Becker's Hospital Review: Prime Hospital Plan Would Violate State Staffing Ratios, Union Says
Members of the Caregivers and Healthcare Employees Union and the California Nurses Association say Prime Healthcare's Shasta Regional Medical Center in Redding, Calif., has proposed a new staffing plan that would violate the state's staffing ratio law and put patients at risk. The unions collectively represent about 600 registered nurses, pharmacy, radiology and lab technicians as well as licensed vocational nurses and environmental services workers, according to an Oct. 20 CNA/CHEU news release. Prime, based in Ontario, Calif., and the nonprofit Prime Healthcare Foundation serve people in 14 states with nearly 50,000 employees and physicians total. (Gooch, 10/20)

Sacramento Business Journal: UC Davis Health Launching Clinic For New Depression Treatments At Cannery Business Park
UC Davis Health is developing a clinic to bring emerging psychiatric treatments to more patients. On Wednesday, UC Davis Health finalized a lease for a new space at the Cannery Business Park in East Sacramento for new infusion therapy and interventional psychiatry support services. (Hamann, 10/20)

Sacramento Business Journal: Ethan Conrad Sells Former AT&T Building To One Community Health 
Federally qualified health center One Community Health is planning a move into space nearly five times as much as its current site in Arden-Arcade, after a recent building purchase. (van der Meer, 10/20)

Becker's Hospital Review: Google Can Track Analytics From Healthcare Providers, Judge Says
A California judge rejected the request to prevent the tech giant Google from gathering user analytics data from websites of healthcare providers, Law360 reported Oct. 18. The judge said there is no evidence that Google has been using the collected information from healthcare providers' websites for "criminal or tortious purposes," according to the publication. (Diaz, 10/20)

Axios: Study: Some AI Chatbots Provide Racist Health Info
Some of the most high-profile artificial intelligence chatbots churned out responses that perpetuated false or debunked medical information about Black people, a new study found. As AI takes off, chatbots are already being incorporated into medicine — with little to no oversight. These new tech tools, if fueled by false or inaccurate data, have the potential to worsen health disparities, experts have warned. (Goldman, 10/23)

Stat: STAT Summit: Doctor V. ChatGPT Showed AI's Promise, Blind Spots
Generative AI tools are already helping doctors transcribe visits and summarize patient records. The technology behind ChatGPT, trained on vast amounts of data from the internet, made headlines when it correctly answered more than 80% of board exam questions. In July, a team at Beth Israel saw promising results when using GPT-4 during a diagnosis workshop for medical residents. (Lawrence, 10/20)

Stat: FDA Gives Detailed Accounting Of AI-Enabled Medical Devices
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday released a new accounting of artificial intelligence tools cleared for use in health care, adding scores of new products designed to reshape care in several areas of medicine. (Ross and Palmer, 10/20)

The Mercury News: San Jose Leaders Defend Police Following Investigation On Use Of Force Against Mentally Impaired People
In response to a Bay Area News Group investigation finding that mentally impaired people disproportionately experience serious force by San Jose police, city leaders defended police training, and blamed broader failures in mental health services and a lack of viable alternatives that could shift the burden of dealing with people in crisis away from police. The first-of-its-kind investigation, which examined more than 100 use-of-force cases in San Jose between 2014 and 2021, found that in nearly three-quarters of incidents in which officers seriously injured or killed people, those harmed were believed to be mentally ill or intoxicated. Of the 25 fatal cases during that period, 80 percent involved people with those conditions. (Salonga, 10/22)

KQED: Patients Demand California Enforce Its Landmark Mental Health Law
California’s top health insurance authority faces mounting criticism and impatience from lawmakers and advocates who accuse the regulator of going easy on health insurers and failing to ensure they abide by a three-year-old law to provide timely mental health care to their consumers. A barrage of complaints was lodged at an oversight hearing in Sacramento on Wednesday, just days after the Department of Managed Health Care relied on the same law to levy a historic $50 million fine against Kaiser Permanente for failing to provide timely mental health care. (Dembosky, 10/23)

Modesto Bee: Fentanyl Crisis In Stanislaus County Shown By The Numbers
The most deaths due to illegal fentanyl occurred in the 35 to 39 age group last year in Stanislaus County. The deadly street drug claimed the lives of young and old, from a child less than 5 years old to adults older than 65. Four times more males than females were killed by the illegally made synthetic opioid, which is mixed with pills to look like prescription drugs and also is combined with substances like methamphetamine and cocaine. (Carlson, 10/22)

Politico: Fentanyl Is Killing Thousands, But Congress Has No Answer For The Opioid Crisis 
America’s drug overdose crisis is out of control. Washington, despite a bipartisan desire to combat it, is finding its addiction-fighting programs are failing. In 2018, Republicans, Democrats and then-President Donald Trump united around legislation that threw $20 billion into treatment, prevention and recovery. But five years later, the SUPPORT Act has lapsed and the number of Americans dying from overdoses has grown more than 60 percent, driven by illicit fentanyl. The battle has turned into a slog. (Paun, 10/22)

Southern California News Group: How The California Legislature Addressed Homelessness This Year
Although much of the work to address California’s homelessness crisis takes place at the local level, legislators in Sacramento sought to address the crisis this past year as well. (Yarbrough, 10/23)

CapRadio: New Leader Of Sacramento Housing Alliance Calls Housing ‘Foundational Need’ As He Takes The Helm
One of the Sacramento region’s leading advocacy groups for affordable housing has a new leader. Jonathan Cook was hired last month as executive director of the Sacramento Housing Alliance, or SHA. Cook will help shape the nonprofit’s efforts to promote safe and accessible housing and equitable policies for lower-income households. He’ll be responsible for leading SHA as the Sacramento region confronts the growing and related crises of homelessness and the severe lack of affordable housing. (Nichols, 10/23)

KQED: Unhoused Californians Are Living On The 'Bleeding Edge' Of Climate Change
When summer temperatures in Fresno break 100 degrees, Deana Everhart cooks. It’s a rare privilege for a woman without a kitchen or a house. Marie Callender’s TV dinners are her favorite, and she puts them on the sidewalk to let the sun do an oven’s work. “They will cook as if they were in a microwave,” she said on a 108-degree day in July. “In about 30 minutes, they’re hot and ready.” It might be the only perk that’s come with the increasingly hellish summers plaguing her hometown. (Rancaño, 10/23)

The Mercury News: New Rules Approved To Reduce Air Pollution From Ships At California Ports
In a move cheered by environmentalists and public health groups but opposed by the oil industry, the Biden administration has approved new rules aimed at reducing the amount of air pollution emitted by large ships when they are docked at ports along the state’s coastline. ... That pollution can affect communities in waterfront cities like Oakland, Richmond, Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego, increasing the risk of asthma, heart attacks and other health problems. (Rogers, 10/20)

The Mercury News: Chavez: EPA Finally Confirms Dangers Of Leaded Airplane Fuel
The long overdue EPA finding states clearly that emissions from piston-engine aircraft that use leaded aviation gasoline, known as avgas, are a public health hazard. This finding is an important step toward desperately needed avgas regulation. The Biden Administration’s EPA made the finding after years of advocacy by Earthjustice and other organizations. ... The county study revealed children living near Reid-Hillview faced lead exposure similar to what the residents of Flint, Mich., faced during that city’s 2014 water crisis. (Chavez, 10/21)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Commercialization Of New COVID-19 Vaccine Creates Access Hurdles For Low Income Residents
With the pandemic officially over, distribution of the newest COVID-19 vaccine is, for the most part, in the hands of health care’s biggest players — hospital chains, large medical groups and retail pharmacies. That’s fine for Sonoma County’s residents who have commercial health insurance. But local health care advocates say many low-income and minority residents are being left out of post-pandemic vaccine distribution. (Espinoza, 10/22)

Fresno Bee: Chinese Man Accused Of Distributing Illegal Covid-19 Test Kits To Remain In Jail
The Chinese resident arrested Thursday by federal agents for allegedly manufacturing and distributing COVID-19 test kits illegally, and then lying to investigators about it, will remain in the Fresno County Jail until at least Tuesday, when he is next scheduled to appear in court. (Sheehan, 10/20)

CIDRAP: Most US COVID Markers Show Declines
COVID metrics showed more declines last week, though deaths from the virus—one of its severity indicators—rose 4.2% compared to the previous week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its latest data update. Deaths were up a bit in a number of states but were up more sharply in Oregon. (Schnirring, 10/20)

The Daily Beast: COVID Is Ramping Up For A Year Of Deadly Surges
Scientists hope that by the end of 2024 COVID may become more flu-like but before that fading immunity means more killer waves are on the way. (Axe, 10/23)

USA Today: New Covid Vaccine May Be Harder To Find Despite Promises. Here's Why.
This rollout is the first time the vaccine had entered the commercial market. Before this, the government was paying for and distributing shots. (Rodriguez, 10/23)

Stat: Researchers Explore Possible Ties Between Long Covid, Menopause
When she stopped getting her period in March 2022, Daryn Schwartz wasn’t especially concerned. At 42, she had recently come off birth control, and figured her cycles were still adjusting. When it hadn’t come back by the summer, she sought gynecological care, but was told to wait it out. So she did, with no changes. (Merelli, 10/20)

CIDRAP: Study Finds High Prevalence Of Drug Interactions In Adults Taking Paxlovid 
Adults who were treated with nirmatrelvir–ritonavir (Paxlovid) for their COVID infections in an outpatient setting during the earlier Omicron variant months had a high prevalence of drug-drug interactions (DDIs), Canadian researchers reported yesterday in PLOS One. In its clinical guidance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urges healthcare providers to be aware of Paxlovid eligibility criteria and the potential for drug interactions. (Schnirring, 10/20)

USA Today: From Vaping To Abortion, Conservatives Are Targeting FDA Authority
“You are not a horse. You are not a cow,” the FDA posted to social media in mid-2021, as COVID-19 vaccines were already widely available in the USA. “Seriously, y’all. Stop it.” Those warnings are now the subject of a pending lawsuit by three doctors who claim the FDA overstepped its authority by weighing in with medical advice they say should be left to physicians. The ivermectin suit is one of several working through federal courts challenging the FDA's power to make decisions or dispense information. (Fritze, 10/23)

Reuters: US FDA Approves Pfizer's Vaccine For Meningococcal Disease 
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Pfizer's vaccine Penbraya, making it the first shot to protect against five groups of a deadly bacteria that can cause meningitis and blood poisoning, the company said on Friday. Meningococcal diseases are rare bacterial infections that commonly affect the brain, spinal cord and bloodstream, and can be deadly in a matter of hours. (10/20)

NPR: A Seasonal Viral Stew Is Brewing With Flu, RSV, COVID And More
So what is brewing in the viral stew? There's the big three to start: the flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID-19. "These are the three that cause the most utilization of the health care system and the most severe disease," says Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. ... And there are other viruses in the mix, says Marlene Wolfe, an epidemiologist and assistant professor at Emory University. (Huang, 10/21)

Reuters: Sanofi Seeing 'Unprecedented' Demand For RSV Therapy
French drugmaker Sanofi said on Friday it was seeing an "unprecedented level" of demand for an antibody therapy it co-developed to prevent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a leading cause of hospitalizations in infants. The therapy, branded Beyfortus and jointly developed by Sanofi and AstraZeneca, was approved in July to prevent RSV in infants and toddlers. (10/21)

Military.com: Pentagon Raises Cap On Service Members' Medical Malpractice Claims
Service members now can file claims related to alleged malpractice at military medical facilities for up to $750,000, after the Pentagon proposed an increase from the previous limit of $600,000. Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder announced in an email to media outlets that the proposed change applies "to any pending claims" and was published in the Federal Register on Friday. (Novelly and Kheel, 10/20)

Military.com: Testing Of Navy SEALs May Unveil Scale Of Performance-Enhancing Drug Use -- And Unleash Legal Battles 
The Navy's Special Warfare Command is poised to begin regularly testing all Navy SEALs for performance-enhancing drugs next month, but the effort to root out the potentially dangerous substances could also lead the service into a legal minefield. The move is being presented as a reasonable safety measure by the Navy following a highly publicized sailor death, reports of widespread abuse of the drugs in the SEAL training program, and damning investigations that painted a picture of instructors showing little regard for the safety of recruits -- often pushing them beyond their physical limits. (Toropin, 10/20)

Fresno Bee: Parents’ Rights Activists March Outside Gov. Newsom’s House
The parents’ rights movement found its way to California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s sleepy Fair Oaks neighborhood on Saturday morning, where dozens of demonstrators stood outside his home to protest a slate of bills and what they call the “War on Children.” (Hatch, 10/21)

Berkeleyside: Long-Running Disability Film Festival Brings 7 Movies To Berkeley’s Freight & Salvage Saturday
The Superfest Disability Film Festival, the longest-running festival of its kind, returns this week for its 37th year. All 15 short films being shown are available online and were selected by a jury consisting of disabled SF State students, filmographers, disability rights advocates, scholars, community organizers and creatives. Select in-person screenings will take place at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley on Saturday and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco Sunday. (Kwok, 10/20)

Fox News: Dementia’s Staggering Financial Cost Is Revealed In New Report: It’s ‘Bankrupting Families’ 
A great deal of emphasis is placed on the emotional and mental impact of dementia — but a new study from the University of Michigan highlights the financial burden it puts on families as well. Among people who were diagnosed with dementia, out-of-pocket health care costs more than doubled within the first eight years, researchers found. Dementia patients also experienced more than a 60% reduction in their net worth, according to the study findings, which were published in JAMA Internal Medicine. (Rudy, 10/23)

The Hill: Giving Birth Is Pricey In The US, And Growing Pricier
Having a baby is expensive in the U.S. — and it’s getting costlier. The median cost for an in-network C-section in the U.S. last year was about $15,500, while the median cost of a vaginal birth with no complications was almost $13,000, according to FAIR Health’s cost of giving birth tracker.   And the national median price for an out-of-network birth is more than twice as expensive, according to the tracker.    (O'Connell-Domenech, 10/22)