Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
A Medical Sanctuary For Migrant Farmworkers
A former farmworker, now a doctor, runs two clinics in California’s Central Valley providing care — often free of charge — for migrants who don’t have money and are deeply worried about the federal government’s hard-line stance on immigration. (John M. Glionna, )
Good morning! Big industry players are trying to snuff out bills that would make California the first state to ban flavored tobacco products. Will they be successful? More on that below, but first, here are some of your other top California health stories for the day.
State Sees Census Outreach, Health Insurance Enrollment Efforts As Going Hand-In-Hand: With millions of dollars in federal funding at stake, California is trying some unusual strategies to encourage hard-to-count populations to participate in the census. Because the factors that contribute to a population being hard-to-count also often lead to high insurance rates within those vulnerable communities, advocates believe the efforts can be tied together. The state already is working to coordinate its census-outreach efforts in those communities with other public information campaigns, like its push to encourage Californians to prepare for natural disasters. The state is spending $90 million on its effort to promote the census, targeting the communities that stand to lose the most in an undercount. Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to add another $50 million. The state would likely lose millions of dollars for child care, combating substance abuse and other social services. Read more from the Sacramento Bee.
Source Of Aliso Canyon Gas Leak That Caused Mass Health Issues, Evacuations Identified By Investigators: In a 258-page report, investigators said that groundwater had corroded the metal lining of a more-than-50-year-old underground well, leading to its rupture at 892 feet below ground. The report also said that SoCalGas, the company that owns and operates the natural gas well, did not meaningfully investigate or analyze more than 60 previous leaks at the complex. The company did not properly monitor its wells at the site, the report said, adding that “the approach to well integrity at Aliso Canyon had been reactive rather than proactive.” To Matt Pakucko, who evacuated his nearby home in the Porter Ranch neighborhood during the leak and is suing SoCalGas, the report’s findings were validation of his long-held suspicion of the site and its possible environmental and health risks. “We’re shocked,” he said. “We were expecting a whitewash. For this to come out like this, it’s like ‘Hallelujah!’” Read more from The New York Times and Reuters.
Under Contentious Bill That Puts State In Charge Of Medical Exemptions, 40 Percent Of Requests Would Be Denied, Officials Estimate: State public health officials said they expect students and their families to make 11,500 requests each year seeking an exemption from immunizations due to a medical reason. Of those, about 5,000 would be rejected, they expect. California has been able to reduce its vulnerability to diseases such as measles due to a high vaccination rate. But the author of SB 276, Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) said doctors are excusing too many children from immunizations for questionable reasons, such as for having asthma or diabetes, prompting his push to allow the state to review existing and newly sought exemptions. The bill prompted vocal backlash from some parents who are worried legitimate exemptions will be overruled. Read more from 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.
More News From Across The State
CALmatters:
Industry Aims To Extinguish Bills That Would Make California First State To Ban Flavored Tobacco
Despite skyrocketing teen use of e-cigarettes, a proposal to make California the nation’s first state to ban flavored tobacco is struggling in the Legislature—and health advocates blame the political potency of the tobacco industry. With negotiations underway behind-the-scenes, vaping interests hope to at least weaken the legislation, if not turn it in the industry’s favor. On the Assembly side, all tobacco-related bills were effectively snuffed out when a key committee opted not to hear them. The committee’s chairman, Merced Democrat Adam Gray, declined to be interviewed. In an email, he wrote that “the authors of the various proposals and the committee are working together to develop a comprehensive proposal that addresses the issue from all sides. We will develop a thoughtful package of reforms and move legislation forward this year.” (Aguilera, 5/19)
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento Parents Rally Against California’s New Sex Ed Approach
More than 100 parents, students and community members marched Friday outside the Sacramento County Office of Education, protesting California’s controversial new framework for sex education adopted earlier this month. The newly mobilized group Informed Parents of California planned similar rallies at education offices in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties to oppose the State Board of Education’s approval of the revisions to the health and sex education framework. (Morrar, 5/17)
CALmatters:
Asbestos In Your Makeup? Legislature Rejects Proposal To Ban Toxics From Cosmetics
Vivian Song of Sacramento tries to keep up with the latest makeup trends. While she pays attention to the ingredients in her beauty routine, she says others are clueless. “Not a lot of girls know what they’re putting on their face,” she said. “Whatever’s trending, they’re going to put it on.” (Castillo, 5/16)
The New York Times:
Citrus Farmers Facing Deadly Bacteria Turn To Antibiotics, Alarming Health Officials
A pernicious disease is eating away at Roy Petteway’s orange trees. The bacterial infection, transmitted by a tiny winged insect from China, has evaded all efforts to contain it, decimating Florida’s citrus industry and forcing scores of growers out of business. In a last-ditch attempt to slow the infection, Mr. Petteway revved up his industrial sprayer one recent afternoon and doused the trees with a novel pesticide: antibiotics used to treat syphilis, tuberculosis, urinary tract infections and a number of other illnesses in humans. (Jacobs, 5/17)
East Bay Times:
Bay Area Biohacker Tells You How To Edit Your DNA. Does That Make Him A Criminal?
Oakland’s Josiah Zayner publishes a DIY gene-editing guide and once injected his own arm with DNA, while sipping Scotch, in a live-streamed event watched by nearly 150,000 people. Does that make him a criminal? The state is investigating Zayner, a popular biohacker and provocateur, for practicing medicine without a license, according to a stern letter issued this month by the California Department of Consumer Affairs. It is the first regulatory challenge of the one-time NASA scientist who has earned celebrity by pushing the boundaries of do-it-yourself genetic experimentation. (Krieger, 5/18)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. County Juvenile Halls Are So Chaotic, Officers Are Afraid To Go To Work
The L.A. County Probation Department is facing a series of serious problems, including bursts of violence among detainees, plummeting officer morale and the organizational headaches from closing several detention facilities. Six officers also were recently charged with child abuse and assault over the unreasonable use of pepper spray on several teenagers, putting even more political pressure on the department to stop using it by the end of the year. (Stiles, 5/19)
KPCC:
Orange County Jails Could See Major Expansion Of Mental Health Care Under Proposed Budget
The proposed county budget calls for a big expansion of mental health care for inmates, including $17 million to hire psychiatrists, behavioral health counselors and nurses. (Replogle, 5/17)
KQED:
Gold Standard Asthma Treatment May Not Be Effective For Most Patients With Mild Asthma
Steroid inhalers commonly used by asthma patients to prevent and reduce asthma attacks may not work any better than placebo, according to a new study published Sunday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Synthetic corticosteroids mimic the steroid hormone cortisol, reducing inflammation in the airways. But the drug targets a type of inflammation that may be found in far fewer patients than previously thought. (Dembosky, 5/19)
Oakland Tribune:
California Judge Removes Disabled Man’s Husband As Legal Guardian, Citing Abusive Behavior
[Ryan] Morris, 25, has the intellectual ability of a young child. He married [Sean] Spicer, a man of regular intelligence 18 years his senior, in 2014, in a ceremony that Morris mistook for a baptism. His biological family, which lives in Orange County, feared he was the victim of sexual abuse and began fighting to oust Spicer as legal guardian in 2016. This highly unusual case raises profoundly uncomfortable issues, pitting two fundamental rights squarely against one another: the hard-won right for the disabled to marry and have sex lives, just like everyone else, and their right to be protected from abuse and undue influence. The nettlesome issues were probed in a three-part series by the Southern California News Group in 2017. (Sforza, 5/18)
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento City Unified Makes Cuts, But Deficit Persists
After slicing $28 million through cuts and layoffs in its third and final effort to correct its budget deficit and avoid insolvency, the district is still spending more than it has in revenue. But officials say they can cover the gap with reserves and avoid seeking an emergency state loan until fall 2020 – buying them time to achieve permanent savings through negotiations with the district’s teachers union. (Morrar and Finch II, 5/17)
Marin Independent Journal:
San Rafael’s Proposed Flavored Tobacco Ban Could Exempt Adult-Only Stores
A proposed ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products in San Rafael could result in an estimated loss of up to $100,000 in sales tax revenue annually, according to city staff. That estimate is an extrapolation from an economic impact report done in San Francisco called “Banning the Sale of Flavored Tobacco Products,” said Ethan Guy, principal analyst for the city’s community development department. (Rodriguez, 5/19)
The Desert Sun:
Health To Hope Clinics Cease Operations But May Seek Partners
The largest provider of healthcare for the homeless in the Coachella Valley, credited with helping hundreds of people every month, suddenly closed its doors on Friday. Health to Hope Clinics, a federally qualified health center with locations in Indio and Riverside, provided free or reduced-cost primary care, mental health and substance abuse services to individuals experiencing homelessness and others who couldn't afford care. On Friday, the organization sent all of its staff members letters informing them the closure would take effect immediately. (Hayden, 5/17)
San Jose Mercury News:
California Investigates Popular Oakland Biohacker
The state is investigating Zayner, a popular biohacker and provocateur, for practicing medicine without a license, according to a stern letter issued this month by the California Department of Consumer Affairs. It is the first regulatory challenge of the one-time NASA scientist who has earned celebrity by pushing the boundaries of do-it-yourself genetic experimentation. (Krieger, 5/18)
The New York Times:
Inside The Network Of Anti-Abortion Activists Winning Across The U.S.
State after state is passing sweeping abortion restrictions this year, from Alabama’s near total abortion ban, to Ohio’s ban after a fetal heartbeat is detected, to Utah’s ban after a pregnancy reaches 18 weeks. Already, eight states have passed laws that could challenge federal protections for abortion, with more on the way, prompting jubilation on the right and fear on the left. The laws may appear to present a united front and a coordinated political campaign. Instead they reflect a sustained effort by a network of disparate activists, each with their own strategy honed over decades of work. (Dias, Tavernise and Blinder, 5/18)
The Associated Press:
Trump Tells Anti-Abortion Activists To Stay United For 2020
With Alabama's restrictive new abortion law stirring divisions on the right, President Donald Trump implored anti-abortion activists to stay united heading into the 2020 election even as he laid out where his personal views differ from the legislation. In a series of tweets posted just before midnight Saturday, Trump said gains by anti-abortion activists will "rapidly disappear" if, as he put it, "we are foolish and do not stay UNITED as one." (5/19)
The New York Times:
Abortion Fight Or Strong Economy? For G.O.P., Cultural Issues Undercut 2020 Message
The unemployment rate is at a 50-year low, companies are adding jobs and the gross domestic product grew by 3.2 percent in the first quarter, undercutting predictions of a coming recession. Yet for all that political upside, Republicans demonstrated repeatedly last week that they were not positioning themselves to wage the 2020 election over the strength of the economy. President Trump and his top advisers sent mixed signals about a possible war with Iran. Mr. Trump outlined a hard-line immigration proposal that had little chance of passing, but refocused attention on the most incendiary issue of his presidency. (Martin and Burns, 5/19)
The New York Times:
After Alabama Abortion Law, 3 Democrats Propose A New Strategy
Responding to a series of highly restrictive abortion laws aimed at overturning Roe v. Wade, several Democratic presidential candidates have called on Congress to codify abortion rights, signaling a newly aggressive approach in a debate whose terms have long been set by conservatives. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey was first out of the gate on Wednesday, telling BuzzFeed News that if elected president, he would pursue legislation to guarantee abortion rights nationwide, superseding state restrictions, even if the Supreme Court overturned Roe. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York promised the same on Thursday, and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts came forward Friday morning with a more detailed plan. The three senators also called for repealing the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding for abortions. (Astor, 5/17)
The Associated Press:
Warren Unveils Abortion Rights Platform Following New Laws
Elizabeth Warren is calling for a series of targeted measures designed to safeguard abortion rights following a flurry of new state laws that dramatically restrict women's ability to terminate pregnancies, moves Democrats have decried as a planned effort to chip away at the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. (5/17)
Politico:
How Mike Pence Took Over HHS
Sweeping new protections for religious health care workers and an overhaul of family planning programs to effectively cut out Planned Parenthood represent something unusual in the Trump administration: a clear spotting of the fingerprints of Vice President Mike Pence. From topics ranging from trade to the president’s scorched-earth attacks against the Mueller investigation, Pence has been the loyal foot soldier while often appearing uncomfortable amid the administration’s biggest fights. (Pradhan and Ollstein, 5/20)
The Associated Press:
Democrats Grapple With Fully Embracing Medicare For All
A half-dozen presidential candidates back "Medicare for All," a proposal that would put the government in charge of most health benefits. But some of the Democrats they're courting aren't sure that the nation's health care system should be overhauled so dramatically. After watching Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Medicare for All supporter, speak in a packed northeast Iowa tavern, 67-year-old Connie Suby said she backed the ambitious proposal as an ultimate goal. But she cautioned that "we're not ready for that as a country," urging "baby steps" that keep private health insurance in place. (5/20)
The New York Times:
E.P.A. Could Make Thousands Of Pollution Deaths Vanish By Changing Its Math
The Environmental Protection Agency plans to adopt a new method for projecting the future health risks of air pollution, one that experts said has never been peer-reviewed and is not scientifically sound, according to five people with knowledge of the agency’s plans. The immediate effect of the change would be to drastically lower an estimate last year by the Trump administration that projected as many as 1,400 additional premature deaths per year from a proposed new rule on emissions from coal plants. (Friedman, 5/20)
The Associated Press:
Elder Care Homes Rake In Profits As Workers Earn A Pittance
She alights from a black Ferrari convertible, her Christian Louboutin stilettos glinting in the sunlight. The lid of her black lacquer grand piano is propped open in the living room of her plush Beverly Hills home. "I own a chain of elderly care facilities," she says into the camera on Bravo's reality television show "The Millionaire Matchmaker." ''My net worth is $3 to $4 million, probably." (5/19)