Quality of Calif. Long-Term Care Complaint Investigations Vary
From the California Healthline.
The adequacy of California long-term care facility complaint investigations varies significantly by county, according to data from the California Department of Public Health, the Los Angeles Times reports. According to the data, from July 2014 to March, long-term care facility complaints across the state remained open for an average of 255 days. Meanwhile, the average number of days to investigate a complaint was 122.
Ride-share company Sidecar to deliver medical marijuana in San Francisco
From the Yahoo! News.
Ride-sharing startup Sidecar has expanded its services to include door-to-door medical marijuana deliveries to customers in San Francisco, the company said on Wednesday. The California Department of Public Health, which oversees the state’s medical marijuana program, was not immediately available to comment on the legality of using a third-party to deliver the drug.
DIR, CDPH Awarded NIOSH Grant for Workplace Injury and Illness Data Project
From the PR Newswire.
The Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) were this week awarded a grant of nearly $200,000 per year for a workers’ compensation research project from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). California was one of two states chosen nationwide for this renewable three-year grant to examine workers’ compensation claims data for injury and illness findings. The NIOSH grant will facilitate combining this data to related data sources for better identification of occupations and industries with the highest rates of injury, and to develop recommendations for workplace interventions.
The Stress Of Immigration Can Cause Psychosis, According To New Study
From the Huffington Post.
The stress and hardship faced by immigrants setting up in a new country could be contributing to an increased risk of psychosis among certain communities. And for those coming to a new country with refugee status — which usually means they?re also escaping adversity or trauma — the risk of mental illness is even higher, according to a new study by researchers at Canada’s Western University. Patrick Koga, the director of Refugee Health Research Center at the University of California, Davis, isn’t at all surprised by what Anderson found. He works with the California Department of Public Health assessing incoming refugees for mental issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder, and suspects that the causes are more social than genetic.
Wal-Mart Admonished For Selling Sacramento Municipal Water
From the Water Online.
As California struggles through a historic drought, residents have taken to social media to complain about water-wasters. The most recent company to get shamed is Wal-Mart, since the company bottles Sacramento municipal water and sells it. Labels on the bottles reveal where the water originated. There is meager state-level oversight for water bottlers. "No state agency is tracking exactly how much water is used by all of the bottled water plants in California, or monitoring the effects on water supplies and ecosystems statewide. The California Department of Public Health regulates 108 bottled water plants in the state, collecting information on water quality and the sources tapped. But the agency says it does not require companies to report how much water they use," The Desert Sun reported.