Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Postcard From California: Alzheimer’s ‘Looks Like Me, It Looks Like You’
At a panel discussion this week in Sacramento, patients, caregivers and others shared their perspectives on how Alzheimer’s disease affects women, who account for two-thirds of those living with the condition.
Listen: How A ‘Hippie Clinic’ In San Francisco Inspired A Medical Philosophy
The Haight Ashbury Free Clinic still serves people living on the fringes in San Francisco. This radio story recounts its 51-year history.
Giving Medicaid Enrollees Something To Smile About
More than 7 million California adults enrolled in Medi-Cal regained coverage for critical dental care, including crowns and partial dentures, this month.
High Praise: Pot Churches Proliferate As States Ease Access To Marijuana
Churches that offer marijuana as a sacrament are popping up across California and the U.S., vexing state and local officials who say they’re simply pot shops in disguise.
Wrecked And Retching: Obscure Vomiting Illness Linked To Long-Term Pot Use
Emergency room doctors are seeing a growing number of marijuana users with a mysterious condition that causes extreme vomiting and abdominal pain.
Infection Lapses Rampant In Nursing Homes But Punishment Is Rare
A Kaiser Health News analysis of federal inspection records shows that nursing home inspectors labeled mistakes in infection control as serious for only 161 of the 12,056 homes they have cited since 2014.
When Nursing Homes Push Out Poor And Disabled Patients
Complaints are rising in California and other states about improper evictions and discharges. Advocates say some patients end up in cheap hotels, homeless or back in the hospital.
Health Risks To Farmworkers Increase As Workforce Ages
Harvesting U.S. crops has been left to an aging population of farmworkers whose health has suffered from decades of hard labor. Older workers have a greater chance of getting injured and of developing chronic illnesses.
Treating The New Hep C Generation On Their Turf
One Northern California physician is a foot soldier in the fight against a surge of hepatitis C, mainly among young drug users who share infected needles.
Dangling A Carrot For Patients To Take Healthy Steps: Does It Work?
Many medical groups and state Medicaid programs are offering gift cards, cash and other rewards to low-income patients if they agree to get preventive screenings and make healthier lifestyle choices.
Whistleblower: Medicaid Managed-Care Firm Improperly Denied Care To Thousands
An explosive report prepared by a SynerMed executive alleges the California firm, which oversaw care for 1.2 million patients, fabricated documents and violated state and federal regulations for years. The state says it left low-income patients on Medicaid managed care in “imminent danger.”
Hospitals With History Get A Second Life
The number of hospitals across the country has plummeted, but many old buildings are being resuscitated as apartments and condos.
Teaching Teens The Perils Of Pot As Marketplace Grows
The legalization of recreational marijuana in California and other states poses an added challenge for drug education programs targeting youths.
California Fines Anthem $5 Million For Failing to Address Consumer Grievances
The Department of Managed Health Care cited one example in which consumers and advocates had to call the insurer 22 times to contest a decision. Still, the complaint still was not resolved until the department became involved.
California Firm Running Physician Practices Is Closing Down as Scrutiny Ramps Up
State regulators and insurers are looking into SynerMed, which medical groups depend upon to handle their finances and business operations. The groups, serving 1 million patients, fear a messy fallout.
Can Apps Slay The Medical Bill Dragon?
A handful of Silicon Valley start-ups are trying to usher medical billing into the 21st century by creating smartphone apps to help consumers navigate their health insurance paperwork.
Taking A Page From Pharma’s Playbook To Fight The Opioid Crisis
Doctors and pharmacists in Northern California are emulating drug company sales reps with a fresh purpose in mind: They visit medical offices in the hardest-hit counties to change their peers’ prescribing habits and curtail the use of painkillers.
Vaccine Shortage Complicates Efforts To Quell Hepatitis A Outbreaks
The two FDA-approved manufacturers of the vaccine, hit by an unexpected spike in demand, have had difficulty keeping pace. In San Diego County, home to the deadliest outbreak in the nation, officials are postponing a campaign to give at-risk residents the second of two doses.
Sip Wine And Chat About Postponing Motherhood — At An ‘Egg Social’
Fertility doctors around the country are hosting soirees to pitch to mostly affluent women the benefits of preserving their eggs.
Breathing Fire: Health Is A Casualty Of Climate-Fueled Blazes
As the planet warms, wildfires such as the latest disastrous blazes in Northern California have increased in frequency and scope. Beyond the environmental effects, people suffer health repercussions that can be disabling and even deadly.
