Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Trump Administration And Democrats Return Health Law To Political Center Stage
The Justice Department asks a federal appeals court to strike down the Affordable Care Act, then, hours later, House Democrats unveil proposals to bolster the law. (Julie Rovner, )
Good morning! There’s lots of California health news for you today, from the opioid crisis to lead in candy to police shootings. You can get the full roundup below, but here are some of the top stories to start your day.
Proposed Bill Would Crack Down On Bogus Medical Exemptions: Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) introduced the legislation that looks to close what has become a loophole created by the state’s already-strict vaccination laws. “Some schools are reporting that more than 20 percent of their students have a medical exemption,” Pan said. “It is clear that a small number of physicians are monetizing their exemption-granting authority and profiting from the sale of medical exemptions.” A study published in the journal Pediatrics last fall reported one case in which an unnamed physician issued medical exemptions after charging parents to watch a vaccine safety video, and another in which an unnamed specialist who did not practice family medicine was providing exemptions over the phone for $100. The bill would remove doctors from the equation completely—parents would have to petition the California Department of Public Health to allow their kids to attend school without the shots. It would also create a state vaccine medical exemption database, and grant state and county health officials the authority to revoke exemptions “if they are found to be fraudulent or inconsistent” with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccination guidelines. “We cannot allow a small number of unethical physicians to put our children back at risk,” Pan said. “Children and their families demand that we act to keep them safe.”
Read more on the proposed law and other news on the measles outbreaks from The Sacramento Bee, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Mercury News, and Politico Pro.
Dignity Health To Launch Its Own Program To Distribute Specialty Medications: The California-based health system joins a growing trend of hospitals forming their own specialty pharmacies in an effort to cut down on high drug costs. "It's a topic that's become top of mind for pretty much every hospital that we speak to," said Matt Conway, executive vice president of client operations at Shields, a company that helps hospitals set up the pharmacies. Dignity said it won’t be expanding the scope of the program into nonspecialty drugs. The health system has recently joined forces with Catholic Health Initiatives to form CommonSpirit Health. Read more from Modern Healthcare.
Public Health Officials, Clinics Broaden Efforts To Get Undocumented Immigrants The Medical Care They Need: Beyond California’s Medi-Cal coverage for undocumented children, and emergency and pregnancy-related services, primary care coverage has remained limited for undocumented adults. Sonoma’s new Path to Health project aims to change that. Patients eligible under the new program will have access to primary care doctors at the clinics, including specialists, and will be able to schedule to physicals, immunizations, lab tests and cancer screenings, as well as procure drug prescriptions starting at a $5 copay, according to the program description. “This gives people more legitimacy to take care of themselves and is a huge relief for people who have not sought care due to fear of being undocumented in this climate,” said Kari Brownstein, administrative officer for the Sacramento-based County Medical Services Program, a 35-county entity that oversees the new initiative. Read more from the Press Democrat.
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
The California Health Report:
Lead In Candies And Purses Dropped Thanks To Prop 65 Litigation, Study Concludes
Enforcement of California’s Proposition 65 toxic chemical labeling law has resulted in a significant decrease in the amount of lead found in certain candies and colorful purses, according to a new report. Lead levels in tamarind and chili candies sold in California declined dramatically following 2004 litigation brought against several manufacturers of the treats, researchers at the Oakland-based Center for Environmental Health found. In 2004, almost half of the candies tested contained hazardous levels of lead. That dropped to just 3 percent five years later, following litigation brought against manufacturers by CEH and California’s Department of Justice, the report found. (Boyd-Barrett, 3/26)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. County Expands Smoking Ban To Vaping Tobacco And Smoking Pot In Public
The Board of Supervisors updated the county’s legal definition of "smoke" and "smoking" on Tuesday, expanding an existing ban on using tobacco products at beaches, parks and government buildings to include electronic cigarettes and pot. The supervisors also clamped down with new restrictions on smoking at beach parking lots, bus stops, outdoor bars and some common areas of county-owned golf courses in unincorporated areas. (Stiles, 3/26)
LAist:
LA County Is Putting Even More Restrictions On Smoking (And Toking)
Smokers, beware. The L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted today to expand the smoking ban that passed last October. Smoking will be banned within 25 feet of restaurants and bars in unincorporated areas of the county. That includes e-cigarettes and cannabis. (Dugdale, 3/26)
KPBS:
Fentanyl Is Flowing Through Mexico To The US, Often As Fake Oxycontin
Experts say the nation’s deadliest drug — fentanyl — is increasingly coming in from Mexico, through ports of entry like San Ysidro. The synthetic drug is transported into San Diego mostly in vehicles and pedestrian lanes at the ports by U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents known as "couriers," according to Sherri Walker Hobson of the U.S. Attorney's office. (Guerrero, 3/26)
Capital Public Radio:
With Fentanyl Deaths On The Rise Nationally, California Is Taking Precautions
Deaths from a synthetic opioid called fentanyl have been on the rise nationally, and last week’s findings from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show this could be the third wave of the nation’s opioid epidemic. Though the spike in death rates has largely affected the Northeast, the trend is starting to worry health experts in California, who are already taking precautions to reduce overdoses. (Caiola, 3/26)
East Bay Times:
South Bay Doctor Pleads Guilty To Illegally Prescribing Opioids
A South Bay doctor faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine when he is sentenced in July for unlawfully prescribing painkillers, authorities said. On Tuesday, 52-year-old Venkat Aachi, of Saratoga, pleaded guilty to distributing hydrocodone outside the scope of his professional practice and without a legitimate medical need, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Hydrocodone is one of the most common drugs involved in prescription opioid deaths in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 700,000 people died from an overdose between 1999 and 2017. (Green, 3/26)
Orange County Register:
Orange County To Increase Triage Services For People Experiencing Psychiatric Emergencies
Orange County is moving to add another 24-hour crisis stabilization unit to help the mentally ill, another vital piece to a mental health care system it hopes to build over the next few years. Supervisors on Tuesday authorized a three-year, $13.3 million contract with College Hospital to develop and operate at its Costa Mesa campus the county’s second such mental health emergency center for individuals suffering acute behavioral or psychiatric episodes. Though health care officials could not say exactly when the unit will open, the contract begins in July. (Walker, 3/26)
Capital Public Radio:
A Year After Stephon Clark’s Death, Sacramento Communities Still Want More Safe Black Spaces And Mental Health Resources
The meeting offered a public venue for the city’s black residents to talk about a tumultuous month that marked one-year since Clark’s death. But Haggins and other mental health professionals say they need more places to talk about the emotional impact of these events as the Clark story continues to unfold. (Caiola, 3/26)
Sacramento Bee:
Legionnaire’s Disease Confirmed In Dead Prison Inmate
State corrections officials are investigating a Legionnaire’s disease outbreak at a prison in Stockon after an inmate from there died at an outside hospital. The California Health Care Facility inmate tested positive in a post-death analysis for legionella, the bacteria that causes the disease, according to a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation news release issued Tuesday. The disease is a type of pneumonia. (Venteicher, 3/26)
KPBS:
San Diego Food Bank Expanding Program To Improve Services
The San Diego Food Bank is expanding a program that aims to get rid of long lines for food assistance. The program uses a personalized ID card that allows people to sign up for appointments ahead of time. (Hoffman, 3/26)
Capital Public Radio:
Three New Sites For Homeless Shelters Under Consideration At Sacramento City Hall
City Council members have proposed three new sites for homeless shelters. Councilman Jay Schenirer says one shelter site would be near Alhambra Boulevard and Highway 50, where several homeless campers has been moving from underpass to underpass for more than a year. (Moffitt, 3/26)
The New York Times:
Democrats Pivot Hard To Health Care After Trump Moves To Strike Down Affordable Care Act
The Trump administration’s decision to ask a federal appeals court to invalidate the Affordable Care Act has given House Democrats a new opening to pursue what they see as a winning political strategy: moving past talk of impeachment to put kitchen-table issues like health care front and center. The notice to the court, filed late Monday by the Justice Department, could not have come at a more opportune time for Democrats. The finding by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, that there was no evidence of a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, dashed the hopes of the most partisan Democrats that the House would impeach the president. (Stolberg and Pear, 3/26)
The Washington Post:
Trump Surprises Republicans — And Pleases Democrats — With Push To Revive Health-Care Battle
In a new court filing, the Justice Department argued that the ACA, also known as Obamacare, should be thrown out in its entirety, including provisions protecting millions of Americans with preexisting health conditions and allowing young adults to stay on their parents’ health-care plans. President Trump praised the move during a lunch with Senate Republicans, and suggested the GOP should embrace a new congressional battle over health-care policy ahead of the 2020 elections. “Let me tell you exactly what my message is: The Republican Party will soon be known as the party of health care,” he told reporters before the lunch. “You watch.” (Olorunnipa and Kim, 3/26)
The Wall Street Journal:
Democrats Signal Renewed Focus On Health Care After Mueller Findings
“We’ve never taken our focus off the for-the-people agenda,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) told reporters on Tuesday after meeting with the Democratic caucus. She said the party would push to lower the cost of health care, build infrastructure and clean up government. Rep. James Clyburn (D., S.C.), the House majority whip, appeared to go a step further. “I believe that the Mueller report has been done. It’s a chapter that’s closed,” Mr. Clyburn said. Pointing to a filing by the Justice Department late Monday that asked a court to invalidate the Affordable Care Act, Mr. Clyburn said health care is “the No. 1 thing on people’s minds.” (Hughes and Peterson, 3/26)
Reuters:
Trump Administration Steps Up Obamacare Attack, Asks Court To Overturn Law
Democrats said the move to overturn Obamacare would overshadow Republican President Donald Trump's claim of victory following the conclusion of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The legal filing gave Democrats a natural opening to focus on an issue they say is more important to voters than the Mueller investigation. "We always felt that the issues that affect average Americans - healthcare, climate change, jobs - (are) far more important to them, and to us, than what happens in an investigation," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters. (3/26)
The Associated Press:
Trump's Attack On 'Obamacare' Gives Democrats A Fresh Issue
"This is something that Americans care deeply about," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, a White House hopeful. "I may not have been asked about the Mueller report at town hall meetings, but I was sure asked about health care." Other Democrats appeared to relish the chance to shift to health care. Asked if the Trump administration's court filing allowed Democrats to turn the page on Mueller, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would have been talking about health care no matter what. "We have been dealing with health care constantly," the California Democrat said. "The public attention has been on the Mueller report, but we have been focused on health care." (3/26)
Los Angeles Times:
Trump Reopens Obamacare Repeal Debate, And Democrats Are Thrilled
In a closed-door lunch with the senators, the president issued a vague call to them to address healthcare to lower costs, according to several lawmakers in the room. “He led off on that and he spent a good bit of time on it. It’s clearly on his mind, and it’s clear to me he wants us to take another run on it,” said Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana. “I thought that he’d immediately start talking about the Mueller report or China,” the country at the center of Trump’s trade agenda. (Bierman, Haberkorn and Levey, 3/26)
San Franciso Chronicle:
The Trump Administration Is Attacking The Affordable Care Act Yet Again
California, along with more than a dozen other states, has intervened in court to defend the ACA. As important as that fight is, it’ll take place against the backdrop of a much larger war in this country over the extent to which Americans want government support for health care.In 2020, the Democrats are betting that the country wants far more support than we have now. The Trump administration is betting — against all available evidence — that we want none at all. The final decision will be made by the voters, not by the courts. (3/26)
Politico:
White House Obamacare Reversal Made Over Cabinet Objections
The Trump administration’s surprising move to invalidate Obamacare on Monday came despite the opposition of two key cabinet secretaries: Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Attorney General Bill Barr. Driving the dramatic action were the administration’s domestic policy chief, Joe Grogan, and the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the decision. Both are close allies of White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, who helped to engineer the move. (Johnson and Everett, 3/26)
The New York Times:
What Happens If Obamacare Is Struck Down?
The Affordable Care Act was already in peril after a federal judge in Texas invalidated the entire law late last year. But the stakes ramped up again this week, when President Trump’s Justice Department announced it had changed its position and agreed with the judge that the entire law, not just three pieces of it, should be scrapped. A coalition of states is appealing the ruling. If it is upheld, tens of millions more people would be affected than those who already rely on the nine-year-old law for health insurance. Also known as Obamacare, the law touches the lives of most Americans, from nursing mothers to people eating at chain restaurants. (Abelson, Goodnough and Pear, 3/26)
Reuters:
Purdue Pharma Agrees To $270 Million Settlement In Oklahoma Opioid Case
OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP and members of the wealthy Sackler family that own the company reached a $270 million settlement to resolve a lawsuit brought by the state of Oklahoma accusing the drugmaker of fueling an opioid abuse epidemic. The settlement unveiled by Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter on Tuesday was the first to result from a wave of lawsuits accusing Purdue of deceptively marketing painkillers, helping create a deadly crisis sweeping the United States. (3/26)
The New York Times:
Purdue Pharma And Sacklers Reach $270 Million Settlement In Opioid Lawsuit
The payment, negotiated to settle a case brought by the state of Oklahoma, was far larger than two previous settlements Purdue Pharma had reached with other states. It could jolt other settlement talks with the company, including those in a consolidated collection of 1600 cases overseen by a federal judge in Cleveland. “Purdue appears to have concluded that it was less risky to settle the Oklahoma case than have the allegations publicly aired against it during a televised trial and face exposure to what could have been an astronomical jury verdict,” said Abbe R. Gluck, a professor at Yale Law School who directs the Solomon Center for Health Policy and Law. (Hoffmank, 3/26)
The Washington Post:
Purdue Pharma, State Of Oklahoma Reach Settlement In Landmark Opioid Lawsuit
Under the terms of the Oklahoma settlement, Purdue will immediately contribute $102.5 million to establish a new foundation for addiction treatment and research at Oklahoma State University. Members of the Sackler family, who own the company but were not defendants in the case, will pay an additional $75 million in personal funds over five years. Purdue also will provide $20 million worth of treatment drugs, pay $12 million to cities and towns and cover about $60 million in litigation costs. (Bernstein and Zezima, 3/26)
Politico:
Purdue Pharma Agrees To $270M Opioid Settlement With Oklahoma
The $275 million for 6,700 Oklahoma deaths comes out to roughly $41,000 per death — which would mean Purdue and the Sacklers could end up paying a staggering $16 billion if these numbers were spread across the nation, although the settlements aren’t likely to follow a precise pattern. Purdue agreed to spend $102.5 million to create the center, located in the university's wellness and recovery department, and to donate $20 million worth of medicines to support treatment over the next five years. Purdue will also give $72.5 million to state and local governments combating the opioid crisis. Of that, $12.5 million is for local government and up to $60 million will be for costs and fees related to the litigation. (Goldberg, 3/26)
Politico:
White House, Pelosi In Talks On Drug Pricing Legislation
The Trump administration has held early-stage conversations with Speaker Nancy Pelosi's staff about drug-pricing legislation that could provide each side with a domestic policy victory, according to White House and congressional sources. Democrats and the Trump administration have made reducing drug costs a priority, but accomplishing anything could be difficult, especially since the administration has taken an aggressive stance to overturn Obamacare in federal court. (Karlin-Smith and Cancryn, 3/26)
The Wall Street Journal:
Senate Panel Considers ‘Red Flag’ Gun Laws In Aftermath Of Mass Shootings
A GOP-led Senate committee held a rare gun-control hearing Tuesday on measures aimed at temporarily blocking dangerous people from accessing firearms, following a wave of states’ decisions to allow such curbs. The Senate Judiciary Committee focused Tuesday on extreme-risk protection orders, also known as red-flag laws, aimed at allowing courts to temporarily take guns from people deemed dangerous. Extreme-risk protection orders are designed to generally let family members or law-enforcement officials petition a court for an order that would temporarily block that person from being able to buy a firearm, or enable officials to remove his or her weapons. (Peterson, 3/26)
The Washington Post:
Gilead Profits From Tuvada HIV Treatment Funded By Taxpayers And Patented By The U.S. Government
Thomas Folks spent years in his U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lab developing a treatment to block deadly HIV in monkeys. Then San Francisco AIDS researcher Robert Grant, using $50 million in federal grants, proved the treatment worked in people who engaged in risky sex. Their work — almost fully funded by U.S. taxpayers — created a new use for an older prescription drug called Truvada: preventing HIV infection. But the U.S. government, which patented the treatment in 2015, is not receiving a penny for that use of the drug from Gilead Sciences, Truvada’s maker, which earned $3 billion in Truvada sales last year. (Rowland, 3/26)
The Associated Press:
Panel To Review Indian Health System's Treatment Of Children
The Trump administration is creating a task force to investigate how an Indian Health Service doctor was able to sexually assault children in his care. The White House announced Tuesday that the Presidential Task Force on Protecting Native American Children in the Indian Health Service System will be co-chaired by President Donald Trump's domestic policy adviser and the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma. (3/26)
Reuters:
U.S. Expands Abortion 'Gag Rule,' Cuts Funding To Regional Bloc: Pompeo
The Trump administration on Tuesday expanded its anti-abortion policies, cutting funding to the Organization of American States (OAS) and prohibiting the use of U.S. tax dollars to lobby for or against abortion rights. Trump in 2017 reinstated a policy known as the "Mexico City Policy," requiring foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that receive U.S. family planning funds to certify they do not provide abortions or give abortion advice. (3/26)
The New York Times:
New York Suburb Declares Measles Emergency, Barring Unvaccinated Children From Public
An executive order pulled close to 6,000 unvaccinated children out of schools. Nearly 17,000 doses of the measles-mumps-rubella (M.M.R.) vaccine were given in 26 weeks. There was a public health campaign in which community officials, doctors and rabbis testified to the importance of immunizations. None of those efforts stemmed the severe measles outbreak that has been plaguing Rockland County in New York since October. (Gold and Pager, 3/26)