KQED: Laguna Honda Faces Covid Outbreak
Amid other challenges, Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center in San Francisco has been grappling with a COVID-19 outbreak that has outpaced those in some previous years of the pandemic. The latest uptick in cases arrived at a particularly tough time. The hospital is facing a major regulatory crisis that threatens to close the 153-year-old public skilled nursing facility, home to more than 500 residents, many of whom require high levels of nursing care. (Johnson, 5/15)

Los Angeles Times: How Much COVID Is In My Community? It's Getting Harder To Tell 
With wide-reaching intervention against COVID-19 now firmly in the past, officials and experts continue to preach the importance of individual decision-making to assess and manage their health risks. Monitoring coronavirus conditions is becoming more difficult, however, as the pandemic’s post-emergency phase has seen data collection and reporting endeavors either scaled back or abandoned entirely. (Money and Lin II, 5/15)

San Francisco Chronicle: Future COVID Surges Are Now Harder To Detect. Here Are The Options
The end of the national COVID-19 public health emergency has substantially shifted how coronavirus data is gathered and reported. The familiar, colorful community-level reports, graphs illustrating fluctuating case counts, and jarring smartphone notifications that helped guide people through the first three years of the pandemic have largely disappeared. As of Thursday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention no longer tracks or publishes data on daily new infections, as states aren’t obligated to report such figures anymore. Instead, the CDC has shifted its surveillance efforts toward monitoring weekly coronavirus-positive hospital admissions and deaths. (Vaziri, 5/16)

CNN: Face Masks Are Still A Good Idea At The Doctor's Office, Study Says
Signs urging everyone to mask up have largely disappeared from places like grocery stores and schools in the third year of the Covid-19 pandemic. But they remain in many medical offices, and a study published Monday says they might still be a good idea. Even after the expiration of the US public health emergency declaration and with many Americans moving away from pandemic precautions, masks continue to offer some protection, reducing your risk of catching Covid-19 in a community setting like in a close doctor and patient interaction, according to the study, which reviewed the latest science on the protective quality of masks. (Christensen, 5/15)

CIDRAP: 9 Of 10 Long-COVID Patients In Study Report Slow Recovery Over 2 Years 
Over 90% of adult long-COVID patients in France gradually recovered over 2 years, while 5% improved rapidly, and 4% reported persistent symptoms, finds a study published late last week in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. (Van Beusekom, 5/15)

CIDRAP: COVID-Positive Infants May Have Fewer Urinary Tract, Bacterial Infections 
Compared with feverish infants who tested negative for COVID-19, a lower proportion of babies aged 8 to 60 days who tested positive had co-occurring urinary tract infections (UTIs), bacteremia without meningitis, and bacterial meningitis, according to a study published late last week in JAMA Network Open. (Van Beusekom, 5/15)

CIDRAP: CDC Issues Building Ventilation Guidance To Guard Against Respiratory Infections
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week published guidance for improving building ventilation to help protect people from respiratory infections, with a goal of at least five air changes each hour and an upgrade to MERV-13 filters. (Schnirring, 5/15)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego Startup Helps Cancer Patients Keep Their Hair During Treatment 
A cancer survivor and Stanford MBA, Dilligan is the founder and chief executive of San Diego’s Cooler Heads. The 11-employee startup provides portable scalp-cooling technology that prevents hair loss during cancer treatments. (Freeman, 5/16)

Stat: U.S. Supreme Court Declines To Hear 'Skinny Labeling' Case
After months of anticipation, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling that throws into question whether generic companies can “carve out” uses for their medicines and supply Americans with cheaper alternatives to brand-name drugs. At issue is skinny labeling, which happens when a generic company seeks regulatory approval to market its medicine for a specific use, but not other patented uses for which a brand-name drug is prescribed. For instance, a generic drug could be marketed to treat one type of heart problem, but not another. In doing so, the generic company seeks to avoid lawsuits claiming patent infringement. (Silverman, 5/15)

Stat: Biden Nominates Monica Bertagnolli To Head NIH
President Biden on Monday officially announced that he would nominate National Cancer Institute Director Monica Bertagnolli to fill the long-vacant director slot at the National Institutes of Health. The cancer surgeon has led NCI — NIH’s largest institute — since last October and previously led Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s surgical oncology unit. If confirmed by the Senate, she would be the second woman to lead the agency. (Owermohle, 5/15)

Global Newswire: Dr. Edna Adan Ismail Wins 2023 Templeton Prize
The winner of the 2023 Templeton Prize is Dr. Edna Adan Ismail, a nurse-midwife, hospital founder, and healthcare advocate who has worked courageously to change cultural, religious, and medical norms surrounding women’s health in East Africa, improving the lives of thousands of women and girls in the region and beyond. ... Her many achievements include the founding of the Edna Adan University and Edna Adan Hospital, which has significantly reduced maternal mortality in Somaliland, and her tireless campaign to end female genital mutilation (FGM) around the world. (5/16)

Marin Independent Journal: Searching For Coronavirus, Marin County Wastewater Tests Detect ‘Tranq’ Drug
Xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer that is increasingly being mixed with fentanyl, heroin and other illicit drugs, has been detected in Marin County’s wastewater. (Halstead, 5/16)

Modesto Bee: Mental Health Counseling Crisis Leads Stanislaus To New Effort
Facing a scarcity of licensed clinicians and the challenges of the mental health crisis, Stanislaus County officials think layperson counselors could serve a purpose. County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services is sending 50 case managers and outreach workers to a home-grown academy to be trained as lay mental health counselors. (Carlson, 5/15)

The New York Times: Appeals Court Pauses Ruling That Threatened Free Preventive Health Care 
A federal appeals court on Monday temporarily blocked a lower court decision that overturned the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that all health plans fully cover certain preventive health services. The move by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans will put on hold a decision from March that had threatened insurance coverage for recommended services like depression screenings for teenagers and drugs that prevent transmission of H.I.V. The Justice Department had appealed the decision, and the appeals court’s stay will stand while the appeals process plays out. (Baumgaertner, 5/15)

The Wall Street Journal: Debt-Ceiling Talks’ Late Start Amps Up Pressure On Congress
President Biden said Monday that the next meeting with congressional leaders will come Tuesday, while responding “no” when asked if there were updates regarding the talks with Republicans. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) said that the two sides remain “far apart” and that he would like a deal to be done by this weekend. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reiterated in an updated forecast Monday that the U.S. could become unable to pay its bills on time as soon as June 1 unless Congress acts. (Restuccia and Andrews, 5/15)

Politico: GOP Grows More Optimistic About Work Requirement Demands In Debt Talks 
Republicans are feeling increasingly optimistic they can force President Joe Biden to make concessions on work requirements for safety net programs as part of the debt limit talks taking place this week. Democrats are floating a rough proposal within their ranks that includes potential new restrictions on the emergency aid program known as the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families as part of the debt limit talks, according to two Republicans and three other people familiar with the conversations who were granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations. But House Republicans, who are aware of the movement, are still demanding further concessions on work requirements for food assistance and believe they have the leverage to force them, possibly before Biden leaves for the G-7 meeting in Japan Wednesday. (Hill, 5/15)

Military.com: How Veterans Benefits Could Be Delayed In June By A US Default
Billions of dollars of veterans benefits could be imperiled if the U.S. defaults on its debts, though the full extent of the fallout is uncertain because of the unprecedented nature of a default. About $12 billion in veterans benefits are expected to be paid out June 1 -- the same day the Treasury Department has named as the earliest day a default could happen if Congress doesn't act to avoid it. (Kheel, 5/15)

MOAA.org: Here’s How Much TRICARE Pharmacy Prescription Prices Will Rise Next Year
TRICARE pharmacy users will see cost increases in 2024 as the Defense Health Agency implements prescription medication copays set by the FY 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). That same legislation gives DoD authority to adjust copays for 2028 and beyond to reflect changes in the cost of pharmaceutical agents and prescription drug dispensing. MOAA already has started discussions on Capitol Hill to establish guardrails on this authority, with the goal of legislation to limit DoD increases on prescription drug copays. (Ruedisueli, 5/10)

Military.com: Camp Lejeune Veterans At Higher Risk For Parkinson's Disease, Study Finds 
Marines and sailors who unwittingly drank and showered in water containing organic solvents and other volatile compounds at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, during its water contamination crisis decades ago had a 70% higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease, according to newly published research. A study published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association Neurology suggests the chemicals that poisoned the base water supply more than 40 years ago contribute to the fatal illness, which affects the nervous system and can cause tremors, slurred speech and difficulty moving. (Kime, 5/15)

Inside Hook: Defense Department Boosts Mental Health Resources For Service Members
Military service members in need of mental health treatment recently got a significant boost in the resources available to them. In the first week of May 2023, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Gilbert Cisneros, Jr. began the process of implementing the Brandon Act, which President Biden had signed into law late in 2021. (Carroll, 5/15)

KSAT.com: Connection Between Traumatic Brain Injuries And Military Suicides Is Main Topic At Mental Health Summit
Tackling the mounting military suicide rates is a massive task, but a network of nationwide providers agrees — traumatic brain injuries are a contributing factor. One of the people pushing for awareness on the issue is Mark Riddick, who served in the U.S. Army for 21 years as a combat medic and healthcare administrator. “I went to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, South Korea, all over the place." In his many years of training and service, he had quite a few bumps or blows to the head. (Friedman, 5/15)

AP: 3 Judges Who Chipped Away Abortion Rights To Hear Federal Abortion Pill Appeal
Three conservative appeals court judges, each with a history of supporting restrictions on abortion, will hear arguments May 17 on whether a widely used abortion drug should remain available. The case involves a regulatory issue — whether the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, and subsequent actions making it easier to obtain, must be rolled back. The appellate hearing follows an April ruling by a federal judge in Texas, who ordered a hold on federal approval of mifepristone in a decision that overruled decades of scientific approval. His ruling was stayed pending appeal. The case was allotted to a panel made up of Jennifer Walker Elrod, James Ho and Cory Wilson. (McGill, 5/16)