CAlifornia

Parents and teachers who oppose efforts to end the personal belief exemption on vaccinations rally in Los Angeles on April 14.

California Legislature Passes 'Mandatory' Vaccine Bill, Sends It To The Governor

5:27pm July 08, 2015

by Lucy Perkins

Children who have specific medical problems, like immune system deficiencies, would be exempt from vaccinations as long as they have confirmation from their doctor.

Gov. Jerry Brown of California signed a controversial vaccination bill into law on Tuesday.

California Governor Signs School Vaccination Law

4:09pm June 30, 2015

by Lucy Perkins

Starting July 1, 2016, all children enrolled in public or private schools or day cares in the state must be vaccinated, regardless of parents' religious and other personal beliefs.

Filmmaker Christopher Lee attends a 1999 film festival.

National

Making The Law Respect Gender Identity After Death

11:04am June 30, 2015

by April Dembosky

After filmmaker Christopher Lee died, his death certificate listed him as "female." His friends helped to change the way California law handles the death certificates of transgender people.

Queue Listen Now

Parents rally against SB 277, a California measure requiring schoolchildren to get vaccinated, outside the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif.

In Bid For Stricter Vaccine Rules, Officials Grapple With Decades-Old Distrust

2:25pm June 29, 2015

by April Dembosky

California lawmakers have decided to tighten the criteria for parents to opt out of vaccinating their children. But some parents resent officials telling them how to care for their children.

Queue Listen Now

A box of vaccine vials sits on a table during a Solano County health fair in 2010 in Vallejo, Calif.

California Law To Curtail Vaccine Exemptions Clears Hurdle

4:41pm June 26, 2015

by Rebecca Plevin

If the bill passes out of the Legislature, the bill would then move to the desk of Gov. Jerry Brown. He hasn't indicated whether he'll sign the bill.

Leukemia survivor Rhett Krawitt, 7, carries a box of petitions representing more than 30,000 people supporting a measure requiring nearly all California schoolchildren to be vaccinated. He took them to the governor's office at the Capitol in Sacramento, C

California Lawmakers Vote To Remove Vaccine Exemptions For Schoolchildren

5:37pm June 25, 2015

by Scott Neuman

A similar bill, which eliminates all but medical exemptions, has already passed the state Senate. Gov. Jerry Brown has not said whether he will sign it.

Long waits and lack of access to doctors is a continuing problem with California's Medicaid program, an audit finds.

California's Medicaid Program Fails To Ensure Access To Doctors

2:56pm June 22, 2015

by Anna Gorman

The state is not monitoring its Medicaid managed care plans to make sure they have enough doctors to meet patients' needs, an audit finds. And thousands of calls to an ombudsman were never returned.

From California To Kathmandu, Task Force 2 Responds To Disasters

6:18pm June 21, 2015

by NPR Staff

An elite search-and-rescue team from Los Angeles County is always ready to respond to emergencies around the world — most recently, in earthquake-ravaged Nepal.

Queue Listen Now

Amil Patel (left) and Bob Dunn run the front desk at this Walgreens pharmacy on the campus of the University of California, San Francisco. The store will be one of the first to take advantage of a new California law expanding pharmacists' scope of practic

Health & Safety

California Women Can Soon Go Right To The Pharmacist For Birth Control

12:44pm June 05, 2015

by April Dembosky

Under a new law being implemented in California, women will be able to walk into a pharmacy, get a prescription for contraceptive pills, the ring, or the patch, and get it filled — all in one visit.

Rudy Mussi's family has farmed in the Sacramento Delta region for nearly a century. Mussi worries that more water transfers will deplete the fragile Delta ecosystem and wipe out family farms like his.

California's War Over Water Has Farmer Fighting Farmer

8:50pm June 04, 2015

by Kirk Siegler

Drought-stricken Central Valley farmers are pointing fingers at the Sacramento Delta, where water still flows reliably. There's more pressure than ever to change a long-standing water rights system.

Queue Listen Now