Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
5 Things To Know As California Starts Screening Children For Toxic Stress
California now will pay pediatricians to screen Medi-Cal patients for traumatic events known as adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs. The program is based on research showing that children who endure chronic stress have an increased risk of developing serious health problems. Here are five things to know about the new program. (Barbara Feder Ostrov, )
Good morning! Here are some of your top California health stories for the day.
California Lawmakers Introduce Vaping Bill That Would Go Far Beyond Trump Administration's Efforts: California lawmakers on Monday introduced a measure to outlaw store sales of all flavored tobacco products in the state. The proposal would go far beyond the federal government’s plan, announced Thursday, for a temporary ban on many candy- and fruit-flavored e-cigarette products that could be lifted if companies can convince the FDA that the pods are safe. Senate Bill 793 would prohibit flavored products not covered by the federal ban, including menthol-flavored cartridges and refillable, tank-based vaping systems that can be filled with flavored chemicals. It would also outlaw flavors for traditional combustible cigarettes and cigars, as well as for chewing tobacco and hookah pipes. The legislation was announced by a bipartisan group including Democratic Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and 30 lawmakers led by Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo), who called flavored vaping products “death bait.” Read more from Patrick McGreevy of the Los Angeles Times.
Newsom Has Received Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars In Free Legal Work Over Death Penalty, Prison Health Care: Law firm Boies Schiller Flexner provided more than $405,000 in legal services to help Gov. Gavin Newsom with his death penalty moratorium, according to records filed with the Fair Political Practices Commission. Another firm, Robins Kaplan, contributed nearly $450,000 in free representation in Coleman v. Newsom, the ongoing case that prompted California’s prison realignment. Enlisting outside counsel opens the door for conflicts of interest because private firms, unlike government lawyers, may have financial or political motives different from those of California taxpayers, experts say. But, overall, they say free legal work from normally expensive top-flight firms appears to be a net benefit for the state. Read more from Sophia Bollag of the Sacramento Bee.
Legislature Might Step In As Newsom Dawdles On Homeless Czar: Assemblywoman Luz Rivas on Monday introduced a bill to create an Office to End Homelessness run by a cabinet secretary for housing insecurity and homelessness who would report to the governor. During his campaign, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would appoint a cabinet-level secretary to advise him on homelessness, but has since backed away from that promise. Instead, he’s delegated homelessness issues to several advisers. Read more from Sophia Bollag of the Sacramento Bee.
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:
Left Waiting: Workers’ Comp Creates Lengthy Delays For Californians Injured On The Job
Injured workers in California often wait months or even years to receive the medical evaluations required to get needed treatment, and in some cases to determine the extent of their disability resulting from a work-related injury. The reason? The state lacks enough physicians signed up with the state’s program to serve as experts. (Aguilera, 1/6)
Capital Public Radio:
Regardless Of Immigration Status, All Low-Income Californians Up To Age 26 Can Now Sign Up For Medi-Cal
This summer, California became the first state to approve a Medicaid expansion to undocumented young adults up to age 26. This group can now access health benefits through Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, as of Jan. 1. The idea of offering public health insurance to non-citizens initially faced some pushback from Republican lawmakers who oppose using California general fund dollars for this purpose. Health and immigration advocates say the expansion is a crucial step toward “universal health care,” or insurance coverage for all. (Caiola, 1/6)
The Mercury News:
Seismic Upgrades Underway At Alameda Hospital
A $25 million project is now underway to retrofit Alameda Hospital, upgrades that are required by the state to remain licensed as a hospital with emergency room services. Alameda Health System and the city’s health care district, which jointly run the hospital on Clinton Avenue, announced in December that they had approved the project. The seismic work will take place in the hospital’s west building and is projected to be finished by October 2021, Jeanne Herrera, a spokeswoman for Alameda Health Systems, said on Friday. (Hegarty, 1/6)
The San Francisco Chronicle:
SF To Lease Buildings For Formerly Homeless As It Struggles To Get People Off The Streets
San Francisco is making 151 units in two residential hotels available for formerly homeless people, a more affordable and faster option than creating new units in a city where subsidized housing costs $700,000 a unit and five years to build. City officials and two nonprofits are putting the finishing touches on leases for the 62-unit Abigail Hotel on McAllister Street in Civic Center and 89-unit Post Hotel on Post and Taylor streets. The city will pay to subsidize the units and the nonprofits will oversee day-to-day operations. (Fracassa, 1/7)
Sacramento Bee:
Girls Shouldn’t Be Getting Pelvic Exams In Routine Checkups
Hundreds of thousands of teenage girls are being subjected to unnecessary pelvic and cervical exams because doctors aren’t aware of guidelines on when to perform the exams, according to research released Monday by the University of California, San Francisco. “Recent media reports have called attention to inappropriate gynecologic examinations in young women,” said the study’s senior author, Dr. George F. Sawaya, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at UCSF and director of the UCSF Center for Healthcare Value. “Parents of adolescents and young women should be aware that cervical cancer screening is not recommended routinely in this age group.” (Anderson, 1/6)
Los Angeles Times:
Eight Science Stories To Watch For In 2020
Scientists have been searching for ways to detect cancer in its earliest stages, when treatments are most likely to be effective. In 2020, they’ll be harnessing the power of biomarkers to aid them in this mission. Biomarkers are distinctive bits of protein or DNA that can be detected in bodily fluids like blood and urine. The trick is to identify ones that are reliable signals of malignancy. Candidates are being tested in ever-larger groups of people to determine whether they’re accurate and can be trusted not to generate too many false-positive results. (Netburn, Healy, Rosen, Khan and Kaplan, 12/27)
Capital Public Radio:
California Cities Turn To Hired Hooves To Help Prevent Massive Wildfires
California has gone through several difficult fire seasons in recent years. Now, some cities are investing in unconventional fire prevention methods, including goats. Anaheim, a city southeast of Los Angeles, has recently re-upped its contract with the company Environmental Land Management to keep goats grazing on city hillsides nearly year-round.The goats are stationed in places like Deer Canyon Park, a nature preserve with more than a hundred acres of steep hills. Beginning in July, roughly 400 goats worked through the park, eating invasive grasses and dried brush. (Manata, 1/5)
Politico:
Congress' Health Agenda Barrels Toward 2020 Buzz Saw
Republicans and Democrats have a narrow opening to cut big deals on drug pricing and surprise medical bills and address two key concerns of voters — just in time for 2020 electoral politics to drive them apart. Congressional leaders are feeling renewed urgency to do something about the high-profile issues, but they fear impeachment and escalating tensions with Iran could swamp the legislative agenda. And on drug pricing, both sides are reluctant to let the other claim victory on a pocketbook issue that recent polling shows ranks high among voter concerns. (Cancryn and Ollstein, 1/7)
The Hill:
Analysis: ObamaCare Market Stable And Profitable Despite Loss Of Individual Mandate
The ObamaCare market is “stable” and profitable for insurers despite the repeal of the law’s mandate to have coverage, a new analysis finds. When Republicans repealed the health law’s mandate to have coverage in the 2017 tax law, many Democrats and some policy experts warned the move would cause chaos in the markets as healthy people dropped coverage, leaving only sick, expensive patients remaining. (Sullivan, 1/6)
The Hill:
Supreme Court Sets Friday Deadline For Responses In ObamaCare Case
The Supreme Court on Monday told the Trump administration and a group of states to respond by the end of the week to an effort by Democrats to expedite a challenge to a lower court ruling that struck down a key tenet of ObamaCare. The court asked the health care law's opponents to file a response to the motion by Friday afternoon. Democrats challenging the decision from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that ruled the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate unconstitutional asked the Supreme Court last week to expedite a briefing schedule and to hear the case before the current term ends in June. (Neidig, 1/6)
The Washington Post:
EPA Says It Will Cut Pollution From Heavy Duty Diesel Trucks
The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday said it would soon propose tougher restrictions on pollution from heavy-duty trucks, an uncharacteristic move to tighten existing standards from an administration that has prided itself on a series of regulatory rollbacks. Heavy-duty vehicles are the largest mobile source of nitrogen oxide, a pollutant linked to heart and lung disease. They also tend to remain in service far longer than other vehicles. (Dennis, 1/6)
The Associated Press:
US To Start Collecting DNA From People Detained At Border
The U.S. government on Monday launched a pilot program to collect DNA from people in immigration custody and submit it to the FBI, with plans to expand nationwide. The information would go into a massive criminal database run by the FBI, where it would be held indefinitely. A memo outlining the program published Monday by the Department of Homeland Security said U.S. citizens and permanent residents holding a “green card” who are detained could be subject to DNA testing, as well as asylum seekers and people entering the country without authorization. (Merchant, 1/6)
Reuters:
Drug Developers Take Fresh Aim At 'Guided-Missile' Cancer Drugs
Dozens of drugmakers are conducting human trials for a record 89 therapies that pair antibodies with toxic agents to fight cancer, evidence of renewed confidence in an approach that has long fallen short of its promise, an analysis compiled for Reuters shows. These antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs, from companies including AztraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline, are described by researchers as "guided missiles" packing a powerful anti-cancer punch. (1/6)
The New York Times:
A.I. Comes To The Operating Room
Brain surgeons are bringing artificial intelligence and new imaging techniques into the operating room, to diagnose tumors as accurately as pathologists, and much faster, according to a report in the journal Nature Medicine. The new approach streamlines the standard practice of analyzing tissue samples while the patient is still on the operating table, to help guide brain surgery and later treatment. (Grady, 1/6)