Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Skin-Lightening Cream Put A Woman Into A Coma. It Could Happen Again.
A Sacramento woman is in a coma after using a face cream from Mexico. It is the nation’s first case of methylmercury poisoning from a cosmetic, and public health officials can do almost nothing to prevent other contaminated cosmetics from hitting the shelves. (Anna Almendrala, )
Good Monday morning! The CDC says it's making progress in the investigation into which vaping ingredients are causing lung injuries. And U.S. House Democrats say they can still make progress on a drug pricing bill, despite impeachment. More on that below, but first here are your top California health news stories of the day.
Strong Public Support For New Vaccine Law: SB 276 generated controversy and vocal opposition leading up to its enactment earlier this month. Yet 80% of Californians approve of the measure, according to a new poll by UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, conducted for the Los Angeles Times. The survey finds that 90% of Democrats and 73% of Republicans back efforts to increase immunization rates at schools and daycare facilities by allowing the California Department of Public Health to review and reject a doctor’s exemption. Read the full story from Melody Gutierrez of the Los Angeles Times.
As Fentanyl Deaths Spike, San Francisco Launches Prevention Program: Mayor London Breed is set to announce Monday a new drug overdose prevention effort centering on “the city’s vast network of gritty” single-room occupancy hotels and apartments where ODs frequently take place. San Francisco wants to train residents and managers of those facilities on how to best stop people from dying — particularly from fentanyl overdoses. “The real idea behind this program is to put together a tenant-run overdose response effort,” Dr. Phillip Coffin, who will help run the new program, tells The San Francisco Chronicle. “It’s really about empowering the tenants to deal with overdosing.” Read the full story from Kevin Fagan of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Vaping In Schools: ‘We’ve Seen This Develop Very Quickly’: Education officials, administrators and teachers are scrambling to tackle vaping in the schools – a problem they see as a growing “public health crisis” that is outpacing solutions. In one example, Rosemont Middle School Principal Scott Anderle tells the Los Angeles Times about an incident with an eighth-grader. When he asked the youngster why the student vaped in class and why he couldn’t even wait for it to end, “he looked at me with sad eyes and said, ‘I can’t stop.’” Ideas that schools are experimenting with range from campaigns to warn kids of the health dangers to an app that students can use to report vaping in the bathrooms. Read the full story from Howard Blume, Sonali Kohli and Nina Agrawal 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
The Associated Press:
US Probe Of Vaping Illnesses Focuses On THC From Marijuana
U.S. health officials said Friday that their investigation into an outbreak of severe vaping-related illnesses is increasingly focused on products that contain the marijuana compound THC. Most of the 800 people who got sick vaped THC, the ingredient in marijuana that causes a high, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But officials said they didn’t know if the THC is the problem or some other substance added to the vaping liquid, such as thickeners. (Stobbe, 9/27)
NPR:
Many Vaping Illnesses Linked To Black Market 'Dank Vapes' Or Other THC Products
What are Dank Vapes and how could they be fueling the outbreak? "Dank Vapes appears to be the most prominent in a class of largely counterfeit brands, with common packaging that is easily available online and that is used by distributors to market THC-containing cartridges," said a report from state investigators published Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Aubrey, 9/27)
Stat:
Flu Season Threatens To Complicate Diagnoses Of Vaping-Related Illness
Public health experts are cautioning that the coming flu season could complicate attempts to diagnose new cases of a mysterious vaping-related illness — and, in turn, make it more difficult to track down the cause. The issue, experts say, is that flu and other respiratory viruses can, in many ways, look strikingly similar to a case of vaping-related illness: Symptoms include shortness of breath, night sweats, low oxygen levels, and hazy spots on a lung X-ray. (Thielking, 9/27)
The Wall Street Journal:
Teen Vaping Didn’t Cool Juul’s Celebrity Push
In a lounge at the Sundance Film Festival last year, Juul Labs Inc. doled out $1 bundles of e-cigarettes to guests passing through. A-listers, including Elijah Wood, Nicolas Cage and Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am, stopped in front of a Juul-branded backdrop and posed for photographs. On its face this was standard marketing practice, cozying up to celebrities to lend cachet to the brand. But by this time, Juul was already aware of teen use of its products, having learned about it in local media reports. (Maloney and McKay, 9/28)
NPR:
Store Owners Resist State Vaping Bans As 'A Death Sentence For Their Business'
The recent numbers of vaping-related illness are alarming, at best; at worst, in the eyes of federal officials, the U.S. is embroiled in a deadly, mysterious and "ongoing outbreak" across the country. ... But in Massachusetts, where Gov. Charlie Baker earlier this week declared a public health emergency, some store owners fear the severity of state officials' response as much as the outbreak itself. One vape store owner, Behram Agha, filed a lawsuit Thursday against officials at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, seeking an injunction to lift Baker's immediate four-month ban on the sale of all vaping products in the state. (Dwyer, 9/27)
The Wall Street Journal:
Dissecting The Vaping Illness Mystery
Vaping related illnesses are on the rise, and it appears to be related to a black market of THC vapes. WSJ’s Daniela Hernandez sat down with doctors and experts to understand what’s happening with the outbreak. (9/30)
KPBS:
San Diego County Launching Weekly Flu Reports Ahead Of Potentially Severe Season
San Diego County is releasing its weekly reports on flu activity beginning Wednesday after influenza-associated deaths occurred earlier than expected. Two people have died from the illness since July. The fatalities and a large number of cases so early in the season pushed the county to begin the reports slightly sooner than previous years but the launch date varies from season to season. (Mento, 9/30)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. Wants State Of Emergency Declared As Homeless Crisis Worsens
Facing a deepening quagmire over homeless encampments, Los Angeles elected officials are increasingly looking to sweeping statewide initiatives to shake loose solutions. The latest proposal from Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and City Councilman Joe Buscaino would have the governor declare a state of emergency on homelessness in California. (Holland, 9/30)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Suicides In California Prisons Rise Despite Decades Of Demands For Reform
The suicide rate inside California prisons, long one of the highest among the nation’s largest prison systems, jumped to a new peak in 2018 and remains elevated in 2019, despite decades of effort by federal courts and psychiatric experts to fix a system they say is broken and putting lives at risk, a Chronicle investigation has found. Last year, an average of three California inmates killed themselves each month in state cells — 34 total suicides in a system with 129,000 inmates. That amounts to an annual rate of 26.3 deaths per 100,000 people, the highest rate in California since at least 2006. (Fagone and Cassidy, 9/29)
The Desert Sun:
Hundreds In East Valley Get Free Medical Care At Annual Flying Doctors Clinic
An east valley high school transformed into a small medical center on Saturday when hundreds attended a free health clinic. Dozens of volunteers from the Flying Doctors, a Northern California-based nonprofit, and local health professionals teamed up for the yearly event at Desert Mirage High School where impoverished east valley residents received free dental, vision and medical care. Officials estimated 700 people received medical services. So many people showed up that visitors parked on the shoulder of the adjacent street since the school's parking lots were full. (Newell, 9/28)
Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
For Some Survivors, Time Hasn't Healed Trauma Of 2017 North Bay Fires
For some survivors, though, time hasn’t eased the pain, and their grief, anger and anxiety intensifies around the anniversary of the wildfires. It could take anywhere from five to 10 years before survivors begin to feel a sense of normalcy, said Doreen Van Leeuwen, a licensed marriage and family therapist. While some have accepted the devastation and moved past it, others for a number of reasons have “more difficulty bouncing back,” said Van Leeuwen, who has worked with several fire survivors and serves as the president of the Redwood Empire Chapter of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. (González, 9/27)
East Bay Times:
Richmond OKs Capping, Not Removing Toxic Soil Along Shoreline
Activists are livid with the Richmond City Council’s recent decision that it’s OK for a developer to pour concrete over an 86-acre brownfield and plop 4,000 apartments atop it instead of removing the toxic soil altogether. ...The Zeneca site east of Marina Bay and west of Interstate 580 has long been a point of controversy in Richmond. Pesticide producer Stauffer Chemical Co. and later pharmaceutical company Zeneca dumped toxic byproducts — including benzene, arsenic and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) — at the site for about 100 years before Zeneca — now known as AstraZeneca — stopped the practice in 1997; the site has been fenced off since. (Tadayon, 9/28)
Politico Pro:
Antitrust Trial Pivots Around Big Hospital Chain's Hardball Negotiations
An upcoming antitrust trial will decide whether one of California's biggest health systems’ hardball negotiating tactics amounted to anti-competitive behavior that sharply drove up prices, in a case with big implications in an era of major health care consolidation. The class-action lawsuit brought by the state of California and unions has made Sacramento-based Sutter Health a poster child for big hospital chains that require insurers to access their networks on an all-or-nothing basis and make it harder for plans to steer patients to lower-cost competitors. Jury selection wrapped up Wednesday in San Francisco Superior Court, with arguments set to begin Oct. 7. (Colliver, 9/27)
Los Angeles Times:
County-USC Medical Center Resumes Elective Surgeries After Abrupt Cancellation Over Mold
Health officials announced late Friday that they had resumed elective surgeries at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, following a temporary halt to the operations that began earlier this week after the discovery of mold in a room used to sterilize surgical equipment. The L.A. County Department of Health Services said in a statement that the hospital had “begun to ramp up elective surgeries” and was expected to be at full capacity soon. (Dolan and Mejia, 9/27)
The Sacramento Bee:
Kaiser Doubles Patient Capacity With New Roseville Building
Kaiser Permanente unveiled its new Riverside Medical Office Building on Friday, noting it will be able to serve twice as many patients in a state-of-the-art building that celebrates the city of Roseville’s legacy as a railroad town, agricultural producer and gateway to the Sierra Nevada. “I think patients are going to notice how light and airy the building is,” said Jordan Herget, senior vice president and area manager, Kaiser Permanente Roseville. “I think they’ll notice some of the artwork that we have.” (Anderson, 9/28)
The Sacramento Bee:
DEA Gets Warrant To Examine Kaiser Roseville Over Opioids
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has obtained an administrative warrant to ensure the pharmacy at Kaiser Permanante’s Roseville Medical Center is not improperly dispensing addictive pain medications like hydrocodone and oxycodone. Kaiser’s Roseville facility “is the highest purchaser of hydrocodone products within DEA’s San Francisco Field Division, with nearly 1.3 million dosage units purchased to date in 2019, which is approximately 250,000 dosage units more than the second highest purchaser,” according to an affidavit filed this week by a DEA investigator applying for the warrant. (Reese, 9/27)
Modern Healthcare:
Hospitals Hope DSH Cut Delay Leads To Long-Term Solutions
As Congress approved another delay to $4 billion in planned cuts to Medicaid disproportionate-share hospital payments, hospitals are gearing up to rally support for a longer-term solution. The latest continuing resolution would postpone the funding reduction until Nov. 21 and awaits President Donald Trump’s signature. The reprieve came just days before DSH changes were supposed to go into effect with a CMS final rule slashing $44 billion in funding over six years. For providers like Alameda Health System in Northern California, that would have meant losing $20 million of its $90 million in DSH funding it receives annually. Alameda’s loss would make up 6% of California’s overall $330 million DSH reduction in fiscal 2020. (Ross Johnson, 9/27)
The Associated Press:
Can Washington Deliver On Drug Costs Amid Impeachment Probe?
Major legislation to reduce prescription drug costs for millions of people may get sidelined now that House Democrats have begun an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. Proposals had been moving in Congress, but there are more ways for the process to break down than to succeed. Still, nobody says they’re giving up. Some questions and answers about the legislation and its uncertain prospects. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 9/29)
The New York Times:
Democrats’ 2020 Campaign Message: Not Impeachment, They Insist
Ms. Pelosi has already advised the newest members of her caucus — the ones who secured the majority last year — that they will have to execute a careful balancing act in the coming weeks, to show voters in their districts that they can continue to pass important legislation. She is said to be particularly focused on a proposal to lower prescription drug prices that she unveiled last week, before the Ukraine saga began. But even before impeachment, House Democrats were gaining little traction with policy bills that withered in the Republican-controlled Senate. Polls have shown their proposals to be popular, but they have been routinely overshadowed in the news by Mr. Trump. (Burns and Corasaniti, 9/28)
The Washington Post:
With The Affordable Care Act’s Future In Doubt, Evidence Grows That It Has Saved Lives
Poor people in Michigan with asthma and diabetes were admitted to the hospital less often after they joined Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. More than 25,000 Ohio smokers got help through the state’s Medicaid expansion that led them to quit. And around the country, patients with advanced kidney disease who went on dialysis were more likely to be alive a year later if they lived in a Medicaid-expansion state. Such findings are part of an emerging mosaic of evidence that, nearly a decade after it became one of the most polarizing health-care laws in U.S. history, the ACA is making some Americans healthier — and less likely to die. (Goldstein, 9/30)
The Wall Street Journal:
Trump’s Push For Health-Cost Transparency Sparks Furor
A Trump administration plan to make hospitals disclose their negotiated prices is spurring a battle between industry and patient advocates that could determine how far the White House will go with its initiative. Friday marks the end of a public input period that has seen more than 750 comments on a proposed rule that would include upending the secret negotiations that determine how much insurers pay for treatments and care. The administration is expected to release a final rule in November. It would take effect Jan. 1, 2020. (Armour, 9/27)
PBS NewsHour:
Americans Need More Convincing On Medicare For All, Poll Says
Americans need to know more before they can make up their minds about proposed overhauls to the nation’s health care system, according to a survey released Thursday. When asked if they wanted to wipe out private health insurance for a so-called Medicare for All public insurance program, 40 percent of U.S. adults between the ages of 19 to 64 said they did not know enough to offer an opinion. (Santhanam, 9/27)
Axios:
Websites Are Advertising "Trumpcare" Plans, But Trumpcare Doesn't Exist
Do a quick search for health insurance, and you'll find plenty of ads for "Trumpcare" plans that cost $59 or less per month. But there's a catch: Trumpcare doesn't exist, and many of these advertised plans offer bare-bones coverage. (Herman, 9/30)
Bloomberg:
Abortion Law Cases Stack Up In US Supreme Court's 2019-2020 Term
Abortion cases are coming to the U.S. Supreme Court, and they’re only getting harder for the justices to avoid. The court next week starts a new term that will give the clearest indication yet of how eager the justices are to roll back the right to end a pregnancy. ... Abortion opponents are likely to get a more receptive audience now that Justice Brett Kavanaugh has replaced the retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. The eventual goal is to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which legalized the procedure nationwide. (Stohr, 9/30)
The New York Times:
At The Border, Lawmakers See A Broken System And Little Common Ground
In the past six months, dozens of members of Congress and their aides have descended upon the southwestern border in an effort to see what is happening there. To witness the visits is to understand the nub of the deep divide over how to repair the nation’s broken immigration system. The fact-finding tours, detailed in interviews with more than two dozen lawmakers and aides, are sometimes sanitized for the V.I.P.s who take them, as the Trump administration works to put the best face on an often inhumane situation. But they have yielded moments of raw emotion and glimpses of human suffering that have prompted passionate testimony, viral videos of lawmakers on their tours, new legislative proposals and, in one case, a book. (Cochrane, 9/28)
The Washington Post:
‘Out Here, It’s Just Me’: In The Medical Desert Of Rural America, One Doctor For 11,000 Square Miles
In the medical desert that has become rural America, nothing is more basic or more essential than access to doctors, but they are increasingly difficult to find. The federal government now designates nearly 80 percent of rural America as “medically underserved.” It is home to 20 percent of the U.S. population but fewer than 10 percent of its doctors, and that ratio is worsening each year because of what health experts refer to as “the gray wave.” Rural doctors are three years older than urban doctors on average, with half over 50 and more than a quarter beyond 60. Health officials predict the number of rural doctors will decline by 23 percent over the next decade as the number of urban doctors remains flat. (Saslow, 9/28)
Politico:
NRA Denies Discussing 'Special Arrangements' With Trump In Return For Its Support
The National Rifle Association confirmed that CEO Wayne LaPierre met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday but denied any discussions took place about "special arrangements" involving the group's ongoing support of the president. The response came after The New York Times reported on the meeting Friday, stating Trump and LaPierre "discussed prospective gun legislation and whether the N.R.A. could provide support for the president" amid upcoming impeachment proceedings and his reelection campaign. (Semones, 9/27)
WBUR:
The Health Benefits At The Center Of The United Auto Workers Strike
A key issue in the contract dispute between General Motors and the United Auto Workers is health benefits. Workers have had famously great health plans, paying just 3% of costs. (Simmons-Duffin, 9/28)
The Associated Press:
Feds Crack Medicare Gene Test Fraud That Peddled Cheek Swabs
Federal agents took down an alleged Medicare scam Friday that exploited seniors’ curiosity about genetic medicine by enticing them to get their cheeks swabbed for unneeded DNA tests. Medicare was billed $2.1 billion. Dubbed “Operation Double Helix,” the crackdown targeted telemedicine companies, doctors and labs, in a joint effort by the Justice Department , the FBI, U.S. attorneys’ offices, and the Health and Human Services inspector general. Thirty-five people were charged around the country. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 9/27)
The Wall Street Journal:
CVS Stops Selling Zantac Products
CVS Health Corp. has stopped selling Zantac products at its drugstores, citing a recent alert by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that the popular heartburn drug could contain low levels of a probable human carcinogen. CVS said Saturday that it is taking the action “out of an abundance of caution.” There is no recall of the product, but customers who purchased these products at CVS can return them for a refund. (Stahl and Burton, 9/29)
Modern Healthcare:
FDA: Fitness Apps, EHRs Are Outside Regulatory Scope
The Food and Drug Administration released new guidelines clarifying which types of medical software systems do—and do not—fall under the agency's regulatory oversight. Under a set of companion guidelines released Thursday, the FDA outlined a plan to focus its regulatory oversight on clinical-decision support software meant to help providers and patients manage "serious or critical conditions," said Dr. Amy Abernethy, the FDA's principal deputy commissioner. (Cohen, 9/27)
Stat:
Mylan Pays $30 Million To Settle Charges Of Misleading Investors Over Probe Into EpiPen Medicaid Rebates
In the latest fallout from the EpiPen pricing scandal, Mylan agreed to pay $30 million to settle charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission for failing to disclose to investors a Department of Justice probe into allegations of overcharging Medicaid for the allergy-relief device. The settlement, which the company had indicated last July was being finalized, comes two years after the company paid $465 million for shortchanging the government health care program. At the time, the Justice Department had been investigating Mylan for knowingly classifying EpiPen as a generic product for nearly a decade in order to avoid paying the appropriate rebates owed to Medicaid. (Silverman, 9/27)
The Washington Post:
Purdue Pharma Family Will Profit From Ski Resorts In Counties Hit Hard By Opioids
Mitchell Yeaton is battling a wave of opioid addiction from his counseling center in New Hampshire ski country, just a short drive from two winter resorts that are engines of the local economy, Attitash and Wildcat. In this tourist mecca, jarring contrasts between well-to-do visitors and impoverished families shattered by addiction are part of the job, Yeaton said. But even so, a ski area deal unfolding here is rankling Yeaton and some other community leaders. Some members of the billionaire Sackler family — the owners of Purdue Pharma, the company widely blamed for fueling America’s opioid crisis — will reap about $60 million in financial gains from the sale of 17 ski resorts in the Northeast and Midwest, according to financial disclosure filings. (Rowland, 9/29)
Stat:
Two Drugs Reduce Risk Of Ovarian Cancer Returning
Two different pills reduce the risk of ovarian cancer coming back after surgery and chemotherapy, according to studies presented at the annual meeting of the European Society for Medical Oncology in Barcelona Saturday. The results represent a step forward in treating a cancer that is diagnosed in 28,000 women annually in the U.S. and kills 14,000 women a year. Currently, women are treated with surgery to remove their tumors, followed with a type of chemotherapy. But in 85% of cases, the cancer comes back. (Herper and Garde, 9/28)
The Associated Press:
Bayer Using AI To Improve Disease Diagnosis, Drug Design
Drugmakers have embraced artificial intelligence — using computers to analyze reams of data and then make predictions or recommendations. Germany’s Bayer has been testing how the technology can help diagnose complex or rare conditions, hasten drug development and more. The aspirin-creator has partnered with startups and other tech companies to develop software and apps to speed diagnosis and guide treatment. The company is working with hospitals, academic researchers and others to compile everything the AI software needs to “learn” before it analyzes a patient’s condition. (Johnson, 9/29)
The Wall Street Journal:
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla To Succeed Ian Read As Chairman
Pfizer Inc. said Ian Read, its executive chairman, will retire at the end of the year, with Chief Executive Albert Bourla set to assume the additional post on Jan. 1. ... Mr. Read, who joined Pfizer in 1978 as an operational auditor, has been chairman since 2011 and served as CEO of the drugmaker from 2010 to 2018. Mr. Bourla, who joined Pfizer’s animal-health division in 1993, succeeded Mr. Read as chief executive earlier this year. (Sebastian and Kellaher, 9/27)