ABC News: California's CARE Court Program To Tackle Mental Illness Starts Next Month. What You Need To Know
California's controversial new CARE Court program, meant to address serious mental illness and the state's homelessness crisis, will go into effect next week. Under CARE -- which stands for Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment -- the court, family and others can file a petition in civil court if they believe a loved one is suffering from severe symptoms of an untreated psychotic disorder, such as schizophrenia. (Kekatos, 9/25)

CBS Sacramento: Stanislaus County Prepares To Launch Gov. Newsom's "CARE Court" Program 
Stanislaus County is gearing up to launch the CARE Court pilot program along with six other California counties. The program has been touted by Gov. Gavin Newsom as a way to solve the state's growing homelessness crisis by providing the most vulnerable mental health access. (Sowards, 9/25)

The San Diego Union-Tribune: Forced Mental Health Care Saved One Man's Life. Another Felt Traumatized. This Is The Complexity Of Treatment
As San Diego County prepares to launch CARE Court, two men reflect on how they were changed by the current system (Nelson, 9/24)

Marin Independent Journal: Expired COVID-19 Test? How To Check If It’s Still Good
Summer is almost over and has brought with its end a rise in COVID-19 cases as students return to school and adults return to the workplace. At-home COVID testing has also seen an uptick as we try to determine whether our symptoms are related to the common cold or COVID. (9/26)

CNBC: Merck Covid Drug Linked To Virus Mutations, Study Says
A new study released Monday said Merck’s widely used antiviral Covid pill can cause mutations in the virus that occasionally spread to other people, raising questions about whether the drug has the potential to accelerate Covid’s evolution. The findings may increase scrutiny about the usefulness of the treatment, molnupiravir, which was one of the first Covid drugs available to doctors worldwide during the pandemic. (Constantino, 9/25)

Axios: Scientists Take "Decisive Step" In Blood Testing For Long COVID
Patients suffering from long COVID have distinct immune and hormone imbalances compared to those without, according to a new study published in the scientific journal Nature. More than three years since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the breakthrough offers concrete scientific evidence of a complex condition that scientists have struggled to understand. (Saric, 9/25)

ABC News: About 18 Million US Adults Have Had Long COVID: CDC
Millions of Americans say they've had long COVID, and some say they're still battling it, according to new federal data. Two new reports, published early Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics, looked at data from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey. (Kekatos, 9/26)

CBS News: In New Effort To Reset Flu Shot Expectations, CDC To Avoid Messages That "Could Be Seen As A Scare Tactic"
"People are more likely to perceive messages as credible and trustworthy if they set realistic expectations about what vaccines can and cannot do," the CDC's Sara Dodge Ramey told a panel of federal vaccine advisers at a meeting Friday. ... That led to them rolling out a campaign this year carefully crafted to "avoid messages that could be seen as a scare tactic," she said, acknowledging some voiced "fatigue" around talking about important steps to avoid dying from respiratory diseases this fall and winter. (Tin, 9/25)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid Boosters Aren’t Reaching People Who Want Them
The shift in responsibility for Covid-19 shot distribution from federal agencies to the commercial market is off to a rocky start. (Abbott and Wilde Mathews, 9/25)

Stat: Emergency Workers More Likely To Restrain Black Patients: Study
In the chaotic environment of an emergency room, hospital staffers sometimes face the question of whether to use physical restraints when a patient is experiencing a behavioral crisis. Using restraints is meant to be a last resort in the face of a patient’s agitation in order to keep health care workers and others around them safe. But restraints can also lead to severe adverse outcomes for patients, including physical and psychological trauma. (Nayak, 9/25)

Modern Healthcare: How ChatGPT, Generative AI Could Eliminate Third-Party Tech Vendors
Health system leaders are viewing generative artificial intelligence as a way to cut costs and pare relationships with certain third-party vendors. Excitement is palpable for AI in healthcare. A survey released last week by the Center for Connected Medicine at UPMC and market research firm KLAS Research showed AI was “dominating the thoughts of many executives at health systems.” AI was identified as the most exciting emerging technology by nearly 80% of health system respondents. (Turner, 9/25)

Bay Area News Group: California Schools Must Offer Gender-Neutral Restrooms By 2026
Public schools across California will be required to have gender-neutral bathrooms by July 2026, adding another layer of protections for the state’s LGBTQ+ students. (Miolene, 9/25)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Ramps Up Clearing Homeless Encampments After Court Guidance
San Francisco will ramp up cleaning of homeless encampments following recent guidance from the Ninth Circuit of Appeals related to an ongoing lawsuit about how the city treats unhoused people on the streets, city officials said Monday. The city has been mired in a debate about how to deal with its unhoused residents for more than a year. In September 2022, the Coalition on Homelessness filed a lawsuit accusing the city of violating state and federal laws — and its own policies and homeless individuals’ rights — by clearing homeless encampments and destroying residents’ belongings without offering them shelter. (Barned-Smith, 9/25)

CapRadio: Sacramento’s Creation District Uplifts The Growing Populations Of Black, Brown And Queer Unhoused Youth
A piano sits in the middle of a room lined with posters — featuring messages of support for the Black Lives Matter movement and inclusion for the LGTBQ+ community — welcoming visitors of the The Creation District in Midtown, Sacramento. In the corner, a person lying on a beanbag strums the guitar. Rather unassuming, a door towards the back of the room opens to a full recording studio. In almost Narnia-like fashion, another door inside that studio reveals a vast art gallery and a performance stage. (Prabha, 9/25)

Reuters: Biden, US Officials Warn Of Hunger For Millions In A Government Shutdown
U.S. President Joe Biden and one of his top aides warned on Monday that a federal government shutdown could cause widespread suffering, including a rapid loss of food benefits for nearly 7 million low-income women and children. Biden told a meeting on Historically Black Colleges and Universities that failure by Congress to fund the federal government would have dire consequences for the Black community, including by reducing nutritional benefits, inspections of hazardous waste sites and enforcement of fair housing laws. (Holland, 9/25)

The New York Times: Online Marijuana Shops Make It Easy For Minors To Buy, Study Finds
Many online marijuana dispensaries do not enforce age limits on purchases, and they have other lax policies that enable minors to buy cannabis on the internet, according to a new study published on Monday in The Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics. ... The study found that 18.8 percent of dispensaries, or nearly one in five, “required no formal age verification at any stage of the purchasing process.” And that more than 80 percent accepted “nontraceable” payment methods, like prepaid cards or cash, thus “enabling youth to hide their transactions,” the authors noted. (Richel, 9/25)

Mayo Clinic News Network: Q&A: Is Erythritol A Safe And Healthy Sugar Substitute?
Eating and drinking too much sugar can negatively affect one’s health. Sugar found naturally in food, such as whole fruits, is not associated with increased health issues. But added sugar has been shown to contribute to dental cavities and is associated with multiple chronic diseases such as heart disease, obesity, fatty liver disease and Type 2 diabetes. (9/25)

California Healthline: A Decades-Long Drop In Teen Births Is Slowing, And Advocates Worry A Reversal Is Coming
After three decades of declines in teen pregnancies, data shows the rates are starting to plateau. The reversal of "Roe v. Wade," coupled with efforts to suspend sex education in schools and higher rates of youth mental health issues post-pandemic, could culminate in a perfect storm. (Sweeney, 9/26)

California Healthline: 'Epidemic' Podcast: The Tata Way
Episode 5 of the “Eradicating Smallpox” podcast explores how a partnership between public health institutions and a huge, influential private company was key in the campaign to eliminate smallpox. (9/26)