UCLA Professor and Nephrologist Dr. Keith Norris has advocated for a race-neutral formula for assessing kidney function for years, and now the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) and the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) are urging laboratories nationwide to adopt a newly modified equation that will diagnose chronic kidney disease earlier and help save lives.
People on dialysis usually qualify for Medicare, the federal health insurance program for people 65 and older, and those with kidney failure and certain disabilities.
If passed, SB 1156 will severely limit the ability of charitable organizations from providing financial assistance to dialysis patients in need. These are the charitable organizations whose financial assistance allows for access to treatment and care for thousands of patients suffering from kidney failure in California, including many minority patients. For these patients, charitable assistance is the sole reason they are able to continue paying for their costly and life-sustaining dialysis treatment.
There are 570 dialysis clinics in California, including six in my Assembly district, but problems persist.
Robert Phillips was diagnosed with a hereditary kidney disease at the age of 16. In need of a replacement kidney, Dr. Vanessa Grubb’s volunteered to give him one of hers after only been dating for nine months.
Dialysis workers have reported situations where they must monitor and care for 10 or more patients at the same time for hours on end, raising concerns when multiple patients are at risk of falling blood pressure, fainting, having some other complication or just needing to use the restroom.
Nurses, patients, and other health care workers outlined proposed legislation to regulate dialysis treatment during a briefing hosted by New America Media at SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West on May 4.
Giving blood matters because it can save lives. When it came time for Sabriya’s Castle of Fun Foundation (SCFF) president, Pamela Bakewell, to meet with local organizations about this year’s annual fun drive, she found hesitation. The fear of a needle made a few of the officials’ blood run cold yet some noted despite their fear of giving blood, they had tattoos. This led the group to an interesting revelation—if someone could sit through hours of a needle tearing through your skin, then someone could sit through giving blood, which is far less painful. On March 12, SCFF annual blood