California's nation-leading $25 minimum wage for health workers relies on a significant boost in federal funding. It also leaves out thousands of state employees under an agreement that is expected to win approval from state lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom in the coming days. (Don Thompson, )
UCSF Doctors Feuding Over Oath To 'Do No Harm': The Israel-Hamas war has frayed social ties around the world, but rarely has it fractured a medical community the way it has at the University of California, San Francisco, where a staff known for celebrating diversity has fallen into an atmosphere of backbiting and distrust. Read more from The New York Times.
Below, check out the roundup of California Healthline's coverage. For today's national health news, read KFF Health News' Morning Briefing.
More News From Across The State
Health Industry and Biotech
Stat: AliveCor Gets FDA Nod For 12-Lead, AI-Powered ECG Machine AliveCor, which is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., has spent years battling with Apple over the market for consumer heart monitoring technology. Now it's hoping to make its imprint on professional health care with its new device, which recently received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration. (Aguilar, 6/25)
Becker's Hospital Review: 20 Most Socially Responsible Hospitals, Per Lown Institute Adventist Health Ukiah Valley (Ukiah, Calif.) was the No. 4 most socially responsible acute care hospital in the U.S., according to a June 24 ranking from Lown Institute. The nonpartisan healthcare think tank assessed more than 2,700 acute care hospitals and 800 critical access hospitals nationwide across 54 metrics related to health equity, value of care and patient outcomes. (Bean, 6/25)
Modern Healthcare: Travel Nursing Demand Declines, Staffing Agencies Pivot Healthcare employment agencies are reevaluating their strategies as interest in travel nurses wanes among both hospitals and workers. It's another sign of the shifting needs of the industry since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Testing firms have laid off workers or folded. Telehealth companies have been challenged. (DeSilva, 6/24)
Modern Healthcare: EHR Information Blocking Rule Finalized By HHS Healthcare providers that prevent authorized users from accessing electronic health records data face new consequences under a final rule the Health and Human Services Department published Monday. The regulation to discourage so-called information blocking emerged from the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016 and applies to providers including hospitals, physicians and accountable care organizations. (Early, 6/24)
Supreme Court
Reuters: US Supreme Court To Decide If Retirees Can Sue For Disability Bias The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether retired workers retain the ability to sue their former employers for disability discrimination after they leave their jobs, a question that has divided federal appeals courts. The justices granted a petition by Karyn Stanley, a retired firefighter for the Orlando suburb of Sanford, Florida, who is appealing a lower court ruling that said she could not sue the city for allegedly curbing benefits for disabled retirees because it no longer employed her. (Wiessner, 6/24)
Modern Healthcare: Supreme Court Denies Challenge To BCBS Antitrust Settlement The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a request from Home Depot and other employers to hear a challenge to policyholders' $2.67 billion antitrust settlement with Blue Cross Blue Shield. Justices declined a petition from the home improvement retailer, design consultancy Topographic and benefits provider Employee Services alleging that the settlement does not treat self-insured customers fairly and does not go far enough to promote competition between Blue Cross companies. (Tepper, 6/24)
NBC News: Supreme Court Rejects Appeals Brought By RFK Jr.-Founded Anti-Vaccine Group Over Covid Shots The Supreme Court on Monday turned away two Covid-related appeals brought by Children's Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group founded by independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The decision by the justices not to hear the cases leaves in place lower court rulings against the group. (Hurley, 6/24)
Reuters: US Supreme Court Gives Pharma Companies A Chance To Thwart Terrorism-Funding Lawsuit Hundreds of American service members and civilians, and their families, sued the defendant companies, part of five corporate families: AstraZeneca, Pfizer, GE Healthcare USA, Johnson & Johnson and F. Hoffmann-La Roche. The plaintiffs accused major U.S. and European pharmaceutical and device makers of providing corrupt payments to the Hezbollah-sponsored militia group Jaysh al-Mahdi in order to obtain medical supply contracts from Iraq's health ministry. (Scarcella, 6/24)
Military.com: Paralyzed During Surgery At Walter Reed, Guardsman Asks Supreme Court To Consider Feres Doctrine Challenge Since April 6, 2018, Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Ryan Carter has been unable to dress himself, eat alone or walk from one room to another. On that day, Carter was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, for back surgery to address chronic pain; he left 19 days later, a paraplegic and victim, he says, of medical malpractice. At the time of the surgery, Carter was not on active-duty orders or medical orders -- an inactive status his attorneys argue made him eligible to file a malpractice claim against the government under the Federal Tort Claims Act. (Kime, 6/24)
The Guardian: Over Half Of US Women On Probation Or Parole Need Permission To Travel For Abortion – Study The number of women on probation or parole who must seek permission to travel for an abortion more than doubled to 635,000 in two years since the supreme court overturned the federal right to abortion, a new report finds. Fourteen states have near-total abortion bans and 21 restrict the procedure. Together with near ubiquitous travel restrictions imposed by probation and parole, more than half of women on probation or parole in the US must seek permission to travel before obtaining an abortion. (Glenza, 6/24)
Exploring the link between health and homelessness, a Fontana native's story highlights the challenges of accessing care and the cycle of homelessness and health conditions. (Noroozi, 6/24)
Mental Health
San Francisco Chronicle: US Surgeon General Declares Gun Violence A Public Health Emergency The U.S. surgeon general on Tuesday declared gun violence a public health crisis, driven by the fast-growing number of injuries and deaths involving firearms in the country. The advisory issued by Dr. Vivek Murthy, the nation's top doctor, came as the U.S. grappled with another summer weekend marked by mass shootings that left dozens of people dead or wounded. (Seitz, 6/25)
ABC News: Long-Term Loneliness Associated With Higher Risk Of Stroke: Study Middle-age and older adults with long-term loneliness are at higher risk of stroke than those who do not report being lonely, according to a new study published in the journal eClinicalMedicine on Monday. Researchers found the risk of stroke among lonely adults was higher regardless of co-existing depressive symptoms or feelings of social isolation. (Kumar, 6/25)
CNN: A Ketamine Pill May Help Hard-To-Treat Depression With Fewer Side Effects, Early Research Suggests A new ketamine pill may help hard-to-treat depression with fewer side effects than other forms of the treatment, early research suggests. Technically, no form of ketamine has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat any psychiatric disorder, including depression. A derivative of ketamine, called esketamine, was approved in 2019 to treat depression. (Goodman, 6/24)
NPR: Gut Microbiome Is Linked To How We Handle Stress In New Study The gut microbiome -- the ecosystem of tiny organisms inside us all -- has emerged as fertile new territory for studying a range of psychiatric conditions and neurological diseases. Research has demonstrated the brain and gut are in constant communication and that changes in the microbiome are linked to mood and mental health. Now a study published this month in Nature Mental Health finds distinct biological signatures in the microbiomes of people who are highly resilient in the face of stressful events. (Stone, 6/24)
Environment and Health
Times of San Diego: Lawson-Remer Introduces Policy To Better Study Health Impacts Of Tijuana River Sewage Crisis San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer Monday detailed a policy intended to get the county Health and Human Services Agency to examine health impacts of the Tijuana River sewage crisis on South Bay residents. Along with leaders from Imperial Beach and Coronado, Lawson-Remer explained how she wants to see increased data collection beyond those coming into direct contact with polluted ocean water. Bacteria from raw sewage flowing from the watershed into the ocean can become aerosolized and impact those further inland, studies by the Scripps Institute of Oceanography suggest. The Board of Supervisors will consider the policy at its regular Tuesday meeting. (Ireland, 6/24)
Around California
KQED: State Department Of Public Health Won't Intervene In Upcoming Closure Of East San José Trauma Center In the ongoing fight to stop the planned closure of the only trauma center on the east side of Santa Clara County, the state has dealt a blow to advocates and elected officials. The California Department of Public Health shot down a request from a group of state Assembly members asking the agency to intervene in Regional Medical Center's closure of its trauma center and cuts to other services, set to take effect Aug. 12. (Geha, 6/24)
Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Man Convicted Of Selling Deadly Fentanyl Dose On OfferUp A Hawaiian Gardens man was convicted of using the popular online marketplace OfferUp to sell a tar-like substance containing fentanyl to a teenager who later died of an overdose. Gregory Hevener, 47, was found guilty in federal court Monday of one count each of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death and possession with intent to distribute heroin, according to a statement by the U.S. attorney's office. (Sheets and Blakinger, 6/25)
San Francisco Chronicle: California Traffic Fatalities Rise 5% While The National Rate Declines In the first quarter of 2024, traffic fatalities in California grew by approximately 5%, contrasting with a national decline of 3.2%, according to preliminary data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The agency reported on Monday that an estimated 8,650 individuals died in traffic crashes nationwide during the year's first three months, down from 8,935 in the same period last year. In California, there were 965 traffic deaths in the first quarter of this year, up from 919 during the same period in 2023. (Vaziri, 6/24)
Los Angeles Times: 10 Myths About Sunscreen You Can't Afford To Fall For Attention sunscreen skeptics: The sun's UV rays are coming for you, and you're just making their job easier. Summer is now upon us, which means more time in the sun — and more exposure to the ultraviolet radiation it emits. Longer-wavelength ultraviolet A rays can reach beneath the skin's surface, causing it to age prematurely. Shorter-wavelength ultraviolet B rays affect the outermost layers of skin, causing sunburns and tans. (Kaplan, 6/25)
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