Health
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Sponsored by the attorney general, the new law combats illegal, secretive deals between pharmaceutical companies in which one drug company pays its competitor to delay the competitor’s research, production or sale of a competing version of its drug.
These collusive agreements, known as “pay-for-delay” agreements, stifle competition and hike the price patients pay for prescription medicines. AB 824 becomes the first state law in the nation to tackle pay-for-delay agreements.
“Intentionally restraining competition to inflate drug profits is illegal. Doing so when the life or well-being of our loved ones may lie in the balance is immoral,” said Attorney General Becerra. The enactment of AB 824 signals progress for Californians who have been at the mercy of drug companies and their sky-high pricing for prescription medicines. I applaud Assemblymember Wood and Governor Newsom for taking us a step closer to holding the pharmaceutical industry’s feet to the fire and deterring these collusive, illegal agreements.”
“This self-interested practice of pay-for-delay results in a loss for patients who deserve access to less expensive drugs and for all of us who end up paying more for health care and, in turn, health care premiums,” said Assemblymember Jim Wood. “Affordability is a huge issue in health care, and we should be doing everything possible to contain costs.”
Pay-for-delay agreements are the product of lawsuits between a branded pharmaceutical company and a generic. In these cases, the branded company sues the generic for alleged patent infringement. The companies then settle the case out of court in a confidential agreement.
As part of the agreement, the branded pharmaceutical company pays the generic company to keep its generic pharmaceutical off the market for a period of time.
During this time, the branded pharmaceutical maker continues to charge consumers monopolistic, high prices for life-saving medications.
These pay-for-delay arrangements are kept secret from the public through out-of-court settlements.
A study published by the Federal Trade Commission in 2010 concluded that pay-for-delay agreements increase the cost of prescription drugs for consumers by at least $3.5 billion a year.
The new law, set to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2020, would presume these agreements are anti-competitive and delay the entry of the generic drug into the marketplace.
It would also limit the ability of drug companies to use attorney-client and common-interest legal privileges to withhold relevant evidence regarding the collusive agreements.
AB 824 establishes a stronger platform to investigate and prosecute these illegal and harmful drug pricing practices.
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- Written by: Kara Manke
“[Women] talked about every day walking out of their houses and putting on their ‘armor’ in anticipation of experiencing racial discrimination,” said Amani M. Allen, associate professor of community health sciences and epidemiology at the University of California, Berkeley, describing focus groups she led with African American women in the San Francisco Bay Area.
“What they were really describing was this idea of being strong black women and feeling the need to prepare for the racial discrimination they expect on a daily basis; and that preparation and anticipation adds to their overall stress burden,” Allen said.
Allen is lead author of a new study that explores whether different facets of being a strong black woman, which researchers sometimes refer to as “superwoman schema,” ultimately protect women from the negative health impacts of racial discrimination — or create further harm.
The new study revealed that, in the face of high levels of racial discrimination, some aspects of the superwoman persona, including feeling an obligation to present an image of strength and to suppress one’s emotions, seemed to be protective of health, diminishing the negative health effects of chronic racial discrimination.
But others facets of the persona, such as having an intense drive to succeed and feeling an obligation to help others, seemed to be detrimental to health, further exacerbating the deleterious health effects of the chronic stress associated with racial discrimination.
“African American women describe racial discrimination as a persistent and significant stressor, and we know from prior research that stress impacts health,” Allen said. “What we need to figure out is how to mitigate those risks. For those aspects of superwoman schema that worsen the negative health effects associated with racial discrimination, how do we lessen those risks? And for those factors that are more protective, how do we leverage them to inform interventions designed to promote health and well-being for African American women?”
“The superwoman schema also reflects gendered racial socialization that African American women receive early in life and throughout their life course,” said Yijie Wang, assistant professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Michigan State University and co-author of the paper. “By identifying the protective versus risky dimensions, we also hope to figure out the type of messages that should be conveyed to African American women and girls.”
The strong black superwoman
Allen and her collaborators conducted their research as part of the African American Women’s Heart and Health Study, a cross-sectional study that Allen launched in 2012 to examine the links between social and environmental stressors and health among 208 self-identified African American women living in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Previous results from the study had revealed a direct link between racial discrimination and chronic disease risk, adding to the growing body of literature that shows that the experience of racial discrimination alone can be detrimental to one’s health.
Allen says her interest in superwoman schema was inspired by focus groups she conducted with African American women, in which they revealed that they often acted the part of the strong black woman as a way to cope with the persistent stress of racial discrimination in their lives.
“I remember them talking about being strong black women and describing it both as a kind of armor, but also potentially as a liability,” Allen said. “For example, what does it mean to continue to have an intense motivation to succeed, while you're also experiencing barriers to achieving that success? So, I wanted to know, is being a strong black woman helpful, or harmful, for health?”
To design the study, she teamed up with researchers across the country who were also interested in this phenomenon, including Cheryl L. Woods-Giscombe, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Nursing. She had developed a framework called the “superwoman schema” to describe the different dimensions of the strong black woman persona.
The superwoman schema includes five elements: feeling an obligation to present an image of strength, feeling an obligation to suppress emotions, resistance to being vulnerable, a drive to succeed despite limited resources and feeling an obligation to help others.
In the study, participants were asked to rate their experience of racial discrimination in different contexts, including finding housing, finding employment, at work, at school, getting credit for a bank loan or mortgage and in health care settings. They also rated to what extent they identified with different aspects of the superwoman schema.
Each participant also received a physical exam, with researchers recording their height, weight, blood pressure, blood sugar and measures of inflammation and other health indicators. These health indicators were combined into a measure of ‘allostatic load’ that reflected the level of chronic stress in the body. Higher levels of allostatic load are associated with greater risk for chronic illnesses like cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and even for mortality.
The researchers then analyzed the data for links between racial discrimination, the different aspects of superwoman schema and allostatic load.
Some surprising relationships emerged, Allen said. For example, the study found that women who reported suppressing emotions had lower levels of allostatic load, or less stress, in their bodies. This contradicts psychological studies, which commonly show that suppressing emotions, rather than openly expressing them, can increase stress and be detrimental to health.
Allen states, “Although contradictory to studies showing that emotion suppression is bad for health, this finding makes sense, in light of research showing that the most common emotional reaction to discrimination is anger, and anger is bad for health.”
The study findings add to a growing body of research demonstrating how the stress associated with racial discrimination becomes biologically embedded, Allen said.
“The problem is not that women need to learn to cope better with racial discrimination,” Allen said. “The problem is racial discrimination itself and the need for interventions intended to address racial discrimination as experienced in the workplace, by police and in society at large.”
Co-authors of the paper include David H. Chae of Auburn University; Melisa M. Price and Leticia Marquez-Magana of UC San Francisco; Wizdom Powell of UConn Health; Teneka C. Steed of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro; Angela Rose Black of the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Firdaus S. Dhabhar of the University of Maine and Cheryl L. Woods-Giscombe of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
This work was supported by the UC Berkeley Hellman Fund, UC Berkeley Population Center, UC Berkeley Research Bridging Grant, UC Berkeley Experimental Social Science Laboratory, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholars Program (UCB site), UC Center for New Racial Studies, UC Berkeley Institute for the Study of Societal Issues, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) grant P60MD006902, National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) grant UL1GM118985, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) grant K01DA032611, National Institute on Aging (NIA) grant K01AG041787, National Institute on Nursing Research grant T32 NR007091, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Minority Fellowship Program at the American Nurses Association, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholars Program and Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation Faculty Scholars Program.
Kara Manke writes for the UC Berkeley News Center.
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- Written by: California Attorney General’s Office
The grants were awarded to 76 local entities throughout the state.
“Tobacco is a serious threat to public health, especially to California’s youth,” said Attorney General Becerra. “These grants will support local communities in enforcing the law and educating kids about the harms of tobacco products. My office is dedicated to ensuring the state has the resources necessary to curb the dangers of tobacco and protect the public’s well-being. Preventing or reducing illegal sales of tobacco to minors will pave the way to a healthier California—we’re committed to tackling this public health crisis head on.”
The Department of Justice’s Tobacco Grant Program is funded by Proposition 56 (Prop. 56), the California Healthcare, Research and Prevention Tobacco Tax Act of 2016.
Beginning April 2017, Prop. 56 raised the cigarette tax by $2.00 per pack, with an equivalent increase on all other tobacco products. Prop. 56 also allocates millions of dollars annually to the Department of Justice for distribution to local law enforcement agencies for the support and hiring of peace officers for various activities.
These activities include investigations and compliance checks to reduce the illegal sale of tobacco products to minors.
The Attorney General's Office has received reports from several agencies on the progress of their grant-funded activities. This includes public education programs for their communities, decoy operations, and investigations into adults purchasing tobacco for minors.
Between April and June of 2019, nearly 1,800 decoy operations were conducted across the state. Further, in the same time frame over 1,000 tobacco education events, including vaping awareness, were held for K-12 students. Just last week, the Los Angeles City Attorney announced a media campaign that targets minors and highlights the negative impact of vaping.
The Tobacco Grant recipients continue to undertake critical and necessary steps to reduce illegal sales of tobacco to youth.
The grant recipients will use state dollars to fund operations and projects, including hiring school resource officers, improving law enforcement operations, and providing education for minors and their families. Recipients will also use funds to educate businesses on current tobacco laws and provide outreach to tobacco vendors. The recipients include cities, counties, school districts, sheriffs’ and police departments.
Click here to see the 2019-2020 grant recipients.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Lead and cadmium are toxic metals that can cause severe and chronic health effects including neurological impairments, kidney damage, seizures, comas, and death.
Young children are especially susceptible to these adverse health effects, because their bodies and brains are still developing.
“With the passage of Senate Bill 647, California has raised the bar to better protect the health and safety of our people,” said Attorney General Becerra. “Lead and cadmium are highly toxic and can cause serious health problems, even at low levels of exposure, and especially for children. California’s laws regulating toxic metals in jewelry are now the most comprehensive in the world. With this law, our state continues to lead the way with advanced standards that reflect current science and address the danger that these toxic metals pose to our communities.”
“I want to see a California where all children thrive, health justice is part of that mission,” said Sen. Mitchell. “We had to take a harder stance and elevate California’s cadmium and lead jewelry law because the damage these toxins have on our bodies and environment is irreversible.”
SB 647, introduced by Senator Mitchell on Feb. 22, received unanimous bipartisan support. SB 647 strengthens California’s lead and cadmium jewelry laws by establishing science-backed standards that have demonstrated success in both North America and Europe.
Specifically, SB 647 does all of the following:
– Adopts the federal standard for lead in all accessible components of children’s jewelry (<100 ppm total lead);
– Adopts the federal cadmium standard for paint and surface coating of children’s jewelry that is derived from an ASTM International standard (<75 ppm soluble cadmium);
– Amends the definition of children’s jewelry to conform with Canada’s definition (jewelry intended for children under 15 years of age); and
– Applies the EU lead jewelry standard (<500 ppm total lead) to certain materials in adult jewelry.
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