THE SAN BERNARDINO
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AMERICAN
“A Man In Debt is So Far A Slave” -R.W. Emerson
NEWSPAPER A Community Newspaper Serving San Bernardino, Riverside & Los Angeles Counties
April 7, 2022 Thursday Edition
Volume 52 No. 51 Mailing: P.O. Box 837, Victorville, CA 92393
Office: (909) 889-7677
Email: Mary @Sb-American.com
Website: www.SB-American.com
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them and these will continue till they have resisted either with words or blows or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance those of whom they suppress. —Fredrick Douglass (1849)
Alzheimer’s Drugs Decision Has Deeper Impact on Health of Blacks, Other Minorities Sen. Isadore Hall | Special to California Black Media Partners Last spring, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first new Alzheimer’s disease therapy since 2003. For the six million-plus people living with the fatal disease in the United States, the availability of a medicine designed to treat the underlying cause of their ailment was a significant breakthrough. However, it appears very few of those six million Alzheimer’s patients will receive this promising new treatment because of regulators at the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS is the federal government office that oversees health coverage of more than 100 million people through Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Health Insurance Marketplace. One of the agency’s main functions is strengthening and modernizing the Nation’s health care system to provide access to high quality care at lower costs. In January, the CMS launched a process called a National Coverage Determination (NCD) to decide whether Medicare would pay for this newly approved Alzheimer’s therapy or not. Their draft decision: Medicare, as the insurer of roughly 62 million Americans, would not cover this medicine. The proposed NCD applies to an entire class of Alzheimer’s drugs, which could impact the current FDA approved drugs, aducanumab, as well as future drug therapies in this class. Given the regulatory governance granted to the FDA by Congressional order, it is my opinion this element of the NCD is over-reaching and creates a divisive relationship between two of the most critical federal agencies in the country, FDA and
CMS. This decision would also require certain Alzheimer drugs already in development (which may have different demographic and efficacy profiles) to be subjected to a CED process that lacks its own data and does not take into consideration diversity, inclusion, and efficacy. Further more, and most important, the proposed NCD bet rays the com mitment articulated by President Biden in his Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government. “Equal opportunity is the bedrock of American democracy, and our diversity is one of our country’s greatest strengths. But for too many, the American Dream remains out of reach. Entrenched disparities in our laws and public policies, and in our public and private institutions, have often denied that equal opportunity to
individuals and communities,” Biden states in the document. “Our country faces converging economic, health, and climate crises that have exposed and exacerbated inequities, while a historic movement for justice has highlighted the unbearable human costs of systemic racism,” the president’s statement continued. “Our Nation deserves an ambitious whole-of-government equity agenda that matches the scale of the opportunities and challenges that we face. It is therefore the policy of my Administration that the Federal Government should pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality.” I know that CMS is fully aware that Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating disease that affects more than six million
Americans, 80% of who are Medicare beneficiaries. Among Americans 65 and older, Blacks have the highest percentage of Alzheimer’s Disease, 13.8 %, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In fact, the Alzheimer’s Association reports that older Blacks are twice as likely to have Alzheimer’s Disease than Whites. African Americans are also mostly likely to be undiagnosed for Alzheimer’s Disease, according to the National Institutes of Health. Therefore, we are also most likely to be untreated. This issue is very personal for me. My grandmother lost her fight to Alzheimer’s Disease in 2017. I often watched her feeling helpless as she suffered from this horrifying and painful disease. Like my grandma, millions of other grandparents, parents and loved ones bear the burdens of this disease and die from it every day. What would it take for us to do right by them? For us to make sure that as we search for a cure, people who are living with it are receiving the best possible treatments? CMS must modify its proposed determination to cover all FDAapproved Alzheimer therapies. This would give patients, social workers and physicians the ability to make collaborative decisions in the best interests of those suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease.
About the Author Isadore Hall is a former California State Senator and Assemblymember from the Los Angeles Area. He currently sits on the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board
Tanu Henry | California Black Media worsening drought conditions in the state showed up in rainfall that didn’t. Low levels of rain during the month, prompted concerned authorities at the state Department of Water Resources (DWR) to cut delivery from the State Water Project, a storage facility, down to 5 % of the supplies that had been requested. Reacting to those and other developments indicating a need to begin preserving water, last week, Gov.
News om a s ke d lo c a l water authorities to “move to Level 2 of their Water
SB County News SA N BER NA R DI NO -- APRIL 4, 2022 -- The San Ber nardino Cou nt y Democratic Party on March 24, 2022 unanimously accepted the endorsement recommendations of the Endorsement Committee. The Endorsement Committee, headed by Third Vice-Chair Kareema AbdulK h a bi r, recommended endorsement in four races on the primary ballot: San Bernardino City Mayor; County Board of Super visors District 2; County Board of Supervisors Dist rict 4; and Sheriff. The endorsed candidates are: ● DeJonaé Shaw, Board
of Supervisors District 2 ● State Senator Connie Leyva, Board of Supervisors District 4 ● Helen Tran, Mayor of San Bernardino ● Clifton Harris, Sheriff We look forward to helping elect these fine candidates to office and increasing Democratic represent at ion i n Sa n Bernardino C o u n t y. The San Bernardino County Democratic Party meets on the 4th Thursday of each month (via Zoom for the duration of the pandemic). To learn more about the Party and how you can participate, visit our website at https://www. sanbernardinodemocrats.org.
Editorial Highlights from the desk of
Clifton Harris
U.S. Capitol Violence Criminals Tips.FBI.Gov News
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Black Water Leaders: Outreach “Critically Important” in Gov. Newsom’s Conservation Plan If it were not for the news headlines, you probably would not know California is under a state of emergency due to continuing drought conditions affecting more than 95% of state residents. Last summer was the hottest recorded in Western states. And in a 128year stretch, 2022 has so far been the driest in Golden State history, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad minist ration ( NOA A). Then, in March, evidence of
San Bernardino County Democratic Party Primary Election Endorsements
Shortage Contingency Plans.” Newsom did not recommend specific actions, leaving regional and municipal authorities open to take “locally-appropriate actions.” “Today, I am calling on local water agencies to implement more aggressive water conservation measures, including having the Water Board evaluate a ban on watering ornamental grass on commercial properties, which will drive water use savings at continued on page 3
HAVE YOU SEEN THIS PERSON?
The FBI is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying individuals who made unlawful entry into the U.S. Capitol building and committed various
other alleged criminal violations, such as destruction of property, assaulting law enforcement personnel, targeting members of continued on page 3
MISSION STATEMENT Clifton Harris /Editor in Chief Investigative Reporter sbamericannews@gmail.com Mary Martin-Harris / Editor Legal /Display Advertising (909) 889-7677 Clifton B. Harris / Audio Engineering Editor Digital Online Banner Advertising (909) 889-7677 The San Bernardino American News was established May 6, 1969. A legally adjudicated newspaper of general circulation on September 30, 1971, case number 15313 by the Superior Court of San Bernardino County. The San Bernardino AMERICAN News subscription rate is $59.00 per year. The San Bernardino AMERICAN News is committed to serving its readers by presenting news unbiased and objective, trusting in the mature judgment of the readers and, in so doing, strive to achieve a united community. News releases appearing in the San Bernardino AMERICAN News do not necessarily express the policy nor the opinion of the publishers. The San Bernardino AMERICAN News reserves the right to edit or rewrite all news releases.