Viewpoints: Why Some People Still Don’t Get The Flu Shot; California Now Leads Way On Preventing Measles

The New York Times: Still Not Convinced You Need A Flu Shot? First, It’s Not All About You
One of the biggest problems in trying to convince people that they need to immunize against things like the flu is that they don’t really feel the pressure. After all, for most people, the flu shot is an inconvenience, and they’re unlikely to get the flu in a given year. So why bother? Quite a few readers expressed this view after my article “Why It’s Still Worth Getting a Flu Shot” on Thursday. (Aaron E. Carroll, 1/15)

The New York Times: After A Debacle, How California Became A Role Model On Measles
In December 2014 something unusual happened at Disneyland. People came to visit Mickey Mouse, and some of them left with measles. At least 159 people contracted the disease during an outbreak lasting several months. This is more than the typical number in a whole year in the United States. The leading theory is that measles was introduced in Disneyland by a foreign tourist. That could happen anywhere. Medical experts generally agree that the fact that it took off was probably a result of California’s low vaccination rates, which in turn was a result of an inability to persuade a significant share of Californians that vaccines were important. (Emily Oster and Geoffrey Kocks, 1/6)

Boston Globe: Doctors Should Be Allowed To Help Patients Die
While the American public has long been supportive of aid-in-dying, physicians have historically provided perhaps the stiffest resistance, and I would say rightfully so. But data from Oregon suggest that aid-in-dying is not being abused and is actually helping raise the quality of end-of-life care for the 99 percent of people who die in those states without using this route. (Haider Warraich, 1/16)

San Francisco Chronicle: Why SF Should Open A Supervised Drug-Injection Facility
Now, San Francisco is debating an approach that, though not new, is still viewed by many as radical: the supervised injection facility, a place where people who inject drugs can drop in — with their own supply — and use. ...These facilities offer people who inject drugs safety, support and dignity, worthy goals in and of themselves. (Jacob Izenberg, 1/15)

Sacramento Bee: Ban Secret Settlements On Product Liability Lawsuits
A bill introduced by Assemblyman Mark Stone, Assembly Bill 889, would prevent lawsuits from being settled on the condition that information be kept confidential when it is about a defective product or an environmental condition that poses a danger to public health and safety. Such secrecy leads to deaths and serious injuries as the public and regulators are kept in the dark about unsafe products and toxic conditions. (Erwin Chemerinsky, 1/16)