UCLA in the News lists selected mentions of UCLA in the world’s news media. Some articles may require registration or a subscription. See more UCLA in the News.
Hazardous sites in California at risk of flooding | CNN
Hundreds of hazardous industrial sites that dot the California coastline — including oil and gas refineries and sewage-treatment plants — are at risk of severe flooding from rising sea level if the climate crisis worsens, new research shows. If planet-warming pollution continues to rise unabated, 129 industrial sites are estimated to be at risk of coastal flooding by 2050 according to the study, published Tuesday in the journal Environmental Science & Technology by researchers from University of California at Los Angeles and Berkeley, as well as Climate Central. (UCLA’s Lara Cushing was quoted. Also: CBS News.)
Thousands die from preventable medical errors | USA Today
On any given day now, 1 of every 31 hospitalized patients acquires an infection while hospitalized, according to a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This costs health care systems at least $28.4 billion each year and accounts for an additional $12.4 billion from lost productivity and premature deaths. “That blew me away,” said Shaunte Walton, system director of Clinical Epidemiology & Infection Prevention at UCLA Health. Electronic tools can help, but even with them, “there’s work to do to try to operationalize them,” she said.
Unhoused fast food workers in L.A. County | LAist
Thousands of fast food workers in Los Angeles County are experiencing homelessness, according to a new economic study … In a 2020 study, UCLA researchers found that 18% of people showing up in L.A.’s homeless services system earned income in the same quarter they fell into homelessness. About 10% of unhoused L.A. residents surveyed in recent years said they were currently employed.
Coping with a fear of needles | Prevention
Trypanophobia is the fear of needles, specifically in a medical setting … For about a third of those with trypanophobia, the fear stems from a traumatic incident such as having been held down for a shot as a child, endured painful blood draws, or, yes, been teased with an oversize needle, says Eric Curcio, M.D., an associate clinical professor of medicine and pediatrics at UCLA Medicine.
Traffickers’ ‘marketing strategy’ for fentanyl in Tijuana | Univision
A study by the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) obtained “the first scientific evidence” that in these establishments in cities in northern Mexico, including Tijuana, they are selling pills containing fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine. “These counterfeit pills pose a serious overdose risk to purchasers who believe they are receiving a known amount of a weaker drug,” Chelsea Shover, a professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and an author of the study, said in a statement. (Translated from Spanish.)
Gender-affirming care and trans kids | Fort Worth Star–Telegram
A ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapies for transgender youth will soon be debated on the Texas House floor … There are currently an estimated 29,800 youths ages 13–17 in Texas who identify as transgender, according to a statistical analysis by the Williams Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles.
Cancer patients face grave financial barriers | Fortune
There is also a need to address psychological barriers delaying screenings and, therefore, cancer treatments owing to stigma. Colon cancer is one prime example, said Dr. Folasade May, associate professor of medicine at UCLA Health. “We suffer because we have this disease that’s highly preventable, because colonoscopies work, but there is so much stigma even about talking about it that no one wants to participate,” said May.
Writers guild goes on strike | KNBC-TV
It’s the first writers’ strike in 15 years … We’ve been told the main issue here is residuals, especially when it comes to streaming. Do you have any idea how far apart both sides are at this point? “It seems as though there’s almost no daylight between the two of them. It’s completely a standoff, a log jam between the two sides,” said UCLA’s Tom Nunan.
New chest ‘e-tattoo’ monitors cardiac activity | HealthDay News
Dr. Gregg Fonarow, director of the Ahmanson–UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center in Los Angeles, reviewed the findings. “There has been significant interest in developing noninvasive, wireless, battery-powered, reliable, convenient and comfortable cardiac monitoring technology,” to replace much larger conditional monitoring and imaging devices, he noted. Theoretically, such devices offer advantages, given their “potential to provide long-term cardiac physiologic data in the home environment,” Fonarow said.
