- California Healthline Original Stories 2
- California Firm Running Physician Practices Is Closing Down As Scrutiny Ramps Up
- Can Apps Slay The Medical Bill Dragon?
- Public Health and Education 2
- Last Year Beat The Record For Most Valley Fever Cases. This Year Is Set To Top That.
- Sacramento Make Progress In Effort To Lower Deaths Of African-American Infants While Asleep
- Health IT 1
- Forget Bulky Fitbits, This Scientist Wants To Create Medical Wearables So Thin You Forget About Them
Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
California Firm Running Physician Practices Is Closing Down As Scrutiny Ramps Up
State regulators and insurers are looking into SynerMed, which medical groups depend upon to handle their finances and business operations. The groups, serving 1 million patients, fear a messy fallout. (Chad Terhune, )
Can Apps Slay The Medical Bill Dragon?
A handful of Silicon Valley start-ups are trying to usher medical billing into the 21st century by creating smartphone apps to help consumers navigate their health insurance paperwork. (Jocelyn Wiener, )
More News From Across The State
Last Year Beat The Record For Most Valley Fever Cases. This Year Is Set To Top That.
From January through October, 5,121 cases were reported to the state health department, compared with 3,827 cases during the same period in 2016.
Los Angeles Times:
In California, An Unexplained Increase In Valley Fever This Year
This year is shaping up to be the worst on record in California for people infected with valley fever, a lung infection caused by a fungus found in soil. State health officials announced earlier that 2016 broke the record for the most valley fever cases reported since the state started keeping count in 1995. Now, 2017 is on pace to have even more infections. (Karlamangla, 11/14)
California Healthline:
Valley Fever Surging Again In California This Year
Suspected cases of the fungal disease in the first 10 months of 2017 surged by more than one-third from the same period last year to 5,121, officials at the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) said Monday. That puts this year on track to surpass the number of cases recorded in 2016. (Bartolone, 11/15)
Sacramento Make Progress In Effort To Lower Deaths Of African-American Infants While Asleep
Data showed that the occurrence of infants dying in their sleep was disproportionately high.
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento County Sees Big Drop In Percentage Of Black Infants Dying In Their Sleep
In 2013, half of all Sacramento County infants who died in their sleep were African American, even though African Americans composed just 10 percent of the county population at the time. On Wednesday, Sacramento County supervisors learned that a concerted effort to reverse these tragedies appears to be working. In 2015, the latest year for which there is data, African American infants represented 21 percent of the 14 babies who died in their sleep, according to a report from the Child Abuse Prevention Center. (Anderson, 11/15)
In other public health news —
Orange County Register:
California’s Crisis With Athletic Trainers: High School Athletes Are At Risk
California has more than 800,000 high-schoolers playing sports, yet the state does not require schools to have athletic trainers at practices or games—and very few do. Just 25 percent of public high schools employ a full-time athletic trainer, according to CIF data from 2016-17 (athletic directors from 1,406 schools self-reported—an 88.6 percent rate). Even more troubling? California is the only state that does not regulate the profession of athletic training. That means that anyone can call themselves an athletic trainer, regardless of whether they are certified; regardless of whether they possess the educational qualifications, clinical experience or medical knowledge to practice. (Fader, 11/14)
Los Angeles Times:
Southern California Smog Worsens For Second Straight Year Despite Reduced Emissions
Southern California smog worsened for a second straight year in the latest sign that progress in cleaning the nation’s most polluted air is faltering. The dive in air quality comes even though emissions are declining, forcing regulators to explain why returns are diminishing after years of progress battling smog. (Barboza, 11/15)
Forget Bulky Fitbits, This Scientist Wants To Create Medical Wearables So Thin You Forget About Them
Ana Claudia Arias is developing such products as a bandage-like sensor that could monitor a wound's healing process or one that could slip into a diabetic's shoe and warn about foot ulcers the person wouldn't be able to feel.
Stat:
Electronics ‘Like A Second Skin’ Make Wearables More Practical And MRIs Safer For Kids
She’s a physicist who trained in the storied lab where Watson and Crick worked out the structure of DNA. In her years in industry, she made sharper displays for e-readers, more efficient solar panels, and sensor tape that soldiers could wear on the battlefield to measure the strength of explosions. Her manufacturing tool of choice: a simple printer. (McFarling, 11/15)
Following Fires, Sonoma Supervisors Urge Staff To Promote County's Mental Health Services
Michael Kennedy, the county’s mental health director, said his division had recently seen about double its normal volume of phone calls from residents possibly experiencing problems such as anxiety and depression.
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
Board Of Supervisors Sounds Alarm Over Potential Mental Health Crises Caused By Sonoma County Fires
Sonoma County supervisors raised concerns Tuesday about the damaging effects of the October firestorm on residents’ mental health, particularly the impacts on the thousands of people whose homes burned. (Morris, 11/14)
In other news from across the state —
Capital Public Radio:
County Asks For Help Cultivating Marijuana Rules
Even though California voters approved recreational marijuana last fall, many cities and counties, like Yolo, don't have laws regarding who can grow pot and where. Yolo County says people are growing weed all over the unincorporated areas, even though there is no ordinance that allows it. A series of community meetings are being held this month to gather ideas for the county's new cultivation and processing rules. (Moffitt, 11/14)
Orange County To Pay Firm $450K Annually To Keep Homeless From Riverbank
The county forced as many as 200 homeless people to leave their Fountain Valley riverbed encampment on Friday.
Orange County Register:
Orange County To Hire Private Guards To Help Enforce Riverbed Curfew That Displaced Homeless
Orange County will hire private, unarmed guards to help impose its newly enforced curfew that has displaced homeless people living along long stretches of the Santa Ana River, paying a security firm nearly a half-million dollars annually for those services and other activities. The Board of Supervisors approved the contract on Tuesday, Nov. 14, at a meeting where dozens of homeless advocates accused supervisors of criminalizing extreme poverty by clearing portions of the riverbed and not providing adequate housing for those who were displaced. (Graham, 11/14)
In other news —
KPBS/City News Service:
San Diego City Council Approves $6.5M To House Homeless In Industrial Tents
The City Council Tuesday approved a plan to spend $6.5 million on industrial-sized tents to accommodate the homeless in Barrio Logan, the East Village and the Midway District. The vote was 8-1, with Councilman David Alvarez opposed. Earlier Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors approved $500,000 in rental assistance for the homeless in unincorporated areas of San Diego County. The money comes from the federal HOME Investment Partnership, a flexible affordable housing grant. The board voted to reallocate those funds for two years of rental assistance for homeless people. (11/14)
KPBS:
Southwestern College Steps Up Services Amid Increasing Student Homelessness
But a new effort at Southwestern College aims to make quickly connecting homeless students with services the standard, not luck. The Chula Vista community college began partnering with nonprofits and service providers after a student survey last year revealed 80 percent of students experienced hunger or knew someone who had. The campus opened a food pantry in response and quickly learned many of those showing up were also homeless. (Burks, 11/14)
The San Diego Union Tribune:
Hepatitis A Vaccinations: 100,000+ And Counting
With the number of new cases slowing and vaccination efforts hitting six digits, there were hopeful smiles all around Tuesday as local leaders received the latest data on San Diego’s deadly hepatitis A outbreak. (Sisson, 11/14)
GOP Slips Repeal Of Individual Mandate Into Tax Bill In Hopes Of Scoring Two-In-One Victory
Not only would repealing the individual mandate save billions over the next decade, but it would allow Republicans to fulfill a years-long promise to voters. The Democrats and many in the health industry, however, are ardently opposed to the move.
The New York Times:
Senate Plans To End Obamacare Mandate In Revised Tax Proposal
Senate Republicans have decided to include the repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that most people have health insurance into the sprawling tax rewrite, merging the fight over health care with the high-stakes effort to cut taxes. They also have made a calculated gamble to help speed their bill to passage on a party-line vote: Republicans revealed late Tuesday they would set all of their tax cuts for individuals to expire at the end of 2025, to comply with a procedural requirement. Their deep cut in the corporate tax rate would remain permanent. (Kaplan and Tankersley, 11/14)
The Associated Press:
Obama Health Mandate Now Target Of GOP In Big Tax Bill
The surprise renewal of the failed effort to eliminate the health care law's mandate came a day after President Donald Trump renewed pressure on Republican lawmakers to include the repeal in their sweeping legislation to revamp the tax system. It carries high political stakes for Trump, who lacks a major legislative achievement after nearly 10 months in office. The move by Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee upended the debate over the tax measure just as it was inching closer to passage following months of fine-tuning and compromise. (11/15)
The Washington Post:
Senate GOP Changes Tax Bill To Add Obamacare Mandate Repeal, Make Individual Income Cuts Expire
Repealing the mandate, which compels most Americans to buy health insurance or pay a fine, would free up more than $300 billion in government funding over the next decade that Republicans could use to finance their proposed tax cuts, but it would result in 13 million fewer people having health insurance, according to projections from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. (DeBonis and Paletta, 11/14)
The Wall Street Journal:
Senate GOP Adds Health-Care Twist To Tax Overhaul Plan
Republicans plan to use the money freed up by repealing the mandate to direct tax cuts to middle-income households. They want to increase their proposed $1,650 child tax credit to $2,000 per child and lower the tax rates in three brackets, dropping the proposed 22.5%, 25% and 32.5% rates to 22%, 24% and 32%, respectively, according to the proposal, released Tuesday night by the Senate Finance Committee. (Armour and Rubin, 11/15)
Los Angeles Times:
By Inserting Obamacare Repeal Into Tax Plan, Senate GOP May Complicate Passage
It remains to be seen whether Senate leaders can muster the 50 votes needed from their own party to pass the new version, though they expressed confidence. "We're optimistic that inserting the individual mandate repeal would be helpful," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said. (Mascaro and Puzzanghera, 11/14)
Politico:
Hatch Adds Repeal Of Obamacare Mandate To Tax Bill
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said he was confident that it could pass the Senate. “It’s been whipped,” said Thune, a member of the GOP leadership, adding that it’s an idea “we’ve been looking at for some time as a potential solution for some of the challenges that we’re facing in trying to make the bill do the things we’re trying to accomplish.” (Haberkorn, Kim and Becker, 11/14)
During HHS Nominee's Tenure At Eli Lilly, Company Tripled Price Of A Top-Selling Insulin Drug
President Donald Trump touted Alex Azar as a "star" who could help combat high drug prices. But Azar's history as a top pharma executive has critics worried.
Politico:
Trump's HHS Secretary Nominee Boosted Drug Prices While At Eli Lilly
President Donald Trump tweeted Monday that his nominee for HHS secretary, Alex Azar will “be a star for … lower drug prices!” But the record of the former top executive for Eli Lilly, which tripled the price of a top-selling insulin drug while he led its U.S. operation, suggests a different story. Lilly is one of three drug companies targeted by a class-action lawsuit that accuses the company, then under Azar’s watch, of exploiting the drug pricing system to ensure higher profit for insulin and has been fined in Mexico for colluding on the pricing of the drug. (Karlin-Smith, 11/14)
Stat:
On Drug Importation, Trump And His Pick To Lead HHS Are On Opposing Sides
In his quest to bring down drug prices, President Trump has advocated for policy proposals that the pharmaceutical industry opposes, including importing drugs from Canada. But his new health secretary pick — who, if confirmed, would immediately have the authority to kick-start some importation — has firmly rejected the idea. (Mershon, 11/14)
In Anticipated Study, Monthly Opioid Treatment Shown To Be About As Effective As Daily Pill
But the monthly treatment is more difficult because participants have to wean themselves off opioids for a period of three days before they could start taking Vivitrol. Because of that hurdle, patients failed to start on Vivitrol at four times the rate that they did on the daily medication Suboxone.
The New York Times:
Study Finds Competing Opioid Treatments Have Similar Outcomes
A long-awaited study has found that two of the main medications for treating opioid addiction are similarly effective, a finding likely to intensify the hard-fought competition between drugmakers seeking to dominate the rapidly expanding opioid treatment market. The study, funded by the federal government, compared Vivitrol, which comes in a monthly shot and blocks the effects of opioids, and Suboxone, which is taken daily in strips that dissolve on the tongue and contains a relatively mild opioid that helps minimize withdrawal symptoms and cravings. (Goodnough and Zernike, 11/14)
The Washington Post:
Medications To Kick Opioid Addiction Are Equally Effective, Study Finds
The first major head-to-head comparison of medically assisted treatment approaches confirms that users now have two research-based options, according to the team of scientists led by Joshua D. Lee and John Rotrosen of New York University Medical School. But each method also showed a distinct disadvantage. (Bernstein, 11/14)
The Wall Street Journal:
Opioid Addiction Study Finds The Drug Vivitrol, Once Begun, Is As Effective As Suboxone
“What is new, and what the study was really about from our perspective, was: What happens if you are able to get people onto one or the other medication?” said his colleague, John Rotrosen, another leader of the study and a physician and psychiatry professor at New York University School of Medicine. “What we were really hoping, and what we found was...the two medications would be sufficiently equal, so providers and patients and families really recognized they have a choice,” he said. (Whalen, 11/14)