Posts Tagged: abuse
Opinion
OPINION: Assisted suicide is already legal in California through the so-called End-of-Life Option Act, narrowly passed by the California Legislature and signed by then-Governor Brown in 2015. The bill was opposed by both Democrat and Republican Assembly members and Senators, but passed during a contested Special Legislative Session on Medi-Cal funding.
News
California has seen ideological clashes throughout its 170-year history as a state, and they are not all confined to Democrats vs. Republicans, north vs. south, coast vs. inland, or rural vs. urban. One of today’s sharpest battles is between rodeo boosters and those who find rodeos cruel and silly. Foremost among the latter is Eric Mills of Oakland, who calls rodeos “just a bunch of macho crap.”
News
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Stephen Manley refers to defendants in his courtroom as “clients” – an indication of the unusually informal and conversational tenor of the Behavioral Health Court he created more than two decades ago. “It tends to break through a barrier,” Manley said.
News
Police response to mental-health calls often ends – again and again – in chaotic, noisy hospital emergency rooms, where staff is stretched thin, and a heart attack is likely to take precedence over someone in the throes of a mental-health crisis. “Traditionally, people would be dropped off at the ER, and the only option was to transfer them to a psychiatric facility,” says Dr. Scott Zeller, a nationally known emergency psychiatrist and former president of the American Association for Emergency Psychiatry.
Opinion
OPINION: In the past 20 years, a lot has happened in California to give young children a better start in life. Since voters made their voices heard and passed Proposition 10, the tobacco tax that created First 5 commissions in every county, great things have happened.
Opinion
OPINION: One critical step championed by PBMs is requiring electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) of controlled substances in Medicare. E-prescribing of controlled substances helps ensure each prescription is written by a legitimate prescriber and filled by a legitimate pharmacy.
News
The federal government has given California bad marks on monitoring the well-being of children in foster care. State officials were slow to investigate complaints of abuse or neglect, failed to notify investigators of serious sexual abuse allegations and didn’t follow up to ensure cases were resolved, according to an audit released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General.
News
First CalPERS announced last year that it was cutting the eye-popping pension of a former city of Vernon official, Bruce Malkenhorst, from $551,688 a year to $115,848. Then yesterday the CalPERS board approved the recovery of a $3.5 million pension overpayment from Malkenhorst, 84, who retired in 2005 from the tiny industrial city south of downtown Los Angeles known for corruption.
Opinion
OPINION: As a public safety officer for nearly 20 years, I am often asked what I believe is an effective way to suppress crime in our nation. The answer is simple: Solve our drug problem. And while many envision street drugs as the problem, the misuse of prescription drugs is a huge crisis with no bias toward any community in this state. Prescription opioid abuse is estimated to cost the United States about $56 billion annually due to health costs, criminal justice costs and lost productivity.
Opinion
OPINION: Every once in a while there are glimmers of hope that the California Legislature gets legal reform and the impact it has on the lives of business people throughout the State of California. One of those moments came with the defeat of AB 2416 by State Assemblyman Mark Stone, which would have dramatically increased lawsuits against small business owners.
An illustration of a terminally ill patient comforted by a relative. (Image: Lightspring, via Shutterstock)
