Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Liver Illness Strikes Latino Children Like A ‘Silent Tsunami’
Potentially deadly fatty liver disease, linked to overconsumption of sugar in drinks and food, often starts in childhood. The goal: Get children to change their habits. (Rob Waters, )
Good morning! Here are some of your top California health stories for the day.
Paradise Drinking Water Laced With ‘Toxic Cocktail’ Of Chemicals—And It Won’t Be Cheap To Clean Up: Water officials say they believe the extreme heat of the firestorm created a “toxic cocktail” of gases in burning homes that got sucked into the water pipes. Despite a long history of destructive wildfires sweeping through California, water experts said what happened in Paradise has been detected only once before. It’s expected to take up to two years and $300 million to ensure that residents have clean drinking water—a sum that adds to the enormous cost of recovering from the wildfire. “It is jaw dropping,” said Dan Newton of the state Water Resources Control Board. “This is such a huge scale. None of us were prepared for this.” The chemicals in the water have been linked to everything from short-term eye irritation to leukemia. Health officials are issuing strict warnings to any resident who has returned to Paradise for them not to use the water in almost any capacity. Read more from The Sacramento Bee.
Research Violations By UCSD Doctor Highlight Vulnerabilities In System Meant To Protect Volunteers: Dr. Kang Zhang is a prominent eye doctor at the University of California San Diego who has received millions in research grants and even has a lab named after him at the university. But an audit has revealed that his work is riddled with violations of basic human research standards. Among other things, Zhang performed HIV tests on participants without their permission and enrolled people he shouldn’t have in certain trials. UCSD says it has “implemented a comprehensive management plan to address these issues” and suspended Zhang indefinitely from serving as a primary researcher overseeing human research studies at UCSD. The behavior, though, is just a small example of a larger trend the field of human research. Read more from inewsource.
Calif. Attorney General’s Court Challenges Of Trump Administration Outnumber Even Texas During The Obama Era: California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has been leading the charge against Trump administration policies during the past two years. At last count, his office has sued the administration 47 times. It took Texas, reviled by Democrats as a symbol of vexatious legal obstructionism, eight years to file that many suits against then-President Barack Obama. One of the more high-profile suits coming from Becerra’s office has to do with the constitutionality of the health law. Read more from CALmatters.
Below, check out the full round-up of California Healthline original stories, state coverage and the best of the rest of the national news for the day. And have a healthy weekend.
More News From Across The State
The Associated Press:
Health Officials: California Baby Dies From Whooping Cough
California health officials say a baby has died from whooping cough — the first such infant death in the state since 2018. The Department of Public Health says Thursday that the child was from Orange County, but didn't provide any other details. Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is a highly contagious respiratory ailment that can spread through coughing. (4/18)
Ventura County Star:
Psych Care Shortage Gets Boost From New Crisis Unit At County Hospital
In a perfect world, a psychiatric crisis unit opening Tuesday at Ventura County Medical Center would grow from a starting capacity of four patients to 12. It would, as envisioned by leaders trying to thwart a countywide shortage of hospital psychiatric care, allow the safety-net hospital in Ventura to reclaim a dozen inpatient beds at its Hillmont psychiatric unit. And while the outpatient crisis unit’s opening is stoking hope and praise from observers, the extent to which the goals will be achieved appears to rest on the effectiveness of the new unit and on money. Treatment at the new unit designed to offer immediate care to adults in the throes of psychiatric crises should in many cases be covered by Medi-Cal and Medicare insurance, hospital leaders assert. (Kisken, 4/18)
The Desert Sun:
55% Of Coachella Valley Homeless Struggle With Addiction
Of those surveyed, 55% reported they abused drugs and alcohol, while 44% reported they suffered from mental health issues — mostly depression, but also conditions like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia; 31% of those surveyed had a dual-diagnosis of both substance abuse and mental health issues. While free and reduced medical services are available for those experiencing homelessness in the Coachella Valley, many of the clinics don't include robust behavioral health care services or substance abuse services. Both those who are experiencing homelessness and those who provide medical care to that population said that is one of the valley's greatest needs. (Hayden, 4/18)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Supporters Of SB50 Fire Back After Ads Equate Housing Bill To ‘Negro Removal’
A provocative mailer by a deep-pocketed Los Angeles activist equates a state housing bill with “Negro removal,” a comparison that prompted state Sen. Scott Wiener and San Francisco Mayor London Breed to fire back Thursday. The ad, paid for by Michael Weinstein, appeared on cable television, snowballed on social media and popped up in mailboxes throughout the city this week. (Swan, 4/18)
Capital Public Radio:
Sacramento Wants To Turn A Low-Income Downtown Hotel Into A Homeless Shelter
A hotel in downtown Sacramento could be turned into a temporary homeless shelter by the end of the year. The 90 residents at the Capitol Park Hotel would be forced to move. (Moffitt, 4/18)
KPBS:
San Diego County Jails Under Scrutiny For Numerous Deaths
When Ivan Ortiz died shortly after trying to kill himself in March at San Diego Central Jail, he was the fourth person to die in a county jail in six weeks. San Diego journalist Kelly Davis covers criminal justice and vulnerable populations and has written about deaths in the jail system. (Hindmon, 4/18)
Sacramento Bee:
New School Opens In El Dorado Hills Where Boy Was Restrained, Later Died
Point Quest Education in mid-March took over the site formerly known as Guiding Hands School, where last November Max Benson, a 13-year-old boy with autism, was put in a face-down prone restraint and later died. The new school, Point Quest’s fourth campus in the greater Sacramento area, is growing quickly. (Morrar, 4/19)
Desert Sun:
As Grape Industry Changes, Farmworkers Pick Up Extra Shifts Collecting Trash At Coachella Festival
The festivals coincide with the grape-growing season, so Magaña and her team typically labor all day in the fields, often amid sweltering temperatures, and then all night at the festivals, catching an hour or two of sleep and a cup of coffee in between shifts. But in the Coachella Valley, grape growers planted about 1,000 fewer acres in 2017 than they had in 2013, according to the Riverside County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office. The reduction in grapevines, Magaña said, has resulted in fewer hours of low-wage work in the fields. (Plevin, 4/18)
The Wall Street Journal:
Trump Administration To Launch New Opioid-Addiction Initiative
An NIH spokeswoman said the ambitious 40% goal was based on experiences from adding evidence-based steps into communities. The federal government estimates the number of U.S. deaths by opioid overdose reached 47,000 cases in 2017, and the new initiative is part of a broad, concerted effort to combat the scourge. The Food and Drug Administration recently announced new dosage forms, limited-quantity packaging and new research requirements on companies that make painkillers. (Burton, 4/18)
The Washington Post:
HHS Launches Program To Cut Opioid Overdoses By 40 Percent In Three Years
The $353 million effort will test the idea that the best approaches to combat the drug crisis are well known but poorly implemented and coordinated. It will employ a comprehensive strategy in each community that encourages the involvement of doctors, treatment providers, law enforcement, courts, churches and even housing providers — an approach that has worked in a few places. Critics have long complained, for example, that even the small portion of substance abusers who are able to find treatment often are abandoned when they seek jobs, housing or continued counseling and social support. Those problems are among the many factors that lead to repeated relapses. (Bernstein, 4/18)
The New York Times:
Kentucky’s Senator McConnell Supports Bill To Raise Minimum Age To Buy Tobacco To 21
Senator Mitch McConnell, long one of the tobacco industry’s loyal allies, said on Thursday that he would sponsor legislation to raise the minimum age to 21 for the purchase of tobacco and e-cigarettes. Mr. McConnell, the Republican Senate majority leader whose home state, Kentucky, is the nation’s second-largest tobacco producer, said he was motivated by the increasing rate of vaping among teenagers and young adults. Public health agencies have cracked down on e-cigarette companies and distributors in an effort to curb access to the products. (Kaplan, 4/18)
The Wall Street Journal:
Congress To Consider Raising Tobacco-Buying Age To 21
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell plans to introduce legislation raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21 from 18, a move that public-health advocates and tobacco companies hope would curb the use of e-cigarettes among youths. More than a dozen states have passed or enacted laws raising the minimum age to 21 and others are considering doing so. Sen. McConnell’s announcement Thursday follows the introduction earlier this month of similar bills in the House. (Maloney, 4/18)
CNN:
20 Years On, Columbine Survivors Tell Parkland Students: 'We're Sorry We Couldn't Stop It.'
Columbine and Parkland. Two high school massacres, two communities changed forever. Two fateful days, two decades apart. Tragic bookends in American history. In all, 30 lives lost: 13 in Colorado in 1999, 17 in Florida in 2018.Hundreds more survived the gunfire. Most escaped the bullets. Still, they carry invisible scars. Any loud sound can shatter their day: Sirens sounding, fire alarms ringing, a car backfiring. Time has done little to heal the triggers. (Drash, 4/17)
The Washington Post:
Measles Outbreak: Washington State Senate Passes Bill To Eliminate Exemption For MMR Vaccine
The Washington state Senate narrowly passed a measure late Wednesday that would make it harder for parents to opt out of vaccinating their children against measles in response to the state’s worst outbreak in more than two decades. The bill, which would eliminate personal or philosophical exemptions from the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, is a victory for public health advocates who had not expected it to make it to the floor. The measure passed 25 to 22 in the Democratic-controlled chamber, after being brought to the floor just minutes before the legislative deadline. No Republicans voted in favor, and two Democrats voted against. (Sun and Bernstein, 4/18)
The New York Times:
This Genetic Mutation Makes People Feel Full — All The Time
The study subjects had been thin all their lives, and not because they had unusual metabolisms. They just did not care much about food. They never ate enormous amounts, never obsessed on the next meal. Now, a group of researchers in Britain may have found the reason. The people carry a genetic alteration that mutes appetite. It also greatly reduces their chances of getting diabetes or heart disease. (Kolata, 4/18)
San Francisco Chronicle:
SF General Sees Light After Public Pressure, Revises System That Produced Big Bills
After months of intense media coverage of its unfair billing system, San Francisco General Hospital officials on Tuesday announced major changes aimed at protecting patients’ financial health as well as their physical well-being. Patients will no longer be “balance billed” for the difference between what the hospital charges and what their insurance companies will pay. (Heather Knight, 4/16)
Los Angeles Times:
In The 20 Years Since Columbine, We Have More School Security — And More School Shootings
While full-scale massacres like the one at Columbine remain rare, school shootings generally are becoming more common and more deadly. According to statistics maintained by the Naval Postgraduate School, 349 people have died in school shootings since Columbine. Among the most horrific were the killings of 26 people, mostly young children, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut and the deaths of 17 people, mostly students, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. ...So what are the solutions? Limiting access to firearms and providing better preventive help for troubled students are the obvious ones. (4/18)
Los Angeles Times:
UC’s Deal With Catholic Hospitals Threatens The Health Of Women And LGBTQ Patients
The University of California regents are wrestling with a question that should have an easy answer: Should they approve an “affiliation” between UC San Francisco, one of the leading teaching hospitals in America, and Dignity Health, a Catholic hospital chain that openly discriminates against women and LGBTQ patients and requires its doctors to comply with religious directives, some of which run counter to medical science and ethical practice? (Michael Hiltzik, 4/12)
The Mercury News:
How Public Safety Bill Can Make State Safer For All
A safe and respectful encounter. Every single time. California public safety officers have this goal in mind whenever they interact with a member of the public or respond to an emergency. Period. To continue to improve outcomes for officers and the community, we believe that the best path forward is to modernize police training, establish clear use of force standards, and create holistic policies to ensure neighborhood safety. Currently, there are competing bills in the California Legislature focused on use of force. Only one of those bills is part of a comprehensive plan that will reduce uses of force and officer involved shooting incidents. (Paul Kelly and Rob Harris, 4/18)
Bloomberg:
San Francisco Might Divorce PG&E But Not Wildfire Costs
San Francisco works hard to shake off its stereotype of existing in a bubble. OK, not that hard. Now it’s thinking of extending that splendid isolation to how it gets its power. Mayor London Breed said in an interview with Bloomberg News that she’s “pretty excited” at the prospect of the city taking over its local grid from bankrupt utility PG&E Corp. A feasibility study is due later this month — and it’s not the first one, either. San Francisco has been considering taking its grid out of PG&E’s hands, off and on, since at least the 1990s. (Liam Denning, 4/18)
The Mercury News:
California Should Emulate SJ On Affordable Housing
San Jose is showing the way on fighting homelessness. The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved what national housing experts believe is a first-in-the-nation effort, devoting 45 percent of its available affordable-housing funding toward the extremely low-income residents, who are the most at risk of becoming homeless. The move builds on Santa Clara County’s 2016 Measure A bond that allocates $700 million for extremely low-income housing. (4/14)
Sacramento Bee:
Paradise CA Water Contaminated With Benzene After Camp Fire
The discovery was as surprising as it was ominous.Weeks after the Camp Fire roared through Butte County last November, devouring entire towns, officials made an alarming find: The Paradise drinking water is now laced with benzene, a volatile compound linked to cancer. Water officials say they believe the extreme heat of the firestorm created a “toxic cocktail” of gases in burning homes that got sucked into the water pipes when the system depressurized from use by residents and firefighters. (Tony Bizjak, 4/18)