Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
State Broadens Investigation Of Doctors For Issuing Questionable Vaccination Exemptions
The Medical Board of California is investigating at least four doctors for issuing questionable vaccine exemptions for numerous children. The investigations come amid the nation’s worst measles outbreak in more than a quarter-century. (Barbara Feder Ostrov, 7/2)
Good morning! California Attorney General Xavier Beccera, along with other Democratic AGs, has filed a lawsuit against the federal government over claims the EPA has not effectively regulated asbestos. More on that below, but first here are your other top California health stories of the day.
Trump, Newsom Trade Barbs Over California’s Recent Decision To Expand Health Care To Certain Residents Regardless Of Immigration Status: The $214.8 billion state budget Gov. Gavin Newsom signed last week extends public health insurance to low-income immigrants who are in the country illegally up to the age of 26, expanding on California's previous coverage extension to minors. While Newsom resisted Democratic legislators’ push to cover seniors as well, the Democratic governor has repeatedly said he wants to eventually cover all undocumented immigrants. President Donald Trump brought the issue up on Monday at a press conference. “You look at what they’re doing in California, how they’re treating people. They don’t treat their people as well as they treat illegal immigrants,” Trump said. “It’s very unfair to our citizens and we’re going to stop it, but we may need an election to stop it.” Meanwhile, Newsom had some words of his own. “To my friends at Fox News, I know we’re keeping you in business and getting your advertising rates and clicks going, but we believe in universal healthcare — universal healthcare is a right,” Newsom said during a budget rally in Sacramento on Monday. “We’re delivering it regardless of immigration status to everyone up to the age of 26,” Newsom added, saying the goal of universal coverage is “the right thing to do and it’s the fiscally responsible thing to do.” Read more from Sophia Bollag of The Sacramento Bee; Jeremy B. White of Politico; and Adam Beam of The Associated Press.
California's First Surgeon General Spreads Word About Lifelong Effects Of Childhood Trauma: Dr. Nadine Burke Harris is a noted expert in the field of childhood trauma and she is bringing her experience with her to the newly created state surgeon general position. “Health equity is one of the priority areas for my role,” Burke Harris said in an interview with NPR. “I'm currently working to understand better what the California Department of Public Health's approach has been on addressing this issue. I also want to get a better understanding of what the drivers are behind what we're seeing in maternal mortality and to see [to] what extent we can understand the impact of toxic stress and cumulative adversity.” Gov. Gavin Newsom, who created the role for Burke Harris, cites the toxic stress of childhood trauma as among the root causes "of many of the most harmful and persistent health challenges facing Californians." Read more from Erika Stallings of NPR.
Immigration Facilities Across California Are Failing To Provide Enough Care, Education To Children In Custody, Report Finds: Investigators with Disability Rights California, who are authorized by the state to monitor conditions at any facility that houses individuals with disabilities, spent the past year visiting sites in California where the federal government is holding undocumented minors. DRC staff attorneys interviewed 150 children and found many were suffering from symptoms of trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health disabilities, but were not getting counseling or medication. The DRC also faulted the facilities for failing to provide proper levels of education to their wards. According to the ORR Guide for Children Entering the United States Unaccompanied, children with special needs should be placed in a facility with "the general population but that is able to provide services and treatment for special needs" while striving for "the least restrictive setting in the best interests of the child." Read more from Michelle Wiley of KQED.
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.
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More News From Across The State
Reuters:
U.S. States Sue EPA For Stricter Asbestos Rules
Ten U.S. states and Washington, D.C. sued the Environmental Protection Agency to begin working on rules to tighten oversight of asbestos, and reduce the health risks that the substance poses to the public. The attorneys general from California and Massachusetts, Xavier Becerra and Maura Healey, said on Monday they are leading the case, after the EPA denied the states' petition that it collect more data on asbestos. (7/1)
The Hill:
States Sue EPA For Tougher Regulation Of Asbestos
“It is widely acknowledged that asbestos is one of the most harmful and toxic chemicals known to humankind,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a release about the lawsuit. “While it’s troubling that we must once again take the EPA to court to force the agency to do its job, we won’t pull any punches. There’s too much at stake to let the EPA ignore the danger that deadly asbestos poses to our communities.” (Beitsch, 7/1)
The Associated Press:
Glitches Snarl Start Of California's Ammo Background Checks
California's new ammunition background check law began Monday not with a bang but with a whimper from dealers who reported delays and glitches with the state's online system. But they said few customers were affected because most had stockpiled bullets or shotgun shells in the weeks before the new law took effect. Voters in 2016 approved requiring criminal background checks for every ammunition purchase. But the state's latest attempt to deter gun violence only took effect Monday. (7/1)
The Mercury News:
Ammo Purchase Slows After New California Background Check Law Starts
A new state law caused a glut of concerns among gun dealers throughout the state trying to navigate bureaucratic requirements to conduct background checks for anyone buying ammunition in California. California tightened its already strict firearms laws by requiring background checks for anyone buying ammunition and barring ammo sales except through licensed dealers. (Todd and Thompson, 7/2)
San Jose Mercury News:
Gov. Gavin Newsom Talked Big On Housing. How Has He Stacked Up So Far?
When Gov. Gavin Newsom took office in January, armed with big promises and bold ideas to fix the state’s drastic shortage of homes, housing advocates were so hopeful they were almost giddy. ...But reversing a housing crisis years in the making is a daunting task. And without new legislation to dramatically boost production, Newsom will have a hard time meeting his ambitious campaign pledge — to build 3.5 million homes by 2025. (Kendall, 7/1)
Sacramento Bee:
Vaccine Rates Fall Below Guidelines In 90 Sacramento Schools
Amid the worst national measles outbreak in a quarter of a century, more than 90 Sacramento County schools do not have vaccination rates high enough to achieve community immunity against the preventable disease. More than a dozen of these schools are private and charter schools that reported a disproportionate number of the county’s 309 medical exemptions. (Wiley, 7/2)
The California Health Report:
California Environmental Group Warns Of High Arsenic Levels In Two Bottled Water Brands
An Oakland-based environmental health group is threatening to sue the manufacturers and retailers behind two bottled water brands for failing to warn consumers about allegedly high levels of arsenic in their products. The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) has sent legal notices to Whole Foods, which owns the bottled water brand Starkey, and Keurig Dr. Pepper, which owns Peñafiel spring water, sold by Target. The center commissioned testing of the water brands and said it found both Starkey and Peñafiel contained arsenic levels high enough to warrant a health warning under California’s consumer protection law Proposition 65.In the legal notices, CEH said it will file citizen lawsuits against Keurig Dr. Pepper and Whole Foods if they don’t agree to recall the bottled water already sold, pay a penalty, and either remove arsenic from the water they’re selling or place a warning to consumers on the bottles. (Boyd-Barrett, 7/1)
Modern Healthcare:
Kaiser, Centene And Molina Must Pay Big Risk-Adjustment Charges
Kaiser Permanente, Centene Corp. and Molina Healthcare are among the health insurers that racked up massive charges under an Affordable Care Act program meant to steady the premiums in the individual insurance market and discourage insurers from cherry-picking healthy, less costly plan members. According to Modern Healthcare's analysis of data released by the CMS late last week, Kaiser Permanente, which is integrated with Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, must pay $891.7 million into the ACA risk-adjustment program for the individual market for 2018, which will be transferred to insurers who enrolled riskier patients. (Livingston, 7/1)
Reuters:
Former USC Gynecologist Pleads Not Guilty To Sexual Assault
A former University of Southern California gynecologist accused by hundreds of patients of molestation and other misconduct over the past three decades pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of sexually assaulting 16 students who were under his care. George Tyndall, 72, was also ordered to remain in custody in lieu of nearly $2.1 million bond, but Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Theresa Sullivan said she would review a defense request to slash his bail at another hearing set for Wednesday. (7/1)
The New York Times:
‘It Feels Like A Jail’: Lawmakers Criticize Migrant Holding Sites On Border
Women held in rooms without running water, sleeping bags set up on concrete and children left apart from their families: That was what Democratic lawmakers said they heard about on Monday as they toured two Texas border facilities. Their emotional, and graphic, descriptions came on a day when ProPublica reported the existence of a secret Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol agents. Posts on the group’s page included jokes about migrants’ deaths, obscene GIFs and doctored images of Hispanic lawmakers, the report said. Some of the most offensive posts were directed at Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York. (Cochrane, 7/1)
Reuters:
Ocasio-Cortez Describes 'Horrifying' Conditions At Texas Migrant Facility
Migrants held at a border patrol station in Texas were subjected to psychological abuse and told to drink out of toilets, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said after a visit with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to the main border patrol facility in El Paso. ... "After I forced myself into a cell with women and began speaking to them, one of them described their treatment at the hands of officers as "psychological warfare," Ocasio-Cortez, a first-term New York Democrat, wrote on Twitter after leaving the El Paso border patrol station. (7/1)
BuzzFeed:
Women Held In Border Patrol Custody Say They Were Told To Drink Water From Toilets
Rep. Judy Chu from California described what the delegation saw as appalling and disgusting. In addition to some immigrant women telling members of Congress they didn’t have access to running water, one epileptic woman said she been unable to obtain medication for her condition. (Flores, 7/1)
CNN:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrats Shocked By Conditions Following Border Facility Tours
US Border Patrol Chief of Operations Brian Hastings denied the accusations that some immigrants in border detention facilities are forced to drink from toilets. "Drinking out of the toilet is completely untrue," said Hastings. He said there are "ample supplies" and that "a lot of our stations look like Costco." (Alvarez, 7/1)
ProPublica:
Inside The Secret Border Patrol Facebook Group Where Agents Joke About Migrant Deaths And Post Sexist Memes
Members of a secret Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol agents joked about the deaths of migrants, discussed throwing burritos at Latino members of Congress visiting a detention facility in Texas on Monday and posted a vulgar illustration depicting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez engaged in oral sex with a detained migrant, according to screenshots of their postings. (Thompson, 7/1)
Boston Globe:
ProPublica Got A Look Inside A Secret Border Patrol Agent Facebook Page. What It Found Was Ugly
The “I’m 10-15” Facebook group, created in August 2016, has roughly 9,500 members from across the country. “10-15” is Border Patrol radio code for “aliens in custody.” The group described itself in an online introduction as a place for “funny” and “serious” discussions about work with the agency. (Finucane, 7/1)
The Associated Press:
Border Patrol Head Condemns Agents' Offensive Facebook Posts
The head of the U.S. Border Patrol on Monday slammed as "completely inappropriate" sexually explicit posts about U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and comments questioning the authenticity of a photo of a drowned man and his young daughter in a secret Facebook group for agents. (7/1)
The Associated Press:
Trump Signs Humanitarian Aid Package To Bolster Migrant Care
President Donald Trump signed a $4.6 billion aid package on Monday to help the federal government cope with the surge of Central American immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. Many Democratic lawmakers were hoping for more. They wanted to provide stronger protections for how migrants are treated at holding facilities and to make it easier for lawmakers to make snap visits. (7/1)