- KFF Health News Original Stories 2
- EpiPen Controversy Fuels Concerns Over Generic Drug Approval Backlog
- Attending To The ‘Human Element’ Is Key To Keeping Patients Healthy
- Veterans Health Care 1
- Lawmakers Serve Subpoena To VA, Blast Agency's Decision-Making, Lack Of Transparency
Latest From California Healthline:
KFF Health News Original Stories
EpiPen Controversy Fuels Concerns Over Generic Drug Approval Backlog
Four years after a huge push to speed generics to market, the FDA has more than 4,000 generics waiting for approval. (Sydney Lupkin, 9/8)
Attending To The ‘Human Element’ Is Key To Keeping Patients Healthy
Research to be published in full this fall details how medicine’s “implicit bias” — whether real or perceived — undermines the doctor-patient relationship and the well-being of racial and ethnic minorities as well as lower-income patients. (Shefali Luthra, 9/8)
More News From Across The State
UCSF Finds Operating Rooms Waste $1,000 Worth Of Medical Supplies Per Procedure
The researchers found the most costly waste comes from higher-cost supplies that are used less often like screws and sealants.
Modern Healthcare:
Hospital Operating Rooms Waste Nearly $3 Million A Year In Disposable Medical Supplies
Operating rooms produce on average more than 2,000 tons of waste per day, and a significant portion of that waste is from disposable medical supplies. And those estimates come from a small sample since there is a limited research that measures OR waste and how it is accumulated, said James Yoon, an author of a recent study from the University of California, San Francisco that analyzed waste in the OR of the hospital's neurology department. (Castellucci, 9/7)
California Healthline:
Tossing Unused Surgical Supplies Wastes Millions Of Dollars, Study Finds
Among the most unused and discarded supplies were sponges, blue towels and gloves. The most expensive item wasted, according to the study, was “surgifoam,” a sponge used to stop bleeding. One such sponge can cost close to $4,000. The researchers projected that wasted supplies could cost $2.9 million a year in UCSF’s neurosurgery department alone. (Ibarra, 9/6)
Lawmakers Serve Subpoena To VA, Blast Agency's Decision-Making, Lack Of Transparency
The House panel is looking specifically at a Denver hospital that cost nearly $1.7 billion and a California clinic that spent millions on decorative artwork and furnishings.
The Associated Press:
House Panel Subpoenas VA Over Denver Hospital, Artwork
Demanding explanations for a $1 billion cost overrun, a House panel Wednesday issued a subpoena to the Department of Veterans Affairs for documents on how the cost of a Denver-area VA hospital ballooned to almost $1.7 billion. That figure was nearly triple earlier estimates. The subpoena by the House Veterans Affairs Committee also seeks documents related to millions of dollars spent on artwork and ornamental furnishings at VA offices nationwide, including more than $6.4 million spent on the Palo Alto, California, health care system. (Daly, 9/7)
The All Out War Against The Opioid Epidemic
California lawmakers, public health officials, doctors and others are all trying to tackle the crisis in a variety of ways.
The Sacramento Bee:
Fighting Painkiller Abuse: New Ways To Treat Chronic Pain
In America’s war on opiate abuse, the problem of painkiller overuse has been as perplexing as it is pervasive. As prescriptions for Oxycontin, Vicodin and other opiate painkillers soared in the last 15 years, so did addiction and overdose deaths. In 2014, nearly 18,900 Americans – a record peak – died from prescription painkiller overdoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Buck, 9/8)
School Districts: Vaccination Outreach Was Time Consuming, But Worth It
Several schools through Southern California made a concerted effort to disseminate information to families before the law went into effect, and some referred the unvaccinated children to a health center to get the shots.
KPCC:
SoCal School Districts Use Different Tactics To Implement Vaccination Law
As the academic year gets underway, large school districts in Southern California are using different tactics to enforce the state's new vaccination law. Under the law, parents can no longer opt out of vaccinating their incoming kindergartners or 7th graders on the basis of personal or religious beliefs. Only medical exemptions remain. The law also applies to students of any grade who are new to a school. (Plevin, 9/7)
San Diego Residents Push Back Against Zika Spray: 'Pesticides Are Poison'
Officials, however, say they're taking every precaution to make sure the spraying isn't harmful to the area.
Los Angeles Times:
San Diego Neighborhood Sprayed With Insecticide To Fight Zika Virus
Wearing protective masks and backpacks that released bursts of insecticide fog into the air, teams of county workers moved through two blocks of San Diego’s Mount Hope neighborhood Tuesday, targeting mosquitoes capable of carrying the Zika virus. It was the second time such treatment has been applied in the region; the first was in mid-August in nearby South Park. Similar operations have unfolded in neighborhoods across the nation as health officials attempt to prevent mosquitoes from becoming infected with Zika and then transmitting it to people, particularly pregnant women because the virus can cause neurological defects in newborns. (Sisson, 9/7)
In other news from across the state —
Ventura County Star:
County Names Health Agency Director
A deputy director who joined the county government in January will serve as leader of its biggest agency, the 3,000-employee Ventura County Health Care Agency, officials said Wednesday. Johnson Gill will serve as director of an agency with an $818.7 million budget that's used to run a hospital and clinic system as well as diverse departments in charge of areas including public health, the medical examiner's office, behavioral health and animal control. (Kisken, 9/7)
Bay Area News Group:
Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Neonatal Research To Be Discussed At Conference
Research from Santa Clara Valley Medical Center about reducing how long babies stay in hospital neonatal intensive care units will be presented this week at a national nursing conference. (Seipel, 9/7)
After Year Filled With Turmoil, Health Law Is At A Crossroads
Federal officials say it's all temporary, but others fear a death spiral.
The Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Health Law Faces Critical Year
Significant spikes in premiums, insurer dropouts and persistently low enrollment numbers are combining to make this fall’s sign-up period a crossroads for the Obama administration’s signature health law. Federal officials characterize the turbulence as temporary. At the same time, the administration is making a push in its final months to shore up the law by trying to sign up healthy people who are critical to the law’s sustainability but have so far rejected insurance. That push will take place against a backdrop of elections that will shape the law’s future. (Radnofsky and Armour, 9/7)
In other national health care news —
The Hill:
Pelosi: Dems Will Back Smaller Zika Bill
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday that Democrats are ready to compromise on funding levels to address the Zika virus, provided Republicans drop restrictions on Planned Parenthood using the money. Pelosi said Democrats will accept the Senate's $1.1 billion compromise — in lieu of the $1.9 billion requested by President Obama and demanded by Pelosi earlier in the year — but only if health agencies are underwritten for a full 12 months. (Lillis, 9/7)
Morning Consult:
Clinton’s EpiPen Plan Gets ‘Meh’ Reviews In Congress
Lawmakers came back to Capitol Hill promising action against controversial EpiPen price hikes, but they can’t quite agree how to translate their dissatisfaction into policy. While Hillary Clinton has issued a set of proposals, Republicans dismiss them and Democrats spoke vaguely about their candidate’s ideas. (Owens, 9/7)
The Washington Post:
Cancer ‘Moonshot’ Panel Names Top 10 Ways To Speed Progress Against The Disease
The Obama administration's "cancer moonshot" took a major step forward Wednesday when a committee of top cancer researchers and patient advocates recommended an ambitious set of scientific goals designed to sharply accelerate progress against the disease. The 10 ideas, which were developed by a blue-ribbon panel, deal with an array of topics, including research, clinical trials, data mining, prevention and patient engagement. The recommendations were sent to a task force headed by Vice President Biden, who is leading the administration's moonshot campaign. (McGinley, 9/7)