The California Department of Public Health issued a remarkably sweeping advisory regarding vaping: All residents of the Golden State should stop the practice immediately.
According to the CDPH, 98 Californians who have vaped have been hospitalized for breathing problems since June 2019, CDPH has received reports that 98 people in California who have a history of vaping were hospitalized for severe breathing problems and lung damage, and two people have died.
Physician Type / In-network Providers, 2017-2019, %
Total Physicians: 116%
General Surgery: 110%
Emergency Medicine: 110%
Anesthesiology: 118%
Diagnostic Radiology: 126%
Pathology: 101%
Source: AJMC - Can We Stop Surprise Medical Bills AND Strengthen Provider Networks? California Did
The bootleg medications were smuggled across the border and sold to mostly Latino immigrants in public spaces throughout Los Angeles — at swap meets, parks, beauty salons and makeshift stands outside mom-and-pop grocery stores.
Nora Nicholson still remembers the joy she experienced after learning she was expecting a son in the summer of 2011. She and her husband Dana, who already had a young daughter, were thrilled at the prospect of having a second child. They settled on the name Bryce for their son.
Yet at 37 weeks, the Lafayette couple’s happiness was crushed when Nora gave birth. Bryce had a knot in the umbilical cord and was stillborn.
Woodland Hills-based Health Net has appointed J. Brian Ternan as its new chief executive officer. He assumed the role on Monday, the company said in a statement.
A new study by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research has found a connection between schools in California with high suspension rates and a feeling of disconnectedness among its students.
Among the most significant findings:
Buprenorphine Maintenance Treatment (BMT) Prescriptions, California vs US
2011
2014
* $345 million in cost avoidance, $6 saved for every $1 invested
* 67,000 avoided emergency department visits
* 57,000 avoided hospital admissions
* 750,000 patients with improved health outcomes (e.g. diabetes, hypertension, asthma) or improved processes of care (e.g. treated using new and improved clinical guidelines)
Often, when she got high on meth, Melanie, who suffers from schizophrenia, would strip naked and run screaming straight into San Francisco traffic. Invariably, police would bring her to the hospital, where she’d undergo treatment. There, her psychotic symptoms would quickly subside.
Economists and researchers long have blamed the high cost of healthcare in Northern California on the giant medical systems that have gobbled up hospitals and physician practices — most notably Sutter Health, a nonprofit chain with 24 hospitals, 34 surgery centers and 5,000 physicians across the region.
Now, those arguments will have their day in court: A long-awaited class-action lawsuit against Sutter is set to open Sept. 23 in San Francisco Superior Court.
New data from Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente has indicated that the percentage of its enrollees undergoing at-home dialysis has risen significantly in recent years.
According to its data, the number of dialysis patients who chose at-home peritoneal treatment rose from 15% to 34% between 2008 and 2018.
Department of Health Care Services Director Jennifer Kent, M.D., resigned on Sept. 10, according to a statement issued by her office. Media reports suggest it was linked to a social media post of Kent’s criticizing the anti-vaccine movement.
Kent, who has headed DHCS since December 2015, had posted on her Facebook page “The Capitol is filled with a bunch of flat-earthers today. My poor sweet Bacteria Bear is dripping with unvaccinated booger-eater germs.” She added two hashtags: “#believeinscience #vaccinateyourgoddamnkids.”
Lake County: 97.3 (per person per year, 2006-2012)
Shasta county: 94.5
Tuolumne county: 84.5
Stanislaus county: 61.2
Sacramento county: 45.5
Fresno county: 34.3
Riverside county: 30.9
San Diego county: 28.8
Los Angeles county: 21.9
Source: Washington Post
Projected Shortfall of Primary Care Clinicians in California, 2025
Region / Demand / Supply / Shortage
Statewide / 39,645 / 34,909 / -11.9%
Greater Bay Area / 8,987 / 8,646 / -3.8%
Sacramento, Sierra, Northern / 3,793 / 3,419 / -9.8%
Central Valley, Central Coast / 6,149 / 4,998 / -18.7%
Los Angeles, Orange County, Inland Empire / 17,169 / 15,005 / -12.6%
Southern Borders / 3,563 / 2,973 / -16.6%
Ed Zuroweste, a family practitioner in south central Pennsylvania, got a call a couple of years ago from a nearby hospital in Chambersburg. A restaurant worker, newly arrived from Guatemala, had staggered into the emergency room a few days before with severe shortness of breath and coughing up blood.
In the neighborhoods around San Jose, more than one in nine seniors struggle to get enough to eat. They are among the millions of seniors across the country who quietly go hungry as the safety net designed to catch them frays. Nearly 8% of Americans 60 and older were “food insecure” in 2017, according to a recent study released by the anti-hunger group Feeding America.
Despite the significant growth in the number Californians with health insurance since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, Latinos continue to lag behind regarding obtaining coverage, according to new data from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
Based on the UCLA Center’s California health interview surveys from 2015-16, Latinos in the state under the age of 65 had an uninsured rate of 13.7%, versus 6.4% for African-Americans and 5.3% for whites.
California Hospital Association President Carmela Coyle has submitted a pointed declaration as part of the litigation against the Trump administration’s so-called “public charge” rule intended to discourage immigrants from seeking Medicaid coverage and other government assistance.
The rule put forward by the Trump administration would count against legal immigrants in obtaining permanent residency or citizenship their use of benefits such as Medicaid, Snap (food stamps) and other government safety net programs.
* Not-for-profit Kaiser Permanente's net income jumped 214% in the second quarter of 2019 year-over-year, hitting $2 billion in the quarter that ended June 30.
* Kaiser's expenses grew 5.5% in the second quarter year-over-year, but at a slower clip than revenue, which grew 9.3% during that time.
* The system pulled in $1.1 billion in operating income on $21.4 billion in revenue, a 5.2% margin, in the first quarter of 2019 - compared with just $345 million in operating income on $19.6 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2018, a 1.8% margin.
According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation 2019 KIDS Count Profile:
- California has 6.9% of births with low birth weight babies, compared to 8.3% nationally.
- California has 3% of children without health insurance compared to 5% nationally
- California has 19 child and teen deaths per 100,000 compared to 26 nationally
- California has 5% of teens who abuse alcohol or drugs, compared to 4% nationally
Source: Annie E. Casey Foundation 2019 KIDS Count Profile, 2017 Data
