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The Medical Board of California may soon get a significant boost to its enforcement powers, but some are already saying that proposed changes do not go far enough. ... Proposals include increasing the board’s budget so that it can afford more employees to investigate allegations of doctor wrongdoing; adding two more members to the board’s roster of directors, which would shift the preponderance of leadership away from physicians; reducing the burden of proof required for less severe cases; speeding up enforcement powers when a doctor is convicted of a felony involving “moral turpitude, dishonesty, corruption, fraud or sexual assault”; and a range of other actions. (Sisson, 4/24)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: A California Physician Training Program Adds Diversity, But Where Do Graduates End Up?

Marcus Cummins grew up dreaming of becoming a doctor, but the Central Valley, California, native didn’t have Black physicians to look up to. At times he doubted himself, but he credits the determination he developed as a receiver on the University of California-Davis football team to get him through his studies. “Being a collegiate athlete gave me confidence to apply myself and handle the rigorous schoolwork of medical school,” said the 25-year-old husband and father of three. “It was harder because I didn’t have any physician role models.” (Stephens, 4/25)

A lawyer for San Francisco's public school system on Monday kicked off a long-awaited trial against Altria Group Inc, saying the tobacco giant helped e-cigarette company Juul Labs Inc create a "crisis" of vaping addiction among teenagers. (Pierson, 4/24)

Lawmakers and community leaders gathered Monday morning at Monterey Park City Hall to support legislation they hope will reduce guns on the streets, months after 11 people were killed in a mass shooting on Lunar New Year’s Eve. The lawmakers and gun-control supporters called for adoption of three measures — AB 732, AB 733 and AB 1638 — introduced this year by Assemblymember Mike Fong (D-Alhambra), whose district includes Monterey Park. The bills are in committee in Sacramento and will be heard Tuesday by the Assembly Public Safety Committee. (Lin, 4/24)

A 1993 California gun-control law, banning firearms ownership by anyone who has been found by a judge to pose a threat of violence to a domestic partner, is in jeopardy — along with similar prohibitions in other states — unless the U.S. Supreme Court acts to preserve those laws, says state Attorney General Rob Bonta. (Egelko, 4/24)