- California Healthline Original Stories 1
- Listen: Psychotropic Drug Use Up Sharply As Jails House More People With Mental Illness
- Health Care Personnel 1
- University Of California Workers Launch Massive 3-Day Strike Impacting Medical Centers, Health Professionals
- Sacramento Watch 1
- Lawmakers Want To Use $1B From State's Surplus To Fund Health Care Reform Proposals
Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Listen: Psychotropic Drug Use Up Sharply As Jails House More People With Mental Illness
The use of psychiatric drugs among inmates in California’s county jails has soared 25 percent in five years. California Healthline reporter Anna Gorman discussed this phenomenon in a recent radio interview. ( )
More News From Across The State
More than 20,000 members of the University of California's largest employee union are joined by the California Nurses Association, whose members work at UC's medical centers and student health clinics, and the University Professional & Technical Employees, which includes pharmacists, clinical social workers, physical therapists, physician assistants and researchers.
The Associated Press:
University Of California Workers Start 3-Day Strike Over Pay
Thousands of custodians, security guards, gardeners and other service workers at University of California campuses started a three-day strike Monday to address pay inequalities and demand higher wages. Strikers gathered at sunrise on the 10 campuses throughout the state, wearing green T-shirts and carrying signs that call for “equality, fairness, respect.” The strike was called last week by American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, which represents 25,000 service workers, after the union and the university could not agree on a new contract and mediation efforts failed. Another 29,000 nurses, pharmacists, radiologists and other medical workers heeded the service workers’ call for a sympathy strike and will join the walkouts Tuesday and Wednesday, which is expected to disrupt thousands of surgeries and other appointments. (Rodriguez, 5/7)
Los Angeles Times:
Massive UC Workers' Strike Disrupts Dining, Classes And Medical Services
UC's five medical centers hired contract workers to fill in during the strike and scrambled to reschedule exams and treatments. UC San Francisco rescheduled more than 12,000 appointments for surgeries and treatments, including chemotherapy and radiation. UC Davis rescheduled several hundred appointments, including more than 100 cancer surgeries and 150 radiology exams. But campus spokeswoman Kimberly Hale said 78% of UC Davis health workers showed up for work. UC San Diego directed emergency room patients to other hospitals. (Watanabe and Resmovits, 5/7)
Sacramento Bee:
Three-Day Strike Kicks Off Across University Of California System
More than 300 hospital workers and members of AFSCME 3299, which represents workers at UC Davis and its medical center, formed a picket line as a three-day strike began at the medical center in Sacramento on Monday, protesting the stagnating contract negotiations with the University of California. They joined the more than 53,000 health care, service, technical and research workers who are striking across all 10 UC campuses. (Sullivan, 5/7)
The San Diego Union-Tribune:
UC Bracing For Day 2 Of Strike When Nurses, Tech Workers Are Expected To Join Picket Line
Hundreds of service workers marched in front of UC San Diego’s two main medical centers Monday, but everyone, whether on a picket line or in an executive meeting room, said day one of this three-day strike was something of a dress rehearsal. That is because both the California Nurses Association and the University Professional and Technical Employees Union are due to join picket lines Tuesday and Wednesday. “More service workers came in today than we thought,” said Patricia Maysent, chief executive of UC San Diego Health. “Tomorrow, with the CNA and the UPTE going out, it’s going to be harder.” (Sisson, 5/7)
Lawmakers Want To Use $1B From State's Surplus To Fund Health Care Reform Proposals
A large portion of the requested money would go toward extending Medi-Cal to undocumented immigrant adults who are ineligible for coverage.
Capital Public Radio:
Ambitious Health Reform Package Needs $1 Billion From California
An Assembly subcommittee has voted to ask Gov. Jerry Brown for $1 billion from the state’s budget surplus to help make health care more affordable for low-income Californians. The plan lines up with a package of bills announced by Assembly members this year. They want to expand Medi-Cal to undocumented young adults, as well as to low-income women and children. (Caiola, 5/7)
Sacramento Bee:
CA Lawmakers Push Health Care For Undocumented Immigrants
More than 100,000 undocumented adult immigrants in California would be eligible for state-subsidized health coverage, under a major budget push announced by Assembly Democrats Monday. Lawmakers are asking Gov. Jerry Brown for $1 billion, a large portion of which would fund a major expansion of Medi-Cal, the state's low-income health care program. (Hart, 5/7)
In other news from Sacramento —
KQED:
California Kids' Football Ban Sacked Early, Despite Grim Brain Research
A bill that would have made California the first state to ban youth tackle football was shelved at the end of April, following major pushback from parents, coaches and football fans. Organizers collected more than 45,000 signatures opposing the ban, according to the Los Angeles Times. (Ahmed, 5/7)
California Hospitals, Clinics Hit With Millions In Fines Over Privacy Breaches
Many of the citations from the California Department of Public Health were for disclosures of protected health information that were inadvertent or involved a handful of patients.
The California Health Report:
Department Of Public Health Fines Hospitals And Clinics Millions For Patient Privacy Violations
The California Department of Public Health has issued 42 administrative penalties and $2.26 million in fines for violations of patient privacy to 24 hospitals, two clinics and two palliative care providers. The penalties were made public earlier this year but received little attention, though they were the first issued by the agency for privacy breaches since 2016. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) rarely publicizes patient privacy violations, even though they are often accompanied by fines that dwarf those for medical errors that endanger the lives of patients. Most of the incidents occurred four to five years ago. The individual fines against the hospitals and providers ranged from $2,550 to $250,000. (Shinkman, 5/7)
Heroin And Homeless Crises Collide In Northern California Creating Epidemic Of Despair
Although the state on the whole isn't as hard hit by the opioid epidemic, a rural slice in the north is struggling under the weight of dual crises.
The New York Times:
Needle By Needle, A Heroin Crisis Grips California’s Rural North
The dirty needles can be found scattered among the pine and brush, littering the forest floor around Eureka, a town long celebrated as a gateway to the scenic Redwood Empire. They are the debris of a growing heroin scourge that is gripping the remote community in Northern California. While the state as a whole has one of the lowest overall opioid-related death rates in the country, a sharp rise in heroin use across the rural north in recent years has raised alarms. In Humboldt County, the opioid death rate is five times higher than the state average, rivaling the rates of states like Maine and Vermont that have received far more national attention. (Del Real, 5/8)
In other news —
Capital Public Radio:
California Governments Take Drugmakers To Court Over Opioid Crisis
From Shasta to San Diego, local governments are asking drugmakers to cover the cost of caring for opioid-addicted patients, and to pay for the public safety and law enforcement resources used to combat the crisis. A law firm called Baron & Budd is representing 29 California counties in corporate negligence suits against several major pharmaceutical companies. (Caiola, 5/7)
Even Small Injuries To Head Can Significantly Increase Chances Of Dementia
The link between mild and severe head trauma and later problems is becoming well-known. But a new study finds an increased risk even for people who don't lose consciousness from their injury.
The Mercury News:
Concussions Boost Risk Of Dementia
In the first study of its kind, Bay Area researchers have found that mild brain injury – a head bang that creates a dazed feeling, but not unconsciousness – more than doubles the risk of dementia. ... This study confirmed that link, finding risk of dementia was 3.77 times higher for those with moderate to severe trauma at any time in life, compared to those who never had a brain injury, according to researchers from UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences and the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Health Care System. (Krieger, 5/7)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Even Milder Concussions Double Dementia Risk, UCSF Study Finds
Dizzying knocks to the head trigger dementia later in life in proportion to the severity of the resulting concussion, according to the study by UCSF’s Weill Institute for Neurosciences and the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Health Care System. The risk is there, though, whether it was a knockout blow or a staggering shot that only left the victim woozy, said the study of military veterans published Monday in the medical journal JAMA Neurology. (Fimrite, 5/7)
Los Angeles Times:
In Veterans, Even A Mild Case Of Traumatic Brain Injury Is Linked To An Increased Risk Of Dementia
Mild traumatic brain injury may sound like an oxymoron, along the lines of "jumbo shrimp" or "random order." But a new study shows that mild TBIs can have serious consequences for military veterans by raising their risk of dementia. Researchers who examined the medical records of more than 350,000 Americans who served during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan found that men and women who experienced at least one mild TBI were more than twice as likely as their uninjured peers to develop dementia after they retired from the military. (Kaplan, 5/7)
Judge Stays Course With Final Decision On Cancer Warning Labels For Coffee
The final ruling that confirmed the tentative decision from March clears the way for the Council for Education and Research on Toxics to seek a permanent injunction that would either lead to warning labels or a commitment by the industry to remove the chemical from their product.
The Associated Press:
California Judge Affirms Ruling For Coffee Cancer Warnings
A court ruling that gave coffee drinkers a jolt earlier this year was finalized Monday when a Los Angeles judge said coffee sold in California must carry cancer warnings. Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle said Starbucks Corp. and other roasters and retailers failed to show that benefits from drinking coffee outweighed any risks from a carcinogen that is a byproduct of the roasting process. He had tentatively made the same written decision in March. (Melley, 5/7)
In other news from across the state —
Stat:
Surgical Device Firm Demands The Retraction Of A Study Paid For By Its Rival
In January, Minerva Surgical lost a patent infringement suit against Hologic, a rival manufacturer of a radiofrequency device for treating heavy bleeding in the uterus. But Minerva hasn’t raised the white flag. Last month, the Redwood City, Calif., company issued a press release demanding the immediate retraction of a recent study showing that Hologic’s device for endometrial ablation is better than Minerva’s. According to the release, the article, which appears in a relatively obscure publication called the International Journal of Women’s Health (IJWH), makes “material misleading statements” about the nature of the study. (Marcus and Oransky, 5/8)
Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
Sonoma County Officials Propose Cutting Nearly $16 Million From Health Services Budget
Facing yet another significant budget shortfall, Sonoma County officials are proposing slashing nearly $16 million from the Department of Health Services, a move that would result in almost 30 staff layoffs and reduce funding for about 50 nonprofits providing direct health care-related services. The proposed cuts would also eliminate 78 vacant positions in the health services department. In total, the proposed reductions would reduce the department’s full-time staffing roster by one-sixth, from about 650 to 543 positions. (Espinoza, 5/7)
CHIP Targeted In Trump's Proposed $15 Billion Spending Cuts
But an administration official said the proposed $7 billion in cuts would not hurt the Children's Health Insurance Program since $5 billion would come from an account from which money is not authorized to be spent.
Reuters:
Trump Proposes $15 Billion Spending Cuts, Targets Children's Health Program
President Donald Trump will request a package of $15 billion in spending cuts from Congress on Tuesday, including some $7 billion from the Children's Health Insurance Program championed by Democrats, senior administration officials said on Monday. One official said the targeted cuts would cover "unobligated balances" or money that is not being spent. He said the cuts would not have an effect on the CHIP program itself. (Mason, 5/7)
The Associated Press:
Trump Proposing Billions In Spending Cuts To Congress
The White House said it is sending the so-called rescissions package to lawmakers Tuesday. Administration officials, who required anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said the package proposes killing $15 billion in unused funds. A senior official said about $7 billion would come from the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, which provides health care to kids from low-income families, though that official stressed the cuts won't have a practical impact on the popular program. (5/7)
The Wall Street Journal:
Trump Seeks To Cut $15 Billion From Federal Spending By Rescinding Approved Funds
The plan is a shift from earlier discussions about rescinding funds that had been approved as part of a sweeping, $1.3 trillion spending bill enacted in March. This proposal would instead seek to rescind funds that had been authorized in previous fiscal years, but not spent. The official said Mr. Trump plans to propose rescinding money from the March deal in a future proposal, the official said. Mr. Trump had threatened to veto the March spending measure but decided to sign it and avoid shutting down the government. The senior administration official said Monday the rescissions proposal headed for Capitol Hill Tuesday would be the first in a series of proposals to cut funding. (Peterson, 5/7)
Democrats See Opportunity In Trump's Inaction To Reclaim High Drug Prices As Winning Issue
Drug price negotiation has been a longtime plank of the Democratic platform, but President Donald Trump made it his own talking point during his campaign and the early days of his tenure. Now, Democrats want to take it back.
The Washington Post:
Trump Made High Drug Prices His Issue. Democrats Think They Can Take It Back.
Democrats are trying to take back an issue Donald Trump effectively stole from them during the 2016 presidential campaign: the high cost of prescription drugs. Trump repeatedly railed against pharmaceutical companies during the campaign and after taking office, promising that prices would drop and accusing drug companies of “getting away with murder.” But more than a year into his tenure, Trump has taken only limited action, and drug prices continue to climb. (Werner and Johnson, 5/7)
In other national health care news —
Bloomberg:
Obamacare Premiums To Surge Next Year, Early Requests Show
The first glimpse of what health-insurance companies plan to charge for Obamacare plans next year suggests there’s no relief ahead for consumers saddled with high premiums. Several insurers in Maryland and Virginia are seeking double-digit percentage increases in monthly costs for individual medical plans in 2019. The largest increases are being sought by CareFirst, which wants to nearly double the amount it charges on average for one coverage option in Maryland, and raise the cost of another in Virginia by 64 percent. (Tozzi, 5/7)
Politico:
'People Are Dying Every Day': Drug Distributors To Face Lawmakers
The nation's largest drug distributors spent millions on Washington lobbying last year. Now they're about to find out how much goodwill it has bought them in Congress. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is hauling in the executives of five drug distribution companies Tuesday after spending the last year investigating their role as middlemen between drugmakers and the hospitals and pharmacies that dispensed millions of pills in towns that are now ravaged by the opioid epidemic. (Meyer, 5/8)
Politico:
5 Unintended Consequences Of Addressing The Opioid Crisis
The crackdown on opioids is having unintended consequences. The push for fewer opioid prescriptions at lower doses and for shorter periods has increased suffering for some pain patients including those near the end of life. The emphasis on opioids has also overshadowed other forms of substance abuse that require attention. (Karlin-Smith and Ehley, 5/8)
The Associated Press:
US Abortion Clinics Face Surge Of Trespassing And Blockades
America’s abortion clinics experienced a major upsurge in trespassing, obstruction and blockades by anti-abortion activists in 2017, according to an annual survey by an industry group. The National Abortion Federation report chronicled a litany of actions that ranged from coordinated trespassing efforts by abortion opponents, repeated brick-throwing at windows of a Cleveland clinic and an attempted bombing in Illinois. (Crary, 5/7)
Bloomberg:
Athenahealth Surges After Elliott Seeks $6.46 Billion Takeover
Athenahealth Inc. surged after activist investor Elliott Management Corp. bid to acquire the medical company for $160 a share, saying executives had “failed to correct a host of operational issues.” Elliott, the New York hedge fund led by billionaire Paul Singer, said Monday that it made an all-cash takeover offer, which would value Athenahealth at $6.46 billion. Athenahealth, which makes an online platform doctors use to manage their practices, said in a statement that its board will “carefully review the proposal.” (Deveau and Ockerman, 5/7)