Membership Matters

The 2021 SFMMS / David E. Smith Addiction Medicine Conference: Addiction Medicine and Recovery in the Covid Era June 18, 2021, 8:45am- 1:30pm, Via Zoom

The past year has been not only a vast challenge in terms of the pandemic, but with respect to substance abuse issues as well. Drug abuse rates, relapses, overdoses and trends have all worsened significantly. We thus are bringing back a streamlined webinar version of this once-annual conference, which for years has brought hundreds of attendees to learn about leading edge treatment, prevention, and recovery issues from a skilled faculty of addiction specialists and researchers. With loosening of restrictions on medication-assisted-treatment and hopefully expansion of treatment resources now underway, the morning should be filled with useful and stimulating information. Join us. For information: Steve Heilig/heilig@sfmms.org or visit www.sfmms.org/news-events/events.

CMA president statement in response to continued threats against public health officers

"One of the unfortunate side effects of this pandemic has been the demonization of public health officers from fringe voices and anti-vaccination activists. Public health should not be a political issue and the public must also speak out when public servants like Dr. Luu come under attack. The death threats she has received are unacceptable and must not be tolerated. While we have seen an uptick in targeting of public health officers around the state and across the country, the most vitriolic seems to be reserved for women and those of Asian-Pacific Islander descent. Enough is enough. We cannot tolerate the efforts to intimidate public servants like Dr. Luu, and must ensure we have public protections in place for public health officers. As we work together to bring this pandemic to an end, we must also work to address the increase in racial hatred and the increased threats against those who are working overtime to keep the public safe.”

SFMMS Applauds Federal Ban On Menthol Tobacco

SFMMS President, Dr. Monique Schaulis, published an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle this week expressing SFMMS' support for the Biden administration's move to ban menthol cigarettes within the coming year. This pro-health/ anti-tobacco policy has been a long time coming, as it became obvious that such flavorings are a primary factor in Big Tobacco’s marketing to youth and specifically to Black Americans.

California Medical Association President Peter N. Bretan, Jr., M.D., issued the following statement in response to recent violence and hate crimes against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.

“The California Medical Association (CMA) is one of many groups standing in solidarity with the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, especially at this time. Over the last year, we have seen an appalling rise in anti-AAPI hate crimes, two of the latest including a fatal mass shooting in the state of Georgia and a vicious attack on an elderly woman in New York.

These events are just two of many that have occurred at staggering and increasing rates in the last year in what appears to be a culmination of hate left to fester and propagate amidst a year filled with misinformation, xenophobia and outright racism. Too many of these incidents are in our own communities. Stop AAPI Hate, an organization that tracks and responds to incidents of hate, violence, harassment, discrimination, shunning, and child bullying against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States, issued a report documenting the incidents reported to it between March 19, 2020 to February 28, 2021. California had the highest number of reported cases, over 1,500. CMA condemns all of these heinous and intolerable acts.

CMA has been clear in calling out racism that is endemic to the United States and called on ourselves and each other to do more to address the cultural cancers that foment racial violence. The work of eradicating this hate begins with examining and challenging the state of our own environments and profession.”

Help Promote Health Care Access, Health Equity, and Workforce Diversity

Our state has a growing shortage of physicians and COVID-19 has exposed deep inequities in health care. UCSF PRIME is a medical school program that prepares future doctors to care for underserved communities, such as the homeless in urban communities. Please join us in asking lawmakers to fund this critical program and send an email using this customizable template https://www. universityofcalifornia.edu/support. State funding will support existing programs and the creation of two new programs focused on caring for Native American and Black/African American communities in California.

Working Together to Safely Reopen Schools Now

After a year of school closures, there is excitement and hope mixed with understandable fear and uncertainty. Parents, teachers, and community members are wondering what it will look like to go back to in-person learning. They are reasonably asking if it will be safe for everyone. A group led by doctors (including SFMMS past-president Kimberly Newell Green, MD), parents, teachers and community leaders are launching this effort to answer those questions. For information, see: https://www.safelyopenschoolsnow.org/

FREE PPE from CA Office of Emergency Services and CMA

The Office of Emergency Services has partnered with the California Medical Association (CMA) to distribute millions of units of PPE to medical practices who are encountering challenges securing adequate supply, and those experiencing financial hardship due to the pandemic. As part of CMA’s continued PPE Relief efforts, the Association has developed a new online ordering portal where practices can easily order the specific PPE they need, in the quantities that best suit their practice size. The PPE Relief portal will streamline the access, supply, process and payment to those organizations seeking to augment their PPE inventory. Go to ppereliefdirect.org and learn more.

PPE available from SFMMS

SFMMS has an inventory of KN95 masks available for FREE to SFMMS members. Please contact Steve Heilig at heilig@sfmms.org to coordinate.

Read hightlights from the SFMMS 2020/21Annual Report on page 36

Editor Gordon L. Fung, MD, PhD, FACC, FACP Managing Editor Steve Heilig, MPH Production Maureen Erwin

EDITORIAL BOARD

Editor Gordon L. Fung, MD, PhD, FACC, FACP Tonie Brayer, MD Linda Clever, MD Anne Cummings, MD Irina DeFischer, MD Shieva Khayam-Bashi, MD John Maa, MD David Pating, MD

SFMMS OFFICERS

President Monique Schaulis, MD, MPH President-elect

Michael C. Schrader, MD, PhD, FACP Secretary Dennis Song, MD, DDS Treasurer Heyman Oo, MD, MPH Immediate Past President Brian Grady, MD

SFMMS STAFF

Executive Director

Conrad Amenta Associate Executive Director, Public Health and Education

Steve Heilig, MPH Director of Operations and Governance

Ian Knox Director of Engagement

Molly Baldridge, MPH Staff Associate

Ashley Coskey

2021 SFMMS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Edward Alfrey, MD Ayanna Bennett, MD Julie Bokser, MD Keith Chamberlin, MD Anne Cummings, MD Nida F. Degesys, MD Manal Elkarra, MD Beth Griffiths, MD Robert A. Harvey, MD Harrison Hines, MD Zarah Iqbal, MD Michael K. Kwok, MD Jason R. Nau, MD Sarita Satpathy, MD Kristen Swann, MD Kenneth Tai, MD Melanie Thompson, DO Winnie Tong, MD Matthew D. Willis, MD, MPH Joseph W. Woo, MD Andrea Yeung, MD