Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Opioid Prescriptions Drop Sharply Among State Workers
New data from the California agency that manages health benefits for 1.5 million public employees, retirees and their families shows that doctors are writing far fewer opioid prescriptions, reflecting a national trend of physicians cutting back on the addictive drugs. (Marla Cone, )
Good morning! Gov. Gavin Newsom is arguing that Hollywood companies should “come back home” following recent moves by Southern states to limit abortion. More on that below, but first here are some of your top California health care stories for the day.
4,000 Kaiser Permanente Mental Health Care Workers Authorize Potential Open-Ended Strike: The clinicians have given the greenlight to the National Union of Healthcare Workers to declare an open-ended strike as early as June if they have not secured a new contract with their employer. John Nelson, Kaiser’s vice president of communications, said NUHW’s announcement is another tactic in the union leadership’s ongoing campaign to create pressure for management to agree to their financial demands. The health care giant reached out last week to all of its California therapists, Nelson said, to let them know management believes it’s making progress toward a strong contract. “An open-ended strike is really the last thing we want to do,” said Kenneth Rogers, a Kaiser psychologist and NUHW member. “We want to bargain effectively with this employer. We want this thing to come to a conclusion. They don’t need to propose to us everything we want. They just need to propose something serious.” Read more from the Sacramento Bee.
Meanwhile, strikers outside UC Davis Medical Center hammered home their displeasure with outsourcing on Thursday. Workers said they’re concerned not only about outsourcing at UC Davis Health but also with multimillion-dollar, systemwide contracts that the UC plans to sign for contingent workers in information technology and patient care. Read more from the Sacramento Bee.
San Francisco, Alameda and Santa Clara Counties To Join Newsom’s Plan To Collectively Bargain With Pharma Companies: Back in January, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order that would consolidate the state's negotiating power with drug manufacturers by having state agencies like Medi-Cal, CalPERS and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation bargain together. Newsom also invited local governments to join the effort. Last month, Los Angeles County signed on to Newsom's effort, and on Thursday San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced that San Francisco, Alameda and Santa Clara counties would as well. "When we have people struggling on the streets of San Francisco … we need to be focused on helping them recover and heal," Breed said. "Not whether or not they can afford to pay for the medication." Read more from KQED.
Financial Hurdles May Trip Up Bills To Provide Coverage For All California Residents Regardless Of Legal Status: Two measures that would expand Medi-Cal to income-eligible adults regardless of immigration status are moving forward after clearing their respective appropriations committees. But the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review is setting aside funding for just two groups within the state’s undocumented population — young adults ages 19 to 25 at a cost of $98 million, and seniors ages 65 and over at a cost of $62.5 million. Anthony Wright, executive director of consumer group Health Access and a leading universal health care advocate, says the movement has always had to work in steps. “Some of these expansions are hard to do all at once,” he said. “We do want to get to the goal of all.” Read more from Capital Public Radio.
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
The California Health Report:
Advocates Call For Increased Funds To Support Californians With Intellectual, Developmental Disabilities
For close to four decades, the Lanterman Act has supported people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in California with a network of centers offering specialized care. Today, there are close to 330,000 adults who depend on the Lanterman Act for the support they need to lead more independent and normal lives. Advocates, including several state senators and assemblymen, formed a group called The Lanterman Act Coalition and fought for an 8 percent increase in funding for the Lanterman Act. The proposed increase included approximately $290 million to stabilize and restore the system. Instead, the governor’s May revision of the state budget, released on May 9, increased funding by 4.85 percent. (Estrada, 5/16)
Sacramento Bee:
Gavin Newsom Uses Abortion Bans To Lure Films To California
Gov. Gavin Newsom is citing recent abortion bans in conservative states to argue that film companies should take their productions out of the South and back to California. In a Twitter video with Assemblywoman Luz Rivas, Newsom said California, which already gives tax breaks to films, is “going to do more” to entice productions to film in the Golden State. (Bollag, 5/17)
Reuters:
Bayer Bets On 'Silver Bullet' Defense In Roundup Litigation; Experts See Hurdles
Bayer AG plans to argue that a $2 billion jury award and thousands of U.S. lawsuits claiming its glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup causes cancer should be tossed because a U.S. regulatory agency said the herbicide is not a public health risk. Some legal experts believe Bayer will have a tough time convincing appellate courts to throw out verdicts and lawsuits on those grounds. Bayer has a better shot if a business-friendly U.S. Supreme Court takes up the case, experts said. But that could take years. (5/16)
Sacramento Bee:
Camp Fire Site Paradise, CA, Now A Tourist Attraction
It’s a required field trip, designed to teach a lesson.In the coming weeks, the Pacific Gas & Electric governing board will visit the town of Paradise, ordered to do so by a federal court judge who wants them to see firsthand the devastation caused by last November’s Camp Fire. “We can get a bus,” William Alsup, a San Francisco judge, said. “I think I’m going to go on this tour too.” (Bizjak, 5/17)
Los Angeles Times:
Homeless Population Jumps By Thousands Across The San Francisco Bay Area
California is spending millions of dollars to stem the tide of homelessness without much to show for it. The latest evidence of that arrived Thursday, when several Bay Area cities and counties reported that their latest tallies of homeless people revealed big increases. San Francisco saw a 17% jump in the number of homeless residents over the last two years, according to preliminary results of the city’s point-in-time count. (Oreskes, 5/16)
Sacramento Bee:
Bust Of Huge Counterfeit Fentanyl Ring Comes Three Years After 12 Overdose Deaths In Sacramento, DEA Says
Federal agents investigating the spring 2016 fentanyl overdoses of dozens of people in the Sacramento region – including 12 who died – have broken up what they say was a massive pill-making operation in Stockton that was selling thousands of tablets containing fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine. Eight people have been named in the case, which is outlined in a detailed 99-page criminal complaint unsealed in federal court in Sacramento on Thursday following a three-year investigation that used undercover sources, telephone wiretaps, intercepted email messages and hidden cameras. (Stanton, 5/16)
Ventura County Star:
Tainted Tap Water Shut Off For Thousands In El Rio
An estimated 1,200 El Rio residents have been ordered to stop using tap water due to nitrate contamination within a private water district. A well for the Vineyard Avenue Acres Mutual Water Co. tested as having water with more than 10 milligrams of nitrates per liter, the limit set by the California State Water Resources Control Board, according to a letter sent to customers by the utility under state orders. The utility serves a discrete area of El Rio, so the problem does not affect other parts of the Oxnard area. The affected area is west of Rose Avenue and east of Vineyard Avenue, from Collins Street in the north to Stroube Street in the south. (Childs, 5/16)
Ventura County Star:
Community Memorial Hospital Sued Over Death Of Patient On Ventilator
Community Memorial Hospital staff didn’t respond quickly enough when a dislodged breathing tube cut off a patient’s oxygen supply, a wrongful death lawsuit alleges. Family members of Rafael Guillen said in the lawsuit that the 44-year-old Oxnard man who used a ventilator to breathe was left without oxygen for at least 30 minutes before staff at the Ventura hospital discovered what happened. He suffered massive brain damage and died several days later on May 5, 2018, according to litigation filed against the Community Memorial Health system in March in Ventura County Superior Court. (Kisken, 5/16)
Modesto Bee:
Legal Weed Hurt By Black Market In Stanislaus County CA
Critics say cannabis is legal now and it’s safe; law enforcement should focus their efforts on dangerous drugs like methamphetamine and heroin. The multi-jurisdictional SIU investigates those drug crimes as well, in addition to others like gang crimes and human trafficking. But law enforcement and the businessmen who’ve obtained permits and licenses to grow and sell cannabis in Stanislaus County say the illegal grows not only undermine the legal operations but attract violent crime into neighborhoods, produce untested, sometimes unsafe products and create environmental hazards. (Tracy, 5/16)
The Associated Press:
Dems Push Bill On Health Care, Drug Prices Through House
Democrats pushed legislation buttressing the 2010 health care law and curbing prescription drug prices through the House Thursday, advancing a bill that has no chance of surviving in the Senate or getting President Donald Trump's signature and seemed engineered with next year's elections in mind. The measure forced Republicans into the uncomfortable political position of casting a single vote on legislation that contained popular drug pricing restraints they support, plus language strengthening President Barack Obama's health care statute that they oppose. (5/16)
The Washington Post:
House Passes Legislation To Strengthen The ACA, Boost Generic Drugs
The 234-to-183 vote, with every Democrat and five Republicans casting ballots in favor, gave a partisan hue even to three strategies to boost the availability of generic drugs that initially attracted GOP support. Those were merged, however, with measures that would block several Trump administration policies that Democrats characterize as “sabotaging” the ACA. The upshot was a barbed debate: Democrats accused Republicans of disregarding consumers’ need for affordable, quality health care, and Republicans accused Democrats of thwarting a rare opportunity for bipartisanship. (Goldstein, 5/16)
The New York Times:
House Passes Legislation Aiming To Shore Up Health Law And Lower Drug Costs
By combining the bills to shore up the Affordable Care Act with several bipartisan measures to address high drug prices, Democrats had hoped to lure in some Republican support. But the minority party did not bite, calling the package “a bailout” for the health law and instead introducing a Republican bill that included only the drug-pricing measures, plus an extension of funding for community health centers and the National Health Service Corps. “By jamming together our bipartisan efforts to lower drug costs with clearly partisan bills to bail out Obamacare, Democrats are once again putting politics — and partisanship — over bipartisan policy,” said Representative Greg Walden, Republican of Oregon. “Sadly, House Democrats couldn’t pass up a chance to play gotcha politics.” (Goodnough, 5/16)
Politico:
House Passes Drug Pricing Bills Paired With Obamacare Fixes
The legislation includes three bipartisan drug pricing provisions restricting anti-competitive behaviors by pharmaceutical companies alongside a slate of proposals reversing Trump administration policies designed to undermine the Affordable Care Act. That combination infuriated Republicans who spent months negotiating the drug pricing measures, and even prompted some grumbling from moderate Democrats eager to show some semblance of bipartisanship on a top health care priority. “I’m not very happy at all,” said Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), whose bill limiting generic drugmakers’ ability to block competitors was included in the package. “They know that we’re not going to be able to support this, and for them to put that in there I think is just poor policy.” (Cancryn and Owermohle, 5/16)
The New York Times:
Republicans’ Messaging On Abortion Puts Democrats On The Defensive
With grisly claims that Democrats promote “birth day abortions” and are “the party of death,” the Republican Party and its conservative allies have aggressively reset the terms of one of the country’s most divisive and emotionally fraught debates, forcing Democrats to reassess how they should respond to attacks and distortions that portray the entire party as extremist on abortion. The unusually forceful, carefully coordinated campaign has created challenges that Democrats did not expect as they struggle to combat misinformation and thwart further efforts to undercut access to abortion. (Peters, 5/16)
The New York Times:
In Alabama, Opposition To Abortion Runs Deep
Even before Alabama passed one of the nation’s most restrictive bans on abortions in decades, the procedure had been in decline in the state after years of limits. The remaining doctors who perform abortions — they have dwindled to a handful — work at only three clinics in a state where there once were more than a dozen. Dr. Yashica Robinson, who provides abortions in Huntsville, said she had been the target of a letter-writing campaign to have her hospital privileges revoked. Even some fellow medical workers, she said, have showed signs of hostility toward her. (Williams and Blinder, 5/16)
The New York Times:
Abortion And The Future Of The New South
Two years ago, I got a text from a cousin I love announcing that she had moved to New Orleans, leaving behind a one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn and a job of millennial fever dreams. At 26, Tess was head of research and development for Christina Tosi and her baking empire, Milk Bar, the great 21st-century dessert disrupter. At the age of 12, Tess was already selling her brownies to a gourmet market on Cape Cod; her ascent seemed the equivalent of an anointment at J.P. Morgan for the child who went to bed calculating short positions on foreign currencies. (Bellafante, 5/16)
The Associated Press:
Abortion-Rights Groups Challenge Restrictions On Providers
As abortion opponents cheer the passage of fetal heartbeat laws and other bans on the procedure, abortion-rights groups have been waging a quieter battle in courthouses around the country to overturn less direct restrictions passed in recent years. At least a dozen lawsuits have been filed over the last two years challenging what abortion-rights groups call TRAP laws, Targeted Restrictions on Abortion Providers. (5/16)
The Hill:
Senate Republicans Running Away From Alabama Abortion Law
Senate Republicans are scrambling to distance themselves from a harsh new Alabama law that bans nearly all abortions, even in cases of rape and incest, and carries a penalty of up to 99 years in prison for anyone performing the procedure. Most GOP senators are trying their best to steer clear of the firestorm, arguing it’s a state-level issue that doesn’t involve Congress. (Bolton, 5/16)
The Hill:
Bipartisan Senators Unveil Measure To End Surprise Medical Bills
A bipartisan group of senators on Thursday introduced legislation to protect patients from massive, unexpected medical bills, as momentum grows around the issue. The legislation, led by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), comes as the House also introduced legislation this week, and President Trump called for action last week. (Sullivan, 5/16)
The Hill:
Trump Administration Backs Off Medicare Drug Pricing Rule
The Trump administration on Thursday backed off a controversial Medicare drug pricing proposal that would have allowed insurers to exclude certain drugs if prices rise faster than inflation. In a final rule, the administration said it was leaving in place the current policy about Medicare’s “protected classes” of drugs. (Weixel, 5/16)
The Washington Post:
Gilead CEO Insists Government Patent For HIV Prevention Pill Is Invalid
The chief executive of Gilead Sciences, the nation’s leading manufacturer of HIV drugs, defended the high cost of a key drug that prevents the lethal infection, telling a House committee Thursday that its hefty profits pay for continued research. “We have taken the disease from a death sentence to a manageable clinical condition, but we’re not done yet,” Gilead CEO Daniel O’Day told committee members. “We have to be sure that Americans get our medicines at a price that allows us to invest in research.’’ (Rowland, 5/16)
The New York Times:
A Daunting Operation Offers Relief To Obese Teenagers
At least six million obese teenagers in the United States are candidates for weight-loss surgery, experts estimate. Fewer than 1,000 of them get it each year. Many of these adolescents already have complications of obesity, like diabetes or high blood pressure. But doctors have been uncertain just how well surgery works for young patients, and whether they can handle the consequences, including a severely restricted diet. (Kolata, 5/16)
The Washington Post:
Liver Transplant Rules Spark Open Conflict Among Transplant Centers
Open conflict broke out among U.S. liver transplant centers Thursday, with doctors and patients in less populous parts of the country seeking a contempt of court order against the Health and Human Services Department and the nonprofit organization that runs the transplant system. Hospitals and patients on the waiting list for livers in places such as Georgia, Michigan, Kansas, Missouri and elsewhere accused the government and the United Network for Organ Sharing of defying a judge’s order to temporarily halt a new way of distributing those organs for transplant. (Bernstein, 5/16)
Los Angeles Times:
Eating Ultra-Processed Foods Will Make You Gain Weight. Here's The Scientific Proof
The findings, published Thursday in the journal Cell Metabolism, will force scientists to rethink the complicated relationship between dietary habits and health. “I thought it was all about the nutrients,” said study leader Kevin Hall, a section chief at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, which is part of the National Institutes of Health. (Baumgaertner, 5/16)
Los Angeles Times:
Some Court Decisions Deserve To Be Overruled. Roe Vs. Wade Isn’t One Of Them
The Supreme Court’s decision this week to overrule one of its prior decisions is attracting attention not because of its unexciting holding — that a state can’t be sued in the courts of another state — but because of a forceful and timely dissent from the court’s four Democratic appointees. Writing for himself and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, Justice Stephen G. Breyer said that needlessly overturning previous decisions threatens the stability of the law. He warned his colleagues that the court should cast aside previous rulings “only when the circumstances demand it.” (5/16)
Los Angeles Times:
States With The Worst Anti-Abortion Laws Also Have The Worst Infant Mortality Rates
This shouldn’t come as a surprise, since it’s a relationship that’s been known for years, but the states with the harshest restrictions on abortions also have the worst infant mortality rates. The correspondence is unmistakable, and not hard to explain: Those states’ governments also show the least concern for maternal and infant health in general, as represented by public policies. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/15)
CALMatters:
Newsom’s Unusual Method For Curing California’s Ills
Gavin Newsom has spent the last four months telling Californians that he could – and would – cure some of California’s most pressing social ailments. Among those he has cited are a “deplorable” shortage of housing for working families, rampant homelessness, the availability and cost of medical care, the nation’s highest level of poverty, reliable and safe water supplies, shortcomings in early childhood education, and wildfire prevention and protection. (Dan Walters, 5/15)
Los Angeles Times:
California Faces A Doctor Shortage. But Doctors Just Derailed A Plan To Fix It
No, the matter at hand wasn’t a single-payer bill to provide universal coverage, although that would be a good thing too. Rather, the California Assembly Appropriations Committee decided to put off a vote until next year on a bill that would expand the ability of nurse practitioners to treat patients. Such a move would go a long way toward addressing a severe shortage of primary-care doctors and would align us with other states that have adopted similar measures. (David Lazarus, 5/17)
Los Angeles Times:
Nurse Practitioners Can Improve Californians' Access To Healthcare
Given the circumstances, the state needs to make the fullest possible use of the healthcare professionals who are already trained and ready to help patients. That’s why the state Legislature should approve a long-sought bill (Assembly Bill 890 by Jim Wood, a Democrat from Healdsburg) to let nurse practitioners — registered nurses with extra years of training — offer the services they are certified to provide without requiring a doctor on hand to monitor them. (5/16)
Sacramento Bee:
Steinberg, Hahn Address The Need For Long-Term Mental Health Care
A man stood in the middle of a busy midtown Sacramento intersection just before 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 28, firing shots from a pistol into the air. He had just called Sacramento police to say he was going to kill himself. The situation could easily have ended in tragedy, but the officers were able to de-escalate the situation and talk the 29-year-old man into peacefully surrendering. The outcome was a credit to the professionalism of the officers and their use of crisis intervention techniques. (Darrell Steinberg and Daniel Hahn, 5/17)
Los Angeles Times:
Forcing California Cities To Allow Marijuana Sales Is Ignoring The Will Of Voters
California’s budding cannabis industry isn’t exactly blossoming. It’s having trouble sprouting. So a San Francisco legislator has some unique ideas.Democratic Assemblyman Phil Ting, influential chairman of the budget committee, wants the state to break a promise made to voters in 2016 when they approved Proposition 64 to legalize non-medical use of marijuana. (George Skelton, 5/16)
Los Angeles Times:
A New Study Says ‘Wellness’ Programs Don’t Save Money For Employers
As workplace wellness programs have gained popularity among employers, questions about their effectiveness and drawbacks have proliferated. A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. explodes the most common expectation of employers offering these programs — that they’ll enjoy at least a short-term reduction in healthcare costs as their workforces get the healthy lifestyle bug. (Hiltzik, 5/13)
Sacramento Bee:
Sheriff Jones’ Reality Show Is Sick Exploitation
Scott Jones, the former GOP congressional candidate currently serving as Sacramento County sheriff, has a new job: television producer.Netflix viewers saw the debut of “Jailbirds,” a Netflix TV “reality” show about women in the Sacramento County Jail. Jones’ rationale for approving the project was to give props to the without-a-doubt hardworking jailers, who must keep the prisoners on track and on a routine while they wait for trial. Like all reality TV shows with high-concept premises (let’s see if we can elect Donald Trump President of the United States by showing him as a real executive!), this program is exploitative and depressing. (5/15)