The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) recently released the 2017 End of Life Option Act Annual Report. Recall, the End of Life Option Act became law in June 2016 and allows qualified individuals diagnosed with a terminal disease to obtain and self-administer aid-in-dying drugs. CDPH is required to report annually the number of prescriptions…
Read More »The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) this week released a report examining health care coverage expansions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and their impact on the utilization of emergency department services. After controlling for factors such as patient age and health status, PPIC determined the odds of being a frequent emergency department user,…
Read More »This week, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (CMQCC), and the Public Health Institute (PHI) released a comprehensive statewide review of maternal deaths from 2002-2007, offering key insights to improving care and strategies to further reduce preventable maternal mortality. The report determined that California has experienced a significant…
Read More »The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), in collaboration with the University of Kentucky, recently released its annual National Health Security Preparedness Index which identifies strengths and weaknesses in the protections needed to keep individuals safe and healthy in the event of a large-scale public health emergency. The Index combines a series of measures from various…
Read More »This week, the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) published an updated issue brief detailing how public health and education sectors can work together to address the nationwide alcohol, drug, and suicide crises. The brief builds upon the existing Pain in the Nation report released last year which projected deaths from drugs, alcohols, and suicides could…
Read More »With support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the Prevention Institute released a brief titled, “Countering the Production of Health Inequities through Systems and Sectors.” The brief examines a series of determinants of health, their connections to health and safety, and inequities in health and wellbeing outcomes. To better understand the origination of health…
Read More »The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) recently published a report on childhood poisoning and prevention efforts. The report finds that in 2016 alone, over 30,500 reports were made to poison control centers regarding the exposure of addictive substances to young children. Exposure rates of nicotine, alcohol, cannabis, and opioids among children have…
Read More »California Health Policy Strategies (CalHPS) recently released a report and other materials on the health and behavioral health needs of prison and jail inmates returning from custody to their communities. With support from the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) and L.A. Care, CalHPS has been engaged in research and recommendation development to improve the effectiveness…
Read More »The U.S. National Safety Council this week released a report on the nationwide opioid epidemic titled, “Prescription Nation 2018.” The report highlights the rapidly rising opioid overdose epidemic, economic impacts of the overdoses, and recommended actions to address the crisis and save lives. State-by-state progress in responding to the epidemic and strengthening laws and regulations…
Read More »This month’s edition of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Vital Signs report explores antibiotic resistance (AR) and public health strategies to address the ongoing threat of dangerous bacteria. Nationwide tests in 2017 identified 221 instances of unusual resistance genes in “nightmare bacteria” that render such infections virtually untreatable. The CDC has…
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