Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Can California Beat The Federal Government In Lowering Drug Prices?
Unwilling to wait for federal action, California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he has a plan that could extract discounts from drugmakers and save the state money — one he hopes other states can join. (Samantha Young, )
Good morning! What goes better with Valentine’s Day than health policy? Nothing! Twitter users are embracing their inner wonk on this day of love and creating health care inspired pick-up lines. Check out more on that below, but first, here are some of your top California health stories for the day.
Why Do Parents Hesitate To Vaccinate Their Kids? A Medical Anthropologist Talks To California Families, Upends Some Myths: Medical anthropologist Elisa Sobo interviewed families at a school with low vaccination rates in California searching for answers about why, with all the science available, parents still balk at vaccines. "One common idea would be that they're all absolutely looney-tunes, crazy people wearing tinfoil hats and reading all these conspiracy theories on crazy blogs on the Internet," Sobo said. "And that is absolutely not the case." She says that the anti-vaccination beliefs are often based on deep community norms, especially in low-vaccination hot spots. Parents who move into those areas can be swayed easily even if they didn’t have strong feelings on the topic before. Read more from NPR.
Meanwhile, Facebook has become a haven for the anti-vaccination movement, and the company is struggling to control the misinformation that is thriving on its site. The problem? The bulk of anti-vaccination content doesn’t violate Facebook’s community guidelines for inciting “real-world harm.” Read more from The Washington Post.
When It Comes To Helping Homeless, Frustrated Californians Are Taking Matters Into Their Own Hands: A new generation of homeless advocates is fed-up with the pace of the government when it comes to addressing the homeless crisis that is rampant throughout California. Though one in eight Americans is a Californian, one in four homeless Americans live in the Golden State—and it’s not because of the good weather like some might think. Instead, low, stagnant wages combined with a housing shortage are forcing people onto the streets. There’s plenty of money being pumped into counties to address the issue, but it’s often slow to get to the people who need it. The bottleneck is inspiring neighbors to band together to help those in their community who are in need. Read more from CALmatters.
California Wildfires: ‘I Think We Are Better Prepared—The Real Question Is Whether That’s Enough’: With California’s wildfire season now practically year-round, officials are rushing to better prepare the state for the next deadly blaze. Utilities are planning expensive overhauls to better ensure safety, fire officials are amassing retardant, emergency responders are pre-positioning crews in high threat areas, all in an attempt for there not to be a repeat of the death and devastation of the past few years. But will any of it actually work? Read more from CALmatters here.
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. Media outlets report on news about hospitals, heart health, the doctor shortage, quality of care and more.
More News From Across The State
Orange County Register:
Romance And…Medicare? Hilarious #Healthpolicyvalentines Poems Are Trending On Twitter
This year, Valentine’s Day on social media is inspiring many different messages: professing love for that special someone, angry threads about being single, and….clever poems confessing a love/hate relationship with health policy? From Medicare services to out-of-network fees, Twitter users from all over the country came up with witty rhymes and declarations for all things medical around the hashtag #healthpolicyvalentines. Here in California, state lawmakers hope to expand health insurance for residents. But as fewer people sign up with the elimination of the individual mandate, premium costs like hospital stays, are expected to soar for those in the market. (Malicse, 2/13)
The Mercury News:
5 Foods That Are Bad For Your Heart
Valentine’s Day is almost here, but frankly it’s always a good time to look out for your heart. Most of us try to eat healthily but some of the worst offenders still sneak under the radar. It’s important not to take your heart, that grape-fruit sized pump, for granted because, if all goes according to plan, it will beat almost three billion times from birth to death. Keep that in mind as you peruse this list of 5 foods that health experts say terrible for your heart. (D'Souza, 2/13)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Doctor Shortage Expected To Worsen As Baby Boomers Retire, Report Says
The group, calling itself the Future Health Workforce Commission, claimed that in the next decade, the state could be short 4,100 primary care clinicians and 600,000 home care workers. But the crisis has already reached Kern County. The San Joaquin Valley is one of the least healthy regions of the state, according to the report. This is due in part to a healthcare professional shortage that has existed for as long as some in the industry can remember. (Morgen, 2/13)
Orange County Register:
Laguna Woods Social Services Adds Hospital Liaison To Busy Department
A fresh face joining the assistant services team is Dustin Arbuckle, a social worker at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center, who will be serving as the new Laguna Woods Village liaison. The Register spoke with Susan McInerney, the manager of Village Management Services Social Services Department, about notable programs and services, the responsibilities of a liaison and how having one benefits Village residents. (Becher, 2/13)
Ventura County Star:
Former St. John's Pleasant Valley Employee Gains $1 Million Verdict
A Camarillo woman was awarded $1.03 million by a jury over allegations she was discriminated against by her employer, St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital, after a workplace injury that she said led to termination. Virginia Hoover said Wednesday she worked for St. John’s for more than 24 years as a radiologic technologist before hurting herself moving equipment while preparing for a CT scan. Her lawyers said in court documents that the injury meant restrictions to her left arm, including not lifting more than 15 pounds or reaching overhead. (Kisken, 2/13)
The Associated Press:
Source Of Fall Romaine Outbreak A Mystery, US Regulators Say
U.S. food regulators say they weren't able to identify a contamination source for a food poisoning outbreak that prompted them to warn people to avoid romaine lettuce this fall. The Food and Drug Administration says it wasn't able to determine how a water reservoir on a Santa Barbara County, California, farm became contaminated with E. coli. It also says the water reservoir doesn't explain how lettuce from other farms may have been contaminated. (2/13)
KPCC:
New Study Says Fathers Are Happier Than Mothers After Becoming Parents
A new study shows that men are happier, more satisfied, and less depressed after they become parents. Mothers said they were more depressed than women who did not have children. (Mantle, 2/13)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Public Health Event Gives Students Mock Disease Outbreak To Resolve
A group of high school students expecting to get a tour of the Kern County Public health facility got more than they bargained for on Feb. 6. Soon after the group’s bus stopped at the facility, KCPH Director Matt Constantine boarded the bus to welcome the students, who were surprised to learn what they were really there for: There has been an e-coli outbreak, and it was up to the students to discover the source. ...There was no real outbreak, of course. It was a staged event aimed at giving students in the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce’s Youth Leadership Bakersfield program a life-like experience of how the department would handle an emergency. (Luiz, 2/14)
Los Angeles Times:
Proposed Newport Senior Care Home Gets Needed Rezoning
Supporters of the project say Newport needs skilled residential care for an aging population, especially for locals who would have to be uprooted when they need help with self-care. But Harbor Pointe has drawn consistent opposition from neighbors who worry how it might affect traffic, area property values, future land uses and the safety of neighbors and facility residents. (Davis, 2/13)
Sacramento Bee:
Retired Marine At CA Care Facility Dies Of Heat Stroke: Lawsuit
Gene Rogers lived a large life before dementia began to chip away at it. A former Marine who signed up at 17 and fought in Korea, Rogers went on to become a stock car racer, earned an electronics degree and spent more than three decades working for AT&T as he and his wife, Kathryn, raised three boys during their 60-year marriage. He spent his retirement in Carlsbad, living near Camp Pendleton where he started in the Marine Corps and where his passion for golf took him to a course nearly every day. (Stanton, 2/10)
The Washington Post:
At Parkland Anniversary, Congress Moves To Act On Gun Control Amid Partisan Debate
The House Judiciary Committee passed a measure Wednesday that would require background checks for all gun sales and most gun transfers within the United States, the most significant gun-control legislation to advance this far in Congress in years. The committee spent more than nine hours debating the bill before voting 21 to 14 to advance it Wednesday night. Next, it will face a vote on the House floor. The measure was among the first actions taken by the newly elected Democratic majority, which pledged to make gun control a top issue. The bill also has the support of at least five Republicans, a rare feat given the issue often has cleaved along party lines. (Zezima, 2/13)
Politico:
House Democrats Make First Major Move To Tighten Gun Laws
“There is a clear consensus among academics, public health experts and law enforcement personnel that universal background checks would greatly enhance public safety,” said Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.). “Despite the obvious need to take action, however, Congress, for too long has done virtually nothing.” The measure would require virtually all purchasers of firearms to undergo a background check — including those buying through gun shows, over the Internet or through other private transactions. (Stratford, 2/13)
The New York Times:
Parkland Shooting: Where Gun Control And School Safety Stand Today
On Feb. 14, 2018, a former student slaughtered 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. The next day, David Hogg, a student who survived the attack, expressed his frustration at the pattern of political inaction that seems to follow mass shootings in the United States. He was not surprised that there had been another school shooting, he said, and that fact alone “says so much about the current state that our country is in, and how much has to be done.” “We need to do something,” he said. In the course of the next year, students would change the way the nation handles mass shootings, spurring new gun legislation and school safety measures, and holding to account the adults they felt had failed them. (Kramer and Harlan, 2/13)
The New York Times:
Parkland: A Year After The School Shooting That Was Supposed To Change Everything
The name “Parkland” has become a shorthand for the tragedy that many hoped would mark the beginning of the end of school massacres. But ask the survivors of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in more quiet moments about the awful year since last Feb. 14, and they tell you a different, more personal story. About innocence lost. Dreams undone. Grief delayed. (Mazzei, 2/13)
NPR:
How Schools Are Working To Stop Gun Violence And Save Kids
Psychologist John Van Dreal has spent almost 30 years working with troubled kids. Still, it's always unsettling to get the kind of phone call he received one morning eight years ago as he was on his way to a meeting. "I got a call from the assistant principal at North [Salem] High, reporting that a student had made some threats on the Internet," remembers Van Dreal, the director of safety and risk management for Salem-Keizer Public Schools in Salem, Ore. (Chatterjee and Davis, 2/13)
Politico:
Push For Medicare Buy-In Picks Up With '50 And Over' Bill
House and Senate Democrats unveiled a plan Wednesday that would allow anyone over age 50 to buy into Medicare — an incremental step to expand health coverage beyond Obamacare's gains that offers an alternative to the ambitious restructuring progressives envision in their push for Medicare for All. "I have always supported universal health care but we are not there yet," said Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), one of the co-sponsors. "Medicare at 50 is a very bold step in the right direction." (Ollstein, 2/13)
The Wall Street Journal:
HHS To Review Indian Health Service After Revelations On Pedophile Doctor
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar called for a review of the Indian Health Service following an investigation that revealed the agency’s mishandling of a pedophile doctor. The investigation, by The Wall Street Journal and the PBS series Frontline, detailed the career of Stanley Patrick Weber, a pediatrician who in 2018 was convicted of sexually assaulting Native American boys. The IHS transferred him from one agency-run hospital to another after officials concluded he was molesting children in 1995, and he continued working for the federal agency for 21 years. (Weaver and Frosch, 2/13)
The Hill:
Trump Got In Dem’s Face Over Abortion At Private Meeting: Report
President Trump reportedly fumed at Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) last week at a private event before the National Prayer Breakfast, tearing into him over bills in New York and Virginia to extend abortion rights. Politico, citing three sources, reported that Trump "leaned in close" to Coons during the exchange. ... A White House official told Politico that the exchange shows how Trump “genuinely views abortion … and isn’t afraid to make the Democrats defend their extreme positions.” The official did not witness the interaction, and the White House declined to comment further, according to Politico. (Burke, 2/13)
Reuters:
Senators Vow Urgent Reform To Correct 'Unacceptable' Military Housing Conditions
U.S. Senators scolded real estate executives and Pentagon leadership over "unacceptable" conditions in privatized military housing on Wednesday, vowing urgent reform to protect service families from widespread health and safety hazards in base homes. At Senate Armed Services Committee hearings in response to Reuters reports describing U.S. military families facing squalid living conditions, lawmakers proposed fixes to hold private landlords and military branches accountable for hazards including peeling lead paint, mold and vermin infestations. (2/13)
Reuters:
EPA To Limit Manmade Chemicals In Drinking Water
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will announce on Thursdays limits on how much toxic chemicals from cookware and carpeting are allowed in drinking water. The agency will announce a plan to control a group of chemicals known as PFAS that are linked to cancer, liver and thyroid damage, and other health and fetal effects. The substances, which include PFOA and PFOS, are found in non-stick cookware, stain-resistant carpeting and other manmade materials. (2/13)
NPR:
To Fight Antibiotic Resistance, Scientists Look To Microbes In Insects
Nobody likes a cockroach in their house. But before you smash the unwelcome intruder, consider this: that six-legged critter might one day save your life. That's right. Insects—long known to spread diseases—could potentially help cure them. Or rather, the microbes living inside them could. Scientists have discovered dozens of microorganisms living in or on insects that produce antimicrobial compounds, some of which may hold the key to developing new antibiotic drugs. (Chisholm, 2/13)