage vaping.
“Not one of those people that got a cancer diagnosis, not one of those people that broke a leg thought, ‘oh, this is the year that I’m going to break a leg, this is the year I’m going to get cancer,’’ Covered California Director Peter Lee said. Lee is hitting the streets during open enrollment to encourage Californians to sign up for health care coverage.
Gun Survey Calls Into Question Enforcement Of California’s Strict Background Check Laws
“We have only about 75 percent of our respondents reporting that they had a background check done when they bought their most recent firearm in California, said Nicole Kravitz-Wirtz, a researcher who led the study. In other news, students are going back to school following the Thousand Oaks bar shooting.
Masks Intended To Protect Californians From Smoke May Do More Harm Than Good
If not fitted properly, the mask can actually increase breathing problems by not releasing carbon dioxide. “Unless you really know what you’re doing and have worn these masks before, there are more risks than benefits,” said Dr. Peter Beilenson, director of the Department of Health Services in Sacramento. “Over the weekend, [the city] may have jumped the gun a little bit.”
Regional emergency coordinators with the Health and Human Services Department have been deployed to coordinate with state, local and emergency response personnel in California, officials said. Meanwhile, some residents say they failed to receive potentially life-saving emergency alerts about the fires.
Hundreds Of Californians Still Missing As Death Toll Rises To 48 In State’s Most Destructive Fire
“It’s just earthshaking for all of us, you know?” said Chico resident Tammy Mezera. Media outlets also take a look at the painstaking work going into searching for and identifying bodies of victims.