Viewpoints: Requiring Pharma To Include Prices In Ads Is A Small Response To An Enormous Problem
A selection of opinions on health care developments from around the state.
Los Angeles Times:
Trump's Plan To Reduce Drug Prices Might Be Unconstitutional. It Also Won't Help Much
The Trump administration on Monday unveiled its latest proposal for reining in the cost of pharmaceuticals: requiring television advertisements for prescription drugs to display the price tag of the medication being promoted. For the 10 drugs seen most often on TV, the administration says, those list prices range from $535 to a whopping $11,000 per month or per course of treatment. Like the administration’s other efforts to address this issue, the mandate is a small response to an enormous problem. (10/17)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Vote No On Prop. 8: It Will Limit Dialysis Services And Raise Costs
Proposition 8 is a contradiction: Its promise to improve patient care at dialysis facilities and contain costs will not be realized — instead, the measure will negatively impact public health in California. The proposal to redirect health care resources is misguided and will lead to higher health care costs and barriers to care. (Paul Cheung, 10/14)
San Jose Mercury News:
Reject Irresponsible Health Care Financing Measures
Palo Alto’s Measure F and Livermore’s Measure U win the award for the most irresponsible initiatives before Bay Area voters this fall. ... The measures would force every hospital and health care provider in the two cities to reimburse insurance companies and patients who are charged more than 15 percent above the industry-established cost of services provided. (10/15)
Los Angeles Times:
Supreme Court Deals Final Blow To Lead Paint Manufacturers' Years-Long Effort To Avoid Cleanup Costs
The lead paint industry’s efforts to avoid a cleanup bill for more than $400 million has reached the end of the road. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to review California state court rulings finding Sherwin-Williams, Conagra and NL Industries responsible for lead paint contamination in thousands of homes built before 1951. That date is when the companies said their predecessor firms ceased actively advertising lead-based paint as a residential product. (Michael Hiltzik, 10/15)
Los Angeles Times:
Did We Learn Anything From Proposition 13? Proposition 5 Says No
If passed, this measure would hand $1 billion to 4 million property owners who have already enjoyed the greatest benefits from Proposition 13. Renters get nothing. Recipients of government services, including students, Medi-Cal enrollees, and anyone who drives on a road or spends time in a state park, gets shortchanged. (David Dayen, 10/16)
Sacramento Bee:
How California’s New Pot Regulations Put Kids At Risk
Two years ago, Californians voted overwhelmingly to decriminalize and regulate cannabis through Proposition 64. As a physician and one of the co-authors of the measure, it is critical to me to ensure that the new, legal system includes safeguards for our children, including the toughest child-resistant packaging requirements in the nation. (Donald Lyman, 10/12)
Los Angeles Times:
First, Dementia Stole My Mother's Smile. Now It's Turning Our Lifelong Conversation Into Silence
There are millions of people living with all kinds of dementia. Millions. I assume each case is as different as the sufferer. I know my mom’s version, but only as a deeply biased observer. She and I have now spent five years negotiating the deterioration of her mind, and yet the conversation we began before my birth continues. My mom and I were never shoppers. We didn't bowl or work out or cook together. Our thing was always talking, on the phone or on the couch, sharing an afghan. We talked when I was growing up; we talked after I left home and when I went back to visit. (Amy Koss, 10/14)
The Mercury News:
Humane Society Initiative Will Drive Up Food Costs
California’s egg farmers support cage-free production. But Proposition 12 will result in fewer eggs produced in California and fewer egg farmers, and that will lead to higher prices, just as happened the last time voters approved a poorly written initiative drafted by the Humane Society of the United States. (Debbie Murdock, 10/18)