Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Hidden Costs Of Extreme Heat Landed California With $7.7B Bill
Bay Area News Group: Report: California's Extreme Heat Caused Over $7.7B In Hidden Costs
How much do heatwaves cost? The hidden costs of extreme heat — from lost productivity to healthcare for heat-related illnesses — totaled more than $7.7 billion over the last decade, a new report from the California Department of Insurance found. It concluded that there are gaps in traditional insurance coverage for losses due to extreme heat events and recommended the creation of new insurance solutions. (Pender, 7/9)
Sacramento Bee: See How California Cops Are Spending $50M On ‘Wellness’: Gyms, Himalayan Salt, Hormone Therapy
The state legislature earmarked $50 million in the 2022 budget for “officer wellness” programs, with an eye toward improving the mental health of police, and documents show law enforcement has been spending that money on items that range from gym equipment to saunas and Himalayan salt. Some departments chose more offbeat ways to use the money. The Yuba City Police Department put some of its $1,328 toward out-of-work social events and an “emotional support service animal,” an adopted bunny named Officer Percy. (Lange, 7/9)
CalMatters: A New California Medical School Is Taking Shape At UC Merced
A hospital closure in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley a year and a half ago underscored something that people in the region have long known: They don’t have enough doctors or access to medical care. Madera County’s lone acute care hospital is expected to reopen later this year. But the issues around medical access that patients in this county and neighboring ones experience will likely continue long after Madera Community Hospital reopens. (Ibarra, 7/8)
Bay Area News Group: Oakland Nursing Home Allegedly Drugged Resident To Stop His Wandering, Death Came Soon
Alando Williams, a fixture for years selling the Street Spirit newspaper outside the Berkeley Bowl supermarket on Oregon Street, was admitted to Oakland nursing home Brookdale Wellness in December 2022. Less than a month later, he was dead, aged 64. Now his daughter is suing the facility on Fruitvale Avenue and its owner, claiming the drugs used to keep Williams from wandering contributed to his death. (Baron, 7/9)
Los Angeles Times: How Beverly Hills Became An Unlikely Abortion Rights Battleground
Emma Craig was outside the Beverly Hills Medical Center on Wilshire Boulevard, spoiling for a fight. Armed with a bullhorn, sidewalk chalk and “giant photos of dead babies,” the Bay Area art teacher and antiabortion activist had arrived with her confederates last summer to pray and protest against a clinic seeking to expand its services to California amid a flurry of national restrictions on reproductive care. (Sharp, 7/9)
The Atlantic: Fighting To Breathe In Los Angeles County
Jo Franco still remembers the moment she realized that her nose worked. Growing up in Wilmington, a Los Angeles neighborhood dotted with oil refineries and next to one of the largest port complexes in the country, she’d always assumed she had a fever, or allergies: “I could never breathe through my nose at all,” she told me. But when she moved away from the city for college, her breathing suddenly got easier. “It was this wonderful surprise,” she said. “I could smell lemons.” (Unzueta, 7/9)
Los Angeles Times: California Rep. John Garamendi Says He Has A Rare Form Of Blood Cancer
Congressman and longtime California politician John Garamendi said Monday that he has been diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer called multiple myeloma. In a statement and a video posted on the social media platform X on Monday afternoon, Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove), 79, said doctors found the cancer early. He recalled his doctor calling him to say: “When will you be back in California? You need to come in for a series of tests.” (Nelson, 7/8)
