- California Healthline Original Stories 3
- It’s In The Water: The Debate Over Fluoridation Lives On In California And Nationwide
- When Drug Reviewers Leave The FDA, They Often Work For Pharma
- Expert Panel Recommends Expansion Of Services With No Cost Sharing For Women
- Campaign 2016 1
- In Election, Trend-Setting States Could Determine National Conversation On Marijuana
- Public Health and Education 3
- LA Orders Study Of Long-Term Health Effects From Porter Ranch Leak
- Low Use Of Aid-In-Dying Laws By Minorities Elsewhere Could Be Signal For Calif.
- First Baby Born Using New Wave Of 'Three-Parent' IVF Technique
- Health IT 1
- Google Glass Expands Possibilities For High-Tech Doctor Visits, But Danger Lurks At Edges
Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
It’s In The Water: The Debate Over Fluoridation Lives On In California And Nationwide
Though fluoride has been added to water for decades to prevent tooth decay, grassroots opposition still pops up in towns and cities around the country. (Zhai Yun Tan and Ana B. Ibarra, )
When Drug Reviewers Leave The FDA, They Often Work For Pharma
Researchers examine the Food and Drug Administration’s “revolving door” regarding employees who worked on cancer and hematology drugs. (Sydney Lupkin, )
Expert Panel Recommends Expansion Of Services With No Cost Sharing For Women
The list of preventive services that insurers must cover without a co-pay could grow to include mammograms for younger women, testing that follows an irregular screening and birth control for men. (Michelle Andrews, )
More News From Across The State
Governor Signs 'Right To Try' Bill
Opponents of the measure -- which lets patients have greater access to drugs that have not yet been approved -- fear that it offers false hope to desperate people.
Sacramento Bee:
Dying Californians Will Get To Seek Experimental Drugs
One year after vetoing a similar measure, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Tuesday that will allow pharmaceutical companies to offer experimental drugs to terminally ill Californians. A national “right to try” movement, which seeks to expand access to not-yet-approved treatments for people who fail to get into clinical trials, yielded bills in California last year but Brown deferred to federal regulators in vetoing a measure on his desk. The governor signed this year’s similar version, Assembly Bill 1668, after it won broad support in the Legislature. It would allow drug manufacturers to offer treatments not yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration if a patient has exhausted other FDA-sanctioned treatment options and has approval from two physicians. (White, 9/27)
In other news from Sacramento —
LA Daily News:
California Toughens Laws On Selling, Possessing Spice
Gov. Jerry Brown signed two bills into law over the weekend that strengthen a ban on the selling and possession of “Spice,” which sickened dozens of people on Skid Row this summer. Senate bills 139 and 1036, which were signed Sunday, close some loopholes in an existing law that already says selling Spice — a synthetic drug that mimics marijuana — is a crime. (Abram, 9/26)
KQED State of Health:
California Women Will Soon Be Able To Get A Year’s Supply Of Birth Control
California women will only have to make one trip a year to the pharmacy to pick up birth control under a new law. Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed a bill to allow pharmacists to dispense 12 months of hormonal contraceptives at one time. This will make it more convenient for women in the state, who previously, were only able to get a three months supply at a time. The new law ... also requires insurance companies to cover a year’s supply of doctor-prescribed birth control. (Fine, 9/27)
In Election, Trend-Setting States Could Determine National Conversation On Marijuana
Advocates on both sides say passage in California would likely ignite legalization movements in other states.
The Associated Press:
9 States To Vote Soon On Expanding Legal Access To Marijuana
From California, with its counterculture heritage, to the fishing ports and mill towns of Maine, millions of Americans in nine states have a chance to vote Nov. 8 on expanding legal access to marijuana. Collectively, the ballot measures amount to the closest the U.S. has come to a national referendum on the drug. (Elias and Crary, 9/28)
Sacramento Bee:
After Backing Gavin Newsom, California Nurses Group Gets Behind Pot Legalization
The California Nurses Association, which last year offered an unusually early endorsement for Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2018 gubernatorial bid, on Tuesday announced support for Newsom’s high-stakes fall initiative to legalize recreational marijuana. ... The formal endorsement puts the nurses on the side of the California Medical Association and at odds with the California Hospital Association, which opposes the Proposition 64 legalization proposal on the Nov. 8 ballot. Proposition 64 was proposed by Donald Lyman, a retired physician and former member of the California Medical Association who in 2011 wrote a white paper for the 40,000-member organization calling for the legalization of marijuana and declaring the federal ban on the drug “a failed public health policy.” (Cadelago, 9/27)
LA Orders Study Of Long-Term Health Effects From Porter Ranch Leak
“Bloody noses are a regular thing in Porter Ranch,” says Matt Pakucko, cofounder of Save Porter Ranch. “Over 5,000 people are still having symptoms.”
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. County Wants Health Impact Study Of Porter Ranch Gas Leak And Exide Battery Plant Pollution
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors directed the health department Tuesday to start planning a study of the possible health impacts associated with a massive natural gas leak and a shuttered battery recycling plant that over decades spewed toxic pollution. The Porter Ranch natural gas leak is considered the largest in U.S. history. Many residents temporarily relocated to escape the methane fumes, which they say gave them symptoms of severe illness, including nosebleeds, vomiting and headaches. (Elmahrek, 9/27)
LA Daily News:
As Bloody Noses Continue In Porter Ranch, LA County Weighs Health Study
Public Health officials have called the massive gas leak an unprecedented event. Natural gas began leaking from one of 115 aged wells at the Aliso Canyon storage field last October, spewing nearly 100,000 metric tons of methane to become the largest event of its kind in the nation. Operated by SoCalGas, the wells and the storage facility sit high up in Aliso Canyon, above residents who live in Porter Ranch. (Abram, 9/27)
In other public health news —
Modesto Bee:
Stanislaus County Health Services, Other Groups Make Flu Shots Available In Modesto, Other Cities
With the summer-like weather holding firm in the Northern San Joaquin Valley, most residents are not giving thought to runny noses and kids wrapped in blankets. Nonetheless, the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency will begin flu shot clinics next week. The agency recently released a schedule for 14 one-day flu clinics in Modesto, Ceres, Turlock, Oakdale, Riverbank and Patterson through early December. The vaccination clinics are generally for low-income residents and people without health insurance. The vaccines available in the United States this year offer protection against four common strains of seasonal influenza. (Carlson, 9/27)
Orange County Register:
Lake Forest School Officials Don't Know What's Causing Major Skin Irritations In Students
Approximately 30 students and 10 staff members at Lake Forest Elementary have developed itchy skin irritations since mid-September, forcing the school to close fields and bringing out the Orange County Mosquito and Vector Control District to investigate the problem, district officials said. Having ruled out mosquitoes last week, vector control set up traps designed for mites and chiggers Monday in hopes of isolating and identifying the source, spokesman Jared Dever said. (Percy, 9/27)
Low Use Of Aid-In-Dying Laws By Minorities Elsewhere Could Be Signal For Calif.
It's too early to tell if minorities will take advantage of California's aid-in-dying law, but they have not in other states where it is an option.
Capital Public Radio/KXJZ:
Will People Of Color In California Use The Aid In Dying Law?
In Oregon, between 1998 and 2015, 97.1 percent of [people using the state's Death With Dignity act] were white, according to the Oregon Health Authority. Last year in Washington, 98 percent of participants were also white, according to the Washington Department of Public Health. But while Oregon and Washington have largely white populations, California’s demographics are much different. Latinos are 39 percent of the population and Asians and African Americans make up 15 percent and 6 percent of the state’s population, respectively. (Johnson, 9/27)
First Baby Born Using New Wave Of 'Three-Parent' IVF Technique
The controversial procedure replaces the mother's faulty mitochondria with donor mitochondria to produce a healthy baby while preserving the vast majority of its mother's DNA.
Los Angeles Times:
Baby Boy With DNA From 3 People Offers Hope For Moms Who Would Pass On Deadly Genetic Diseases
A healthy baby boy is the first person to be born with DNA from three people, according to a medical report released Tuesday. In addition to inheriting nuclear DNA from his mother and father, the infant also has mitochondrial DNA from a second woman who served as an egg donor. Mitochondrial DNA consists of just 37 genes, a tiny fraction of the genetic material inside a cell. Unlike nuclear DNA — which is bundled into 23 pairs of chromosomes and influences traits such as eye color, height and cancer risk — mitochondrial DNA contains instructions for the energy-producing structures inside cells. It is passed down virtually unchanged from mother to child. (Kaplan, 9/27)
Google Glass Expands Possibilities For High-Tech Doctor Visits, But Danger Lurks At Edges
Advocates envision a world in which technology allows office visits to be transcribed in real time or compares patient records to determine a diagnosis. But, in a situation where a glitch could have fatal consequences, moving away from human scribes could be a grave mistake.
The Washington Post:
Coming To A Doctor’s Office Near You: Live-Streaming Your Exam With Google Glass
Jim Andrews is in a medical office wearing just a hospital gown, staring at his doctor of 11 years, who is staring back at him through the sleek, metallic lens of Google Glass. As the doctor examines Andrews, a new kind of medical scribe is watching the examination, transcribing everything he sees. The scribe, named Rahul, is thousands of miles away in India, and he is viewing the office visit live through the pint-size, WiFi-connected camera attached to the doctor’s glasses. (Dwoskin, 9/27)
Bristol-Myers, Nektar Team Up To Develop Immunotherapy Drug
The deal is the latest in a long list of collaborations between companies to find the right combinations of anti-cancer drugs for the right patients.
San Francisco Business Times:
Big Pharma Partners With Another Bay Area Company In Cancer Immunotherapy Quest
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. will test its groundbreaking cancer immunotherapy drug Opdivo with an experimental cancer-fighting drug from Nektar Therapeutics Inc., the companies said Tuesday. (Leuty, 9/27)
Theme Park Closes 'Edgy' VR Attraction Following Protests From Mental Health Advocates
In the experience, park-goers are admitted to a hospital where they are at the mercy of the staff there. Advocates say the attraction was in "poor taste" and that mental illness stereotypes "were being used by entertainment sources for commercial gain."
The Mercury News:
Great America Pull's Plug On 'FearVR'; Says It's 'Hurtful' To The Mentally Ill
Just days after their Halloween haunts made their debut, California’s Great America and Knott’s Berry Farm have pulled the plug on their newest offering, FearVR, because of concerns that the attraction could be “hurtful to those who suffer from mental illness.” The move comes after mental health advocates in Southern California protested the virtual reality story line about a possessed patient running amok in a hospital. Parkgoers are strapped into chairs, given VR goggles and told to press the “panic button” if the experience becomes overwhelming. (Zavoral, 9/27)
In other news from across the state —
Fresno Bee:
Special-Need Students Hospitalized After Being Tube-Fed Bleach At School
The district’s special education department reported that school staff accompanied the students to Valley Children’s Hospital after they ingested “a water solution which included bleach in it.” According to the National Institutes of Health, ingesting bleach can cause nausea, chest pain, lowered blood pressure, delirium, coma and potentially death. (Mays, 9/26)
Administration Unveils Plans For Push To Enroll Young Adults In Health Plans
Social media and other digital strategies are at the center of the effort.
The Wall Street Journal:
Health-Insurance Push Targets Young Adults
The Obama administration will use targeted, digital messages and online networks such as Twitter in a sweeping campaign to get young adults to sign up for health insurance during the Affordable Care Act’s fall open enrollment, appealing to a group seen as critical to the law’s success. The administration, which announced the new push on Tuesday, is betting the aggressive campaign will resonate with uninsured consumers age 35 and under. (Armour, 9/27)
In other national health care news —
The Washington Post:
CDC Whistleblower Claims Agency Has Been Using Wrong Zika Test
In the midst of the fight to control Zika, the top public health agency in the United States has been engaged in an intense internal debate about the best way to test whether someone has been infected with the mosquito-borne virus. At the center of the debate at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is one of the leading experts on Zika virus. Robert Lanciotti is chief of the CDC lab responsible for developing tests to diagnose viral diseases such as Zika that are transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks and fleas. Lanciotti was demoted in May after he raised concerns inside and outside the agency about the CDC’s decision in the spring to recommend a new test for Zika. (Sun, 9/27)
The Washington Post:
House Leaders Reach Deal On Flint Aid, Potentially Averting Shutdown
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi struck a deal late Tuesday to deliver federal aid to address the water crisis in Flint, Mich., potentially removing a major flashpoint in negotiations to keep the government fully operating past Friday. Under the deal, the House will vote Wednesday on an amendment to a pending water projects bill that would authorize up to $170 million in infrastructure funds for communities like Flint whose water systems are blighted by “chemical, physical, or biological” contaminants. (DeBonis, 9/27)
Modern Healthcare:
Aetna Makes Large Bet On Wellness With Apple Watches
Apple Watches are becoming near-ubiquitous in healthcare and the corporate world, and health insurer Aetna is now investing heavily in the wellness promises of the device. However, companies that have offered an Apple Watch with the hope of getting people to be more active and healthy have to prove wearable devices and wellness programs meaningfully change consumer behavior, which has often worked better in theory than in practice. “These types of technologies can really help to facilitate behavior change, but the devices themselves are not what drive behavior change,” said Dr. Mitesh Patel, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. (Herman, 9/27)
The New York Times:
More Than 9 In 10 People Breathe Bad Air, W.H.O. Study Says
The World Health Organization said Tuesday that 92 percent of people breathe what it classifies as unhealthy air, in another sign that atmospheric pollution is a significant threat to global public health. A new report, the W.H.O.’s most comprehensive analysis so far of outdoor air quality worldwide, also said about three million deaths a year — mostly from cardiovascular, pulmonary and other noncommunicable diseases — were linked to outdoor air pollution. (Ives, 9/27)