Newsom s reliance on Big Tech in pandemic undermines public health system, critics say
Angela Hart
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FILE - In this March 17, 2020, file photo, California Gov. Gavin Newsom gives an update to the state s response to the coronavirus, at the Governor s Office of Emergency Services in Rancho Cordova Calif. At right is California Health and Human Services Agency Director Dr. Mark Ghaly. In November 2020, California is reaching an unwelcome coronavirus record: its 1 millionth positive test. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, Pool, File)Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press 2020
SACRAMENTO Gov. Gavin Newsom has embraced Silicon Valley tech companies and health care industry titans in response to the COVID-19 pandemic like no other governor in America routinely outsourcing life-or-death public health duties to his allies in the private sector.
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has embraced Silicon Valley tech companies and healthcare industry titans in response to the COVID-19 pandemic like no other governor in America routinely outsourcing life-or-death public health duties to his allies in the private sector.
At least 30 tech and healthcare companies have received lucrative, no-bid government contracts, or helped fund and carry out critical public health activities during the state’s battle against the coronavirus, a KHN analysis has found. The vast majority are Newsom supporters and donors who have contributed more than $113 million to his political campaigns and charitable causes, or to fund his policy initiatives, since his first run for statewide office in 2010.
Salesforce, Google, Facebook. How big tech undermines California’s public health system.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has embraced Silicon Valley tech companies and health care industry titans in response to the covid-19 pandemic like no other governor in America routinely outsourcing life-or-death public health duties to his allies in the private sector.
At least 30 tech and health care companies have received lucrative, no-bid government contracts, or helped fund and carry out critical public health activities during the state s battle against the coronavirus, a KHN analysis has found. The vast majority are Newsom supporters and donors who have contributed more than $113 million to his political campaigns and charitable causes, or to fund his policy initiatives, since his first run for statewide office in 2010.
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Public health advocates are pressing the Food and Drug Administration to ban menthol-flavored tobacco products, years after other flavors were banned.The big picture: Congress gave menthol a pass when it banned flavored cigarettes in 2009, but advocates are highlighting the products' disproportionate use among Black smokers, at a time when policymakers are especially attuned to racial inequities in health.Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for freeA new report from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids highlights tobacco companies' aggressive marketing of menthol cigarettes, which can be more harmful than non-menthol products, in Black communities.Massachusetts and California have already banned menthol cigarettes; Connecticut and Maryland are considering similar laws.What's next: The FDA has said it will make a decision by late April, in response to a lawsuit filed by public health advocates. More from Axios: Sign up