Los Angeles Times: Psychiatric Patients Restrained At Sky-High Rates At This L.A. Hospital 
L.A. General's locked psychiatric unit has restrained patients at a higher rate than in any other in California, a Times analysis has found. (Poston and Reyes, 10/19)

Los Angeles Times: Why High Rates Of Restraining Psychiatric Patients At L.A. General Haven't Raised Alarms 
Los Angeles General Medical Center restrains inpatients in its psychiatric unit at a rate higher than any other hospital in California — and more than 50 times the national average for inpatient psychiatric facilities, a Times analysis of federal data from 2018 to 2021 found. So why haven’t regulators raised alarms over these sky-high restraint rates? (Poston and Reyes, 10/19)

Los Angeles Times: Strapped Down: A Times Investigation Into The High Use Of Restraints At L.A. General Medical Center
Hospitals are forbidden under federal law from restraining psychiatric patients except to prevent them from harming themselves or others. Restraints can be used only when other steps have failed and are widely discouraged by psychiatric professionals, who see them as a measure of last resort that frays trust and can traumatize patients. At Los Angeles General Medical Center — a public hospital formerly known as L.A. County-USC Medical Center that serves some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the nation’s largest county — the locked psychiatric unit has restrained patients at a higher rate than in any other in California, a Times analysis has found. (Poston and Reyes, 10/19)

San Francisco Chronicle: Open Enrollment Quandary: What UC Health, Anthem Blue Cross Dispute Means For Bay Area Patients
UC Health and Anthem Blue Cross are in a contract dispute that could leave patients scrambling to find a new insurer or new doctors as soon as February 2024. ... Contract negotiations between health care providers and insurance companies are common and often involve disagreements over reimbursement rates. But the timing of this dispute is leaving many patients confused and frustrated because they are in their annual open enrollment period with their employers. The uncertainty over whether UC Health will remain in network with Anthem makes it hard to pick a health plan for next year. (Ho, 10/18)

Sacramento Business Journal: Kaiser Permanente's Natomas Site Still Uncertain On Timing 
More than 18 months after Kaiser Permanente bought land in Natomas and announced plans for an outpatient center there, nothing new has emerged about the potential project. (van der Meer, 10/18)

Stat: NIH Confirmation Hearing Shows Politicization Of Research
Monica Bertagnolli, President Biden’s nominee to lead the National Institutes of Health, spent her confirmation hearing Wednesday stuck in the middle of Republicans’ and Democrats’ bickering over her agency’s role in high drug costs, ultimately refusing to commit to either party’s approach. (Owermohle, 10/18)

Los Angeles Times: New Shasta County Public Health Officer Fought COVID Vaccine Mandates
The Shasta County Board of Supervisors has appointed an outspoken critic of COVID-19 vaccine mandates to be the county’s new public health officer. The hiring of Redding family physician James Mu comes 17 months after the board fired its previous public health officer, Karen Ramstrom, whom supervisors had criticized for following state mandates requiring masks and vaccinations during the pandemic. (Branson-Potts, 10/19)

AP: California Tech CEO Convicted In COVID-19 And Allergy Test Fraud Case Sentenced To 8 Years In Prison
A Silicon Valley executive who lied to investors about inventing technology that tested for allergies and COVID-19 using only a few drops of blood was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison and ordered to pay $24 million in restitution, federal prosecutors said. Mark Schena, 60, was convicted last year of paying bribes to doctors and defrauding the government after his company billed Medicare $77 million for fraudulent COVID-19 and allergy tests, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement. (10/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Pfizer Prices Covid Drug Paxlovid At $1,400 For A Five-Day Course 
Pfizer told the pharmacies and clinics that will dispense Paxlovid, in a letter dated Wednesday that was viewed by The Wall Street Journal, that a five-day course of the antiviral will list for $1,390. The U.S. government had paid $529. Health plans will probably pay much less than the list price for the pills, and most patients will have a small or no out-of-pocket cost because Pfizer is expected to offer price discounts and help patients with their out-of-pocket charges. (Rockoff and Hopkins, 19/18)

The Washington Post: U.S. Halts Collection On Some Past Due Covid Small-Business Loans 
The U.S. government has halted some efforts to collect an estimated $62 billion in past-due pandemic loans made to small businesses, concluding that aggressive attempts to recover the money — a portion of which may have been lost to fraud — could cost more than simply writing off the debt. The Small Business Administration, which manages the program, adopted the policy in April, prompting the agency’s watchdogs to compute the potential losses in a September report that found the practice “risks” violating federal law. The internal directive since then has sparked an outcry on Capitol Hill, where House Republicans on Wednesday opened an investigation and joined their Senate GOP counterparts in demanding documents from the SBA. (Romm, 10/18)

ABC News: People With HIV At Higher Risk Of COVID Reinfection: CDC
People with HIV are at increased risk of being reinfected with the virus that causes COVID-19, according to new federal data. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Chicago Department of Public Health followed adult residents in Chicago from their first reported infection from March 2020 through the end of May 2022, according to the report published Wednesday by the CDC. ... About 5% experienced reinfection among more than 453,000 Chicago residents who tested positive for the virus. (Kekatos, 10/189

CIDRAP: Risk Of Guillain-Barre Syndrome 6 Times Higher After COVID Infection, Study Suggests
A new study from Israel ties COVID-19 infection to an increased risk of a diagnosis of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) within 6 weeks, while mRNA vaccination was linked to a decreased risk of the rare but serious autoimmune disease. The study was published today in Neurology. (Van Beusekom, 10/18)

Voice Of San Diego: City Reserving More Shelter Beds For San Diego Police 
The city quietly made plans to set aside more homeless shelter beds for San Diego police referrals last month as officers continued to ramp up enforcement of the city’s camping ban. Starting Sept. 20, the city directed nonprofit Father Joe’s Villages to gradually fill 50 beds at its city-funded Golden Hall shelter with people referred by police as other shelter residents departed. As of this week, police have reserved 45 of the shelter’s 324 beds for single men at the City Hall complex. Forty-one of those beds were filled on Tuesday. (Halverstadt, 10/18)

Voice of OC: San Clemente Bussed Homeless People Out During Surf Competition 
San Clemente is facing some questions over its treatment of homeless residents during the World Surf League Finals last month, when city staff helped residents off the beach and into motels for the night in Dana Point. After that, homeless residents were left there – with no offerings of a shelter or services, and no way to get back home, according to local activists. (Biesiada, 10/18)

CalMatters: California Tiny Homes: Why Little Units Are Having A Big Impact
Despite moving in to her new digs just a month ago, Darlene Pizarro and her white dog, Angel, are already regulars at the local dog run. Pizarro’s new place is not quite a city neighborhood and where she lives isn’t quite a home, but a tiny home, one of 94 city-funded units for the homeless at that lot. But Pizarro, who last lived as a squatter in an abandoned house, was relieved to be there. (Kuang, 10/19)

San Francisco Chronicle: Homeless Man Trolls SF Neighborhood With Signs Advertising Free Drugs
A homeless man in San Francisco’s Richmond District has placed two signs outside his improvised dwelling, seemingly designed to infuriate the neighbors. “Free fentanyl 4 new users,” one placard reads. “Meth for stolen items!” exclaims the other. (Swan, 10/18)

The Bakersfield Californian: Officials Hope West Nile Virus Numbers Stay Low This Year 
Westward expansion of the West Nile virus is showing signs of stalling here in Kern County, as the county’s public health department reports 11 human cases of West Nile Virus. Michelle Corson, spokeswoman for Kern Public Health, confirmed those numbers Wednesday, adding that “summer months have the highest occurrence of cases.” (Donegan, 10/18)

Pasadena Star News: LA County’s Plan To Fix Juvenile Detention Facilities Approved By State Regulators 
State regulators have given Los Angeles County until January to implement a series of proposed fixes at two juvenile facilities facing potential closures if the work is not completed on time. (Henry, 10/18)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Soft Medicine Sanctuary Is A Haven For Those Seeking Mindfulness In Sebastopol
The destination, Soft Medicine Sanctuary, opened last September in the historic Main Street building where the Dhyana Center — a similar mindfulness and wellness-oriented destination — thrived for 25 years. Since then, Soft Medicine Sanctuary has attracted a fervent following, and consistently delivers programming that West County residents adore. (Villano, 10/18)

Stat: Senate Finance Targets Medicare Advantage Brokers
Senate Finance Committee members from both parties took aim Wednesday at insurance brokers that sell plans for large Medicare Advantage insurers. Older adults at times have more than 100 plan options, and brokers help them choose the right one. But brokers can be incentivized by large insurance companies to aggressively sell plans that are a poor fit for the Medicare beneficiaries they’re supposed to help. (Wilkerson, 10/18)

Axios: The Gaps In Medicare's Plan To Fix Drug Shortages
A Medicare proposal to help alleviate major shortages of cancer drugs and other essential medicines could disadvantage facilities serving vulnerable populations and instigate new supply issues, experts and hospital groups say. (Goldman, 10/19)