Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CalMatters: Abortion Pills To Be Offered At California Community College Health Centers Under New Law
A law extending abortion medication access to California community college health centers has been signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. (Doblado and Stock, 9/30)
CalMatters: Newsom Signs Law Banning Sales Of Disposable Vapes
Gov. Newsom signed a law prohibiting the sale of disposable vapes, a measure meant to prevent lithium battery fires at landfills and recycling centers. (La, 9/30)
The San Diego Union-Tribune: Newsom Signs Bills Targeting Hydrogen Sulfide, Worker Safety In Tijuana River Valley
Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed two bills targeting the health effects of the Tijuana River sewage crisis. One orders the state’s first update in more than a half-century to its hydrogen sulfide air standard. The other requires workplace protections for lifeguards, park rangers and others working outdoors in the Tijuana River Valley. (Armstrong, 9/28)
CalMatters: New California Law Frees Up Funds For Sober Homeless Housing
The new law intends to free up state funds for housing that requires residents to stay sober. Newsom vetoed a similar law last year. (Kendall, 9/29)
CalMatters: New Law Forces Sacramento To Try Something New On Homelessness
A new law forces Sacramento city and county to collaborate on homelessness. Stakeholders say it could have repercussions California-wide. (Kendall, 9/24)
CalMatters: New Laws Make Incremental Tweaks To California's Mental Health Court, While Bigger Changes Nixed
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two laws designed to help CARE Court better connect Californians with mental health care. (Kendall, 9/29)
San Francisco Examiner: Prop. 44 Divides Community Clinics And Health Care Union
Proposition 44 would require community clinics to spend 90% of their annual taxpayer-funded revenue on patient care, to be defined by the state attorney general. The union has argued that some clinics spend less than half of their taxpayer funds on patient care, with the rest going to “bloated CEO salaries and other wasteful spending.” (Gurevich, 9/24)
AP: Newsom Signs Law Banning Officers From Using Shock Gloves
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a law banning local, state and federal officers from using gloves that can deliver electric shocks to people. (Austin, 9/29)
The Orange County Register: Suicidal ICE Detainees Are Routinely Put In Solitary Confinement. Experts Say That’s Inhumane
911 calls reveal multiple suicide attempts at Adelanto ICE center. (Mena, 9/29)
Los Angeles Times: State Attorney General To Oversee Kaiser's Medical Arbitration System Under New Law
The California attorney general will help oversee healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente’s medical arbitration system to ensure it operates fairly under legislation Gov. Gavin Newsom signed. Patients have complained the system favors Kaiser. (Peterson, 9/28)
The San Diego Union-Tribune: Apparent Double Murder-Suicide That Left Family Of Three Dead Revives Questions Over VA Wait Times
Relatives say Amy Voight drove her husband, retired U.S. Navy bomb-disposal expert David Voight, to a local Department of Veterans Affairs facility for emergency mental health treatment on the last day of their lives but were allegedly turned away. “They told him there was nobody available, and people were busy,” Gerald Austin, Amy Voight’s father, told the Union-Tribune. (McDonald and Figueroa, 9/26)
Visalia Times-Delta: Adventist Health Tulare Receives $1M Donation At Anniversary Event
Adventist Health Tulare hospital and the Tulare Local Healthcare District held a 75-year anniversary celebration, where officials announced that community leader Pat Hillman and her family donated $1 million to the hospital. (Pastis, 9/29)
Southern California News Group: Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center Offers $50 Mammograms In October
Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center is offering $50 mammograms — available without a physician’s order or proof of insurance for women who meet specific requirements — at Pomona, Claremont, La Verne, and Chino Hills locations throughout October. (9/25)
Ventura County Star: 50 Years After Start, Conejo Free Clinic Readies For Rising Care Needs
Some 50 years after its launch stirred concerns in corners of Thousand Oaks, the Conejo Free Clinic is expanding. (Kisken, 9/27)
Southern California News Group: AMR Seeks Restraining Order To Stop San Bernardino County From Switching Ambulance Providers This Week
Colorado-based private ambulance company American Medical Response filed a request for temporary restraining order on Friday, attempting to stop San Bernardino County from switching to CONFIRE ambulance service later this week. (Yarbrough, 9/28)
Los Angeles Times: Billionaire Tax Is Dividing California Healthcare System It's Designed To Support
California's proposal to tax billionaires more, known as Proposition 40, is dividing the healthcare system, which it is supposed to help. (Clanton, 9/28)
San Francisco Chronicle: Kaiser Lays Off 147 Employees Across California
Kaiser Permanente will lay off 147 employees across several California cities, including Oakland and Pleasanton, effective Nov. 20. (Ho, 9/28)
The Appeal-Democrat: Stationary Engineers At Adventist Health And Rideout Hospital Strike
Several stationary engineers employed by Adventist Health and Rideout hospital in Marysville went on strike this week in hopes of ending a contract dispute that union representatives say has gone on for too long. (Bowden, 9/27)
Lodinews.com: Adventist Health Sonora Settles Abuse Lawsuit For $18.5M
Seven women alleged that Jason Elias, who worked as a physical therapist at Adventist Health for decades, sexually abused them during treatment sessions. Elias was suspended in 2022, and the hospital later opened an internal investigation after additional women came forward, according to the complaint. (9/24)
Los Angeles Times: US San Francisco Illegally Favored Black And Latino Medical School Applicants, DOJ Alleges
The Justice Department alleges UC San Francisco’s medical school favored Black and Latino applicants over white and Asian applicants. UCSF disputes the findings. (Kaleem, 9/22)
Southern California News Group: Cal State San Bernardino Launches Nurse Practitioner Program
With its newly-launched nurse practitioner doctoral program, Cal State San Bernardino is among the state’s universities aiming to address challenges in accessing quality health care — including providers — in the Inland Empire. (Vergara, 9/26)
CalMatters: CA Central Valley Medical Schools Are Years Away
California’s Central Valley needs more doctors. Legislators are pushing for a medical school to help build a pipeline. (Echelman, 9/29)
The San Diego Union-Tribune: SDSU Has More Cases Of Mumps As Prep Begins For Pac-12 Opener
The first question to San Diego coach Sean Lewis during Monday’s midday press conference referenced an ongoing health issue with the SDSU football team. Four more SDSU football players have tested positive for mumps, sources said Monday. (Kenney, 9/29)
The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Persistent Bedbugs Have Upended Life At Cloverdale Senior Housing Complex, Residents Say
Residents at Kings Valley Senior Apartments, a 99-unit affordable housing complex for low-income seniors, say a persistent bedbug infestation has upended their lives and left them questioning whether enough is being done to eradicate it. (Armstrong, 9/26)
VC Star: More Ventura County Bats Are Testing Positive For Rabies
Record numbers of rabid bats are being found in Ventura County, triggering health and animal service leaders to urge people not to touch the animals and to vaccinate pets. (Kisken, 9/28)
USA Today: Aggressive Invasive Mosquito Expands Across California
While the species is not known for transmitting West Nile virus in California, health officials say Aedes aegypti is capable of transmitting dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever under the right conditions. (Skropanic, 9/25)
Southern California News Group: ‘Highly Venomous’ Non-Native Gaboon Viper Spotted In Santa Ana Neighborhood
Native to rainforests in Central, West and East Africa, the vipers are venomous but generally calm, and they rarely bite humans, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. But a bite from a Gaboon viper can be fatal. (McGinn, 9/28)
The Sacramento Bee: Raw Milk Cheeses Recalled After E. Coli Outbreak In Willows
Grass-fed raw milk cheeses sold under the Sierra Nevada Graziers brand name were recalled. The cheeses were sold at retailers nationwide and online, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday. (Sweeney, 9/27)
ProPublica: California Regulators Did Little To Punish A Raw Milk Farm After Two Girls Got Sick
California is teeming with black-market dairies, propped up by consumer demand fueled by misinformation. With evidence against one raw goat milk farm, regulators could have sought punitive action. But that’s not what happened. (Waldman, 9/30)
San Luis Obispo Tribune: CA Food Recall: Frozen Meat Recalled For Foreign Materials
Illinois-based Fontanini Foods LLC on Friday recalled about 2,320 pounds of raw, frozen pork breakfast sausage that was distributed to California and three other states “due to possible foreign matter contamination,” according to the USDA. (Rodriguez, 9/28)
Southern California News Group: Cal State Fullerton Researchers Testing Ladera Ranch Soil For Contaminants
It may not look like much, but this dirt might hold an explanation for what’s been making people sick in Ladera Ranch, where a string of children have been diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare form of cancer. (Fobar, 9/27)
Daily Democrat: Yolo County DA’S Office Announces First Prop. 36 Mandated Treatment Graduation
Judge Sonia Cortes dismissed the criminal case against Marc Lasonde, 40, of Woodland, on Sept. 21, after he successfully completed approximately 16 months of substance use disorder treatment and demonstrated sustained sobriety. (Heeden, 9/26)
Southern California News Group: Rehab Home Where Presley Gerber Died Target Of Inquiry By California Regulators
The California Department of Health Care Services, responding to a complaint from a rehab reform advocate, is reviewing whether the Santa Monica sober living home, Resolutions Living, was illegally providing services that required a state license, spokesman Anthony Cava said Friday. (Saavedra, 9/25)
Marin Independent Journal: Mill Valley Moves Toward Full Nicotine Sales Ban
Mill Valley is poised to become the county’s second municipality, after Corte Madera, to ban retail sales of nicotine products and electronic smoking devices. The City Council unanimously approved a city code update Tuesday intended to curtail nicotine use among youths. (Rosenfeld, 9/25)
The New York Times: X2, The Troubled California Six Flags Roller Coaster, Reaches Its End
The ride at Magic Mountain near Los Angeles has fueled lawsuits claiming that it had caused brain injuries, including two that were fatal. (Vigdor, 9/29)
The San Diego Union-Tribune: Philanthropist Irwin Jacobs Donates $50 Million To Build Homeless Center Downtown
Money will be used by Father Joe’s Villages on a three-building, 18-story complex in San Diego’s East Village. The gift is the largest single donation in the organization’s history. (Morgan, 9/28)
Manteca/Ripon Bulletin: $2.5M Second Harvest Expansion Funded By Sutter Health
Second Harvest serves as a distribution center to supply 86 food bank partners in San Joaquin, Stansilaus, and Merced counties as well as Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne, and Mariposa counties. Those partners receive 1.5 million pounds of food monthly to serve 45,833 individuals. (Wyatt, 9/25)
Santa Clarita Valley Signal: Local High School Students Participate In 7-Week Cancer Research Program
About 17 students from Castaic, Valencia, and West Ranch high schools were given the opportunity to investigate a question of their choice focused on cancer research, read science-based literature, and then present in front of a panel of experts their thesis for the Research in Focus Summer program. (Quezada, 9/25)
