Viewpoints: VA Scandal In San Diego’s Backyard; Models Deserve Workplace Protection
A selection of opinions on health care developments from around the state.
San Diego Union-Tribune:
VA Scandal Hits Home In Painful Fashion
It’s appalling to learn of an internal federal investigation released last week that showed a local veteran attempted suicide in 2014 after repeatedly having his mental health treatments canceled at the last minute by the San Diego Veterans Affairs hospital — especially given that this was part of a bigger pattern of dysfunction at the hospital. The question not just for San Diegans but Americans is this: How can these things keep happening to our veterans? (4/3)
The Sacramento Bee:
Fashion Models Have Rights, Too
Assembly Bill 2539, which is scheduled to be heard before the Assembly Labor and Employment committee on Wednesday, is important and necessary because it has the power to change the lives of thousands of young girls who suffer like I once did. The bill would give models the workplace protections they deserve, protections that actors in California have enjoyed for the past 100 years. Modeling agencies are opposing the bill, mainly because it would require them to be regulated and licensed as talent agencies. But are frustrations over regulations worth sacrificing a young girl’s sanity and potentially her life? (Meredith Hattam, 4/5)
The Los Angeles Times:
Why That Woman Who Yelled At Florida Gov. Rick Scott Should Be Your Hero
The career of Rick Scott, Florida's Republican governor, has long been one of the outstanding mysteries of the nation's statehouses. He won his first race for governor in 2010, even though the hospital company he ran until being forced out in 1997, Columbia/HCA, had been accused of defrauding federal healthcare programs and paid $1.7 billion in fines, damages, and penalties, then the largest healthcare fraud settlement in U.S. history. He won reelection in 2014, despite amassing a politically retrograde position on healthcare issues at odds with his supposed expertise in the field. (Michael Hiltzik, 4/6)
Los Angeles Times:
Pfizer Shows That Its Allergan Merger Was Only A Tax Dodge
When it announced its record-setting $160-billion merger with Allergan, the maker of Botox, last November, the giant drug company Pfizer tried valiantly to pretend that the deal wasn't mostly about cutting its tax bill. "We are doing this because of the strategic importance of the franchises, the revenue growth we believe we can get within the U.S. and internationally, and the importance to combine the research approaches," Pfizer CEO Ian Read told investment analysts on Nov. 23, after the merger was announced. He also said, a bit lamely: "I want to stress that we are not doing this transaction simply as a tax transaction." (Michael Hiltzik, 4/6)
The Sacramento Bee:
Lawmakers Should Follow Science On Abortion Drug
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration updated its 16-year-old guidelines for mifepristone, the drug used in medication abortions, to reflect the latest scientific evidence and reduce potential side effects. Medication abortions make up about a quarter of all abortions, and in most states, the new guidelines will have little impact on doctors. They already follow the best science by using the pill off-label – a common and legal practice, given that science often advances faster than the FDA. (Drew Halfmann, 4/6)
Los Angeles Times:
New FDA Abortion Pill Guidelines Could Create Sweeping Changes For Women
The Food and Drug Administration was absolutely right to re-label mifepristone, a drug used to induce abortions, to reflect a regimen already adopted by doctors. The FDA — which hadn't changed its guidelines on the drug since it was approved for medication-induced abortions in 2000 — now calls for a substantially lower dose of the drug to be administered, and extends the time into pregnancy when it can be used. The agency also now suggests that misoprostol — a second drug used along with mifepristone to complete the abortion process — be taken a day or two later by the woman at home rather than in a doctor's office. The new guidelines also recommend that qualified healthcare providers, not just doctors, be allowed to dispense the drugs. (4/1)
Los Angeles Times:
Putting Human Stem Cells In Animal Embryos? The NIH Should Get On Board.
Thirty years ago Paul Simon immortalized one of the first animal-human transplants with the lyrics, “These are the days of miracle and wonder.… Medicine is magical and magical is art. Thinking of the boy in the bubble and the baby with the baboon heart.” Today we face the possibility of babies getting organs grown in human/nonhuman chimeras — beasts that are pigs except for a single human organ. To the uninitiated, this may sound more like the dark arts than modern medicine, but pursuing careful research and potential clinical use of these chimeras is both proper and important. (Henry T. Greely, 4/7)
Los Angeles Times:
Forget Cops. Should Doctors And Teachers Wear Body Cameras?
Consider health care, another interaction which produces potentially life-or-death outcomes. In general, African Americans and other people of color receive inferior medical treatment, leading to higher death rates. David R. Williams, a professor of public health at Harvard, who has researched this issue writes that blacks and other minorities receive fewer diagnostic tests, fewer treatments, and overall poorer-quality care — even after adjusting for variations in insurance, facilities, and seriousness of illness. Leaving aside patient outcomes, there are also highly credible accusations that medical staff have groped and sexually abused sedated patients. Body cameras on doctors and nurses might well prevent such incidents, or provide evidence if they did occur. (Steven Strauss, 4/4)
The Desert Sun:
These Statistics Reflect The Upside Of Aging
Aging is the ultimate universal human experience. And yet, more significantly, it is unique for each of us. ... The 65-plus group scored the highest when responding to the following statements: Having supportive relationships and love in their life. Managing their finances to avoid stress and increase security. Liking where you live and being proud of your community. Having good health and enough energy to get things done daily.In other words, the idea that life after a certain age can be filled with positive experiences has its roots in reality. (Nancy Rubin Weil, 4/6)