Don Thompson

As California Taps Pandemic Stockpile for Bird Flu, Officials Keep Close Eye on Spending

Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Ò•îl Health News Original

California health officials began providing protective clothing to farmworkers months before the state’s first bird flu transmission to humans was announced in October. It’s a reminder of the state’s struggle to remain prepared for health threats amid multibillion-dollar deficits.

California Voters Consider Tough Love for Repeat Drug Offenders

Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Ò•îl Health News Original

A California ballot measure would roll back some decade-old criminal justice reforms that have become fodder for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Stiffer penalties for shoplifting have gotten much of the attention, but the measure also allows controversial treatment requirements for repeat drug offenders.

California May Regulate and Restrict Pharmaceutical Brokers

Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Ò•îl Health News Original

California lawmakers are moving to rein in the pharmaceutical middlemen they say drive up costs and limit consumers’ choices. The bill sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom would require pharmacy benefit managers to be licensed in California and would ban some business practices. Newsom vetoed a previous effort three years ago.

Lifesaving Drugs and Police Projects Mark First Use of Opioid Settlement Cash in California

Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Ò•îl Health News Original

California is in line for more than $4 billion in opioid settlement funds, and local governments are most often spending the first tranche of money on lifesaving drugs. An exclusive Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Ò•îl Health News analysis also found projects to help police deter youths’ drug use and counsel officers who witness overdoses.

California Fails to Adequately Help Blind and Deaf Prisoners, US Judge Rules

Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Ò•îl Health News Original

Thirty years after prisoners with disabilities sued and 25 years after a federal court first ordered accommodations, a judge found that California prison and parole officials still are not doing enough to help deaf and blind prisoners — in part because they are not providing readily available technology such as video recordings and laptop computers.

Secret Contract Aims to Upend Landmark California Prison Litigation

Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Ò•îl Health News Original

California has commissioned an exhaustive study of whether its prisons provide a constitutional level of mental health care, which it could use to try to end one of the lawsuits that have federal courts overseeing the state’s prisons. But corrections officials won’t disclose even basic details of the consultants’ contract, including its cost to taxpayers.

Delicate Labor-Industry Deal in Flux as Newsom Revisits $25 Minimum Health Wage

Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Ò•îl Health News Original

In spite of labor concern about any rollback, Gov. Gavin Newsom is revisiting California’s planned $25 minimum wage for health workers less than three months after approving the measure despite an uncertain price tag. The projected $4 billion first-year cost forms part of the state’s estimated $38 billion deficit.

California Expands Paid Sick Days and Boosts Health Worker Wages

Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Ò•îl Health News Original

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation expanding paid sick leave to five days, extending bereavement leave to miscarriages and failed adoptions, and approving an eventual $25-an-hour health care minimum wage. Still, in a possible sign of national ambitions, the Democrat vetoed free condoms in schools and refused to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms.

California Promises Better Care for Thousands of Inmates as They Leave Prison

Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½Ò•îl Health News Original

California officials recently agreed to give new parolees a 60-day supply of their prescriptions and promised to replace lost medical equipment in the month after they’re released from prison. The state also agreed to submit Medi-Cal applications on their behalf at least 90 days before they are released.