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Not a subscriber? Sign up | | | | Daily Edition | | | SF Makes Major Change To Drug Policy: San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie on Wednesday announced that the city would no longer give users free paraphernalia to consume drugs without providing treatment counseling. The move marks a shift away from the standing policy of providing supplies for people to use drugs in a safer manner, including clean foil and needles. Read more from CBS News San Francisco and The San Francisco Chronicle. HHS Layoffs Will Hurt Fight Against AIDS, Experts Say: Sweeping layoffs in the federal Health and Human Services department, including shuttering the entire San Francisco branch this week, could have catastrophic consequences for HIV/AIDS services and potentially put at risk longstanding efforts to end the epidemic, public health experts say. Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle. Scroll down for more on the layoffs at HHS. 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 The Intersection: Costa, Gray Propose Congressional Bill To Address Critical Physician Shortage In Rural Areas
Two San Joaquin Valley congressional representatives have introduced a bill that could help address the vast shortage of doctors in the region, particularly in underserved areas. Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, and Rep. Adam Gray, D-Merced, say the Medical Education Act would, if passed, establish a program of grants to support expanded medical education programs in underserved areas of the nation. The Valley could be one of the key areas that would benefit from the legislation. (Sheehan, 4/2) CapRadio: New Bill Would Further Expand Health Care Coverage To Immigrants Without Legal Status
A new bill in California aims to expand health care options for people who are undocumented. That comes as the state borrows money in part to fund Medi-Cal for undocumented residents. People who are undocumented in California have had limited access to Medi-Cal since 2014. The state extended coverage to all undocumented residents last year. Assembly Bill 4 would also allow them to enroll in Covered California — the state's health insurance marketplace that was established through the Affordable Care Act. (Myscofski, 4/2) The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Pacifica Senior Living Files Bankruptcy, Leaving Fate Of Sonoma County Facilities Uncertain
Pacifica Senior Living, which owns about 80 elder care facilities in seven states — including Healdsburg Senior Living and another assisted living site that was due to open in Santa Rosa in the coming weeks — has filed for bankruptcy. (Barber, 4/2) Voice of OC: Los Alamitos Creates Regional Support Plan For Seniors Across North OC
A North Orange County city is taking a proactive approach to strengthening senior services and looking at exactly what kinds of programs can help aging residents — not just locally, but regionally. It comes as public officials throughout Orange County are grappling with an increasing senior population as Baby Boomers age. (Cartmell, 4/2) Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Considers Disaster Registry For Elderly, Disabled
After intense scrutiny of Los Angeles County's failures in coordinating evacuations during January's deadly firestorm, officials will look into creating a registry for people with disabilities and other mobility challenges in case of future disasters. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a motion by Supervisors Janice Hahn and Kathryn Barger to study a potential registry following the fire deaths of 17 people in Altadena. The fatalities have highlighted L.A. County's struggle to plan for the evacuation of elderly and disabled people. (Jarvie, 4/2) San Francisco Chronicle: Shingles Vaccine Can Cut Risk Of Dementia, Stanford-Led Study Says
Getting vaccinated against shingles can reduce the risk of dementia, according to a new study led by Stanford researchers. The study, published in Nature on Wednesday, found that older adults who received the shingles vaccine were 20% less likely to develop dementia in the subsequent seven years than those who did not receive the vaccine. (Ho, 4/2) Los Angeles Times: Trump's Fight With California Could Leave Students Without School Meals
More than 80% of L.A. Unified students qualify for a free or reduced-price school meal — mainly funded by $363 million per year in federal food aid that the district receives. But this food aid appears to have become be another chess piece in the joust between California and the Trump administration's efforts to pressure state and local officials to follow its edicts. (Blume, 4/3) The Hill: Bipartisan Senators Unveil Measure Providing Flexibility In School Lunch Milk Options
A bipartisan trio in the Senate unveiled a proposal Wednesday to require schools to offer nondairy milk options at lunch to accommodate students who are lactose intolerant or have other dietary restrictions. The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) has long required school lunches to include milk on all trays in order for schools to be reimbursed for the meals. (Fortinsky, 4/2) Los Angeles Times: Trump Administration To Audit Calif. Sex Ed Curriculum For 'Medical Accuracy'
The Trump administration is reviewing the curriculum of a sex education program in California for medical accuracy and age appropriateness, a move that has sparked backlash from LGBTQ+ advocates worried about queer and transgender sexual health information being censored. Last week, California was asked to submit all educational materials from its federally funded Personal Responsibility Education Program to the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, according to a news release from the administration. (Harter, 4/3) Roll Call: Supreme Court Sounds Conflicted On Medicaid Cut For Planned Parenthood
Some Supreme Court justices appeared open Wednesday to allowing South Carolina to deny federal funding for Planned Parenthood, during oral arguments in a dispute over the state disqualifying the health care provider from Medicaid for providing abortions. But key justices also aired concerns that such a decision would leave no way for recipients to challenge state decisions about what providers qualify. The central question for the justices is whether Congress created a right for Planned Parenthood or other groups to file such a lawsuit, which involves how explicit Congress must be if it wants to allow such a right. (Macagnone, 4/2) San Francisco Chronicle: California Man Accused Of Killing Walgreens Employee Pleads Not Guilty
A man accused of gunning down a Walgreens employee in California's Central Valley allegedly held a long-standing grudge against large pharmacies. Narciso Gallardo Fernandez, 30, is charged with murder in the killing of 24-year-old Erick Velasquez, who was shot inside the store in Madera late Monday night, according to the Madera County District Attorney's Office. (Vaziri, 4/2) Becker's Hospital Review: RN Pay By State, Adjusted For Cost Of Living
California has the highest hourly mean wage for registered nurses in the U.S., and Oregon has the highest hourly mean wage for RNs after adjusted for cost of living, according to data published April 2 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Gooch, 4/2) Redlands Daily Facts: Death Of Veteran Found In Car At California VA Latest In String Of Suicides
A military veteran wanted by police was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a parked vehicle this week at the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veterans' Hospital in the latest of a string of suicides connected to the VA Loma Linda Health Care System in California. (Schwebke, 4/2) San Francisco Chronicle: Oakland District 2 Council Candidates Spar Over Homelessness
Along a stretch of East 12th Street in East Oakland are more than a dozen makeshift pallet shelters and RVs and other vehicles. The area, also a hotspot for illegal dumping, is littered with massive piles of garbage that include a mattress and abandoned furniture that spill onto the street. Oakland officials have long struggled to clear the site, which is one of the city's largest encampments, in the San Antonio neighborhood along East 12th between 14th and 18th avenues, and nearby residents are frustrated with the blight, as well as public safety concerns, sex trafficking and crime in the area. (Ravani, 4/3) East Bay Times: California Family Recounts Sea Lion Attack Linked To Toxic Algae Poisoning
It was at the ER that Phoebe learned she had been attacked by a sea lion, their aggression likely a symptom of domoic acid poisoning from toxic algae, according to her doctor. "A sea lion isn't naturally aggressive," said marine biologist Dave Baver, from the Marine Mammal Care Center. "They're not in their right minds. It's 100% caused by the domoic acid toxicosis that it's suffering from." (Darwish, 4/3) East Bay Times: Falls From California-Mexico Border Wall Drop Sharply With Change In Military Presence
The number of people seriously hurt falling off the U.S.-Mexico border wall in San Diego County has dropped sharply since the Trump administration intensified security measures, according to the two trauma hospitals that treat those injuries. (Sisson, 4/3) The New York Times: Trump Administration Demands Additional Cuts At C.D.C.
Alongside extensive reductions to the staff of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Trump administration has asked the agency to cut $2.9 billion of its spending on contracts, according to three federal officials with knowledge of the matter. The administration's cost-cutting program, called the Department of Government Efficiency, asked the public health agency to sever roughly 35 percent of its spending on contracts about two weeks ago. The C.D.C. was told to comply by April 18, according to the officials. (Mandavilli, 4/2) The Washington Post: FDA Cuts Senior Veterinarians Working On Bird Flu
Nearly half a dozen senior veterinarians at the Food and Drug Administration were laid off in a sweeping purge, including employees in a center that has played a key role in the recent bird flu outbreak that began rampaging through dairy herds for the first time last spring, according to three FDA staffers. Some of the veterinarians laid off this week had helped design studies last year showing pasteurization kills the virus in milk found on store shelves, according to the three staffers who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. (Roubein and Sun, 4/2) Modern Healthcare: HHS Restructuring Hits PACE, Duals Offices
The Health and Human Services Department is reorganizing a handful of key programs for dually eligible enrollees and older adults, including laying off numerous staffers. HHS is shuffling how it manages care coordination for people dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid under the Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office and the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly. (Early, 4/2) Stat: Trump Administration Cuts Health Policy Researchers
The Trump administration has gutted two small federal agencies filled with researchers who study how the health care system functions and how to improve it. More than half of employees at the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality — both part of the Department of Health and Human Services — have been laid off, according to several current and former employees. The two agencies operate on less than $600 million combined, or about 0.04% of what the federal government spends on health care. (Herman and Bannow, 4/2) NPR: Public Records Offices Gutted In HHS Layoffs
Teams that fulfilled requests for government documents lost their jobs on Tuesday as part of the Trump administration's 10,000-person staff cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services. Their work, mandated by Congress since the 1960s under the Freedom of Information Act or FOIA, gives the public a view of the inner workings of federal health agencies. Some public records teams were entirely cut at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and other agencies on Tuesday, according to multiple current and former staffers who did not want to be named because of fears of retribution. (Lupkin, 4/3) AP: Scientists Sue NIH, Saying Politics Cut Their Research Funding
A group of scientists and health groups sued the National Institutes of Health on Wednesday, arguing that an "ideological purge" of research funding is illegal and threatens medical cures. Since President Donald Trump took office in January, hundreds of NIH research grants have been abruptly canceled for science that mentions the words diversity, gender and vaccine hesitancy, as well as other politically charged topics. (4/2) San Francisco Chronicle: Trump Tariffs In California: Here's What Could Get More Expensive
President Donald Trump's widespread tariffs could upend California agriculture and will likely lead to increased prices on cars, prescription drugs and even toilet paper, economists and industry experts said. All countries will face 10% across-the-board tariffs, Trump announced at an event in the Rose Garden Wednesday. (Stein, Swan, Cortez and Mobley, 4/2) CBS News: FDA Planning For Fewer Food And Drug Inspections Due To Layoffs, Officials Say
Senior Food and Drug Administration leaders are planning for cutbacks to the number of routine food and drug inspections conducted by the agency, multiple officials say, due to steep layoffs this week in support staff. Around 170 workers were cut from the FDA's Office of Inspections and Investigations, according to two federal health officials who were not authorized to speak publicly. (Tin, 4/2) The Wall Street Journal: FTC's Case Against Drug Managers On Hold After Commissioners Fired
The Federal Trade Commission's lawsuit against three large pharmacy-benefit managers over insulin prices is on hold after President Trump fired two of the agency's commissioners. The FTC this week halted a lawsuit against the country's largest drug middlemen, which negotiate drug prices for employers and insurers. The FTC said it needs to pause the litigation because its two remaining commissioners, both Republicans, are recused from the case, leaving none to oversee it. (Michaels and Walker, 4/2) The Wall Street Journal: FDA Punts On Major Covid-19 Vaccine Decision After Ouster Of Top Official
Federal drug regulators have missed the deadline for making a key decision regarding a Covid-19 vaccine from Novavax, days after the Food and Drug Administration's vaccine chief was pushed out. The agency was set to give full approval to Novavax's shot, but senior leaders at the agency are now sitting on the decision and have said the Novavax application needed more data and was unlikely to be approved soon, people familiar with the matter said. (Whyte, 4/2) Bloomberg: RFK Jr. Lays Off Staffers Who Run FDA's Vaccine Expert Panel
The Food and Drug Administration laid off staffers who run an expert panel that advises the agency on vaccines, according to people familiar with the situation. The responsibilities of the four employees included monitoring conflicts of interest and overseeing meetings, according to the people who asked not to be named because the moves aren't public. (Cohrs Zhang, 4/2) Reuters: US FDA Insider Steele Replaces Marks As Top Vaccine Official, For Now
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday it had named Scott Steele as acting director of its Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), following the exit of top vaccine scientist Peter Marks. An FDA insider for the past five years, Steele has advised on medical policy and served as senior adviser at CBER. He was an adviser on science and technology at the White House during George W. Bush's administration. (4/1) | | | | | |
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