Viewpoints: GOP Killing Health Law May Be What’s Needed For Single-Payer To Finally Succeed
A selection of opinions on health care developments from around the state.
Los Angeles Times:
Thanks To Trump And GOP, A California Single-Payer Healthcare System Is Now Possible
Could California have its own single-payer health insurance system providing coverage for all residents? A bill has been introduced in the state Legislature that would do just that — and its chances of success could be vastly improved by President Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress. (David Lazarus, 3/3)
The Mercury News:
Tell Patients About Their Doctors' Misdeeds
The California Medical Board has also placed Los Gatos internist Mary Hutchins on probation after she excessively prescribed narcotics and psychotropic drugs to multiple patients. If you are a patient of one of those doctors, wouldn’t you want to know their status? And what happened? You deserve to know. (2/28)
Sacramento Bee:
Modernize California Laws Targeting People With HIV
When I met Pebbles, she was 15 and had been admitted to the emergency room with a pelvic infection. We diagnosed her on the spot with HIV. Pebbles had a life filled with trauma – she had spent most of her youth in foster care and in the juvenile justice system. When she was 17, her mother died. Despite her other problems, it was her HIV diagnosis that caused her the most shame and isolation. (Edward Machtinger, 2/28)
The Mercury News:
Health Care Systems Are Worlds Apart
I just returned from New Zealand, where conversations with an American doctor who has worked in that country’s national health system gave me some anecdotal insight into the components that worked. He was also clear about where that system would fall short of an American’s expectations. Most national health care systems, however, are buttressed by private insurance that can be purchased by people who want to supplement what the state provides free for everyone. (Steve Butler, 3/3)
Los Angeles Times:
Overregulation Is Forcing Women To Have Late-Term Abortions
In my experience as an OB-GYN, when women decide to end a pregnancy, they want to obtain an abortion quickly. One good reason is the simple fact that early abortion is associated with a lower risk of medical complications compared to later abortion. In many settings, however, women face barriers accessing early care, ranging from mandatory waiting periods to difficulty putting the money together to pay for the procedure. (Daniel Grossman, 2/28)
Los Angeles Times:
Long-Term Opioid Addiction Can Start In The ER
There’s a common thread in many accounts of opioid addiction: It all started with a single prescription after a minor injury or other medical issue. There are plenty of culprits in the opioid epidemic raging across the country, including the pharmaceutical industry, drug traffickers and economic stagnation. But there is little doubt that many thousands of opioid users got their first introduction to an opioid from a physician who wanted to treat their pain. And we’ve found unsettling evidence that whether you are prescribed an opioid, and whether a first opioid prescription turns into many, could be just a matter of chance. (Michael Barnett and Anupam B. Jena, 2/27)
Los Angeles Times:
Don't Reopen Aliso Canyon
I'm no longer surprised when my nose suddenly starts to bleed. As a resident of Porter Ranch, I’ve become accustomed to unexpected nosebleeds, nausea and headaches— near daily reminders of the area’s toxic environment. Porter Ranch sits below Aliso Canyon, the source of the largest gas leak and methane release in United States history. In October 2015, one of the facility’s 115 aging gas injection wells “blew out,” spewing methane (a potent greenhouse gas), benzene (a carcinogen) and many other toxic emissions. (Hibino, 3/1)
Los Angeles Times:
An AIDS Advocacy Foundation Is Bankrolling L.A.'s Draconian Anti-Development Measure. How Is This Social Justice?
The man is Michael Weinstein, who heads the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, an enormous, tax-exempt nonprofit that runs clinics and pharmacies that serve hundreds of thousands of patients worldwide. The foundation has helped prevent the spread of HIV. It has saved innumerable lives by providing care and medicine to people with HIV and AIDS. And Weinstein has been a fierce advocate for his clients for 30 years. (2/25)
Los Angeles Times:
Why The AIDS Healthcare Foundation Is Behind Measure S
Our government and its corporate allies are defending a self-benefiting system. We understand the arm-twisting that goes on, the effort to amass groups against Measure S who rely on City Hall for funding, contracts, letters of recommendation and other favors. Other organizations see this abominable track record and are standing with us. We must put a stop to the unmitigated greed and corruption that will forever change L.A. from a welcoming place to a city built only for the privileged. (Michael Weinstein, 3/2)
Sacramento Bee:
However Much Trump Spends On Arms, We Can’t Bomb Ebola
Before he became defense secretary, Gen. Jim Mattis once pleaded with Congress to invest more in State Department diplomacy.“If you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition,” he explained. Alas, President Donald Trump took him literally but not seriously. The administration plans a $54 billion increase in military spending, financed in part by a 37 percent cut in the budgets of the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. (Nicholas Kristof, 3/2)