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East Oregonian
Date set for session to undo
North Carolina ‘bathroom bill’
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North
Carolina leaders struck a deal
Monday to kill the state law widely
derided as the “bathroom bill,” after
it tarnished the state’s reputation, cost
it scores of jobs and contributed to the
Republican governor’s narrow loss.
Outgoing Gov. Pat McCrory
announced he would call legislators
back to the Capitol on Wednesday
to repeal the law known as HB2,
which excludes sexual orientation
and gender identity from antidis-
crimination protections. The law also
requires transgender people to use
restrooms corresponding with the
sex on their birth certificate in many
public buildings.
Undoing the law would be a step
toward mending political divisions
that remain raw well after Election
Day. Just last week, lawmakers called
a special session to strip Democratic
Gov.-elect Cooper of some authority
before he takes office next month.
The state’s Republican leaders
confirmed they’re open to repealing
HB2, but in a sign of lingering acri-
mony, they accused Cooper of taking
too much credit for winning their
cooperation.
The passage of HB2 in March
thrust North Carolina into a national
debate on transgender rights and
harmed the state economically. The
state missed out on new jobs as
companies declined to expand in the
state, while cancellations of concerts
and conventions exacted a toll. The
NBA moved its All-Star game to
New Orleans, and in a huge symbolic
blow to the college basketball-crazy
state, the NCAA and ACC relocated
events.
Monday’s surprising events began
in the morning when the Charlotte
City Council voted to undo a local
nondiscrimination law enacted in
early 2016. That ordinance, Republi-
cans legislators say, challenged social
norms and spurred them to pass HB2.
“Senate Leader Phil Berger and
House Speaker Tim Moore assured
AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File
In this June 24 photo, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper
speaks during a forum in Charlotte, N.C. North Carolina legislators
will repeal the contentious HB2 law that limited protections for
LGBT people and led to an economic backlash, the state’s incoming
governor, Roy, said Monday.
me that as a result of Charlotte’s vote,
a special session will be called ... to
repeal HB2 in full,” Cooper said in
a statement Monday morning. He
initially said the session would be
Tuesday.
McCrory said Democrats used the
issue for political gain.
“This sudden reversal with little
notice after the gubernatorial elec-
tion sadly proves this entire issue,
originated by the political left, was
all about politics and winning the
governor’s race at the expense of
Charlotte and the entire state of North
Carolina,” said McCrory, a former
Charlotte mayor.
Berger and Moore issued a joint
statement saying they would take up
the repeal if McCrory calls them into
session. They said the debate over
transgender bathroom access started
with Charlotte and was pushed by
Cooper as “a political stunt to drive
out-of-state money into the gover-
nor’s race.”
Republicans have defended the
bathroom provisions as providing
privacy and safety by keeping men
out of women’s restrooms. Oppo-
nents call it discriminatory.
The law was also seen as a refer-
endum on McCrory, who became its
national face. He lost by about 10,000
votes while fellow Republicans U.S.
Sen. Richard Burr and President-elect
Donald Trump comfortably won the
state. McCrory was the first sitting
North Carolina governor elected to a
four-year term to lose re-election.
Charlotte City Council member
Julie Eiselt said she spoke to Cooper
late Sunday night about the city
repealing the ordinance to pave the
way for getting rid of HB2.
“We needed to know that the
governor-elect had confidence that
there would be a special session
arranged to take a vote on this,” Eiselt
said.
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Does a doctor’s gender affect
your chance of survival?
By LINDSEY TANNER
AP Medical Writer
CHICAGO — What if your
doctor’s gender could influence
your chance of surviving a visit to
the hospital?
A big study of older patients
hospitalized for common illnesses
raises that provocative possibility
— and also lots of questions.
Patients who got most of their care
from women doctors were more
likely to leave the hospital alive
than those treated by men.
The differences were small —
about 11 percent of patients treated
mostly by women died within
30 days of entering the hospital,
versus 11.5 percent of those treated
by men. But the all-male research
team estimated that there would be
about 32,000 fewer deaths each
year in the U.S. if male physicians
performed at the same level as
their female peers.
The study didn’t probe why
there might be these differences in
survival. And Dr. Ashish Jha, the
lead author, said the study doesn’t
mean patients should avoid him
and all other male physicians.
But he said male doctors could
take a cue from women doctors’
tendencies that might contribute
to better care. According to other
research, women doctors are more
likely than men to follow treatment
guidelines, provide preventive
care more often and communicate
more with patients.
Jha said that it was important
to better understand the reasons
behind the differences, and to
share that information with all
physicians to improve care.
Jha, an internist and Harvard
Medical School professor, said he
has not spoken to his own patients
about the study — yet.
“As a male physician, I have a
stake in this,” Jha said.
The study was published
Monday in JAMA Internal Medi-
cine.
The researchers looked at data
involving more than 1.5 million
hospitalizations for Medicare
patients aged 65 and older between
January 2011 and December
2014. Patients’ illnesses included
pneumonia, heart failure, intestinal
bleeding, urinary infections and
lung disease.
All were treated by general
internists in the hospital. The
researchers compared results in
patients who got most or all of
their care from women internists
with those who got most or all of
their care from men.
Most patients survived and
were sent home within a month of
treatment. But in addition to better
survival chances, those treated
by women doctors were slightly
less likely to be re-admitted to the
hospital within that first month.
On average, women doctors
were in charge of fewer patients
and some of their patients weren’t
as sick as those of male doctors,
but the researchers considered
those factors and still found a
link between doctors’ gender and
patients’ survival differences.
Dr. Lisa Schwartz of the Dart-
mouth Institute for Health Policy
& Clinical Practice said the study
doesn’t prove whether doctors’ sex
accounted for the results. “To make
a stronger case, you’d need infor-
mation on doctors’ practices in the
study,” she said. For example, did
women physicians give patients
with pneumonia antibiotics sooner
than men physicians — treatment
that could potentially improve
survival chances, she said.
For example, did women
doctors give patients with
pneumonia antibiotics sooner —
treatment that could potentially
improve survival chances, she
said.
Dartmouth policy analyst Dr.
H. Gilbert Welch called the results
“intriguing” but preliminary and
“not something for patients to act
on.”
ELECTORS: Trump expected to win POLITICS: Secretary of State will be the only
state office held by a Republican
306 of the 538 Electoral College votes executive
Force meeting, Matasar said located in the Secretary of
Continued from 1A
Continued from 1A
to the number of members
in its Congressional delega-
tion, and it is those electors
who are chosen by the
popular vote.
Generally, the winner of
the popular vote in any state
is awarded all of the state’s
electors. All of Oregon’s
seven votes went to Clinton.
Groups gathered in state
capitols across the country
Monday to urge Republican
Party electors to not cast
votes for Donald J. Trump,
who was expected to win
306 of the 538 Electoral
College votes, but lost the
popular vote Nov. 8 by
about 2 million votes. That
effort was largely unsuc-
cessful, with only two Texas
electors bolting Trump.
Four electors in Washington
and four in the District
of Columbia pledged to
Clinton voted instead for
other candidates.
Democrats and others
on the left have since
criticized the Electoral
College system, saying it
undermines the principle of
one vote for each individual
and that the system, laid out
by the U.S. Constitution, is
antiquated.
In remarks before votes
were cast, Oregon Secretary
of State Jeanne Atkins
said this year’s election
was “historic” and that the
election process came under
“unprecedented challenge
and criticism.”
“This has continued into
the post-election period,”
Atkins said. “The nation has
been roiled by a significantly
greater debate than usual
over the appropriateness
of the Electoral College
process in our modern age
and over the obligations of
those chosen as electors.”
Atkins voiced confi-
dence in the state’s voting
system and Oregon’s elec-
tion results.
Dixon said after the
ceremony that he and the
party intended to “get their
foot in the door” to preserve
the possibility of further
inquiry when it came to
possible Russian interfer-
ence in the election, and to
take a closer look at “legal
issues involved” in the
14th Amendment’s Equal
Protection clause.
“I’m not a Constitutional
scholar,” Dixon said. “I don’t
know what the outcome
would be of any legal
challenge, but it’s simply, if
we can preserve the record
rather
than
remaining
silent, and just say, state our
objection, it may be a way
to allow further inquiry ...
it’s nothing more than that at
this stage.”
Despite Trump’s likely
victory and the Democratic
Party of Oregon’s objec-
tions, Dixon said that he
hoped that he and his fellow
electors were “preserving
democracy” by partic-
ipating in the Electoral
College process.
“... We’re, hopefully,
preserving democracy by
following in the require-
ments of the Constitution,
what we pledged to do,”
Dixon said. “I think there’s
a purpose in and of itself, to
participate.”
Protesters stood outside
the Oregon Capitol before
the ceremony holding signs
and singing songs.
Martha Perkins, who
came up to Salem for the
protest from Corvallis, said
she was aware that Oregon’s
electors pledged to vote for
Hillary Clinton, but that she
was there at the Capitol as an
act of “national solidarity.”
FUNDING: Same cutbacks were proposed in 2016
Continued from 1A
Columbia Basin, according
to Oregon State University.
Yet the President’s budget
would ax research programs
at Pendleton looking into
tillage methods that conserve
moisture and reduce soil
erosion, in order to shift
money to what have been
identified as higher priorities
within the Agricultural
Research Service. The same
cutbacks were proposed
in 2016, before growers
and Oregon congressional
leaders successfully lobbied
to keep the station’s funding
intact.
Dan
Long,
station
director, said there’s been no
appropriation yet for 2017,
though in the meantime the
center has been asked to
curtail its spending by 50
percent.
“It could very well be a
repeat of last year, where we
remain intact again,” Long
said.
If not, significant budget
cuts are in line at both
Pendleton and the Agricul-
tural Research Station in
Corvallis. The President’s
budget for the ARS calls
for diverting more than
$13 million from ongoing
research across the country
to fund higher priority
environmental stewardship
projects, such as adapting
crops to climate change.
Soil scientists Steward
Wuest and Hero Gollany,
as well as hydrologist
John Williams, would all
be affected by cuts at the
Pendleton station, though
Long said all three would be
given different jobs within
the agency.
Nathan Rea, of H.T.
Rea Farming Corporation
in
Milton-Freewater,
serves as chairman of the
liaison committee for the
ARS station. He said the
committee is reaching out
to Oregon congressional
delegates, including Demo-
cratic Sens. Ron Wyden, Jeff
Merkley and Republican
Rep. Greg Walden, all of
whom backed fully funding
the station a year ago.
In addition, Rea said they
are working directly with
scientists at the station to
promote the work they do,
and benefit to area farmers.
“Telling that story is
where we need to do a better
job at the national level, and
with local growers as well,”
Rea said.
Speaking from experi-
ence, Rea said growers have
benefited from the station’s
research into reduced-till
farming, with an emphasis
on soil water retention and
improving efficiency.
“There’s a lot more direct
seeding, and minimum
tillage,” Rea said. “We’re
entering a new world with
our precision agriculture.”
Representatives for Sen.
Wyden and Rep. Walden
could not be reached
Monday. A representative for
Sen. Merkley said he knows
the Pendleton ARS station is
critical to Eastern Oregon,
and will keep fighting for the
funding it needs.
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0825.
the governor’s legislative
concept, the advocate would
be appointed to a four-year
term by the governor and
be confirmed by the Oregon
Senate.
The office of the advocate
would be located in the
office of the Department of
Administrative
Services,
which would also provide
administrative support.
One of the main respon-
sibilities of the advocate
would be mediating disputes
between people requesting
public records and state
agencies.
The Governor’s Office
put the specific idea forward
at a Dec. 15 meeting of the
Attorney General’s Public
Records Law Reform Task
Force.
The Governor’s Office
considered locating the
advocate in the Secretary of
State’s Office, according to
a recording of the meeting,
during which Emily Matasar,
a government accountability
attorney, responded to ques-
tions about the location of
the advocate.
“The
decision
to
house the Public Records
Advocate was made after
questions were raised about
an appointed position by
the governor being housed
in another independently
elected official’s office,”
Chris Pair, a spokesman for
Brown, said in a statement.
In response to questions
during the Dec. 15 Task
“we struggled a bit with
where to house it, and also to
maintain independence.”
She said that the position
being subject to Senate
confirmation was one way
the role could be kept inde-
pendent under the proposal.
“It serves a statewide
function, so we just, it made
sense to us to put it in DAS,”
Matasar said. “We started
with the secretary of state
but that didn’t end up feeling
like, there’s political, you
know, implications there
as well, so DAS is where it
ended up.”
Come
January,
the
Secretary of State’s Office
is the only executive state
office that will be held by a
Republican. Richardson, a
former gubernatorial candi-
date and state legislator from
Central Point, will be the
first Republican in the office
since 1985.
The Secretary of State’s
Office voiced criticism of
Brown’s proposal in early
December, noting potential
crossover between the duties
of the advocate and archivist
and other issues to consider
in the draft legislation.
In a Dec. 5 letter to Ben
Souede and Matasar, attor-
neys for Brown, Secretary of
State Jeanne Atkins voiced
criticism of the proposal.
Atkins explained that
there may be some overlap,
although
inadvertent,
between the duties of the
proposed advocate and
the State Archivist, who is
State’s Office.
Atkins noted that the
proposed law would give the
advocate responsibility over
records management and
retention issues that were
duties of the archivist.
“Please be assured that
the Archivist would work
closely in collaboration with
the Advocate on matters
related to public records,”
Atkins wrote. “However,
given the long-standing
expertise of the Archivist
over the area of management
and retention of records, we
think it most appropriate to
leave those responsibilities
where they currently reside
in existing law.”
Atkins said the two
employees could make a
“useful team to promote
transparency.”
Atkins
also
sought
confirmation of her under-
standing of the relationship
between the Department of
Administrative Services and
the Advocate, saying that
her office was concerned
that “having DAS run the
Advocate’s office may not
lead to useful results.”
She pointed out that DAS
“struggles at times with
fulfilling public records
requests and the Advocate
may be called into service
mediating disputes with
DAS.”
The legislative concept
says that DAS would furnish
office facilities and provide
administrative support to the
public records advocate.
DROPBOX: Flushing drugs down the toilet discouraged
Continued from 1A
Syringes and illegal drugs
will not be accepted.
Liz Marvin, board chair for
the Good Shepherd Commu-
nity Health Foundation, said
prescription painkillers and
other dangerous prescription
medications are often stolen
from medicine cabinets, so
the sooner people can get rid
of their unused portions of
prescriptions, the better.
“It’s really a public safety
thing,” she said.
According to the U.S.
Department of Health and
Human Services, an average
of 78 people per day die of an
opioid overdose, including
heroin and prescription pain-
killers. Last week President
Barack Obama signed into
law the 21st Century Cures
Act, which includes a pledge
to distribute $1 billion to the
states to fund opioid abuse
prevention and treatment
programs.
Putnam said there are
methods for safely disposing
of drugs that she shares
with her customers, but
many people have said they
feel better letting someone
else handle it. For home
disposal, the Food and Drug
Administration recommends
mixing the medications with
an unpalatable substance
like kitty litter or used coffee
grounds and sealing them in
a plastic bag before throwing
them away.
The FDA’s website has a
list of drugs that are approved
for flushing down the toilet,
but the practice is generally
discouraged because it can
contaminate the water supply
and hurt the environment.
Each April and September
the
Drug
Enforcement
Agency
hosts
national
drug take-back days, and
the
Hermiston
Police
Department and Pendleton
Police Department also have
dropboxes in their lobbies
where pills and patches can
be dropped off with no ques-
tions asked.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at
jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
December 26 th
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