San Diego Union-Tribune: New Court For Those With Serious Mental Illnesses Is Launching Soon. Here's What To Know 
CARE Court will soon be in session. In about a week, San Diego and six other counties will begin accepting petitions to participate in California’s newest court program. (Sisson and Winkley, 9/24)

San Diego Union-Tribune: A New Court To Treat Mentally Ill People Is Being Billed As 'Completely Voluntary.' But Is It? 
Beginning next month, San Diego County families and a host of others will be able to petition a judge in hopes of getting someone into court-ordered mental health treatment. Dubbed CARE Court, the program was created last year when the state Legislature passed the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Act. (Figueroa and Winkley, 9/24)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Forced Mental Health Care Saved One Man's Life. Another Felt Traumatized. This Is The Complexity Of Treatment
San Diego will soon be one of the first counties in California to launch CARE Court, which could make it easier to push people with serious mental illnesses into treatment, and its success will require family members, judges, police officers and doctors to make tough decisions about other people’s conditions. (Nelson, 9/24)

60 Minutes: California's CARE Court Brings Mental Health Care Into The Courtroom
Under CARE Court, judges can order people to get help, with counties required to provide aid. Critics argue the California mental health care program is costly and could strip people of their rights. (Vega, 9/24)

Los Angeles Times: Hospital Medication Errors Left SoCal Patients At Risk. One Suffered A Brain Bleed
State regulators faulted two hospitals in Southern California for medication errors that put patients at risk, including an elderly patient who suffered a brain bleed after receiving repeated doses of blood thinner. (Reyes, 9/25)

San Diego Union-Tribune: South Bay Hospitals See Increases In Migrants At Already Crowded Emergency Departments 
As has been the case with emergency shelters, Chula Vista hospitals reported increased numbers of migrants turning up at emergency departments this week. (Sisson, 9/23)

Orange County Register: California's Psychiatric Bed Shortage In Blamed For Failure To Keep Mentally Ill From Hurting Themselves, Others
Statistics kept by the California Hospital Association show there were 6,072 psychiatric beds statewide in 2018, a drop from 9,353 in 1995. California is below the national average for hospital beds available for in-patient psychiatric care. (Saavedra and Schwebke, 9/25)

The New York Times: In Hospitals, Viruses Are Everywhere. Masks Are Not.
Amid an uptick in Covid infections, administrators, staff and patients are divided over the need for masks in health care settings. (Mandavilli, 9/23)

Politico: Biden Receives Updated Covid Shot Amid Rocky Rollout, Vaccine Polarization
President Joe Biden received the updated Covid-19 vaccine, according to a memo from White House physician Kevin O’Connor released Saturday. “As we enter the cold and flu season, the President encourages all Americans to follow his example and to check with their healthcare provider or pharmacist to assure that they are fully vaccinated,” O’Connor wrote in the memo. (Alafriz, 9/23)

Orange County Register: Kaiser Says New COVID-19 Booster Shots Coming As Early As This Week
A new COVID-19 booster vaccine approved in mid-September has yet to make its way to Kaiser Permanente facilities, but that should be changing soon. (Gowen, 9/25)

USA Today: Consumers Seeking COVID Vaccine Face Insurance Denials, Cancellations
The major snarl comes amid a systemic shift, as the federal government no longer pays for or distributes all COVID-19 vaccinations. Public and private-sector health insurance providers must pay the full cost of the shot plus an administrative fee. Uninsured patients can still get free shots through a federal government program. In response to an uptick in cases, the Biden administration announced plans Monday to restart another federal program that allows consumers to order four free tests per household. (AllTucker and Cuevas, 9/23)

Stat: CDC Advisers Recommend Seasonal Use Of Pfizer RSV Shot 
Pfizer’s new shot to protect infants against respiratory syncytial virus by vaccinating their mothers late in pregnancy won a limited recommendation Friday from an expert panel that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, clearing the way for a second product to protect babies against RSV to soon hit the market. The recommendation was accepted by CDC Director Mandy Cohen shortly after the conclusion of the panel’s meeting. (Branswell, 9/22)

AP: California Gov. Gavin Newsom Signs Bills To Enhance The State's Protections For LGBTQ+ People
The new laws include legislation that focuses on support for LGBTQ+ youth. One law sets timelines for required cultural competency training for public school teachers and staff, while another creates an advisory task force to determine the needs of LGBTQ+ students and help advance supportive initiatives. A third requires families to show that they can and are willing to meet the needs of a child in foster care regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. (9/24)

Los Angeles Times: Newsom OKs Gender-Neutral Bathrooms In California Schools 
All California public schools will be required to provide gender-neutral bathrooms under a law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday. (Mays, 9/24)

The New York Times: Newsom Vetoes Bill On Parental Support Of Child’s Gender Identity In Custody Cases
Gov. Gavin Newsom of California vetoed a bill on Friday that would instruct judges presiding over custody battles in the state to take into consideration a parent’s support for a child’s gender identity when making custody and visitation decisions. Why It Matters: The veto signals a break from the governor’s stance in support of transgender rights. In a letter accompanying his veto on Friday, Mr. Newsom, a Democrat, said that while he he shares “a deep commitment” to advancing transgender rights, he urged caution about making legal standards “in prescriptive terms that single out one characteristic.” (Betts, 9/24)

San Francisco Chronicle: Is Newsom Behind The Curve On Decriminalizing Psychedelics?
Wiener’s measure would decriminalize possession of psilocybin for personal use. That means it would still be illegal to sell it. It would also task the California Health and Human Services Agency with creating a work group to “study and make recommendations” on how psychedelics could be used for therapeutic use and present its findings to the Legislature by the end of 2024. Kind of like the Blue Ribbon Commission on Marijuana Policy that Newsom led. (Garofoli, 9/24)

The Bakersfield Californian: New VA Clinic Is Once Again Blocked By Appeals 
Dreams of a new veterans clinic in Bakersfield are once again deferred following two new appeals filed last week against the city’s two final reviews of the proposal. (Donegan, 9/22)

KXAN: AI Could Be The Next Tool To Prevent Veteran Suicide
With over 6,000 veteran suicides annually, getting consistent and high-quality help with health and wellness can be challenging for veterans. Researchers at the University of Southern California are working on a mobile app called “Battle Buddy” that could deliver help directly to the veteran’s phone. (Jilani, 9/24)

Bay Area News Group: California Spent $40 Million On An Opioid Awareness Campaign. Fentanyl Is Still Killing Nearly 20 People A Day
With fentanyl killing nearly 20 Californians every day, state health care officials have staked millions of dollars on a boutique Sacramento-based advertising firm to “raise awareness, break the stigma, promote recovery, build hope and save lives” in the battle against the powerful opioid. But was there a better way to spend $40 million? (Nickerson, 9/24)A

California Healthline: Officials Agree: Use Settlement Funds To Curb Youth Addiction. But The ‘How’ Gets Hairy. 
Parents, educators, and elected officials agree that investing in school-based prevention efforts could help curb the rising rate of youth drug overdoses. The well-known D.A.R.E. program is one likely choice, but its effectiveness is in question. (Pattani, 9/25)

Los Angeles Daily News: Smoke Advisory Issued In Southern California Because Of NorCal Wildfires 
Smoke from wildfires in Northern California is being blown toward the South Coast Air Basin, causing some pollution throughout the area, according to an advisory by the South Coast Air Quality Management District. (9/24)

VC Star: Mosquito Surge Brings Ventura County's First West Nile Case In 4 Years
Potent winter storms, summer heat and tropical storm Hilary have bred a surge of invasive, day-biting Aedes mosquitoes and also helped spawn Ventura County’s first reported human case of West Nile virus in four years. (Kisken, 9/24)

NBC News: As Covid Cases Rise, What To Know About Paxlovid
Paxlovid lowers the amount of virus in the body. Research has shown that it is associated with a reduced risk of hospitalization or death — but only for those who are already at higher risk of severe illness from Covid because they are older or have underlying health conditions. Plus, there are potential downsides: Paxlovid can clash with many medications and it can cause some side effects, including a particularly weird one. (Ryan, 9/24)

Los Angeles Times: California Workers Who Cut Countertops Are Dying Of Silicosis 
Inside the row of workshops in an industrial stretch of Pacoima, men labored over hefty slabs of speckled stone, saws whining over the sounds of Spanish-language rock.Pale dust rose around them as they worked. Many went without masks. Some had water spurting from their machines, but others had nothing to tamp down the powder rising in the air. (Reyes and Carcamo, 9/24)

Axios: Podcasts Promising Tips On How To Live Longer Gain In Popularity
A slew of podcasters are building massive followings and businesses online by exploring the human curiosity about living longer. Enthusiasm for the topic has grown in recent months as streamers and celebrities elevate the field, which once was confined largely to niche podcasts and books. (Fischer and Snyder, 9/24)

CIDRAP: Type 2 Diabetes Rates In US Youth Rose 62% After COVID Pandemic Began, Study Suggests
Rates of new-onset type 2 diabetes climbed 62%—and type 1 diabetes increased 17%—among US youth after the COVID-19 pandemic began, especially in Black and Hispanic children, according to a study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open. For the study, Kaiser Permanente researchers tracked rates of type 1 and type 2 diabetes among health system members aged 0 to 19 years in southern California with no history of diabetes from January 2016 to December 2021. (Van Beusekom, 9/22)

USA Today: America's Growing Obesity Epidemic: 3 Charts Explain Obesity Rates Across The US
More than 4 in 10 Americans now fit the medical definition for having obesity, putting them at risk for serious health problems, including diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer. But when looking obesity rates at the state level, that number can be even more drastic. Recently released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows 22 states have an adult obesity prevalence at or above 35%, compared to 19 states in 2021. Just ten years ago, no state passed the 35% threshold of adult obesity. (Chernikoff, 9/24)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Homelessness Is Still Increasing. Older Adults Who Can't Make Rent Is One Reason Why. 
Several months ago, San Diego County asked if any seniors needed help making their rent. Officials had enough money for 222 people. Nearly 10 times that amount applied. (Nelson, 9/24)

ABC7 Los Angeles: OC Street Medicine Program To Transform Hotel Into Service Center That Provides Temporary Housing For Homeless
Since launching in April, CalOptima Health's street medicine program in the city of Garden Grove has provided primary health care to more than 100 people experiencing homelessness. Kelly Bruno Nelson, the executive director of Medi-Cal/ California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal at CalOptima, said unless there's an ultimate place to house them, they're putting a Band-Aid on a bigger problem. (González, 9/24)