A new study offers a glimpse at how direct-to-consumer pharmacy pricing could one day present stiff competition to the private prescription drug insurance model, researchers say.

A new analysis from UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center and the Latina Futures 2050 Lab shows disparities in pay for Latinas across California. Overall, Latinas in California receive 49 cents for every dollar earned by non-Hispanic white men. In some of California’s wealthiest counties, Latinas tend to experience an extreme wage gap when compared to non-Hispanic white men. In San Mateo, Santa Clara and Marin counties, where median household incomes are above $100,000, Latinas earn just 38, 37 and 34 cents per dollar, respectively.  This latest data is part of the Latina Wage Gap Disparities Across California counties report, co-authored by Veronica Terriquez, director of the center and co-founder of its Latina Futures 2050 Lab initiative. “On this Latina Equal Pay Day, it is important to drive this message: we cannot ignore existing pay gaps endured by Latinas—the largest ethnic racial group among California’s female workers,” Terriquez said.

About The Study: In this study, individuals with psychosis reported a large increase in current cannabis use following legalization and commercialization of cannabis in their state, and by larger amounts than previously reported estimates of the general population. Given how cannabis can negatively affect illness course and health service utilization in individuals with psychosis, these results should be considered by regulators designing policies around taxation, potency, advertising, and health warnings. 

For the first time in history, one out of every five people in the U.S. is Latino, according to a new data analysis by the Latino GDP Project from UCLA and Cal Lutheran. Using 2024 data from the U.S. Census Bureau, researchers discovered an increase of 2 million persons in this demographic compared to the updated 2023 population estimates. The total U.S. Latino population is estimated to be more than 68 million. The population growth is even more striking when analyzed alongside the U.S. Census Bureau’s recent American Community Survey, which showed the Latino labor force grew 5.5% last year, the single strongest growth recorded by the researchers.