Health

When she went to La Clinica de la Raza health center in Oakland for a routine checkup, the 54-year-old immigrant told her doctor she was under a lot of stress. Work had begun to dry up for her husband, a day laborer, and money was tight. Marta, who asked to be identified by a first […]

Kenda Williams, 51, went to West Coast Dental in Torrance to treat the shooting pain in her molar. She spent the day in a drug-induced haze. Williams later found out she had signed up for two credit cards that day to cover her dentist’s $9,055 bill. Unemployed and on Medi-Cal, the Los Angeles resident had […]

Laws require health plans to provide patients equal treatment for mental and physical needs. But "parity" is often elusive — and critics say the Legislature and health officials have failed to fix the problem.

Primary care doctors are a hot commodity across California. Students are being lured by full-ride scholarships to medical schools. New grads are specifically recruited for training residencies. And full-fledged doctors are being offered loan repayment programs to serve low-income residents or work in underserved areas. These efforts are intended to ease or stave off the […]

“You get exposed to a lot of stuff over the years, and the body takes a beatdown."

California lawmakers knew Assemblyman David Chiu's reproductive FACT Act had constitutional issues, but passed the NARAL-sponsored bill anyway. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned it, and the settlements in NIFLA v. Becerra have been a windfall for conservatives fighting reproductive rights here and nationally. 

Water is scarce and dirty for many in Fresno County’s small West Park community. They’re not alone. It’s a common and persistent challenge for residents throughout California who rely on water wells. Residents in West Park, an unincorporated cluster of houses and buildings on the southwestern outskirts of Fresno, say they have stopped drinking the […]

Explanations include the state's comprehensive sex education, access to birth control, better contraception methods and even reality TV. Even so, the rates in some California counties remain very high.

Gina Diaz-Nino considers herself an extrovert. But since her mouth began deteriorating after years of methamphetamine use and two fights, she receded into the shadows.  Her teeth are yellow, crooked and browning around the corners. Most of her top teeth are either chipped, missing or decaying. When they fell out, they crumbled like chalk. “I’ll […]

Is the governor's plan to streamline prescription drug buying a smart way to save the state millions? Maybe, but it will come at the expense of nonprofits that say they're using that money to boost services for poorer patients.