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Public Notices 4/24/2024

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Costa introduces anticipated biolab legislation

A Central Valley lawmaker has unveiled legislation to address and prevent illegal laboratories like the one found in Reedley a year ago.

At a press conference in Reedley Tuesday, Rep. Jim Costa (D-Fresno) unveiled H.R. 8065—Preventing Illegal Laboratories and Protecting Public Health Act of 2024. The bipartisan legislation would address gaps in federal law in the regulation of highly infectious agents and high-containment laboratories.

The aim is enhancing the regulation of labs as revealed in the investigative report by Costa and the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

In April 2023, Reedley Code Enforcement discovered an illegal medical lab operated by Prestige Biotech Inc. of Nevada, known locally as Universal Meditech.

Investigators discovered nearly 1,000 bioengineered laboratory mice, infectious agents including E. Coli, malaria, various chemicals, medical waste, blood, tissue, serum, body fluid samples and illegal pregnancy tests.

“Over the past year of working with local, state, and federal leaders on investigating and cleaning up the illegal lab in Reedley, it became clear that changes were needed on the federal level to ensure public safety.” said Costa is a news release.

In October, Jia Bei Zhu, a Chinese national who goes by several names, was arrested for manufacturing and distributing medical devices in violation of the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

The legislation would require several protocols for laboratories. Sellers of highly infectious agents would be required to keep a logbook of all sales and maintain those records for at least five years, including naming the purchaser.

It would also require regular evaluations of high-containment labs in the U.S. after designating a single Federal official to lead the overview.

The act would also require a “Public Health and Biosecurity Team” to a be single point of contact for state and local agencies regarding laboratory biosafety and biosecurity questions.

It also comes with a requirement for a feasibility study on establishing a database of biolabs that is accessible to state and local officials.

“The Reedley incident highlighted a gap in the nation’s bio security. Any city around this country could have dozens of deadly pathogens stored next to sensitive locations and be completely unaware of it. Congressman Costa took this issue seriously from the very beginning and understood the national implications. His proposed legislation puts us on a path to closing that critical gap that will help keep every American safe from the hazards like those like those discovered in the Reedley lab,” said Nicole Zieba, city manager of Reedley

Study finds correlation between hearing-aid use, reduced mortality

With the pandemic largely in the rear-view mirror, quality of life has improved. The sights, smells and sounds of a busy world are once again part of daily life.

But for one large group, the weakening of one of those senses continues to burden quality of life — and even increase mortality rates.

Hearing loss affects nearly 20% of the global population – more than 1.5 billion people – with estimates from the World Health Organization that more than 700 million people will experience disabling hearing loss.

In the past, hearing loss has been linked to several physical and social issues ranging from depression to an elevated risk of diabetes, dementia and other illnesses.

Dennis Thomas, president of Beltone Central California, has worked in audiology since 1985, prescribing and maintaining hearing aids and providing insight to patients and their families into the causes, treatments and side effects of hearing loss.

“It’s all about a better quality of life with friends and loved ones, business relationships, whatever it might be,” Thomas said. “It’s extremely evident when the hearing aid needs to go in for repair and they have to go a couple days without it.”

A recent study from Keck Medicine of USC backs up those claims, finding that adults suffering from hearing loss who use hearing aids see a 24% lower risk of mortality when compared to those who have never used them.

“These results are exciting because they suggest that hearing aids may play a protective role in people’s health and prevent early death,” said Janet Choi, MD, MPH, with Keck Medicine in an article published by the private research university.

The study adds that while previous research revealed that hearing loss could result in a reduced life expectancy, new research directly examined if the use of hearing aids resulted in a lower mortality rate.

The findings linked a nearly 25% difference in mortality rate between hearing aid users and non-hearing aid users from a variety of different backgrounds, ages, ethnicities and economic backgrounds, among other factors.

Choi expressed that, despite the study not examining why hearing aids directly help individuals experience longer lives, there is a definite correlation, speculating that “the improvements in mental health and cognition that come with improved hearing can promote better overall health, which may improve life span.”

Thomas largely agrees with the sentiment, providing first-hand experiences of his own patients’ hearing loss journey.

Thomas said that some of the long-term effects of hearing loss are not just hearing related, but can affect the quality of life, adding that the brain can actually atrophy in language recognition after prolonged hearing loss.

“I’ve had people in denial – couples come in – and I’ve had the husband say ‘Either I get a divorce or I get hearing aids,’” Thomas said. “When it gets to that point, that frustration in there and that kind of impact in your life is pretty darn stressful.”

Thomas said that the stresses that come with patients’ personal lives range from relationship to family issues and even work-related issues.

The direct danger is obvious – not being able to hear warning sirens, approaching hazards such as vehicles or heavy machinery – but the unseen signs weigh just as heavily, just in a different way.

Thomas said that, for many patients, the “aha!” moment comes when patients experience day-to-day life activities such as watching television. Many individuals experiencing hearing loss will create their own storylines, not just in entertainment, but in daily life.

That can pose a serious issue in work-related and relationship-related issues.

Recognition of hearing loss is key to get early help, according to Thomas.

“That has a direct bearing on how high a quality of life we can [have],” Thomas said. “How much stress we can relieve when we have a more healthy ear to work with when we get the hearing loss treated early.”

Choi, who was born with hearing loss in her left ear, said that – despite several barriers to hearing aids including cost, stigma and difficulty in finding appropriate devices – finding the right solution is essential in improving quality of life.

It took Choi until she was in her 30s to start wearing a hearing aid and even then it took several years to find one that fit correctly.

Choi hopes that larger studies will further the understanding of the link between lowered mortality rates and the use of hearing aids.

UnitedHealth says wide swath of patient files may have been taken in Change cyberattack

UnitedHealth says files with personal information that could cover a “substantial portion of people in America” may have been taken in the cyberattack earlier this year on its Change Healthcare business.

The company said Monday after markets closed that it sees no signs that doctor charts or full medical histories were released after the attack. But it may take several months of analysis before UnitedHealth can identify and notify people who were affected.

UnitedHealth did say that some screen shots containing protected health information or personally identifiable information were posted for about a week online on the dark web, which standard browsers can’t access.

The company is still monitoring the internet and dark web and said there has been no addition file publication. It has started a website to answer questions and a call center. But the company said it won’t be able to offer specifics on the impact to individual data.

The company also is offering free credit monitoring and identity theft protection for people affected by the attack.

UnitedHealth bought Change Healthcare in a roughly $8 billion deal that closed in 2022 after surviving a challenge from federal regulators. The U.S. Department of Justice had sued earlier that year to block the deal, arguing that it would hurt competition by putting too much information about health care claims in the hands of one company.

UnitedHealth said in February that a ransomware group had gained access to some of the systems of its Change Healthcare business, which provides technology used to submit and process insurance claims.

The attack disrupted payment and claims processing around the country, stressing doctor’s offices and health care systems.

Federal civil rights investigators are already looking into whether protected health information was exposed in the attack.

UnitedHealth said Monday that it was still restoring services disrupted by the attack. It has been focused first on restoring those that affect patient access to care or medication.

The company said both pharmacy services and medical claims were back to near normal levels. It said payment process was back to about 86% of pre-attack levels.

UnitedHealth said last week when it reported first-quarter results that the company has provided more than $6 billion in advance funding and interest-free loans to health care providers affected by the attack.

UnitedHealth took an $872 million hit from from the cyberattack in the first quarter, and company officials said that could grow beyond $1.5 billion for the year.

Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group Inc. runs one of the nation’s largest health insurers. It also runs one of the nation’s largest pharmacy benefits management businesses, provides care and offers technology services.

Company slipped nearly $3 to $488.36 in midday trading Tuesday while broader indexes climbed.

Water allocation bumped to 40% as species-related pumping restrictions take hold

State water officials announced Tuesday they are bumping up the allocation for the State Water Project up to 40%, up from 30% last month.

The State Water Project supplies 27 million Californians and farmers in 29 public water agencies. The increase means an additional 420,000 acre-feet of water.

The allocation is based on an 800,000 acre-foot increase in storage at Lake Oroville and the latest snow survey data from April 1, which found the snowpack at 99% of average.

During the spring, the ability to move water supply south through the system will continue to be impacted by the presence of threatened and endangered fish species near the State Water Project pumping facility in the south Delta, according to state water officials.

The presence of these fish species has triggered state and federal regulations that significantly reduce the pumping from the Delta into the California Aqueduct. This reduction in pumping has limited the ability to move and store water into San Luis Reservoir. This reduced pumping is expected to continue into late spring. The State Water Project anticipates increasing its pumping significantly this summer as soon as the fishery conditions and our State and federal operating permits allow.

“This year highlights the challenges of moving water in wet periods with the current pumping infrastructure in the south Delta. We had both record low pumping for a wet year and high fish salvage at the pumps,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “We need to be moving water when it’s wet so that we can ease conditions for people and fish when dry conditions return. It’s one more reason the Delta Conveyance Project, which would move water when the flows are high in a manner safer for fish, is a necessary climate adaptation project for California.”

The restricted pumping situation was not lost on the State Water Contractors, an association of 27 public water agencies. Jennifer Pierre, general manager, released the following statement:

“While we are glad to see this modest allocation increase for public water agencies who rely on SWP supplies, it is still far below the amount of water we need. Water deliveries should be far higher in a good water year like we’ve had — there is a lot of water in the system, California reservoirs are full, and runoff from snowpack melt is still to come. Today’s modest allocation highlights just how difficult it is to operate within current regulatory constraints and with infrastructure in need of modernization. Even in a good water year, moving water effectively and efficiently under the current regime is difficult.”

Ethics professor on Valley Children’s CEO pay: ‘Acknowledge mistakes and apologize’

When sjvsun.com published an article revealing that the CEO of Valley Children’s Hospital earned more than twice the compensation of the CEO of St. Jude, one of the largest and most well-known children’s hospitals in the nation, the response from the public and local community leaders was that of resounding displeasure.

Valley Children’s Hospital CEO Todd Suntrapak, according to IRS tax filings, took home more than $5.5 million in total compensation in 2022. Additionally, the hospital’s top executives took home nearly $30 million in combined pay, with five other executives raking in over $1 million that year.

Valley Children’s Hospital operates as a nonprofit hospital, exempt from income or property taxes at all levels.

Being a nonprofit, however, the hospital is required to source its income through borrowing or — primarily — through direct earned revenue.

In Valley Children’s case, more than 70% of the hospital’s patients are low-income, relying on government assistance programs to pay their medical bills.

The concept of nonprofit hospitals is an ethically ideal concept. Dr. Andrew Fiala, philosophy and ethics professor at Fresno State, said that if health care truly is a social priority, a for-profit model is misplaced in the health care industry.

“There is probably wide agreement that when people are suffering and in need, they ought to be cared for,” Fiala said. “A ‘nonprofit’ model would seem to capture the spirit of that kind of caring idea, i.e., that profit should not be the primary motive.”

With that in mind, Fiala added that a difficult ethical question is raised regarding compensation of health care employees. He said, in many instances, the compensation in “helping/caring professions” including clergy, health care workers and even soldiers, can be viewed as too high, adding that, while an odd idea in a capitalist, profit-driven economy, it bares the question he raised:

“Are healthcare workers (and hospitals and clinics) in it for the money — or are there other values at stake?”

This question, in a roundabout way, has been posed to the public by two sources typically at odds with one another behind the desk at Fresno City Council meetings. While their politics, policies and values often differ, both District 3 representative Miguel Arias and District 6 representative Garry Bredefeld agree the compensation for Suntrapak and other executives at Valley Children’s Hospital is too high.

“The truth is those who are responsible for our health care system have prioritized corporate profits — their personal pocketbooks — instead of serving those they were established to serve,” Arias said last month.

Both councilmembers and numerous community members have asked why a hospital that compensates its top level executives at such a high level continues to ask for donations, each year hosting highly publicized fundraisers and sponsoring large projects in the city including Valley Children’s Stadium — home of the Fresno State Bulldogs.

Fiala said that, as a nonprofit entity, donors want to know that the dollars they spend are going to a good cause.

“Members of the public are certainly entitled to ask critical questions of organizations that claim to benefit the public,” Fiala said. “One obvious ‘how’ issue has to do with where people choose to donate their money or spend their healthcare dollars.”

Andrew Fiala, philosophy and ethics professor at Fresno State. Photo contributed

In the case of Valley Children’s Hospital, the exposure of its top-level executive salaries has led to local businesses and individuals, many of whom were staunch financial supporters of the hospital in the past, to question or even pull their support.

Both Bredefeld and Arias have committed to stop donating to the hospital and several local businesses, including Hedrick’s Chevrolet in Clovis, have publicly pulled their support for the hospital.

To put the monetary donations into direct context, the hospital generated 4.3% of its revenue from donations in 2022, according to the nonprofit’s 2022 IRS Form 990. In 2021, donations accounted for more than 10% of the hospitals’ revenue.

Despite ongoing criticism of executive pay and rising questions about quality of care, Children’s Hospital stands by its compensation package, stating that a national scale was used to determine salary.

“Executive compensation at Valley Children’s is determined through rigorous, independent review processes,” said Valley Children’s Healthcare Board of Trustees Chair Michael Hanson. “Our decisions are guided by industry standards and aimed at attracting and retaining top talent necessary to uphold our commitment to excellence in healthcare.”

Many, however, including Fiala believe that the continued back-and-forth, however, will only garner negative press for the nonprofit hospital. Fiala added that while superficial moves can be made to smooth over public reaction, long-run institution-level responses need to also be considered in order to regain public trust and approval.

“I think it is important for institutions to avoid becoming overly defensive when ethical scandals erupt,” Fiala said. “Much better to acknowledge mistakes and apologize.”

California rejects bill to crackdown on how utilities spend customers’ money

California lawmakers on Monday rejected a proposal aimed at cracking down on how some of the nation’s largest utilities spend customers’ money.

California’s investor-owned utilities can’t use money from customers to pay for things like advertising their brand or lobbying for legislation. Instead, they’re supposed to use money from private investors to pay for those things.

Consumer groups say utilities are finding ways around those rules. They accuse them of using money from customers to fund trade groups that lobby legislators and for TV ads disguised as public service announcements, including some recent ads by Pacific Gas & Electric.

A bill in the state Legislature would have expanded the definitions of prohibited advertising and political influence to include things like regulators’ decisions on rate-setting and franchises for electrical and gas corporations. It would also allow regulators to fine utilities that break the rules.

Monday, the bill failed to pass a legislative committee for the second time in the face of intense opposition from utilities, including Pacific Gas & Electric.

“We’ve seen too many examples of the blatant misuse of ratepayer funds across the state,” said Democratic state Sen. Dave Min, who authored the bill that failed to pass on Monday. “I know that consumers are outraged by this.”

PG&E opposed the bill because it said it would take away the power of state regulators to examine utility companies’ costs and decide whether it is “just or reasonable″ for customers to pay for them.

Plus, PG&E lobbyist Brandon Ebeck said it’s appropriate for customers to pay for the company’s membership fees that go to various industry associations because they benefit customers. He noted those groups coordinate emergency response and wildfire training. When the war in Ukraine started, the Edison Electric Institute — a national association representing investor-owned utilities — sought to find surplus equipment that could be sent to Ukraine.

“There’s a lot of benefits to customers,” Ebeck said.

The bill was part of a larger backlash against the rising cost of electricity in California. Power is expensive in California in part because of the work required to maintain and upgrade electrical equipment to reduce the risk of wildfires in a state with long, dry summers.

As rates have continued to climb, utilities like Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric have faced increasing scrutiny from consumer groups over how they spend the money they collect from customers.

Matt Vespa, senior attorney at the environmental advocacy group Earthjustice, said Monday’s vote was “incredibly disappointing.” He said the current rules for utilities “incentivizes them to see what they can get away with.”

As an example, Min and consumer groups noted PG&E spent up to $6 million in TV ads to tout its plan to bury power lines to reduce wildfire risk, a plan that some consumer groups opposed because it increased customers’ bills.

The ads first aired in 2022 and feature CEO Patti Poppe in a company-branded hard hat while saying the company is “transforming your hometown utility from the ground up.”

The utility recorded the expenses for those ads to come from a customer-funded account that is dedicated to reducing wildfire risk, as first reported by the Sacramento Bee. PG&E spokesperson Lynsey Paulo said the company has not yet asked regulators to review that expense. The California Public Utilities Commission will decide whether customer funds can pay for the ads.

Paulo noted state regulators allow utilities to use money from customers to pay for safety communications on television.

“Our customers have told us they want to know how we are investing to improve safety and reliability,” Paulo said. “We also use digital and email communications, but some customers do not have internet or email access, so we use methods including television spots to communicate with all of our customers.”

Some consumer groups say the ads have crossed the line.

“Only at PG&E would (Poppe’s) attempts at brand rehabilitation be considered a ‘safety message,’” said Mark Toney, executive director of the Utility Reform Network. “This blatant misuse of ratepayer funds is exactly why we need SB 938 and its clear rules and required disclosures for advertising costs.”

Wall Street is looking to Tesla’s earnings for clues to Musk’s plan to restore company’s wild growth

Faced with falling global sales and a diving stock price, Tesla has slashed prices again on some of its electric vehicles and its “Full Self Driving” system in an apparent effort to boost the company’s earnings growth.

But Wall Street was unimpressed and will be looking for other answers from CEO Elon Musk when Tesla releases a report on its first-quarter finances after the U.S. stock market’s closing bell Tuesday. Many industry analysts say a nearly 9% sales decline in the opening three months of 2024 raises questions about demand for Teslas and other electric vehicles.

For Musk, the answer appears to be the long-elusive robotaxi, which he has been touting as a growth catalyst for Tesla since the hardware for it went on sale late in 2015. Musk has called the system “Full Self Driving,” even though the company says on its website that it can’t drive itself and humans must be ready to take control at all times.

In 2019, Musk promised a fleet of autonomous robotaxis by 2020 that would bring income to Tesla owners and make their car values appreciate. Instead, they’ve declined with price cuts, as the autonomous robotaxis have been delayed year after year while being tested by owners as the company gathers road data for its computers.

Now, Musk appears to be betting that the unveiling of a new robotaxi model on Aug. 8 will be the catalyst that his company needs to return to wild annual sales growth.

Industry analysts are skeptical, and fear that Musk has canceled or delayed plans for the Model 2, a new small Tesla for the mass market that would cost around $25,000. Analysts polled by FactSet see the company’s first-quarter net income falling 42% from a year ago to $1.46 billion.

Over the weekend, though, Tesla lopped $2,000 off the price of the Models Y, S and X in the U.S. and reportedly made cuts in other countries including China. It also slashed the cost of “Full Self Driving” by one third to $8,000.

On Monday, as investors digested the price cuts, shares in Tesla Inc., which is based in Austin, Texas, fell another 3.4%, pushing the year-to-date decline to just under 43%. Since the start of the year, though, the S&P 500 index is up about 5%.

In midday trading Tuesday, shares edged up nearly 2%.

In a note to investors Monday, Bank of America Global Research analyst John Murphy wrote that Tesla’s shares have been under pressure since the start of the year due to weaker EV sales, and production that exceeds demand.

“We retain some level of skepticism on Tesla’s growth prospects, but also see opportunities as the company will unveil future growth drivers (robotaxi and Model 2) in the coming months,” Murphy wrote, adding that he maintains a neutral rating on the stock.

On Sunday, Musk wrote on X, the social media platform he owns, that like other automakers, Tesla prices change frequently “in order to match production with demand.”

From January through March, Tesla manufactured 433,371 vehicles and delivered 386,810, making over 46,000 more than it sold. This even after it cut prices last year on some of its more expensive models by up to $20,000.

Last week Tesla announced it would cut 10% of its 140,000 employees, and key executive Andrew Baglino, senior vice president of powertrain and energy engineering, announced he was leaving after 18 years. The company also announced that it would ask shareholders to restore a $56 billion pay package for Musk that was rejected by a Delaware court.

Murphy wrote that on Tuesday, he expects Musk and the company to give some hints about the robotaxi, and also could reiterate an intent to start making the Model 2 in 2025 or 2026.

For years, Musk has told owners and investors that Teslas with “Full Self Driving” software and hardware will be able to drive themselves and could earn money carrying passengers when they normally would have been parked.

But “Full Self Driving” thus far has not been anything other than a partially automated driver assist system that can’t drive itself.

Early last year the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration made Tesla recall its “Full Self-Driving” system because it can misbehave around intersections and doesn’t always follow speed limits. Tesla’s less-sophisticated Autopilot system also was recalled to bolster its driver monitoring system.

Some experts, though, don’t think any system that relies solely on cameras like Tesla’s can ever reach full autonomy.

Sterling Anderson, chief product officer and co-founder of Aurora Innovation, a company that makes autonomous driving systems for semis, said his company uses laser and radar sensors in addition to cameras.

Anderson, a former Tesla director of Autopilot, said recently that Aurora’s laser sensor, also called lidar, was able to spot a pedestrian along a Texas freeway more than 300 meters (984 feet) ahead in the darkness. The truck’s cameras couldn’t see the person until it was about 50 meters (164 feet) away, making the situation more dangerous.

“There’s no ambient lighting to illuminate that pedestrian,” Anderson said. “So any optical system including cameras or human eyes dependent on other light to reflect off an object will fail at that kind of job.”

Laser and radar sensors can see far beyond the truck’s headlights, he said. “The question really is one of safety, robustness and reliability,” Anderson said.

Raj Rajkumar, a professor of computer and electrical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, said Tesla relies on cameras that are trained on huge data sets. But computers can’t foresee every scenario encountered on the roads, and even if they could “tomorrow there will be new scenarios that are not in the data set,” he said.

Musk has said before that lidar isn’t necessary because humans can drive with just their eyes. “Humans don’t shoot lasers out of their eyes to drive,” he wrote Sunday on X.

Nikola Jokic’s brother reportedly involved in an altercation after the Nuggets beat the Lakers

The NBA and Denver police are looking into an incident in which a man reported to be one of the brothers of Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic was seen punching a fan after the team’s buzzer-beating 101-99 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA playoffs.

In videos shared by TMZ and other outlets, the man is seen climbing over seats to confront another person at Ball Arena, who he then punches in the face. TMZ said the altercation happened on Monday night just after the Nuggets completed their comeback from a 20-point deficit to take a 2-0 lead in the first-round series.

An NBA spokesman said Tuesday that the league is looking into the matter.

The Denver police media relations unit said in an email sent to The Associated Press that it is investigating the incident, but said it was not reported to the Denver police at the arena or after the game.

“At this time, no one has come forward as a victim of this incident,” the email said. “The Department is looking into this incident, is actively working to identify the person in the video who was struck, and encourages anyone who was involved or witnessed this firsthand to contact the Denver Police Department.”

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet

NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense.

The most distant spacecraft from Earth stopped sending back understandable data last November. Flight controllers traced the blank communication to a bad computer chip and rearranged the spacecraft’s coding to work around the trouble.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California declared success after receiving good engineering updates late last week. The team is still working to restore transmission of the science data.

It takes 22 1/2 hours to send a signal to Voyager 1, more than 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) away in interstellar space. The signal travel time is double that for a round trip.

Contact was never lost, rather it was like making a phone call where you can’t hear the person on the other end, a JPL spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Launched in 1977 to study Jupiter and Saturn, Voyager 1 has been exploring interstellar space — the space between star systems — since 2012. Its twin, Voyager 2, is 12.6 billion miles (20 billion kilometers) away and still working fine.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.