Tag: 2021 News

The coronavirus variant first seen in Los Angeles in July now accounts for about 44% of new infections in Southern California and more than a third of new infections throughout the state, researchers reported Thursday.

In addition, the variant has spread across the United States and to six countries around the globe, according to the study in the Journal of the American Medical Assn.

It “remains uncertain” whether the genetic changes that characterize the fast-moving variant have improved its ability to transmit from person to person, or to make people infected with it sicker, a team from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles acknowledged in the JAMA report. But the virus’ rapid propagation in California is a cause for some concern, they wrote.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the homegrown variant is distinct from other versions of the virus present in the U.S., including the B.1.1.7 strain from the United Kingdom and the B.1.351 strain from South Africa. But like those new strains, this variant is defined by several mutations in the virus’ spike protein, the “docking mechanism” the virus uses to latch on to human cells.

One of the California variant’s five mutations, known to scientists as L452R, could alter a particularly critical part of the spike protein called the receptor-binding domain.

A study conducted last year by Howard University researchers found that the mutation helps the virus attach more firmly to human cells. It therefore has the potential to enhance the virus’ transmission.

At both Cedars-Sinai and the UC San Francisco Medical Center, samples of the new variant are being tested in an effort to detect whether its altered genetic makeup has given the virus new powers to spread or sicken.

Its rapidly increasing share of California cases is also ominous, the study authors said.

Although the variant was barely detectable in early October, it accounted for 24% of roughly 4,500 viral samples gathered throughout Southern California in the last weeks of 2020, and 18% of statewide samples. Less than a month later, its share of new infections had climbed.

From Jan. 1 to Jan. 22, the variant accounted for 44% of coronavirus samples collected in Southern California and 35% of samples from throughout the state.

Shaolei Teng, a Howard University biologist who led a team exploring the effect of the virus’ genetic changes, said the variant’s L452R mutation clearly improved its ability to bind to human cells. In all likelihood, he said, the change also makes it easier for the virus to get inside cells – a crucial step in the replication process.

What’s more, the variant has begun to travel widely. It has been detected in Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming and Washington, D.C.

It has also made its way to Australia, Denmark, Israel, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

Foster Farms, the nation’s 10th largest poultry producer, operates a plant in Livingston, California, about 100 miles east of San Jose. It employs over 2,500 workers there, making it the largest employer in Merced County.

The first outbreak at the Livingston plant peaked in August 2020. In total, nearly 400 workers tested positive and nine died. Merced County’s public health director called the incident “one of the largest occupational fatalities experienced during COVID-19 in the state of California.”

The county health department shut down the plant for six days, during which Foster Farms completed two rounds of deep cleaning of its facilities and COVID-19 testing of its workforce.

In the aftermath of the first outbreak, United Farm Workers of America, the union that represents about 2,000 employees at the plant, alleged that Foster Farms had not been following county public health orders and other directives related to limiting the spread of COVID-19.

Fisher Phillips reports that following a second COVID-19 outbreak at Foster Farms, a California judge issued what is likely the first injunction in the nation against a meat processing plant over corona virus safety.

Soon after the suit was filed, the court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) at the plaintiffs’ request. A TRO typically lasts no more than 30 days.

The court set a a preliminary injunction hearing on January 29, 2021 and decided to issue an injunction incorporating the TRO’s 20 requirements imposed on Foster Farms.

The ruling leaves in place the substance of a December 2020 temporary restraining order requiring the employer to take 20 specific steps to protect workers from the spread of the virus. The lawsuit was brought by the union that represents the employees at the plant.

Those requirements include:

– – Requiring all workers to wear face coverings and supplying them with masks;
– – Promoting social distancing by staggering employees’ works schedules and break times, and installing additional break areas;
– – Installing physical dividers in areas where social distancing is difficult to maintain, like production lines;
– – Training employees on COVID-19 hazard mitigation and informing them of testing requirements, outbreaks that occur, areas affected, and training on safety requirements; and
– – Warning and appropriately disciplining employees who do not comply with its new COVID-19 policies.

Foster Farms plans to appeal the ruling, characterizing it as unnecessary court intervention, as both the county public health department and Cal/OSHA already have oversight of the plant. Company officials also highlighted the fact that Foster Farms has administered nearly 100,000 COVID-19 tests to its workforce since the pandemic began, 40,000 of them at the Livingston plant.

The California Attorney General, along with a coalition of attorneys general from 47 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories, announced a $600 million settlement with one of the world’s largest consulting firms, McKinsey & Company (McKinsey).

McKinsey & Company is an American worldwide management consulting firm, founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that advises on strategic management to corporations, governments, and other organizations.

Under the leadership of Marvin Bower, McKinsey expanded into Europe during the 1940s and 1950s. In the 1960s, McKinsey’s Fred Gluck – along with Boston Consulting Group’s Bruce Henderson, Bill Bain at Bain & Company, and Harvard Business School’s Michael Porter – transformed corporate culture.

McKinsey advised opioid makers on how to “turbocharge” sales of OxyContin, propose strategies “to counter the emotional messages from mothers with teenagers that overdosed” on OxyContin, and help opioid makers circumvent regulation.

The firm also advised Purdue Pharma to offer pharmacies rebates based on the number of overdoses and addictions they caused.

In February 2021, McKinsey reached agreements with attorneys general in 49 states, five U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. Across the settlements, the firm agreed to pay nearly $600 million to settle investigations into its role in promoting sales of OxyContin.

The settlement also resolves California’s investigation into the company’s role in advising opioid companies, helping those companies promote their drugs, and profiting from the opioid epidemic. California will receive $59,613,603.99 from the settlement.

In addition to providing funds to address the crisis, the agreement calls on McKinsey to prepare tens of thousands of its internal documents detailing its work for Purdue Pharma and other opioid companies for public disclosure online.

When states began to sue Purdue’s directors for their implementation of McKinsey’s marketing schemes, McKinsey partners began corresponding about deleting documents and emails related to their work for Purdue.

California’s drug formulary, which went into effect January 1, 2018, was intended to reduce frictional costs in the workers’ compensation system; restrict inappropriate prescribing, especially that related to opioids; and ensure that injured workers receive medically necessary medications in a timely manner.

In the July 1, 2018 Pure Premium Rate Filing, the WCIRB estimated that the drug formulary would reduce pharmaceutical costs by 10 percent, resulting in an overall 0.5 percent reduction in the advisory pure premium rate level.

The WCIRB’s initial estimate was based largely on projected reductions in the use of opioids, compounds, physician-dispensed drugs and brand name drugs when a generic alternative was available.

The WCIRB has updated the cost impact evaluation of the Drug Formulary, utilizing additional pharmaceutical transaction information in 2019 through the pre-pandemic period in 2020, in its Cost Impact of California’s Drug Formulary – Two-Year Checkup research brief.

Key findings in the research brief include:

– – While pharmaceutical costs had been declining sharply prior to implementation of the formulary, the decline accelerated in 2018 and continued at a somewhat slower rate through 2019 and the pre-COVID-19 period in 2020.
– – The share of prescriptions for drugs not subject to prospective UR in accordance with the formulary continued to increase in 2019 and early 2020, while that of drugs subject to UR continued to decline.
– – The share of pharmaceutical payments for opioids, compounds and brand name drugs with generic alternatives dropped sharply in 2018 and continued to drop at a similar rate in 2019 and early 2020.
– – While the share of pharmaceutical payments for physician dispensed drugs started to increase slightly toward the end of 2019, on an annual basis, the share of payments to these drugs continued to decline during the two years of the formulary implementation.
– – The continued downward trend in pharmaceutical costs through early 2020, as well as the continued decreases in the proportion of drugs not subject to UR, opioids, compounds, physician-dispensed drugs and brand name drugs with generic equivalents suggest the formulary is achieving its intended effects.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant stay-at-home orders have affected the patterns of medical treatment of California injured workers. While elective medical services were suspended during the early weeks of the pandemic, pharmaceutical use has increased throughout the pandemic. The increases have driven the average drug payments in the system above the prepandemic level. Most of the increases came from non-opioid pain medications.

Given that the formulary impact on drug utilization and costs may be mixed with the impact of the stay-at-home orders during the ongoing pandemic, this updated evaluation focused on the pre-COVID-19 pandemic period and assessed how the drug formulary affected prescription drug utilization and costs during this period.

President Joe Biden nominated Julie Su, the head of California’s labor agency, on Wednesday as the deputy U.S. secretary of labor, potentially putting another Californian in a top administration job and focusing a brighter spotlight on the state’s ongoing unemployment fraud scandal.

If confirmed by the Senate, Su would be tasked with helping to lead a sprawling department that oversees laws that regulate worker standards and pay, workplace safety, workers’ compensation, unions, family and medical leave and more. She would work in partnership with Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, Biden’s nominee for labor secretary, if he is confirmed.

Julie A. Su is currently the Secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency. Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Su in January of 2019 to serve as his cabinet advisor on labor issues and employment programs for workers and businesses throughout California.

Secretary Su oversees the state departments and boards that enforce labor laws, including minimum wage and occupational safety standards, provide state disability and unemployment insurance benefits, fund workforce training and apprenticeship programs, combat wage theft, protect injured workers, and arbitrate public sector contract disputes.

Su is a nationally recognized expert on workers’ rights and civil rights who has dedicated her distinguished legal career to advancing justice on behalf of poor and disenfranchised communities, and is a past recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grant.

As California Labor Commissioner from 2011 through 2018, Su enforced the state’s labor laws to ensure a fair and just workplace for both employees and employers. A report on her tenure released in May 2013 found that her leadership has resulted in a renaissance in enforcement activity and record-setting results. In 2014, she launched the first “Wage Theft is a Crime” multi-media, multilingual statewide campaign to reach out to low-wage workers and their employers to help them understand their rights and feel safe speaking up about labor law abuses.

Prior to her appointment as California Labor Commissioner, Su was the Litigation Director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, the nation’s largest non-profit civil rights organization devoted to issues affecting the Asian American community. In her 17 years as a civil rights lawyer, Su brought landmark lawsuits resulting in millions of dollars for low-wage workers and policy changes in California and the United States protecting immigrant victims of crime and human trafficking. In 1995, she was the lead attorney for Thai garment workers who were trafficked into the United States and forced to sew behind barbed wire and under armed guard in an apartment complex in El Monte, California. Su is known for pioneering a multi-strategy approach that combines successful impact litigation with multiracial organizing, community education, policy reform, coalition building, and media work.

Su has taught at UCLA Law School and Northeastern Law School. She is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School and began her career with a Skadden Fellowship. Su is the daughter of Chinese immigrants and speaks Mandarin and Spanish