Latest news with #CalRX
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Stanislaus County continues fentanyl awareness with empty chair display at mall
Stanislaus County agencies and volunteers will keep pressing for public awareness even though preliminary data showed a drop in fentanyl deaths last year. The county's Opioid Safety Coalition will have an empty chair display at Vintage Faire Mall in Modesto through Tuesday, National Fentanyl Awareness Day. Each of the 173 chairs represents someone who died from taking the illegal drug or other overdoses in 2024. County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services leads the coalition composed of county and public health staff, addiction experts, health professionals, hospital workers, educators and residents who have lost family members. Meetings are held at 9 a.m. the second Thursday of each month at the Stanislaus Veterans Center, 3500 Coffee Road, Modesto. According to Coroner's Office data, illegal fentanyl resulted in 101 overdose or poisoning deaths in the county in 2024. A California Department of Public Health spokesperson said Thursday that the state's official count for 2023 was 127 fentanyl deaths in Stanislaus County, an increase from 116 in 2022. The potent drug associated with the cautionary warning 'One pill can kill' was responsible for 86% of opioid deaths and 68% of drug-related deaths in the county in 2023. That same year, drug overdose was the leading cause of death among adults 25 to 54 years old in California. Fatal overdoses were witnessed by a bystander 40% of the time, and knowing how to help might have saved many lives, CDPH said. 'While we do see the national data trending downward, the reality is our communities in California are still heavily impacted by fentanyl overdose,' said Shauna Simon, a research scientist for the substance and addiction prevention branch of CDPH. Simon said the CDPH recommends that community members talk with friends, family members and neighbors about the signs of overdose, when to call 911 and how to administer Naloxone to stop an overdose. Many organizations are making the life-saving medication available to the public. The nasal spray designed to reverse opioid overdoses can be purchased over the counter at pharmacies, which are stocking it more than previously. Naloxone, often sold as Narcan, is designed to reverse overdoses until the person can receive medical attention. The state's CalRX program makes Naloxone available for purchase online for $24 for a twin-pack, which is significantly less than the usual price for consumers. The state program began direct sales to consumers to expand access to the medication. The CDPH's Facts Fight Fentanyl website presents the signs for recognizing an opioid overdose, including small, constricted pupils, loss of consciousness, slow or weak breathing, clammy skin, gurgling sounds and a limp body. The site has an instructional video on how to administer Naloxone nasal spray, along with other life-saving steps. Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid sold illegally in pill form or mixed with other drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine. The county Coroner's office recorded 550 deaths related to fentanyl from 2018 through the end of 2024.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Fearing Trump cuts, California Democrat proposes creating state's own NIH
SACRAMENTO, California — An ambitious California Democrat wants the world's fifth-largest economy to create its own National Institutes of Health and vaccine program, saying the state can't rely on the Trump administration to support research and science. A bill introduced in the California Senate on Thursday, shared first with POLITICO, would create a new state agency to fund the scientific research being slashed by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency as well as bolster the vaccine access being questioned by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 'California is a global leader on science in our own right, and we must step in to protect our scientific institutions from the new Administration's anti-science, Make America Sick Again onslaught,' the bill's author, San Francisco state Sen. Scott Wiener, said in a statement announcing his proposal. 'For California to thrive, we must defend science.' The move comes as California and other states gird for potentially massive cuts to health care and scientific research coming from Washington, and as a growing measles outbreak throws the administration's position on vaccines into question. President Donald Trump hasalready tried to slash $4 billion in research grants from the National Institutes of Health, an effort which is currently tied up in court. Meanwhile, Kennedy has been raising concerns among other public health officials by promoting supplements like cod liver oil along with offering tepid directives for people to get vaccinated in response to the deadly measles outbreak that began in Texas. Wiener's bill is also reminiscent of how California behaved during the first Trump administration, when Gov. Gavin Newsom moved to independently review Covid-19 vaccines amid public distrust of White House policies. 'As Trump, Musk, and RFK Jr. tear apart federal science leadership, California must step up for science,' said Wiener, who's widely believed to have his eyes on Nancy Pelosi's House seat. 'California must lead.' With Wiener's bill, California could step in to fill both of those gaps. His proposal would create a new state agency — the California Institute for Scientific Research — that would provide grants and loans in several areas being targeted for cuts by Trump and Musk, including research in biomedicine, climate, weather and drug safety. It also directs California's existing prescription drug manufacturing and procurement program, called CalRX, to start working on vaccine access. California's local public health departments already order thousands of doses of different vaccines every year through a central state procurement system called myCAvax, and it funds millions of dollars of research through the state's public colleges and universities. But as Wiener's office points out, much of the research being done at California institutions is federally funded, and if that money goes away, his bill would provide a way to backfill it. The proposal envisions grants targeted primarily to the research being cut at the federal level and disbursed to California-based companies, schools and nonprofits or out-of-state researchers collaborating with California scientists. And if federal support for vaccine production also wanes, the bill would direct CalRX to contract with manufacturers to purchase or produce its own label of vaccines, the way it's currently doing to support naloxone access in combating opioid overdoses. During the last Trump administration, Newsom formed his own scientific advisory committee with the Democratic governors of other Western states — including Colorado, Oregon, Nevada and Washington state — to review the safety and efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines. They also agreed to review the science behind vaccine recommendations and stay-at-home orders themselves instead of relying on Trump. The bill is likely to face pushback from the state's Republican minority, but the real uphill battle will come when there's a price tag attached to the proposal: the state is already grappling with proposed budget cuts in certain areas, as well as a shortfall for the state Medicaid program.
Politico
27-03-2025
- Health
- Politico
Fearing Trump cuts, California Democrat proposes creating state's own NIH
SACRAMENTO, California — An ambitious California Democrat wants the world's fifth-largest economy to create its own National Institutes of Health and vaccine program, saying the state can't rely on the Trump administration to support research and science. A bill introduced in the California Senate on Thursday, shared first with POLITICO, would create a new state agency to fund the scientific research being slashed by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency as well as bolster the vaccine access being questioned by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 'California is a global leader on science in our own right, and we must step in to protect our scientific institutions from the new Administration's anti-science, Make America Sick Again onslaught,' the bill's author, San Francisco state Sen. Scott Wiener, said in a statement announcing his proposal. 'For California to thrive, we must defend science.' The move comes as California and other states gird for potentially massive cuts to health care and scientific research coming from Washington, and as a growing measles outbreak throws the administration's position on vaccines into question. President Donald Trump has already tried to slash $4 billion in research grants from the National Institutes of Health, an effort which is currently tied up in court. Meanwhile, Kennedy has been raising concerns among other public health officials by promoting supplements like cod liver oil along with offering tepid directives for people to get vaccinated in response to the deadly measles outbreak that began in Texas. Wiener's bill is also reminiscent of how California behaved during the first Trump administration, when Gov. Gavin Newsom moved to independently review Covid-19 vaccines amid public distrust of White House policies. 'As Trump, Musk, and RFK Jr. tear apart federal science leadership, California must step up for science,' said Wiener, who's widely believed to have his eyes on Nancy Pelosi's House seat. 'California must lead.' With Wiener's bill, California could step in to fill both of those gaps. His proposal would create a new state agency — the California Institute for Scientific Research — that would provide grants and loans in several areas being targeted for cuts by Trump and Musk, including research in biomedicine, climate, weather and drug safety. It also directs California's existing prescription drug manufacturing and procurement program, called CalRX, to start working on vaccine access. California's local public health departments already order thousands of doses of different vaccines every year through a central state procurement system called myCAvax , and it funds millions of dollars of research through the state's public colleges and universities. But as Wiener's office points out, much of the research being done at California institutions is federally funded, and if that money goes away, his bill would provide a way to backfill it. The proposal envisions grants targeted primarily to the research being cut at the federal level and disbursed to California-based companies, schools and nonprofits or out-of-state researchers collaborating with California scientists. And if federal support for vaccine production also wanes, the bill would direct CalRX to contract with manufacturers to purchase or produce its own label of vaccines, the way it's currently doing to support naloxone access in combating opioid overdoses. During the last Trump administration, Newsom formed his own scientific advisory committee with the Democratic governors of other Western states — including Colorado, Oregon, Nevada and Washington state — to review the safety and efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines. They also agreed to review the science behind vaccine recommendations and stay-at-home orders themselves instead of relying on Trump. The bill is likely to face pushback from the state's Republican minority, but the real uphill battle will come when there's a price tag attached to the proposal: the state is already grappling with proposed budget cuts in certain areas, as well as a shortfall for the state Medicaid program .
