SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- As the march to install superfast 5G wireless service continues across the country, advocates for patients with electro-sensitivity are questioning the technology's safety.

Noah Davidson of Sacramento began lobbying to have 5G antennas moved away from people's homes and offices because his five- and seven-year-old nieces got sick for two months straight, right after Verizon installed a 5G box on a light pole next to their home.

The family hired an expert to measure the radio-frequency levels.

"He conducted some measurements and told us it was the highest indoor measurements that he'd ever recorded," Davidson claimed. "So, we ended up installing some shielding in the home, moving the kids into a back room. And within a few days, their symptoms went away."

Verizon's website quotes the Federal Communications Commission's guidance that there's no scientific evidence linking radiation from cell phones to health problems in humans. And 5G boxes do meet all legal standards.

Davidson wants the decades-old standards updated, saying the technology hasn't been proven safe.

Cell antennas for 3G and 4G signals are typically mounted on towers 50 to 200 feet above ground. But the 5G small cell boxes are more localized, generally placed every seven or eight houses, about 30 feet off the ground.

Dr. David Carpenter, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University of Albany and an expert on RF radiation, said some people do fall ill when exposed to non-ionizing radiation from cell phones, smart meters, and components of the 5G cell sites, boxes that are now being installed across the nation.

"There are a lot of people that get ringing in their ears or get headaches, and feel fatigued and their brain isn't working quite right, that never think about the fact that it may be coming from the Wi-Fi in their house, or the smart meter on the outside door," Carpenter explained.

A recent study from UC Irvine in the medical journal Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders finds extreme RF exposure can produce severe illness that mimics MS.

It looked at the case of 47-year-old Rick Garwood, a former cell phone tower technician from Southern California. He was exposed to massive radiation amounts in 2011, when a Verizon worker switched the towers back on after they'd been shut down for maintenance.

Garwood said he's now on permanent disability, suffering with nodules on his lungs and painful lesions on his brain, kidney and spinal cord.

"The person I was, is gone," Garwood said. "I mean, I've lost everything in life. I had to move back to my parent's home. I'm on permanent disability; I went from an $80,000-a-year career to all of a sudden, I was on worker's comp for four-and-a-half years. And then they finally said, 'You're not going to get any better.'"

Garwood sued, went to mediation, and received about a year's pay.


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World Hepatitis Day is this Sunday, and for the Oregon Health Authority, it's an opportunity to promote its plan to eliminate hepatitis across the state.

Released in March, the plan includes major goals and strategies to limit the spread of hepatitis A, B and C over the next six years. It's gotten new attention after 2,400 patients in Oregon hospitals were potentially exposed to hepatitis and HIV earlier this month.

Concerns are high, but epidemiologist Dr. Dean Sidelinger, Oregon's state health officer, said people should be aware of the threats of hepatitis, but not anxious.

"In day-to-day times, people should feel safe and confident in going to the doctor," he said. "The risk of exposure to these viruses is extremely low in most cases."

Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver, and contagious viruses are among the causes. Sidelinger said he's confident Oregon has the technology and resources to fully eliminate the threat.

While many people may have heard of hepatitis, they may not fully understand how prevalent it is in their communities. According to OHA data, the proportion of chronic hepatitis C cases among people in their 20s tripled between 2010 and 2019.

Sidelinger said there's a good chance most Oregonians know someone who is affected by chronic hepatitis.

"It can seem out of the blue to be talking about hepatitis and [a] hepatitis awareness day, but this is a disease that affects many individuals," he said. "But the good news is, everyone can take steps to protect themselves."

The OHA says you can help prevent the spread of hepatitis by washing hands and fresh produce, staying current on vaccinations, avoiding sharing needles, and getting tested regularly. These tips and more are part of the state's plan to eliminate hepatitis by 2030.


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CoveredCA announced Wednesday that the average premium for plans on the marketplace will rise 7.9% in 2025, but subsidies are expected to blunt the impact and even lower costs for many consumers.

The Biden-Harris administration's Inflation Reduction Act caps premiums at 8.5% of income for many, and goes even further for those with low incomes.

Rachel Linn Gish, director of communications for the nonprofit Health Access California, said the state has put the federal funds to good use.

"Because of this financial help," she said, "California has been able to take even further steps to lower costs for many CoveredCA enrollees by eliminating deductibles and reducing copays for many health services such as doctors' visits, lab work, generic drugs."

However, the enhanced premium subsidies in the IRA will expire next year, sending costs soaring unless Congress extends them. If not, Gish said, she expects premiums to rise 60% to 80%, costing thousands more per year. Opponents of the extension have cited the need to limit federal spending.

Gish said if the federal premium help ends, people could start seeing much higher deductibles.

"Without the federal assistance, California stands to lose $1.7 billion in assistance, which the state can only backfill a fraction of," she said, "which means consumers could again see deductibles of $5,000 or more."

Other big changes are on the way. Starting Nov. 1, about 40,000 income-eligible DACA recipients in California will be able to apply for premium subsidies through Covered California.

Connecticut insurance companies are requesting rate increases. Companies want a more than 8% increase for individuals and an almost 12% increase for small groups. However, insurance costs are already problematic for residents. A 2022 survey shows 46% of people delayed important medical care due to coverage costs.

Liz Dupont-Diehl, associate director of the Connecticut Citizen Action Group, said unaffordable insurance is all too common.

"It is an unfortunate American right of passage to spend hours a week appealing claims denials, or dealing with rising copays, and surprise costs. Even those of us lucky enough to think we have good coverage are continually surprised by hings that are not covered," she said.

Of the legislative solutions lawmakers can take, polls show voters across party lines support the government setting limits on out-of-pocket medical care costs for people with insurance.

Connecticut's Insurance Department will host an informational meeting for people to share their experiences and hear testimony. It will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on August 20 at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford and over Zoom.

One way Connecticut's General Assembly can better regulate insurance companies is by increasing transparency surrounding pharmacy benefit managers. A recent Federal Trade Commission report finds the six largest pharmacy benefit managers manage 95% of the country's prescriptions.

Dupont-Diehl said this can help people better understand why certain claims get denied.

"We would be interested in knowing exactly which claims are denied based on ZIP code, based on race and ethnicity, based on age, based on gender," she continued.

She notes that much of what needs to be done to fix health care can be done at the federal level, although states can take the lead. Part of Connecticut's 2023 budget calls for the state's Insurance Department to work with the Office of Health Strategy to study ways to make care more affordable.