Facing pushback from the medical community, California Assemblyman Vince Fong withdrew a bill late last month that would have required doctors to order specific types of lab tests when they suspect valley fever.
Bakersfield Assemblymen Vince Fong and Rudy Salas submitted a $7 million budget proposal that, if approved, would be the largest amount of money California has ever designated to research and raise awareness of the disease.
Just 48 people have signed up across California and Arizona for a new clinical trial of Fluconazole, an antifungal drug used to treat valley fever. That's far fewer than officials had expected.
Bakersfield lawmakers requested $3 million in the state budget last week to research treatments and conduct outreach for valley fever.
Assemblyman Vince Fong, R-Bakersfield, will introduce two bills Wednesday aimed at combating valley fever, the orphan disease which infected Californians at epidemic levels last year.
Advocates for valley fever research give California Assemblyman Rudy Salas an “A” for effort for the "most robust" legislative effort to address the disease in state history. But public health officials and experts are split on whether the remedies proposed by Salas will bring improvements.
California Assemblyman Rudy Salas' introduced a new package of four bills on Monday that aim to boost valley fever awareness and treatment.
Researchers say a new test for valley fever can return nearly 100 percent accurate results in under two hours. It’s a breakthrough for the orphan disease.
The workers fell ill earlier this year while working on a solar panel project in Monterey County after six employers allowed serious lapses in training and safety precautions.
Six construction firms involved in the California Flats Solar Project in Monterey County were fined $241,950 by a state agency this week after a whistleblower alleged the companies were exposing workers to valley fever.
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