Studies long have linked urban firefighters’ on-the-job exposure to toxins with an increased risk of cancer. More recently, as urban-style development reaches into once remote stretches of California’s mountains and forests, wildfire crews are exposed to fuels and carcinogens more typical of urban fires. We talk with Tony Stefani of the San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation about the health risks that poses for firefighters.
Kelley Watson Snyder, a mother who for years opposed mandatory childhood vaccinations and joined with like-minded parents who espoused similar views, today runs a pro-vaccination Facebook page. What changed?
Health officials and AIDS advocates in San Francisco have endorsed a new regimen for PrEP medication: to be taken only immediately before and after sex, thus reducing cost and potential side effects. The standard regimen is one pill a day for an open-ended period.
Amazon, along with a host of other technology companies, is working on ways to use its smart speaker devices to bring a range of health care services into your home.
Children are far less likely to drown than they were in the 1980s, in California and across the nation. Experts say state and local laws that require more fencing and security features around family swimming pools have made a difference and should be expanded nationwide.
Dr. Mark Rubinstein, known for his research into youth vaping, has left UCSF to become executive medical officer at Juul Labs, the nation’s leading producer of e-cigarettes. Juul says the hire will help them reduce teen vaping. Critics see Big Tobacco tactics.
Pressure is growing on employers to better address the mental health needs of workers. Some big companies have begun to offer options such as peer support groups, and California has adopted a new law that calls on employers to act.
Over the past decade, more than 350 workers nationwide have died from heat-related illness, and tens of thousands have had heat-related problems serious enough that they missed at least one day of work. Proposed federal legislation, modeled on California regulations, would create the first national standards for protecting workers from heat-related stress.
California is the first in the nation to expand Medicaid to young adults living there without legal permission.
California lawmakers on Wednesday pulled legislation that would have protected some patients from surprise medical bills for emergency care, citing opposition from hospitals. They vowed to resurrect the bill next year.
