- California Healthline Original Stories 1
- The Other Victims: First Responders To Horrific Disasters Often Suffer In Solitude
- Public Health and Education 1
- Funding To Fight Opioid Epidemic In San Diego To Soar Over Next Few Years
Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
The Other Victims: First Responders To Horrific Disasters Often Suffer In Solitude
Some firefighters, emergency medical providers and law enforcement officers say recent mass shootings and other calamities — disturbing enough in themselves — have brought to the surface trauma buried over years on the job. Many are reluctant to seek help, though some employers are trying to change that. (Heidi de Marco, )
More News From Across The State
Mandatory Vaccination Law A Valid Measure To Protect Public Health, Court Rules
The legislation being challenged came about following an outbreak of measles in 2014 that was traced to Disneyland.
San Francisco Chronicle:
California’s Mandatory-Vaccination Law Survives Court Test
California did not violate freedom of religion or the right to an education when it required virtually all public and private school students to be vaccinated against contagious illnesses in 2016, a state appeals court says. “Compulsory immunization has long been recognized as the gold standard for preventing the spread of contagious diseases,” the Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles said Monday. Citing California rulings as early as 1890 that rejected challenges to mandatory-vaccination laws, the court said the new law was not discriminatory and was a valid measure to protect public health. (Egelko, 7/3)
Reality Of Paying For Universal Health Care May Collide With Newsom's Campaign Promises
Though even Gavin Newsom, who has made single-payer a talking point for his campaign, has begun to temper expectations, he says he still sees universal health care as the ultimate goal.
Politico Pro:
Newsom Tamps Down Expectations For Single Payer In California
Gavin Newsom, favored to be California's next governor, is campaigning on a progressive vision of single-payer health care whose viability could pose a major test ahead of the 2020 elections for Democrats wrangling over how to enshrine universal health coverage. ...He isn't shying away from that goal, which is increasingly popular with the activated progressive wing of the party but is proving a tough sell because of the exorbitant cost. (Colliver and Pradhan, 7/3)
Funding To Fight Opioid Epidemic In San Diego To Soar Over Next Few Years
The new money is projected to result in a 30 percent increase of people served.
KPBS:
Substance Abuse Treatment Gets Boost From San Diego County
Bryan Sharp is vice president of admissions at Pacific Bay Recovery, a drug and alcohol treatment center in San Diego. He is often the first person to make contact with new patients. “They are in a very vulnerable state. They’re depressed. They’re scared. They’re sad. They’re going through this mixed emotion,” he said. Pacific Bay treats about 300 people a year for substance abuse. Seventy percent of those patients are addicted to opioids. (Monet, 7/4)
Decision To Shutter Inpatient Mental Health Facility Sparks Backlash From North County's Leaders
Local officials said they are concerned about the effects of closing the Tri-City Medical Center facility, not just because of the additional strain it would put on families if patients have to be transported to faraway locations, but also because of the additional hours police officers would spend transporting patients far outside the communities.
The San Diego Union-Tribune:
North County Leaders Say They Fear Impact Of Tri-City Psych Unit Closures
One week after its board voted to shutter coastal North County’s only inpatient mental health facility, Tri-City Medical Center is getting some pushback from local leaders who say the alternatives should be identified before the plan moves forward. Hospital directors voted unanimously on Tuesday, June 26, to indefinitely suspend Tri-City’s 18-bed behavioral health unit and its 12-person crisis stabilization unit within the next 60 days, a move expected to displace 80 workers and send hundreds of residents with psychiatric emergencies much further away for treatment. This week, local leaders made it clear they were not consulted before the decision was made. (Sisson, 7/3)
In other news from across the state —
The Bakersfield Californian:
Worth Noting: Adventist Health, Bakersfield Sikh Women’s Association To Provide Free Cancer Screenings
Adventist Health Bakersfield has partnered with the Bakersfield Sikh Women’s Association for the Kaur Care Women’s Health Preventative Cancer Screening program. Free breast exams will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at Gurdwara Guru Dashmesh Darbar at 7000 Wilbe Road. This will be the first in a series of screenings over the next few months. Kaur Care is a women’s preventative cancer screening program inspired by Gurbinder Kaur, a mother who lost her life to cervical cancer earlier this year at the age of 43. Had Kaur received a routine pap smear, her cancer could have been caught early. (7/3)
According to sources, the frontrunners for Justice Anthony Kennedy's spot are: Anthony Brett Kavanaugh of Maryland, of the D.C. Circuit; Raymond Kethledge of Michigan, of the Sixth Circuit; and Amy Coney Barrett of Indiana, of the Seventh Circuit. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are reported to have spoken with some of the contenders.
The Wall Street Journal:
Trump Winnows Down Supreme Court Picks, Focusing On Three
President Donald Trump’s search for a Supreme Court justice to succeed Anthony Kennedy is focusing on a trio of federal judges, with a decision expected this week in anticipation of an announcement on Monday, people familiar with the search said. Following a brisk round of interviews Monday and Tuesday, the three front-runners at this late stage in the president’s search are all U.S. appeals court judges: Brett Kavanaugh of Maryland, of the D.C. Circuit; Raymond Kethledge of Michigan, of the Sixth Circuit; and Amy Coney Barrett of Indiana, of the Seventh Circuit. (Nicholas and Radnofsky, 7/4)
Politico:
Trump Touts Upcoming Supreme Court Pick
President Donald Trump on Tuesday promised that his supporters would love his nominee for the Supreme Court and knocked liberals for calling to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “I think you’re going to be very impressed,” Trump said during a dinner for U.S. troops at The Greenbrier resort here. (Restuccia, 7/3)
The Associated Press:
AP Source: Pence Has Met With Supreme Court Contenders
Vice President Mike Pence has met with some of the contenders for the Supreme Court vacancy created by Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement, The Associated Press has learned. The meetings took place in recent days, according to a person familiar with the search process. The person did not specify which candidates Pence met with and spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday to describe the private search process. (7/5)
Politico:
New Supreme Court Justice Could Weigh In On Abortion Quickly
President Donald Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court won’t have to wait long to make a potentially historic decision on abortion rights. A slew of abortion-related cases are working their way through lower courts, dealing with questions about when abortions should be allowed, or which procedures doctors can perform to terminate a pregnancy. Any of these could become opportunities for the justices to address fundamental questions about the legal right to abortion in the United States, putting Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court’s sights. (Haberkorn, 7/3)
The Associated Press:
Court Vacancy Makes Abortion Politics A Midterm Priority
Democrats and Republicans once largely agreed that the upcoming midterm elections would hinge on the economy, health care and President Donald Trump's popularity. Not anymore. A Supreme Court vacancy has pushed abortion to the forefront of election year politics, with both supporters and opponents suggesting that the emotional issue could drive more voters to the polls. That's especially true in states like Iowa, where Republicans have enacted restrictive measures on abortion in the past two years. (7/5)
Politico:
Trump’s Supreme Court Search Unleashes Fierce Politicking
President Donald Trump’s commitment to select from a widely publicized list of Supreme Court candidates may have helped win him the White House — but it has also injected unprecedented politicking into the selection process for the next justice. Much of the jockeying has centered on D.C. Circuit Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who is the preferred choice of White House counsel Don McGahn, according to two Republicans close to the White House. McGahn’s backing helped Kavanaugh secure a spot on Trump’s existing Supreme Court list last November, when the president added five names. (Johnson, 7/4)
The Washington Post:
Liberal Democrats Mount Campaign Against Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee By Targeting Two Republican Senators
Liberal political strategists hope to block President Trump’s next Supreme Court nominee by replaying a strategy they used to help defeat the Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act last year. The multimillion-dollar plan of advertising and grass-roots activism will focus heavily on convincing two Republican defenders of the ACA, Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine), to buck the president again by denying his first choice to replace retiring Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. Trump plans to reveal his selection Monday. (Scherer, 7/4)
The Stubborn Resilience Of The Affordable Care Act
Despite Republicans' efforts to chip away at the law, experts say, "The market is in a better position now than it has ever been since the exchanges have opened."
The New York Times:
Obamacare Is Proving Hard To Kill
As health insurers across the country begin filing their proposed rates for 2019, one thing is clear: The market created by the Affordable Care Act shows no signs of imminent collapse in spite of the continuing threats by Republicans to destroy it. In fact, while President Trump may insist that the law has been “essentially gutted,” the A.C.A. market appears to be more robust than ever, according to insurance executives and analysts. A few states are likely to see a steep spike in prices next year, but many are reporting much more modest increases. Insurers don’t appear to be abandoning markets altogether. In contrast to last year, regulators are not grappling with the prospect of so-called “bare” counties, where no carrier is willing to sell A.C.A. policies in a given area. (Abelson, 7/3)
In other national health care news —
The Hill:
HHS Enters Damage-Control Mode Over Family Separations
President Trump's “zero tolerance” immigration policy has left the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) scrambling to contain what’s quickly becoming a public relations nightmare. While HHS didn't write the policy, the agency is responsible for implementing the most controversial aspect: housing the children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. (Weixel, 7/3)
The Hill:
HHS Tries To Clamp Down On Unannounced Lawmaker Visits To Child Detention Centers
The Department of Health and Human Services is urging lawmakers to schedule visits to detention centers housing migrant children instead of showing up at the facilities unannounced. In a letter sent Tuesday to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), the agency asked the lawmakers to help coordinate congressional visits to HHS-funded detention facilities. (Weixel, 7/3)
The Washington Post:
HPV Test Is Better Than Pap Smear At Detecting Precancerous Cervical Changes, Study Says
A test for HPV detects precancerous changes of the cervix earlier and more accurately than the Pap smear, according to a large clinical trial published Tuesday. The randomized, controlled study — the kind of trial considered the “gold standard” of research — showed that the human papillomavirus test is more sensitive than the Pap smear, a widely used test that has been a standard part of women's preventive health care for decades but has drawbacks. (McGinley, 7/3)
Stat:
As Drug Resistance Grows, Combining Antibiotics Could Yield New Treatments
Combining certain antibiotics could help them pack a one-two punch against harmful bacteria, according to a new study published Wednesday in Nature. Nassos Typas and his colleagues at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Germany tested 3,000 different combinations of antibiotics with each other or with drugs, food additives, and other compounds on three common types of bacteria that infect humans. (Thielking, 7/4)
Stat:
Did Pandemic Flu Vaccine Trigger An Increase In Narcolepsy Cases?
Nearly a decade on from the 2009 influenza pandemic, scientists are still trying to solve what is proving to be an intractable medical mystery: Did some of the vaccines used to protect against the new flu virus trigger an increase in narcolepsy cases? A major attempt to unravel the mystery — a study that’s still in the publication pipeline — did not find evidence that vaccines containing a boosting compound called an adjuvant sparked a rise in cases of narcolepsy, a serious but rare sleep disorder. (Branswell, 7/5)
NPR:
Carbon Dioxide Increase Could Lead To Nutritional Deficiencies And Disease
The rising level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere means that crops are becoming less nutritious, and that change could lead to higher rates of malnutrition that predispose people to various diseases. That conclusion comes from an analysis published Tuesday in the journal PLOS Medicine, which also examined how the risk could be alleviated. In the end, cutting emissions, and not public health initiatives, may be the best response, according to the paper's authors. (Chisholm, 7/3)