Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Homeless Californians Adapt To Camp Sweeps And ‘The Caltrans Shuffle’
Communities across California, frustrated with the growing number of homeless people living on public property, have tasked police and sanitation workers with dismantling encampments they say pose a risk to health and safety. The routine cleanups have spawned another public health concern: the loss of the displaced people’s personal possessions, including medicines. (Anna Maria Barry-Jester, 1/10)
Good morning and happy Friday! Here are your top California health stories for the day.
Will Newsom’s Plan For State To Sell Its Own Generic Drugs Actually Save Money? Experts Are Skeptical: Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled his proposal yesterday for the state to sell generic drugs to increase competition in the marketplace. In recent years, some generic drugs have experienced huge price increases, sometimes into the thousands of percent. Newsom’s plan would probably address those increases by introducing competition in drug markets where there are only a few manufacturers. But in general, it is uncommon drugs that have only a few manufacturers, said Joyce, who heads the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics. More widely prescribed medicines, such as those that treat high cholesterol and high blood pressure, have multiple producers and already competitive pricing, he said. “In terms of savings to a typical family, it would be very modest,” he said. Read more from Soumya Karlamangla of the Los Angeles Times.
And what else made it into Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget that he’s expected to introduce this morning? So far, beyond the generic drugs plan, Newsom has outlined $1.4 billion in new spending to help get people off the street and has proposed a $2 billion program to help protect low-income communities from devastating wildfires. Read more from Scott Rodd of Capital Public Radio.
The Quiet But Significant Progress LA Mayor, Trump Officials Are Making Against Homelessness: Senior Trump administration officials have made quiet but significant progress toward a potential deal with Los Angeles officials that would provide federal funds and land to help shelter the city‘s and county’s growing homeless population. The movement follows a series of phone calls involving Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger. The positive tone, much of it behind the scenes, comes as a sharp contrast to President Trump’s bellicose anti-California rhetoric at political rallies and on Twitter. At times, the president has appeared to threaten to invoke sweeping emergency powers to force local officials to “clean up their act” rather than offer federal help. Read more from Noah Bierman, Benjamin Oreskes and Dakota Smith of the Los Angeles Times.
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.
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More News From Across The State
KQED:
San Diego Schools Sue Juul Over Youth Vaping Epidemic
San Diego's public schools have filed suit against Juul Labs, Inc., the largest U.S. producer of e-cigarettes, accusing the company of deliberately marketing its vaping products to young people, effectively rolling back years of progress made by anti-smoking campaigns. A 40-page complaint filed in San Diego Superior Court on behalf of the San Diego Unified School District on Tuesday alleges that Juul's product "disrupts the learning environment," causing an increase in student absences due to vaping-related illnesses and hurting the schools "by diverting funding away from learning toward educational campaigns, prevention and treatment." (Neuman, 1/9)
Los Angeles Times:
Locals Support Federal Ban On Flavored E-Cigs, But State Law Could Go Further
The Trump administration took a definitive step last week toward curbing youth vaping, calling for a ban on the manufacture and sale of most flavored e-cigarette cartridges, which health advocates claim entice teenagers into consuming dangerous levels of nicotine. Starting in February e-cigarette cartridges in all flavors, except menthol and tobacco, will be illegal. Also exempt are brands of flavored nicotine made for open tank systems. (Cardine, 1/9)
The New York Times:
Vaping Illness Tracker: 2,602 Cases And 57 Deaths
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state agencies have reported 2,602 lung injury cases that required hospitalization and 57 deaths linked to vaping. (Corum, 1/9)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Federal Court In SF Considers Two Trump Restrictions On Immigration Rules
A Trump administration lawyer asked a federal appeals court in San Francisco on Thursday to allow enforcement of a ban on U.S. entry for hundreds of thousands of legal immigrants who lack private health insurance. But two of the three judges expressed doubt that President Trump was acting within his legal authority. (Egelko, 1/9)
Sacramento Bee:
CA High-Capacity Gun Magazine Owners Deserve ‘Amnesty,’ Poll
A majority of Californians, including gun owners, support an “amnesty” program where high-capacity firearm magazine owners can turn them in, “no questions asked.” More than 62 percent of Californians surveyed said that they favor such a program, which 51 percent of gun owners also said they supported. (Sheeler, 1/9)
The San Francisco Chronicle:
Those Big Wildfires In Australia Look Familiar — They’re Much Like California’s
2of3Photo: Blanchard; John3of3Photo: Blanchard; JohnThe brownish-orange skies, choking soot, mass evacuations and deaths of people and wildlife are all familiar to Californians who have endured their share of fire disasters in recent years — except that the bushfires raging across more than 15 million acres of Australia are orders of magnitude worse. Nearly 140 separate blazes have burned since November — springtime in Australia — sending plumes of smoke all the way to South America. They have burned at least 2,000 structures, killed 25 people, including three firefighters, and incinerated hundreds of millions of animals, including kangaroos and native endangered koala bears. (Fimrite, 1/10)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Adventist Health Continues Outsourcing Drive With 46 Jobs Affected In Bakersfield, Tehachapi
Adventist Health is moving again to outsource local hospital jobs, saying it will let go of 46 employees in Bakersfield and Tehachapi but that everyone affected will remain at their current place of work as employees of one of three outside companies. The Roseville-based hospital chain said Thursday that 33 janitorial, maintenance and security workers in Bakersfield, plus 13 more in Tehachapi, will be let go March 7. (Cox, 1/9)
The New York Times:
Elizabeth Warren Opens A New Front In Disability Policy
Christine Motokane could get long-term care to help her with daily tasks like cooking. Matthew Cortland could marry his longtime partner. Christin Lucas could stop worrying that her son’s school might put him back in the isolated classrooms that made him suicidal. This is some of what is at stake in a newly prominent debate over disability policy. For months, Democratic presidential candidates have built on one another in this arena, culminating last week with a plan from Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts whose scope shocked many advocates. (Astor, 1/10)
Politico:
Trump Makes Misleading Brag About Lower Cancer Deaths
President Donald Trump appeared to claim credit today for a record drop in cancer death rates that occurred the year he took office. Scientists say lower smoking rates, earlier detection and better drugs are responsible for a steady decline in cancer deaths since 1991. The president, who unsuccessfully advocated cutting $4.5 billion from the NIH budget last year, tweeted that U.S. cancer death rates are the lowest in recorded history, adding there is “a lot of good news coming out of this Administration.” (Owermohle, 1/9)
The Washington Post:
Workplace Suicides Have Risen To Record High, With More People Killing Themselves At Work Than Ever Before
America’s climbing suicide rate has become a problem for businesses, too. Buried in a report last month by the Bureau of Labor of Statistics on occupational fatalities was this tragic fact: More people are killing themselves in the workplace than ever before. The number of such suicides for 2018 was 304 — an 11 percent increase from the year before and the highest number since the bureau began tracking the data 26 years ago. (Wan, 1/9)
The New York Times:
When The Cobra Bites, You’ll Be Glad Someone Sequenced Its Genome
Scientists have sequenced the genome of one of the deadliest snakes in the world, the Indian cobra, and have taken a big step toward developing new and better treatments for their bites. Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that thousands of people are bitten by snakes in the United States every year, few die from snake venom. But worldwide, snakebites lead to more than 400,000 amputations and 100,000 deaths a year. (Bakalar, 1/9)
Los Angeles Times:
Unleash Nurse Practitioners To Improve Californians' Access To Healthcare
A small but potentially significant step would be to allow nurses and other healthcare professionals below the level of an MD to provide treatment to the full extent of their training. Doing so would not only allow many types of care to be delivered at lower cost, it would also help address the state’s worsening shortage of primary care doctors. The shortage, which is already causing residents in Los Angeles, the Inland Empire and rural areas to drive farther and wait longer for care, is expected to grow more acute as doctors in the baby boom generation retire; according to a healthcare workforce study released last year, California is expected to have more than 4,100 fewer primary care doctors than it needs by 2029. (1/9)
The California Health Report:
Let’s Listen To Survivors And Prevent Domestic Violence In Future Generations
Survivors often tell us that they want to prevent anyone else from experiencing the pain they went through. “Bring in guest speakers to high schools on domestic violence,” one survivor requested, when asked about how we can move toward a future free from domestic violence. “Chances are, there are students, like my children, who are going through it with their mom and they don’t know what it is that they’re going through.” (Krista Niemczyk, 1/3)
Desert Sun/Zocato Public Square:
Why Golden State 'Booms' Are A Bust For So Many Californians
“California Is Booming,” the New York Times asked recently, “Why Are So Many Californians Unhappy?” The answer to that question lies in the question itself: So many of us are unhappy precisely because California is booming. This is no paradox, because our successes and our problems are intertwined. California’s tendency to turn everything — from housing to health — into an investment, full of speculation — has made everything, even our booms, volatile and risky. (Joe Mathews, 1/9)
Los Angeles Times:
California's Housing Shortage Demands Giving SB 50 A Chance
Senate Bill 50 is back, and California lawmakers have a little over three weeks to demonstrate that they are serious about solving the state’s debilitating housing shortage. SB 50 is the controversial measure from Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) that would override local zoning laws to allow mid-rise apartment buildings to be constructed within half a mile of major transit stops or in “jobs-rich” areas, even in single-family neighborhoods. (Kerry Cavanaugh, 1/7)
The San Francisco Chronicle:
AB5 Would Protect California Workers And Taxpayers — If Employers Had Any Intention Of Obeying It
California’s updated employment classification law, AB5, took effect on Wednesday. The law provides significant protections to the hundreds of thousands of Californians who currently work without basic workplace guardrails like a minimum wage, unemployment insurance and protection against on-the-job discrimination and sexual harassment — if employers had any intention of following it. (Dempsey, 1/2)
Sacramento Bee:
Trump Whines About California Homelessness, But Newsom Acts
There’s been a lot of chatter about whether Gov. Gavin Newsom will keep his promise to appoint a state “czar” to deal with California’s apocalyptic crisis of homelessness. So far, Newsom has refused – and perhaps we should all be fine with that. Why waste taxpayer money on six-figure salaries for a new state bureaucracy tasked with helping the poorest of the poor? California already has multiple and overlapping housing agencies that have failed to address the problem. (1/9)
The San Francisco Chronicle:
2 Oakland Moms Take Radical Stand In Battle For Housing
After a long search, Dominique Walker found a one-bedroom cottage for $2,000 a month in San Leandro, but the landlord wanted her to pay $8,000 to move in. “If I had $8,000 laying around, I probably wouldn’t need a place to stay,” she said. So Walker found another place to stay. The 34-year-old single mother of two young children — who works full time as a community outreach organizer for a tenants rights organization — moved into a three-bedroom house on Magnolia Street in West Oakland. (Otis R. Taylor, 1/9)