Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Liver Illness Strikes Latino Children Like A ‘Silent Tsunami’
Potentially deadly fatty liver disease, linked to overconsumption of sugar in drinks and food, often starts in childhood. The goal: Get children to change their habits.
How To Fight ‘Scary’ Superbugs? Cooperation — And A Special Soap
Hospitals and nursing homes in California and Illinois hope that regional cooperation — and a special soap — will help them gain the upper hand against deadly antibiotic-resistant superbugs.
Heavy Rains, End Of Drought Could Help Keep West Nile Virus Subdued — For Now
Scientists say drought can spur transmission of the disease and that wetter winters since 2015 have helped reduce the number of infections in California. In the long term, however, climate change could mean more drought — and more infections.
Big Soda Pours Big Bucks Into California’s Capitol
The soda industry spent $11.8 million to influence policy statewide in 2017 and 2018. As politicians once again consider bills that would tax and label sugary drinks, more big money is expected to flow.
On The Border, Volunteer Doctors Struggle To Provide Stopgap Care To Immigrants
As recent arrivals are released from detention with severe medical problems ranging from diarrhea to gaping wounds, a makeshift health system of volunteers is overwhelmed. The work is taking a financial and emotional toll.
Finding Homeless Patients A Place To Heal
California hospitals must comply with a new state law that requires them to try to find a safe place for homeless patients upon discharge. But hospitals say doing so isn’t as easy as calling a shelter and securing a cot.
Does It Make Sense To Delay Children’s Vaccines?
The renewed squabble over vaccinations obscures a large group of parents who aren’t anti-vaxxers but spread out their children’s vaccines at a more gradual pace than doctors recommend. Pediatricians warn that could leave small children vulnerable to disease.
Students With Disabilities Call College Admissions Cheating ‘Big Slap In The Face’
Parents of students with legitimate learning disabilities worry that a backlash against providing special accommodations in college admissions testing could make it harder for them to succeed.
‘Medieval’ Diseases Flare As Unsanitary Living Conditions Proliferate
Outbreaks of infectious diseases such as typhus and hepatitis A are resurging in California and around the country, particularly among homeless populations. Public health officials warn that such diseases could spread broadly.
Detention Centers In California Lack Oversight And Proper Care, Reports Find
Health and safety problems at immigration detention facilities throughout California pose a serious risk to detainees, according to two reports released Tuesday. State Attorney General Xavier Becerra and California State Auditor Elaine Howle concluded that federal and local governments are failing to adequately oversee the facilities, allowing the problems to persist.
The Measles Success Story In California Shows Signs Of Fading
California’s highly touted gains in vaccinating schoolchildren against measles stalled last year, possibly related to an increase in the number of students who have been exempted from vaccinations on medical grounds.
En más estados, médicos recetan opioides junto con droga para revertir sobredosis
Dos millones de estadounidenses son adictos a los analgésicos recetados, según la FDA. Y casi 218,000 personas murieron por sobredosis de 1999 a 2017, según los CDC.
Hey, Hey! Ho, Ho! Is Striking For School Nurses The Way To Go?
Inspired by Los Angeles teachers, who were promised 300 more school nurses after striking last month, unions in Denver, Oakland, Calif., and beyond are demanding more school nurses or better compensation for them.
More States Say Doctors Must Offer Overdose Reversal Drug Along With Opioids
In an emerging new tactic against the rising toll of opioid deaths, California, Ohio, Virginia and Arizona are among the states requiring physicians to offer patients naloxone when they give them prescriptions for the powerful painkillers. The Food and Drug Administration is weighing a national recommendation to do so.
For California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, Resistance Is Personal
Xavier Becerra, the state’s first Latino attorney general, is one of President Donald Trump’s most relentless adversaries. He attributes his legal values — and his opposition to the current administration — to his upbringing as the son of Mexican immigrants.
Patients Suffer When Health Care Behemoths Quarrel Over Contracts
The latest example is Sutter Health and Anthem Blue Cross, whose failure to seal a deal is causing Anthem members to worry they may not have access to one of the dominant hospital chains in Northern California. Across the U.S., the stakes in such contract fights have risen, as health systems and insurers battle to increase their market share.
Nonprofit Dental Insurer Under Scrutiny For ‘Flagrant’ Spending
Delta Dental of California, with more than 36 million enrollees across the country, is looking to buy a stake in a for-profit insurance company based in Oregon. Consumer advocates are calling on regulators to scrutinize the transaction, arguing that it is just the latest questionable move by the nonprofit dental insurer whose corporate practices may be out of step with its tax-exempt status.
Caen en picada las nuevas inscripciones en Covered California
Las nuevas inscripciones cayeron casi un 24% para los planes de 2019. Algunos expertos dicen que esta baja no es una sorpresa.
New Covered California Sign-Ups Plummet
Even though the number of people renewing their Covered California health plans increased this year, new enrollment plunged by nearly a quarter compared with last year, posting a bigger drop than the federal health insurance exchange, healthcare.gov, which saw a 16 percent decrease. Officials largely blame the elimination of the federal tax penalty for people without insurance.
Providers Walk ‘Fine Line’ Between Informing And Scaring Immigrant Patients
Some doctors and clinics are proactively informing patients about a proposed policy that could jeopardize the legal status of immigrants who use public benefit programs such as Medicaid. Others argue that because this “public charge” proposal isn’t final — and may never be adopted — disseminating too much information could create unnecessary alarm and cause some patients to drop benefits.
