Bay Area News Group: Bay Area RSV, Flu And COVID On The Rise Heading Into Holidays
Winter virus season is just getting underway as millions of travelers prepare to pack into jetliners and squeeze into SUVs for that Thanksgiving trip to Grandma’s, and Bay Area health officials are urging people to take precautions as they see RSV, influenza and COVID-19 cases rise. (Woolfolk and Rowan, 11/22)

Axios: Omicron Still Driving COVID Infections For Second Holiday Season
With the holidays approaching, it may be the first time in years that COVID-19 is not a predominant concern – but the Omicron wave of the pandemic is not exactly over. In the two years since Omicron emerged, it has continued to rank as the predominant strain in the U.S., and its subvariants are now driving most of the country's coronavirus infections. (Habeshian, 11/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: How To Minimize COVID, Flu And RSV Risk This Thanksgiving
A recent survey found that about 75% of adults expressed little or no worry about getting infected with the coronavirus, while two-thirds downplayed the risk of transmission to loved ones. And federal data shows only about 14% of eligible adults have received the reformulated COVID vaccine, while about 35% have gotten the flu vaccine. But with an uptick in COVID cases and hospitalizations, the flu season kicking off early, and respiratory syncytial virus making the rounds, some of us may think twice about spreading respiratory viruses this Thanksgiving. This is especially true for anyone who is immunocompromised or elderly. (Hwang, 11/22)

The New York Times: How Viral Infections Cause Long-Term Health Problems
Infection with the coronavirus is known to leave behind a long legacy of health problems, many of which are characterized as long Covid. But mounting evidence suggests that independent of that syndrome, the coronavirus also befuddles the immune system into targeting the body, causing autoimmune disorders in some people. ... Covid is not unique in this aspect. Scientists have long known that infection can set the body down the path of autoimmune disease. The classic example is Epstein-Barr virus. (Mandavilli, 11/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: Court Reinstates California Law That Gives Researchers Access To Gun Owner Data
Any intrusion on a gun owner’s privacy by providing the purchase records to academic researchers, the court said, must be weighed against the public value of learning more about weapons purchases and their effects. ... Among other findings ... the UC Davis researchers determined that “in the first week after the purchase of a handgun, the rate of suicide by means of firearms among purchasers was 57 times as high as the adjusted rate in the general population.” (Egelko, 11/21)

LAist: LA County Explores Giving Away Free Gun Locks At Hospitals And Medical Campuses 
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion on Tuesday that will explore giving away free gun locks at county-operated hospitals and medical campuses. (Sievertson, 11/21)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Tri-City Medical Center Resumes Nearly Full Operations After Cybersecurity Attack 
Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside is back up and running after spending more than a week with its operations severely impacted by a cybersecurity attack. (Sisson, 11/21)

Modern Healthcare: What UnitedHealth, Cigna Lawsuits Mean For AI, Automation
The alleged use of artificial intelligence for prior authorization and claim denials has led to lawsuits against two major health insurance companies. UnitedHealth Group and Cigna have been separately accused of allegedly using automated tools to deny some claims, which plaintiffs say reduces the insurers' labor costs. Both policymakers and physician leaders are asking insurance companies to open up their AI playbooks in response to these allegations. (Berryman and Turner, 11/21)

Stat: Turmoil At OpenAI Shows The Need For AI Standards In Health Care
The leadership turmoil within OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, is triggering calls for stepped-up efforts to establish standards for how generative AI is used across the health care industry, where experts worry that one or two companies could end up with too much control. (Ross, 11/21)

Stat: White House AI Order Triggers Fear Of Regulatory Burden For Tech Startups
Entrepreneurs across the country desperate to bring the power of AI into health care are urging Washington to consider the risk of blocking innovation, bringing into focus a chasm between the startup world’s race toward deployment and regulators’ attempts to protect patients from harmful, biased algorithms. (Ravindranath, 11/22)

Military Times: Mental Health Doesn’t Cost Troops Security Clearances, Data Shows
For years, military leaders have insisted that troops in need of mental health care should reach out without worrying it will adversely impact their professional path. Yet despite these assurances, fears still exist within the ranks that seeking help could lead to their security clearance being denied or revoked, sinking a career in the process. (Ziezulewicz and Winkie, 11/22)

The Desert Sun: Want To Help A Homeless Veteran? Join Desert JAMBOree 2023, Dec. 8-10
Did you know that as of 2020, more than 11,000 veterans living in California were experiencing homelessness? A local nonprofit, Rescue + Residence (R+R), is working to change that by solving two key problems that stymie veterans who are trying to get back on their feet: an address and mobility. (Gieseke, 11/21)

Bloomberg: Biden Asks Congress For More Funding, Tighter Laws To Counter Fentanyl Crisis
President Joe Biden pressed lawmakers to approve more funding and tighten laws to help block fentanyl trafficking, following his agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping to crack down on the deadly drug. Biden on Tuesday heralded an agreement with Xi, who pledged during their summit last week to carry out a law-enforcement campaign against Chinese fentanyl components, and his talks with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on stopping the flow of drugs across the southwest border. (Jacobs, 11/21)

San Diego Union-Tribune: How San Diego Plans To Solve Its Shortage Of Public Restrooms 
San Diego is launching several new efforts to solve a shortage of public restrooms downtown, including plans to create minimum city standards for the number of such bathrooms required in urban neighborhoods. (Garrick, 11/22)

Axios: How Income Disparities Drive Heart Risks For Middle-Aged Adults
Over roughly the past two decades, middle-aged adults with lower incomes were more likely to develop high blood pressure, while those with higher incomes were more likely to develop diabetes and obesity, according to a new study in the Annals of Internal Medicine. (Reed, 11/21)

CBS News: It's OK To Indulge On Thanksgiving, Dietician Says, But Beware Of These Unhealthy Eating Behaviors
"Complicated relationships (around food) are much more heightened during times like this, where we're celebrating something that revolves culturally around food," says Amanda Holtzer, a registered dietician based in New Jersey. "That can really trigger a lot of potentially negative emotions in people with negative or complicated relationships with food." ... But Holtzer says indulging in a holiday meal like this isn't going to have a major impact on your body or your health. (Moniuszko, 11/21)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Abortion-Related Law May Have Kept A Bad Situation From Becoming Worse 
The law that came into play when a murder charge was recently dropped against an Oceanside woman was part of a high-profile package of abortion and reproductive health protections signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year. The bill was drafted to keep women from being prosecuted because of their actions while pregnant. (Michael Smolens, 11/22)

East Bay Times: Tijuana River Sewage Crisis Leaves San Diegans Helpless
“If I had a chance to tell Gov. (Gavin) Newsom something about the pollution in the Tijuana River Valley, I would tell him to get it fixed as soon as possible because the odor is horrible, and I don’t know what else it’s doing to our health. Like my partner says, if this was happening to rich people in La Jolla, this would have been taken care of a long time ago.” (Pedro Rios, 11/22)

CalMatters: As Hospitals Close, Here’s One Way California Can Prevent Stillbirths
Everyone loves a good birth story. We love hearing about warrior moms who heroically bring their children into the world. We share these stories and we relish them. Just not stories like mine. (Allie Felker, 11/20)

Sacramento Bee: Biden Makes Strides On Insulin Affordability While Newsom Stalls Progress 
I’m lucky: Medicaid covers much of the cost of my insulin, but for many Californians, finding an affordable source of insulin is a daily struggle. Too many people ration their insulin when they can’t afford the next month’s supply, so I volunteer with T1International and #insulin4all, a grassroots, patient-led movement fighting for a world in which everyone has access to insulin and supplies. (Kevin Wren, 11/20)

Los Angeles Daily News: Revive AB 1512, Let Foster Kids Keep Their Own Money 
If there’s one California politician who has consistently run as a child welfare advocate, it is Gov. Gavin Newsom, father of four. So if there’s one bill he should not have vetoed this fall, it was the lone proposed law that actually promised to put money into the hands of youngsters who need it most: foster children. (Thomas D. Elias, 11/20)

Fresno Bee: Chinese Lab Near Fresno Shows The Danger Of Bioterrorism 
A Chinese national with ties to the communist government sneaks into Fresno County and opens a secret lab that contains containers of dangerous and highly infectious diseases, like COVID, Ebola, HIV and hepatitis. One thousand lab mice are found, more than 100 of them dead. (11/21)