Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Californians Defeat Dialysis Clinic Proposition, Ban Flavored Tobacco
For the third time in three straight elections, California voters rejected a ballot measure that would have mandated major changes to the operations of dialysis clinics that provide life-saving care to 80,000 people with kidney failure. Proposition 29 failed after nearly 70% of Californians voted 鈥渘o鈥 in returns late Tuesday. The measure would have required a doctor, nurse practitioner or physicians鈥 assistant to be present during treatment at the state鈥檚 600 outpatient dialysis facilities. (Weber, 11/9)
Proposition 29 would have required dialysis clinics to have a doctor, nurse practitioner or physician assistant present while patients are receiving care at any of the state鈥檚 600 dialysis centers. Clinics also would have been required to disclose if a physician had ownership interest in a facility and to report patient infection data. (Evans, 11/8)
On flavored tobacco 鈥
On Tuesday, Californians overwhelmingly voted to ban all flavored tobacco products in the state. The move makes California by far the largest state to ban such products, which are already illegal in a smattering of smaller states, including Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. (Florko, 11/9)
California voters on Tuesday passed a ballot measure to uphold a 2020 law that banned the sale of most flavored tobacco products, giving anti-tobacco advocates an expected victory in a multiyear fight against the industry to mitigate a youth vaping crisis. (Wiley, 11/8)
Gov. Gavin Newsom wins reelection 鈥
Democrat Gavin Newsom easily won a second term as California鈥檚 governor on Tuesday, beating a little-known Republican state senator by mostly ignoring him while campaigning against the policies of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, two leading Republicans who also won reelection and like Newsom may run for president. ... Speaking to supporters in Sacramento with his wife and four children by his side, Newsom again drew contrasts between himself and DeSantis and Abbot, saying he is 鈥渞esolved to do more to advance that cause of freedom.鈥 鈥淲e have governors that won their reelections tonight in other states that are banning books, that are banning speech, that are banning abortion, and here we are in California moving in a completely different direction,鈥 Newsom said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a deep point of pride.鈥 (Beam, 11/9)