On June 30, 2015, California Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 277 into law. SB 277 removes the personal belief exemption (PBE) from school vaccination requirements and allows exemptions only for medical reasons.  SB 277 will go into effect on July 1, 2016.

Starting June 9, 2016, a terminally ill California adult who has been diagnosed with a disease that will result in death within six months, and who is mentally competent, can request a doctor’s prescription for medications intended to end his or her life as long as all of the law's required criteria are met.

In California law, all individuals practicing in California who possess both a state regulatory board license authorized to prescribe, dispense, furnish, or order controlled substances and a Drug Enforcement Administration Controlled Substance Registration Certificate (DEA Certificate) must register for access to the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) by July 1, 2016.

The End of Life Option Act permits terminally ill adults with capacity to make medical decisions to be prescribed an aid-in-dying medication if certain conditions are met. This law takes effect on June 9, 2016.

Noncompliant and non-adherent patients are two of the most common causes of treatment failure for chronic conditions. Studies show that providers are less accurate when diagnosing patients who demonstrate this type of behavior compared with patients showing more neutral behavior.