Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Students With Disabilities Call College Admissions Cheating ‘Big Slap In The Face’
Parents of students with legitimate learning disabilities worry that a backlash against providing special accommodations in college admissions testing could make it harder for them to succeed. (Barbara Feder Ostrov and Ana B. Ibarra, )
Good morning! Beto O’Rourke has officially thrown his hat into the 2020 race, but can the moderate Texan overcome his past opposition to the Affordable Care Act? More on that below, but first here are some of your top California health stories for the day.
Homeless People In O.C. Shelters Subjected To Squalor As Well As Sexual And Physical Abuse, Report Finds: The investigative report into Orange County’s homeless shelter system relied on interviews with dozens of unnamed homeless people, volunteers, advocates, and one shelter staff member. Among the claims included in the report are: sexual, physical and verbal abuse from staff; restrooms with overwhelmed toilets and mold; pest infestations; threats of reprisal; and discrimination on the basis of race, gender or disability. Frank Kim, Orange County’s executive officer, said early Thursday that he and others in the county will take the report seriously. “Our goal always is to find better ways to do the work that we do. We will look at the report and look at it fairly. Where there are accurate and legitimate concerns identified, we will respond to those.” The American Civil Liberties Union has outlined recommendations that the organization believes will bring the shelters up to what the report describes as “at least the minimum standards of fitness for human habitation.” Read more from the Orange County Register and the LAist.
About 70 Percent Of People Who Received Faulty Vaccinations Have Not Received Repeat Immunizations: In early December, the Ventura County Health Care Agency announced that about 23,000 people who received vaccinations would need to get new shots because of problems stemming from the temperature of the medications when they were transported from the Venture County Medical Center. The county launched an aggressive public health campaign to get the news out, including creating a hotline and reaching out to high-risk residents. But the numbers show that about 7 of 10 people haven’t been vaccinated. “I think ideally you would get all 23,000 people,” said Dr. Theresa Cho, medical director of quality. “I don’t think that’s realistic.” Read more from the Ventura County Star.
San Diego Health System Moves To Screen Older Physician As Part Of Growing Nationwide Trend: The screenings will cover physicians who are 70 years or older. The doctors will have to answer questions that will test their cognitive abilities and thinking skills. Following that, they will undergo physical and mental health screenings that include tests for hearing and vision. For most hospitals around the country, "this is pretty new. I do think Scripps [Health System] is leading in trying to understand how to manage the aging physician," said James LaBelle, MD, chief medical officer for Scripps Health. "I hope it's going to be easier than I think it's going to be." Read more from MedPage.
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.
More News From Across The State
PolitiFact California:
It's Still True: California Has ‘Largest Death Row In The Western Hemisphere'
Moments after signing an executive order suspending California’s death penalty, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state’s massive death row doesn’t square with its more recent efforts to reform the criminal justice system. "The pendulum’s swinging in a new direction," Newsom said at a news conference at the Capitol on Wednesday, adding that the state is moving away from its tough-on-crime and "mass over-incarceration" approach of the 1980s and 1990s.The governor then added a familiar claim about the size of California’s death row. (Nichols, 3/13)
Los Angeles Times:
Newport Beach Commits $1 Million To Services For The Homeless And Will Form Task Force
Newport Beach will spend $1 million over the next five years on homelessness outreach and housing placement. The City Council unanimously agreed Tuesday to a contract with Long Beach-based nonprofit City Net to enhance the social services provided by the Police Department, which already partners with the Orange County Health Care Agency to help homeless people with social, health and housing needs. (Davis, 3/14)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno Police Unions Back Use Of Force Bill Amid Sacramento Calls For Reform
Unions associated with Fresno’s two main law enforcement agencies Thursday called for support of a statewide plan they believe will make California safer by getting more guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill. Supporters of the bill, Senate Bill 230, said it would also enhance training for peace officers who are often first responders in a mental health crisis. (Guy and Rodriguez, 3/14)
Capital Public Radio:
California Is At The Vanguard Of Climate Change Policy. But Does The State Need A ‘Green New Deal’ Of Its Own?
The Green New Deal draws from California's existing climate laws and goals. But even after leading the country in enacting policy that addresses climate change, does California need a new Green New Deal of its own? (Romero, 3/14)
Los Angeles Times:
Mental Health Problems Are On The Rise Among American Teens And Young Adults
A study published Thursday finds that U.S. teens and young adults in 2017 were more distressed, more likely to suffer from major depression, and more prone to suicide than their counterparts in the millennial generation were at the same age. Researchers also found that between 2008 and 2017, Gen Z’s emotional distress and its propensity toward self-harm grew more than for any other generation of Americans during the same period. By 2017, just over 13% of Americans between the ages of 12 and 25 had symptoms consistent with an episode of major depression in the previous year – a 62% increase in eight years. (Healy, 3/14)
Sacramento Bee:
Pain Clinic Settles For $860,000 In Alleged Medi-Cal Fraud
A Sacramento area pain management clinic made an $860,000 settlement to resolve allegations of submitting fraudulent Medi-Cal reimbursement claims.Advanced Pain Diagnostic & Solutions Inc. and its owner, Dr. Kayvan Haddadan, were accused of knowingly submitting claims to the state Medicaid program for a service provider who was excluded from Medi-Cal coverage, according to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California. (Moleski, 3/14)
Fresno Bee:
Fresno State Mental Health Nursing Program Was Not Accredited
The letter was a rude surprise to Joanne Beattie, a family practice nurse practitioner and graduate of Fresno State’s Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program, who was expecting to hear when she would sit for her board examinations. Instead, the American Nurses Credentialing Center informed her that the program she’d spent $7,200 on wasn’t accredited as advertised, and that she was not eligible to test for the certification she needed to keep seeing her psychiatry patients. (Appleton, 3/14)
The Wall Street Journal:
Beto O’Rourke’s Past GOP Ties Could Complicate Primary Run
Before becoming a rising star in the Democratic Party, Beto O’Rourke relied on a core group of business-minded Republicans in his Texas hometown to launch and sustain his political career. To win their backing, Mr. O’Rourke opposed Obamacare, voted against Nancy Pelosi as the House Democratic leader and called for a raise in the Social Security eligibility age. (Epstein, 3/14)
The New York Times:
Where Beto O’Rourke Stands On The Issues
Mr. O’Rourke arguably first made his name when, after the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in 2016, he live-streamed the sit-in he and other Democratic representatives were holding on the House floor in support of stricter gun laws. The Republican-controlled Congress did not pass any gun control legislation then, but Mr. O’Rourke continues to support similar policies, including universal background checks, magazine size limits and restrictions on some semiautomatic weapons. ... While Mr. O’Rourke supports universal health care — increasingly a litmus-test position for Democratic candidates — he hasn’t committed to a specific way to get there. During his Senate campaign, he suggested that universal health care could take the form of a single-payer system or “a dual system,” in which a government-run program would coexist with private insurance. He has given conflicting messages on the most prominent proposal, “Medicare for all.” (Astor, 3/14)
The Associated Press:
O'Rourke Begins 2020 Bid With Big Crowds, Centrist Message
Democrat Beto O'Rourke jumped into the 2020 presidential race Thursday, shaking up the already packed field and pledging to win over voters from across the political spectrum as he tries to translate his sudden celebrity into a formidable White House bid. The former Texas congressman began his campaign by taking his first ever trip to Iowa, the state that kicks off the presidential primary voting. In tiny Burlington, in southeast Iowa, he scaled a counter to be heard during an afternoon stop at a coffee shop. (3/14)
The New York Times:
Tobacco, E-Cigarette Lobbyists Circle As F.D.A. Chief Exits
Dr. Scott Gottlieb became commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration in 2017 with an ambitious plan to reduce cigarette smoking, a habit that kills nearly half a million Americans each year, by shifting smokers to less harmful alternatives like e-cigarettes. But he was quickly embroiled in an unexpected crisis: the explosion of vaping among millions of middle and high school students, many of whom were getting addicted to nicotine. (Kaplan and Richtel, 3/15)
The Washington Post:
Trump Pledges Support For Health Programs But His Budget Takes ‘Legs Out From Underneath The System’
As President Trump stood before a joint session of Congress for his State of the Union address in February, he urged Republicans and Democrats alike to support the audacious goal of stopping the spread of HIV within a decade. “Together, we will defeat AIDS in America and beyond,” he declared. The White House’s 2020 budget request, issued this week, does propose an additional $291 million as a down payment for a new HIV initiative. Yet the $4.7 trillion budget also calls for sharp spending reductions to Medicaid, the public insurance program for the poor on which more than 2 in 5 Americans with the virus depend. (Goldstein, McGinley and Sun, 3/14)
The Washington Post Fact Checker:
Democrats Engage In ‘Mediscare’ Spin On The Trump Budget
The game is played this way: When the president’s budget is released, claim that any difference over 10 years between anticipated Medicare spending (what is known as the “baseline”) and changes in law intended to reduce spending are devastating “cuts” that will harm seniors who rely on the old-age program. But here’s the problem: Most of these anticipated savings are wrung from health providers, not Medicare beneficiaries. Hospitals and doctors may object, sometimes vehemently, but often these are good-government reforms intended to make the program run more efficiently and with lower costs. Let’s check out the Democrats’ Mediscare spin. (Kessler, 3/15)
The Hill:
Trump Officials Defend Medicaid Work Requirements In Court
The debate over Medicaid work requirements played out in a federal courtroom Thursday as the Trump administration defended its policies against opponents who say the measures are designed to prevent poor people from participating in the health care program. D.C. District Court Judge James Boasberg heard oral arguments in two separate cases challenging the administration’s approval of programs in Kentucky and Arkansas requiring people to work or volunteer 80 hours a month to keep their coverage. (Hellmann, 3/14)
The Hill:
Trump Health Chief Reveals Talks With States On Medicaid Block Grants
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar revealed Thursday that his department is in talks with states about instituting block grants in Medicaid without congressional approval. ... Imposing block grants in Medicaid has long been a major conservative goal for the health insurance program for the poor. Democrats fiercely oppose the idea, and a similar idea known as per capita caps, because both limit the amount of money going to Medicaid, which Democrats argue would require harmful cuts in the program. (Sullivan, 3/14)
CNN:
FDA Fast-Tracks OxyContin Manufacturer's Overdose Drug
The company whose drugs are at the center of America's deadly opioid epidemic was given a green light Wednesday to accelerate the development of a new opioid antidote. The US Food and Drug Administration granted Purdue Pharma's experimental opioid overdose drug fast-track designation. According to Purdue, its drug, nalmefene hydrochloride injection, has a longer effect than naloxone, another opioid antagonist that is approved to reverse overdoses. The FDA's fast-track designation facilitates the development and expedites the review of drugs that treat serious conditions and fill an unmet medical need. (Kounang, 3/14)
The New York Times:
How Big Tobacco Hooked Children On Sugary Drinks
What do these ads featuring Joe Camel, Kool-Aid Man and the maniacal mascot for Hawaiian Punch have in common? All three were created by Big Tobacco in the decades when cigarette makers, seeking to diversify their holdings, acquired some of America’s iconic beverage brands. They used their expertise in artificial flavor, coloring and marketing to heighten the products’ appeal to children. That tobacco companies once sold sugar-sweetened drinks like Tang, Capri Sun and Kool-Aid is not exactly news. But researchers combing through a vast archive of cigarette company documents at the University of California, San Francisco stumbled on something revealing: Internal correspondence showed how tobacco executives, barred from targeting children for cigarette sales, focused their marketing prowess on young people to sell sugary beverages in ways that had not been done before. (Jacobs, 3/14)
The New York Times:
With Measles Outbreaks On The Rise, A Concern Over The Connection To Air Travel
Measles isn’t only in the headlines these days; it may also be on your airplane. An adult contagious with the disease flew from Asia to San Francisco in February, infecting two others — one adult and one child — during the flight, California health departments said this month. It’s an inauspicious development in a year that has already seen 228 cases of the serious and potentially lethal disease in 12 states, including six outbreaks of at least three people. (Schwartz, 3/14)
Los Angeles Times:
Gavin Newsom’s Death Penalty Moratorium Could Turn The Abolitionist Tide In California
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to suspend executions in California for as long as he is governor is, for the time being, a symbolic act. No one has been executed in San Quentin’s death chamber since Jan. 17, 2006, and few believe the next execution would have happened any time soon, given the array of legal hurdles embroiling the system. But Newsom’s moratorium — technically, he granted reprieves to each of the 737 people on death row — at a minimum adds further delays to the resumption of the machinery of death, as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun once described it. And that’s a good thing. (3/13)
Sacramento Bee:
Newsom Stops Death Penalty, But Can He Win A Public Vote?
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s historic decision to impose a moratorium on the death penalty delivers on the bold change he promised during his campaign, whether or not you agree with it. His decision will make many people unhappy. Some 53 percent of Californians voted against abolishing the death penalty in 2016. Yet Newsom’s unprecedented move also distinguishes him as a leader willing to be honest and forthright about one of society’s most challenging moral issues. (3/13)
Sacramento Bee:
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Decision To Reprieve Death Row Inmates Neglects Victims
The death penalty is effectively dead in California thanks to an executive order signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday, and progressives across the nation are cheering. From singer John Legend to movie star Susan Sarandon to rapper Common to reality TV star Kim Kardashian and many other A-list cultural luminaries, the tweets of praise soared across Twitter after Newsom’s order provided a “reprieve” for all people sentenced to death in California. (Marcos Breton, 3/13)
The Mercury News:
Both Abortion Factions Try To Silence Opponents
Abortion is a divisive moral and political issue that generates ceaseless heated debate, as it should. However, it also entices those who feel passionately about it, one way or the other, to use politics to shut down the other side. (Dan Walters, 3/11)
CALmatters:
Trump Title X Doctor Gag Rule Threatens Women's Lives
At my university hospital clinics, I see patients with unplanned pregnancies every week. Some have decided to embrace the pregnancy, but some are still deciding and wish to discuss pregnancy options. They, like all patients seeking medical care, expect that I will provide open, honest, ethical communication not directed by politicians. They need to know I am providing them the full picture about their options, including options I cannot directly provide. Even in California, where we have a third of the nation’s abortion providers, I frequently see women who have experienced weeks of delay in accessing a desired abortion because they could not get an appropriate referral. Sometimes relatively minor medical issues can severely limit where a person can access an abortion. (Dr. Karen Meckstroth, 3/12)
Los Angeles Times:
Trump’s Budget Priorities Are, Unsurprisingly, Disheartening
The endless press coverage notwithstanding, the details of President Trump’s new $4.7 trillion budget proposal — the cuts here, the increases there — aren’t all that important in the long run. Congress typically ignores most, if not all, of the headline-grabbing initiatives presidents pack into their annual spending blueprints. And with Democrats now controlling the House, Trump’s plan is even more likely to get the doorstop treatment. Still, the budget is a major statement about presidential priorities, and Trump’s are disheartening. In both the overall thrust and many of the smaller details, the budget betrays the president’s desire to put one interest — national security — ahead of all others, and to shift wealth from the lowest-income Americans back to the more affluent. (3/12)
Sacramento Bee:
Flavored Tobacco Ban Will Kill Small Businesses Like Mine
I own a small vape and smoke shop in Sacramento. I pay taxes, I pay rent and I pay employees. My small business is how I support my family. The City of Sacramento is proposing to pass an ordinance banning the sale of all flavored tobacco products in the city limits. The ordinance is not limited to actual tobacco products, but also includes e-cigarettes and all vapor products. A ban of all flavored vapor products will result in an actual ban on all vapor products, since there is no such thing as an unflavored vapor product. (Noordidin "Noor" Kachhi, 3/12)
Los Angeles Times:
Allow Teenagers To Protect Themselves From Their Anti-Vaxx Parents
California law gives teenagers the legal right to consent to abortions, obtain birth control, get tested for HIV or vaccinated for sexually transmitted diseases, even if their parents object. Should they also have the right to seek out immunization for other serious and potentially deadly diseases such as measles, tetanus and polio? It’s a reasonable question here — and everywhere — as measles cases continue to surge globally and in the U.S., and faith in vaccinations has eroded to the point that the World Health Organization listed vaccine skepticism as one of the biggest threats to human health in 2019. (3/15)
Los Angeles Times:
Insurers Still Don’t Treat Mental Illness Like Other Medical Conditions
Last week, a federal court in San Francisco took a significant step toward accomplishing what Congress failed to pull off a decade ago: Pushing health insurers to pay for mental health care like they would any other medical treatment. In a blistering 106-page ruling, U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero found that United Behavioral Health devised medical review criteria that effectively discriminated against thousands of people seeking treatment for addiction or mental health disorders from 2011 to 2017. (Raghavan, 3/12)
Los Angeles Times:
Time’s Running Out On Daylight Saving Shift
The biannual shifting of the clocks took place Sunday morning, and you may be a little discombobulated. The transition to daylight saving time each March means losing the extra hour of night we enjoyed when the clocks shifted back four months earlier, and it can take a while for sleep schedules to adjust. If the twice-a-year clock-resetting leaves you grumpy, you’re not alone; there’s a growing global movement to end this pointless and, frankly, weird 20th century tradition that has persisted despite having no real practical benefit. (3/10)