Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
Dialysis Patients Panic As Financial ‘Life Raft’ Becomes Unmoored
An organization that helps nearly 4,000 California dialysis patients pay for their insurance is threatening to cut off aid in January because of a new law that is expected to reduce dialysis industry profits. Patients fear they won’t be able to afford their life-saving treatment. (Ana B. Ibarra, )
Good morning! Newly released data reveals that more than a quarter of California children in foster care don’t receive timely medical or dental exams. More on that below, but first here are your top California health stories for the day.
USC Officials Try To Quell Rumors Of Suicide Cluster As Total Number Of Student Deaths This Year Climbs To 9: The first death occurred in late August, two days before classes began, when an incoming freshman was struck by a car while walking on a freeway near the University of Southern California. In the more than 2 months since, eight other USC students have died — three by suicide, others by unknown means. The string of fatalities has left students and faculty at the prestigious university shaken and struggling for answers. “People are searching for answers and information as we attempt to make sense of these terrible losses,” USC President Carol Folt said. “There is a great deal of speculation about the causes of these deaths and most are being attributed to suicide. This is not correct.” Faced with the deaths of nine students since Aug. 24, USC administrators are engaged in a delicate balancing act as they notify students, attempt to quell rumors, offer mental health resources and also try to avoid triggering students who may be in the midst of a mental health crisis. Read more from Colleen Shalby, Leila Miller and Soumya Karlamangla of the Los Angeles Times.
A Look Back At The Legacy Left Behind Following Kaiser Permanente CEO Bernard Tyson's Death: The unexpected death of Kaiser Permanente Chief Executive Bernard Tyson leaves the hospital and health-insurance giant in flux at a time of ambitious growth and it was met with shock by those who praised his work on public health and social issues. Kaiser, based in Oakland, Calif., gained heft as one of the nation’s largest hospital and health insurance systems with $83 billion in annual revenue under Tyson. He bet heavily on technology to reach more patients and set plans to expand Kaiser’s reach nationally. Tyson, one of a few top black executives of major U.S. for-profit or nonprofit corporations, was an influential voice on issues of race relations and health policy. But his tenure wasn’t without strife. Kaiser and some of its unions have battled this year over contracts. Read more from Melanie Evans of The Wall Street Journal.
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:
Over A Quarter Of Foster Children Don’t Receive Timely Medical Exams
Newly released data reveals that more than a quarter of California children in foster care don’t receive timely medical or dental exams, increasing their risk of having health problems that go unaddressed. Just 73 percent of foster children under age 18 had received their required medical exams as of March 2019, according to data released by Kidsdata.org last month. These exams include physical health exams, developmental screenings, psychosocial evaluations, nutritional assessments and vision and hearing tests. Even fewer children in foster care—67 percent—had received dental exams on time. The data is taken from the California Child Welfare Indicators Project, an initiative run by the University of California at Berkeley and California Department of Social Services, which tracks information about children in the state’s child welfare system. (Boyd-Barrett, 11/12)
The San Francisco Chronicle:
Sandy And Joan Weill Donate $106M For Brain Research At UCSF, UC Berkeley, UW
A $106 million donation to three public institutions — UCSF, UC Berkeley and the University of Washington — will create a “neurohub” meant to speed up development of therapies for intractable brain disorders like stroke, epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease. The gift, announced Tuesday, comes from the Weill Family Foundation. It piggybacks a $185 million donation from the same family to UCSF three years ago, for the creation of a neuroscience institute and construction of a new building at the Mission Bay campus. (Allday, 11/12)
Capital Public Radio:
From Tikka Masala To Mexican BBQ, Home Kitchens Set To Expand Across State
The law aims to create an entry point into the food industry for amateur chefs — especially immigrants, women and people of color. Cooks in California have been selling food under the radar for years, and for some it’s a vital source of income, even though they risked fines and criminal penalties. The home kitchen law creates a legal pathway for amateur chefs to sell their wares, and lowers the risk for them to try launching a food venture. (Rodd, 11/12)
CalMatters:
As California Burns, Scientists Search The Smoke For Threats To Firefighter Health
Matt Rahn was about 200 feet away when flames started climbing up the side of the garage and creeping toward the car inside. A wildfire researcher with California State University San Marcos, Rahn was at the edge of a fire that would go on to burn 4,240 acres across California’s Amador and El Dorado counties. He was there to study the smoke rising off blackening shrubs and trees. Watching the garage burn, though, he realized that firefighters fending off flames without any real lung protection were inhaling more than airborne remnants of burnt plants. (Becker, 11/12)
Sacramento Bee:
Workers Strike Over Outsourcing At UC Hospitals, Campuses
Leaders of UC Davis Health said that they have not canceled any patient appointments in preparation for Wednesday’s strike by thousands of patient care and service workers, but they have alerted patients getting lab work whether they will have to go to a different facility. Here’s what you need to know about Wednesday’s labor action. (Anderson, 11/12)
Sacramento Bee:
California Truckers Challenge Gig Economy Employee Law AB5
The California Trucking Association on Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit challenging a new state new that will force businesses to treat more workers as employees entitled to benefits like overtime pay and sick leave. The new law is based on a 2018 California Supreme Court ruling that set higher standards for when an employer can classify a worker as an independent contractor. It’s scheduled to take effect next year after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it in September. (Bollag, 12/12)
Capital Public Radio:
School Staff Will Be Charged In Death Of Special Needs Student In El Dorado Hills
It's been almost a year since a 13-year-old special-needs student died at a private school in El Dorado Hills. Now three school staff members will be charged with involuntary manslaughter, according to prosecuting attorneys. The El Dorado County District Attorney's office says it will file involuntary manslaughter charges Wednesday against Guiding Hands School, Inc., and the school’s co-owners: Executive Director and Site Administrator Cindy Keller, school Principal Staranne Meyers, as well as certified special education teacher Kimberly Wohlwend. (Moffitt, 11/12)
Capital Public Radio:
Sacramento Still Implementing Some Recommendations For Cannabis Regulations Two Years After Auditor's Report
It's been two years since the Sacramento City Auditor made 20 recommendations to improve the city's oversight of the cannabis industry, but some have not been fully implemented. According to the auditor's office, the city has fully-implemented 16 of 20 recommendations from 2017 that were made after multiple problems with cannabis dispensaries were uncovered. (Moffitt, 11/12)
Bloomberg:
Juul To Cut 650 Jobs, Slash Expenses As It Scales Back Marketing
Juul Labs Inc. will eliminate 650 jobs and freeze hiring, part of a plan to cut $1 billion in costs as it pulls back on marketing and tries to get its vaping device cleared for sale by U.S. health regulators. The San Francisco-based e-cigarette company has become a target of government regulators attempting to stem an epidemic of new, young nicotine users who have flocked to the sleek device despite in many cases never having used cigarettes. (Armstrong, 11/12)
Stat:
Gottlieb, Former FDA Head, Calls For A Full Ban On Pod-Based E-Cigarettes
Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is done playing nice on e-cigarettes. He’s calling on the agency to ban all pod-based e-cigarettes, a move that would likely eliminate every product sold in the U.S. by companies like Juul and Njoy. In a far-reaching and strikingly candid speech at Harvard University on Tuesday evening, the Trump appointee plans to rail against top e-cigarette makers for their role in what he calls the “travesty on top of a travesty” of youth vaping. (Florko, 11/12)
The Hill:
Top Health Official Defends Federal Contract Payments To Trump Allies
A top administration health official on Tuesday defended her office’s spending of hundreds of thousands of dollars on outside GOP communications consultants with close ties to President Trump. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma said the use of contractors was appropriate, because the agency did not have the necessary communications staff in place to enact her “vision” for the department. (Weixel, 11/12)
Stat:
More Americans Can't Afford Prescriptions; Most Think Trump Isn't Helping
As President Trump looks toward the next election, a new poll finds that a growing percentage of adults did not have enough money to pay for prescription medicines over the past year and only a fraction of Americans believe he is doing enough to lower drug costs, which is a key campaign issue for him. To wit, 22.9% reported they lacked the funds this past September to pay for a prescription during the previous 12 months, up from 18.9% in January. All totaled, about 58 million adults experienced “medication insecurity,” according to the latest Gallup Poll. (Silverman, 11/12)
The Wall Street Journal:
Google’s ‘Project Nightingale’ Triggers Federal Inquiry
Google’s project with the country’s second-largest health system to collect detailed health information on 50 million American patients sparked a federal inquiry and criticism from patients and lawmakers. The data on patients of St. Louis-based Ascension were until recently scattered across 40 data centers in more than a dozen states. Google and the Catholic nonprofit are moving that data into Google’s cloud-computing system—with potentially big changes on tap for doctors and patients. At issue for regulators and lawmakers who expressed concern is whether Google and Ascension are adequately protecting patient data in the initiative, which is code-named “Project Nightingale” and is aimed at crunching data to produce better health care, among other goals. (Copeland and Needleman, 11/12)
The Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Lawmakers Scold Google’s ‘Project Nightingale’ Over Health-Data Privacy
Several U.S. lawmakers called for sharper regulatory scrutiny of patient health-data deals, including one between Google and the nonprofit health system Ascension, on concerns such arrangements run afoul of federal privacy rules regarding medical records. ... Sens. Mark Warner (D., Va.), Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.), Bill Cassidy (R., La.) and Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) are among legislators who separately issued statements raising serious concern over the arrangement. Mr. Warner urged Congress or the Department of Health and Human Services to halt it pending an investigation. (Needleman and Copeland, 11/12)
The Wall Street Journal:
These People Got The Flu So You Won’t Have To
Amy Edwards got the flu precisely 2½ hours ago. It was injected into her nostrils, one at a time. “They took a syringe filled with the flu virus that they defrosted,” says the 37-year-old. “They shot one into each nostril and had us lie down.” Ms. Edwards and 19 strangers are confined to an isolation unit at the University of Maryland School of Medicine for at least a week. They’re participating in a federally funded human influenza study that is a key part of an effort to develop a better and longer-lasting flu vaccine. (Reddy, 11/12)
The New York Times:
Supreme Court Allows Sandy Hook Relatives To Sue Gun Maker
The Supreme Court cleared the way on Tuesday for relatives of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims to sue the Remington Arms Company, the maker of the rifle used in the massacre. The court said that it would not hear an appeal by Remington of a ruling by Connecticut’s Supreme Court that allowed a lawsuit brought by the families of the victims to go forward. The case has been seen as a test of the ability of plaintiffs to pierce the legal immunity of firearm manufacturers in the aftermath of shootings. (Hussey and Williamson, 11/12)