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Fossil Fuel Pollution and Climate Chance Web Event from NEJM

Event: Fossil Fuel Pollution and Climate Change Date: November 16, 2023  Time: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM   As the burning of fossil fuels continues to cause health hazards like air pollution, it is also the primary driver of the climate crisis. The health care sector has a responsibility to urgently respond to the accelerating impacts of record temperatures, extreme weather events, and rising sea levels that are contributing to a full-fledged public health crisis across the globe. This new reality prompts crucial questions for clinicians and health care leaders as to how to ...

URGENT! Contact your Member of Congress immediately to cancel the Medicare payment cut!

Congress has decided to include any year-end Medicare payment issues in its must-pass bill to keep the federal government operating. Congress must pass this legislation by November 17 to avoid a government shutdown. Therefore, we must act now to demand positive changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for 2024.  Due to budget neutrality rules, the 2024 fee schedule includes a harmful 3.4% payment cut that will take effect if Congress does not act. With an expected 4.6% rise in health care inflation this year, the cut will be devastating for physician practices ...

SCCMA Past President is Installed as CMA's 155th President

November 5, 2023 - Redwood City OBGYN Tanya W. Spirtos, MD, installed as CMA's 155th President  Redwood City ob-gyn Tanya W. Spirtos, M.D., today was installed as the 155th president of the California Medical Association (CMA) – only the fourth woman to hold that position – at the close of association’s annual House of Delegates meeting. “Serving an organization that represents the very heart of our states health care community, is a role that I take on with a deep sense of gratitude and humility,” Dr. Spirtos said in her address to ...

SCCMA EHC Member Publishes on Climate Change and the Risks to Pregnant Persons and their Offspring

SCCMA Environmental Health Committee Member, Santosh Pandipati, MD, FACOG was recently asked to bring together a panel to author a lead article for a special issue of Seminars in Perinatology dedicated to climate change impacts on women and pregnancy. To download article, please click HERE.  Climate change: Overview of risks to pregnant persons and their offspring  Santosh Pandipati, Melanie Leong, Rupa Basu, David Abel, Sarena Hayer, Jeanne Conry Climate change is one of the greatest challenges confronting humanity. Pregnant persons, their unborn children, and offspring are particularly vulnerable, as evidenced by adverse perinatal ...

HEALTH UPDATE: Resource for patients seeking continued opioid or benzodiazepine therapy

HEALTH UPDATE from the Santa Clara Public Health Department, September 15, 2023 To: All Healthcare Providers From: Sarah Rudman, MD, MPH Deputy Public Health Officer And Akanksha Vaidya, MD, MPH Assistant Public Health Officer The County of Santa Clara Public Health Department recently learned of a large number of patients prescribed long-term opioid or benzodiazepine therapy who have lost access to their usual prescriber or are likely to lose access in the near future. When a patient treated with opioids or benzodiazepines suddenly loses access to prescribed medication, they are at risk of severe withdrawal and may seek illicit ...