Tag: California

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Health

California Biotech Govt Is Responsible in $77 Million Blood-Testing Scheme

California Biotech Executive Is Guilty in $77 Million Blood-Testing Scheme

A biotech executive in California was convicted Thursday of orchestrating a $77 million scheme of making false and fraudulent claims for Covid-19 and allergy testing, federal prosecutors said.

CEO, Mark Schena, 59, served as president of Arrayit Corporation, a biomedical company that claims to have invented technology to test for any disease by pricking just a drop of blood on your finger. According to Arrayit’s website, its “microarray” technology could test for ovarian cancer, Parkinson’s disease, colon cancer and male fertility, among others.

Mr. Schena was found guilty on a total of nine federal charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and healthcare fraud and three counts of securities fraud. He faces up to 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and 20 years for each count of securities fraud.

Beginning in 2018, Mr. Schena paid kickbacks and bribes to recruiters and doctors to perform allergy testing for 120 different allergens, including hornet stings, shrimp, peanuts, dairy and Bermuda grass, regardless of medical necessity, federal prosecutors said.

The US Department of Justice said he then developed “a misleading marketing plan” that falsely promoted the test’s accuracy “when in reality it was not a diagnostic test.”

According to the department, Mr. Schena filed fraudulent claims with Medicare and private insurance companies for unnecessary allergy testing. The company billed Medicare more per patient for blood-based allergy testing than any other lab in the United States, the Justice Department said. Some commercial insurers have been billed more than $10,000 per test.

When Arrayit’s allergy testing business collapsed during the coronavirus pandemic, the company turned its attention to Covid-19 testing, claiming to have developed a blood-based test using its alleged technology.

Because Arrayit falsely claimed its Covid test was more accurate than a PCR test, the US Food and Drug Administration had told Mr Schena that Arrayit’s test was not accurate enough to receive an emergency use authorization. Mr. Schena kept this rejection secret from the investors.

Mr. Schena referred to investors as the “father of microarray technology” and falsely stated that he was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize, the Justice Department said.

A phone number listed for the company was disconnected. An attorney for Mr Schena, Todd A. Pickles, declined to comment Friday.

Arrayit compared itself at least once to Theranos, the failed blood testing startup, on its Facebook page, writing that its technology could use drops of blood “that are 250,000 times smaller than the volume of the Theranos nanotainer,” according to the First Complaint of the Department of Justice in 2020.

Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, who once promised to revolutionize healthcare through a simple blood test, and Ramesh Balwani, a former top executive at the company, have been accused of exaggerating the capabilities of its blood-testing devices to appeal to investors and customers.

In January, Ms Holmes was convicted of four counts of fraud and in July Mr Balwani was found guilty of 12 counts of fraud.

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Politics

What Voters in a California Swing District Say About Afghanistan

What Voters in a California Swing District Say About Afghanistan

In a time of deep division, voters polled over the weekend in a Southern California congressional district where the Democrats narrowly outperform Republicans were largely unanimous on at least one issue: After a two-decade war, President Biden was right to withdraw American troops of Afghanistan.

The bombing of Kabul airport had done little to change their minds, with the killing of 13 soldiers stunned rather than sad. Many said they were simply too overwhelmed to pay attention to another overseas crisis. “We have a lot to repair here,” said Ms. Ortiz, who described herself as politically moderate and voted for Mr. Biden.

In the midst of a still raging pandemic and economy still recovering, this is a time to focus on issues domestically and not overseas, more than a dozen Republican, Democratic and independent voters said in talks in and around Hacienda Heights, a community of 55,000 people about 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, where first and second generation immigrants fill the neighborhoods and malls.

Afghanistan can be ignored, they said, but the possibility that their children, who are too young to be vaccinated, cannot. Washington leaders might be concerned about the terrorism threat or America’s standing with allies, but Hacienda Heights voters said they were far more concerned about issues that affect them directly: Covid-19, homelessness and climate change , to name just a few.

They also seemed reluctant to hold Mr Biden accountable for the attacks over the past week, at least for the time being.

“If you don’t have a good choice, you still have to choose one,” said Patrick Huang, a 65-year-old independent who voted for both Republicans and Democrats. “They had a lot of time to prepare to get everyone out and they totally screwed it up. But I don’t blame President Biden for everything. It happened after many, many presidents made mistakes. “

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Politics

California shuts down main hydroelectric plant amid extreme drought

California shuts down major hydroelectric plant amid severe drought

In this aerial view, houseboats sit on Lake Oroville at low tide as the California drought emergency worsens in Oroville, California on July 25, 2021.

Robyn Beck | AFP | Getty Images

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – California closed a large hydropower plant on Lake Oroville when the water level fell near the minimum required to generate electricity, state water authorities said.

It is the first time since the power plant opened in 1967 that the state has shut down the Hyatt power plant due to a lack of water.

The blackout could trigger even more blackouts this summer as the state grapples with a historic drought and record-breaking heat waves.

Officials said the record low water level at Lake Oroville, an artificial water reserve in Northern California, was due to the drought aggravated by climate change.

Though California is experiencing constant drought, climate change has fueled high temperatures and arid soils, which significantly reduced water runoff to the reservoirs this spring, resulting in the lowest levels ever recorded at Lake Oroville, officials said Thursday.

“This is just one of many unprecedented impacts we are experiencing in California as a result of our climate-induced drought,” Karla Nemeth, director of the state’s water resources division, said in a statement.

Nemeth said the department anticipated the shutdown and planned a loss of water and network management. Officials have warned that the facility will no longer be able to generate electricity if the water level drops below 640 feet above sea level.

Dry land is visible in a section that is usually underwater on the shores of Lake Oroville, which is the second largest reservoir in California and has a capacity of nearly 35, according to daily reports from the state Department of Water Resources near Oroville, California % hat, 06/16/2021.

Aude Guerrucci | Reuters

Lake Oroville’s water levels are expected to reach 620 feet above sea level by the end of October. Nemeth said the state’s water board was working to “save as much water as possible”.

Although the facility is no longer generating electricity, officials said they will dump some water from the dam into the Feather River to help maintain the river’s temperature requirements.

Governor Gavin Newsom urged California residents in July to reduce household water use by 15% in order to maintain water supplies. Network operators have also urged residents to limit electricity usage to avoid blackouts as forest fires scorched the state, including the Dixie Fire, which has been burning for more than three weeks and decimated the gold rush town of Greenville.

“Falling reservoir levels are another example of why it is so important for all Californians to conserve water,” said Nemeth.

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Health

California is requiring proof of Covid vaccination for state staff

California is requiring proof of Covid vaccination for state employees

Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images

California will require government employees and some health care workers to provide evidence of Covid-19 or undergo mandatory weekly tests, senior state officials said Monday.

According to a press release, government officials are required to submit records of their vaccination by August 2. All civil servants who have not been vaccinated by then must present a negative Covid test at least once a week.

The new policy for health workers and convention facilities goes into effect on August 9, and health facilities must be fully complied with by August 23, according to the press release.

In government health care facilities, employees who work in a hospital are required to show evidence of a Covid vaccine or show negative coronavirus tests twice a week. Unvaccinated people are advised to wear N95 masks while working. Medical staff in outpatient facilities such as dental practices also have to do a Covid test once a week.

“We are at a point in this epidemic of this pandemic where the choice, the individual’s decision not to be vaccinated, is now profound, devastating and deadly on the rest of us,” Governor Gavin Newsom said at the announcement new arrangement. “This election has led to an increase in the number of cases, growing concerns about rising mortality rates and apparently induced hospitalizations.”

While the state already requires employees to disclose whether they have been vaccinated if they do not wish to wear masks indoors, they do not need to provide proof of vaccination. The new guidelines require proof of vaccination for all civil servants and mandatory tests for those who do not provide proof.

“Our projections are sobering,” said Newsom, noting that state officials are forecasting a “significant increase in hospital admissions” over the next few weeks that will put pressure on local hospitals.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio recently introduced similar guidelines for city and health workers, NBC New York reported. All employees who fail to provide proof of vaccination by September 13 are required to have a weekly coronavirus test, and all unvaccinated employees must wear a mask at work starting August 2.

The San Francisco Bar Owner Alliance, which represents 500 bars in San Francisco, said it is encouraging its members to require customers to have a negative Covid test or proof of vaccination from July 29, requirements are “welcome to sit outside.” The individual bars have a choice of whether to enforce the requirements or not.

California saw vaccination rates rise 16% last week as the Delta variant quickly spread across the state. It now makes up about 80% of all newly sequenced cases in the state, health officials said.

Los Angeles County recently redesigned its indoor mask mandate regardless of vaccination status.

When asked about a statewide mask mandate, Newsom said the majority of Californians live in jurisdictions that either mandate or encourage the use of masks. “Our focus is on vaccinations, so there won’t be a need.” he said.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs also announced Monday that it will require Covid vaccinations for all health care workers who work in Veterans Health Administration facilities.

“VA is taking this necessary step to protect the veterans it serves,” the agency wrote on its website. It is the first federal agency to mandate vaccinations and give employees eight weeks to get their vaccinations.

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Business

Texas Froze and California Burned. To Insurers, They Look Related.

Texas Froze and California Burned. To Insurers, They Look Similar.

In California, insurers were able to point to a since amended law that made utilities liable for the fires that started their equipment, even without negligence found. In Texas, the law requires proof of gross negligence. And last month, the largest consumer debt target – the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) – received sovereign immunity from the Texas Supreme Court. In an unrelated case, the judgment left a state appeal decision open, according to which ERCOT is “a government-related regulatory authority that provides an essential public service” and therefore cannot be sued.

However, ERCOT’s liability insurer does not take any risk. Last week, the Cincinnati Insurance Company filed a lawsuit in federal court in Texas to determine that it is under no obligation to legally defend ERCOT or to make full the amounts it would have to pay for property damage or injury. ERCOT bought liability insurance from Cincinnati, but the insurer said coverage only applies to accident-related damage and that February damage from power outages was “foreseeable, expected and / or intended”.

Estimates of damage from the storm vary widely, but none are small. Karen Clark & ​​Company, which models catastrophe claims, has predicted that insured losses from the storm will reach $ 18 billion in 20 states. But the company says more than half of the losses were in Texas, which isolated itself from neighboring grids years ago, making it impossible for unaffected providers to fill the void.

The damage was so great that freelance adjusters had to be flown in from other countries to process all claims.

“Some families couldn’t reach their insurance companies for weeks,” said Tom Formeller, a Houston stucco and exterior painter who reinvented himself as an emergency installer after the storm.

In normal times, he said, the families would have paid him up front for repairs and then waited for their insurance checks. With unemployment high due to the pandemic, some families ran out of money so Mr Formeller closed their pipes for free and told them to pay when they could.

“I had a 78-year-old woman who had been without water for nine days,” he said. The woman informed Mr.Formeller that she would be given a loan to pay him off, but he resolved the delay with her insurer and completed repairs for $ 13,000.

Even if utilities are forced to bear the cost of damage caused by the winter storm, it is not clear what steps, if any, they could take to prepare for the next one. In a recent survey of Texans conducted by the University of Houston, around half opposed the idea of ​​winterizing the grid if it meant paying more for electricity.

Clifford Krauss contributed to the reporting.

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Politics

Caitlyn Jenner Is Exploring a Run for Governor of California

Caitlyn Jenner Is Exploring a Run for Governor of California

Caitlyn Jenner, a former Olympic and celebrity transgender activist, is investigating a run for California Governor against Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who, according to people familiar with her thinking, faces a possible recall election later this year. She currently tends to run when an election is being held, people said.

Ms. Jenner, a longtime Republican, is being advised by Brad Parscale, Donald J. Trump’s former campaign manager, according to a person familiar with their discussions. Mr. Parscale wouldn’t manage Ms. Jenner’s campaign but leads her to whom to hire for key roles.

Ms. Jenner is also reported to work with Caroline Wren, a prominent GOP fundraiser who served as a senior advisor to Trump’s presidential campaign last year and whose name appears on a permit for events leading up to the January 6 riot at the Capitol. According to Axios, Ms. Wren was affiliated with Ms. Jenner through a Republican nonprofit that worked on LGBTQ issues.

The California Secretary of State is expected to announce soon that Newsom’s recall has officially qualified for an election. The recall organizers say they have exceeded the 1.5 million required signatures. Such an election would likely take place later in the year.

So far, efforts to replace Mr. Newsom do not seem to reflect the 2003 California recall election that overthrew Democrat Governor Gray Davis and Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. Despite criticism of Mr. Newsom’s handling of the pandemic and other controversies he faced, a recent poll found that only 40 percent of the state’s voters would support a governor’s recall.

Mr Newsom is also supported by the fact that no great Democrat has joined the race. While Ms. Jenner has name recognition, she would be a first-time candidate, and the other Republicans expected to run are not considered very likely.

If she runs, Ms. Jenner’s previous connections with Mr. Trump would likely complicate her offer given his deep unpopularity in the state. She supported Mr Trump early on when he ran for president, but dropped her support in 2018 after his administration repeatedly attacked transgender rights.

Another person with ties to Mr. Trump’s world, Ric Grenell, who is briefly called The acting director of National Intelligence, Trump allies say, is considering running his own run for governorship.

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Health

Researchers establish 5 new instances of variant in California

Researchers identify five new cases of variant in California

A healthcare worker wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) inserts a Covid-19 test tube into a box at a drive-through test location at the Alemany Farmers Market in San Francisco, California on November 19, 2020.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Stanford University researchers have identified five new cases of a “double mutant” strain of Covid-19 recently discovered in the San Francisco Bay Area. Doctors suggest it may be more contagious than previous strains and may be resistant to existing vaccines.

The new variant is originally from India, where after months of declining cases in Maharashtra state, home of Mumbai, cases have increased by 55%.

It contains two key mutations that scientists call E484Q and L452R that have been found in other variants separately but not together in a single strain, according to Dr. Benjamin Pinsky, Medical Director of the Stanford Clinical Virology Laboratory, who discovered the new variant in the United States

“There’s a decent amount of information on how these mutations behave in viruses themselves, but not in combination,” Pinsky said in an interview.

In other variants, the L452R mutation has been shown to make the virus more transmissible. There is also evidence that antibodies fail to recognize this mutation, which has been found in other strains to reduce vaccine effectiveness.

The E484Q mutation has also been shown to be less susceptible to neutralizing antibodies that help fight the coronavirus. It’s too early to tell if the mutation makes the virus more contagious.

“But you would expect that when combined with L452R, it would increase transmission and decrease neutralization of antibodies,” Pinsky said.

If the mutation makes the virus more resistant to antibodies, Pinsky said it could reduce the effectiveness of both vaccines and antibody treatments, which have become a crucial tool for doctors in fighting Covid-19.

“I suspect that existing vaccines are a little less effective at preventing infection with this new variant,” he said, “but all vaccines are extremely effective at preventing hospitalizations and death.”

Treatment with Eli Lilly’s Bamlanivimab antibodies has been shown to be less effective in the treatment of strains containing the E484Q or L452R mutations. US health officials stopped distributing this antibody treatment last month, saying it was not as effective against the new variants.

The double mutant variant “has known mutations in the scariest spot where a mutation is – the receptor binding domain where the virus attaches to cells in our bodies to enter,” said Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at the University of California San Francisco. “The mutations are either identical or eerily similar to mutations in variants that we already know are scientifically proven to be more transmissible and / or evade vaccines. So many believe this Indian variant will have these superpowers too.”

Dr. Tom Kenyon, chief health officer at Project HOPE and former director of global health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said scientists are finding more mutations, at least in part, because the new CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky has instructed the agency to increase surveillance. “The more we look for these, the more we will find them,” he said.

“There’s something about the world that scares people and makes it sound like it’s doubly bad,” Kenyon said in an interview. “Any mutation that affects transmissibility or virus replication would be dangerous.”

There is a chance the new variant will stay in the Bay Area, unlike variant B.1.1.7 from the UK, which has become the predominant variety almost everywhere, Chin-Hong said.

“If the British variant goes into a boxing ring with the Indian variant, the British variant will likely emerge victorious. But only time will tell,” said Chin-Hong.

The longer it takes to vaccinate the world, the more chance the virus has of mutating into even worse strains, scientists say. Walensky has warned of “impending doom” in the US as states lift Covid-19 restrictions. She has urged people to get vaccinated and continue to follow public health precautions, including wearing masks and practicing social distancing.

“The variants that scare me the most are the ones that haven’t been invented yet. The more the virus replicates, the more we will see these escape mutants,” said Chin-Hong. “We need global vaccination justice and continued battles against pandemic fatigue.”

California will lift most of its Covid restrictions by June 15, but still plans to maintain a mask mandate.

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PG&E Charged With Crimes in 2019 California Wildfire

PG&E Charged With Crimes in 2019 California Wildfire

Pacific Gas & Electric, the troubled utility company that started some of the most devastating forest fires in California, is being prosecuted for its role in starting a 2019 wildfire that burned 120 square kilometers in Sonoma County north of San Francisco.

The district district attorney charged PG&E, which emerged from bankruptcy protection last year, of five crimes and 28 misdemeanors, including recklessly causing a fire and causing serious injury related to the Kincade fire. The fire damaged or destroyed more than 400 buildings and seriously injured six firefighters.

This is the third set of criminal charges against PG&E, California’s largest utility company. A jury convicted PG&E in 2017 on charges of five deaths in a gas pipe explosion seven years earlier. And the utility pleaded guilty last year to 84 cases of involuntary manslaughter related to the 2018 bonfire triggered by its equipment. That fire destroyed the town of Paradise and helped bankrupt PG&E, where it helped clear an estimated $ 30 billion in forest fire liabilities.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection concluded that the Kincade fire had started after high winds knocked a cable from a PG&E tower on the Geysir geothermal field. It took 15 days to contain the fire, and District Attorney Jill Ravitch described the evacuation required in some cities as the largest ever carried out in Sonoma County, a California wine center.

If convicted, PG&E could face fines and additional penalties for violating a federal parole resulting from the pipeline explosion case. The company has paid billions of dollars to governments, families, insurance companies, and others for disasters caused by its equipment. The regulators have indicated that these have often been very poorly maintained.

In a statement Tuesday, PG&E pledged to continue improving equipment and implementing safety practices to protect Californians. The company accepted the findings that its equipment caused the Kincade fire, but did not believe it was criminally liable.

“We are sorry for the loss and personal impact on our customers and communities in and around Sonoma County as a result of the Kincade fire in October 2019,” the company said. “We don’t think there was any crime here. We continue to strive to do it right for all concerned and to work to further reduce the risk of forest fires in our system. “

The company went bankrupt last summer and agreed to pay $ 13.5 billion to a fund set up to compensate tens of thousands of individuals and families killed in forest fires struck by PG&E started, lost their homes.

The bankruptcy allowed the utility to participate with the other California utilities in a $ 20 billion state wildfire fund to help cover the costs of future forest fires.

The utility has been working to upgrade its equipment by adding weather stations, cameras, microgrids, and more stable transmission towers and wires. Patricia K. Poppe, who became CEO of PG & E’s parent company in January, said she took the job “to make sure we care for anyone who has been injured and that we get it back to California safely” .

“We will work around the clock until this applies to all the people we are allowed to serve,” she added.

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Health

California to raise most Covid restrictions June 15, preserve masks mandate

California to lift most Covid restrictions June 15, keep mask mandate

California Governor Gavin Newsom visits a COVID-19 mobile vaccination center in South Gate, California on March 10, 2021.

Mario Tama | Getty Images

WASHINGTON – California Governor Gavin Newsom said Tuesday the state would reopen its economy by June 15, provided coronavirus vaccine and hospitalization cases remain stable.

“With more than 20 million vaccines administered across the state, it is time to turn the page on our animal system and try to fully reopen the California economy,” Newsom said in a statement.

“We can now start planning our post-pandemic life. We need to remain vigilant and continue the practices that brought us here – wearing masks and getting vaccinated – but the light at the end of this tunnel has never been brighter,” he said added.

Newsom’s announcement comes just over a year after California, the most populous state in the country, shut down its economy due to the spreading health pandemic.

The state should also end its four-color tier system that was used to determine the level of risk.

The latest revelation comes as federal health officials warn that Americans should continue to adhere to public health measures as the warmer summer months approach.

“You may remember a little over a year ago when we were looking for the summer to save ourselves from surges. It was just the opposite,” said White House Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anthony Fauci, on Monday during a White House coronavirus briefing.

“We saw some significant waves over the summer. I think we shouldn’t even think about relying on the weather to get rid of whatever we’re in right now,” he added.

Fauci also said Monday that Americans should continue to receive both doses of the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines, despite a recent study suggesting that only one dose might be enough.

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Jill Biden, in California, Lends Assist to Farmworkers In search of Vaccinations

Jill Biden, in California, Lends Support to Farmworkers Seeking Vaccinations

During her presentation, Dr. Biden announced that the president endorsed the Farm Workers Modernization Act, a law that would give temporary legal status to seasonal workers, many of whom are undocumented, and offer a 10-year path to citizenship.

“As president, Joe fights for people who often go invisible,” said Dr. Biden. “And this is exactly the kind of immigration policy he develops – one that treats children and families with dignity and creates fair routes to citizenship, including for important workers.”

Thousands of Central Valley farm workers are slated to receive the coronavirus vaccine at Forty Acres for six weekends in March and April. California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, and partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom joined the local first lady on Wednesday. Later, Dr. Biden vaccination cards and “I got my Covid-19 vaccination buttons” to workers waiting to be vaccinated.

That year, California embarked on a breakthrough effort to provide farm workers with vaccines, many of whom are undocumented and whose working conditions have made them particularly vulnerable to the virus in confined spaces. Purdue University researchers estimate that around 500,000 farm workers tested positive for the virus and at least 9,000 have died from it. Coronavirus has killed more than 551,000 people in the United States, according to a New York Times count.

During President Biden’s first two months in office, union leaders hailed his government as one of the most work-friendly in modern history. One of his first acts was to move a bust of Mr. Chavez to the Oval Office, a decision that Dr. Biden applauded at the event on Wednesday. During her speech, the First Lady also repeated the motto of the agricultural workers’ union “Sí, se puede” or “Yes, we can” several times.

“César dared to believe that our country could change – that we could change it,” she said. “Now it’s up to us to keep that promise.”