San Francisco Chronicle: With Prop. 1, California Voters Must Weigh Prevention Against Treating Serious Mental Health Cases
Proposition 1, the only statewide ballot measure in California’s March 5 primary, asks voters to make a fundamental choice about the state’s mental health system: Should California shift money away from preventative programs in order to spend more on intensive care for the most severe cases? (Bollag, 2/23)

CapRadio: California's Proposition 1 Is Complicated. Here's How It Could Affect The People Most In Need.
If you’ve looked at your voter guide for March 5, you may have seen that the text of Proposition 1 is 68 pages. So … it’s definitely complicated, but stick with us as we roll up our sleeves and break it down. The proposition would do two things, if approved: Approve a $6.38 billion bond to build thousands more units of permanent supportive housing and treatment beds for people with mental illness and/or substance use disorder across the state. Change the terms of the Mental Health Services Act, a law passed by voters in 2004 that uses a 1% tax on high earners (those with incomes over $1 million per year) to help pay for mental health services. More money would be spent on housing and support services for people with mental illness and substance use disorder, and less would be spent on existing county services like outpatient treatment and crisis response.  (Wolffe, 2/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: Developer Seeks To Expand Huge Housing Conversion Of Defunct San Francisco Medical Center
Safier’s Prado Group, which acquired the more than 700,000-square-foot obsolete medical center at the end of 2022 for roughly $50 million, will be seeking the city’s approval to introduce a separate senior-living project to the redevelopment plan that was not part of the original approvals. (Waxmann, 2/23)

CBS News: Cybersecurity Breach At UnitedHealth Subsidiary Causes Rx Delays For Some Pharmacies
A family-owned pharmacy and two military pharmacies, in the Midwest and California, all reported on Wednesday and Thursday that network outages impacting national healthcare providers had prevented them from filling prescriptions.  (Czachor, 2/22)

Axios: Health Care Employment Picture Still Strong
Job openings in health care and social services last year hit the second highest rate since data began to be collected in 2001, and the employment picture remained strong in January, especially in ambulatory care settings and hospitals. The findings from Altarum reinforce just how much the health industry is fueling a robust labor market, even as it's beset by churn and high levels of worker burnout. (Bettelheim, 2/23)

The Hill: More Women Than Ever Are Becoming Doctors. Here’s Why There Are Still So Few
In recent years, female medical students have begun outnumbering their male peers. As of the 2023-2024 school year, they make up more than 55 percent of students in the country’s M.D.-granting programs, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. The ranks of female doctors have also been steadily increasing. In 2007, just over 28 percent of practicing physicians in the country were women. By 2021, the most recent year for which the American Medical Association (AMA) has data, more than 37 percent were. (O’Connell-Domenech, 2/22)

Los Angeles Times: In Bay Area, Biden Vows To Restore Abortion Access Amid Legal Uncertainty About Fertility Treatments
Just days after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos can be considered “children,” President Biden held a fundraiser at a leading stem cell research advocate’s Silicon Valley home, warning that voting for Donald Trump would limit reproductive rights beyond abortion. “Trump and his MAGA friends are determined to take away your fundamental freedoms,” Biden said at a small event on Thursday held at the home of real estate developers Bob Klein and Danielle Guttman Klein. (Mays, 2/22)

The New York Times: Alabama I.V.F. Ruling Opens New Front In Election-Year Abortion Battles
Yet, even as some Republicans backed away from the court decision, Republican legislators in conservative states planned efforts to push bills that would declare that life begins at conception — a policy that could have severe consequences for fertility treatments. (Lerer, Dias and Karni, 2/23)

Axios: House GOP Rushes To Distance From Alabama IVF Ruling
House Republicans are quickly pushing back on an Alabama Supreme Court ruling restricting access to fertility treatments, with one GOP lawmaker already planning a legislative response, Axios has learned. Why It Matters: Reproductive health care has been the central issue for House Democrats as they try to win back GOP-held suburban swing districts. (Solender, 2/22)

The 19th: More Teens Calling The National Domestic Violence Hotline To Report ‘Reproductive Coercion’
The country’s central domestic violence hotline received a major spike in calls from teens about reproductive coercion in the year following the overturn of Roe v. Wade. New data from the National Domestic Violence Hotline (NVDH), also known as The Hotline, shows that 24 13- to 17-year-olds called about reproductive coercion in the year before June 2022; in the next year, that number rose to 44. (Gerson, 2/22)

The Hill: 48 Percent In New Poll Say They Would Support 16-Week Abortion Ban
Nearly half of Americans in a new poll said they would back a national 16-week abortion ban after The New York Times reported former President Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, privately expressed support for the measure. The Economist/YouGov new poll found 48 percent of respondents would support a national ban on abortions after 16 weeks of pregnancy. (Sforza, 2/22)

Roll Call: Democrats Ask Insurers To Meet Contraceptive Coverage Mandate 
The House Democratic Women’s Caucus has asked the biggest insurance association to urge insurers to comply with contraceptive coverage requirements and Biden administration guidance issued in January, according to a letter shared first with CQ Roll Call. (Raman, 2/22)

Stat: Midwife-Assisted Home Births Are On The Rise. High-Risk Deliveries Are Too
Kay Kay Lineweaver’s first birthing experience in 2021 didn’t go as planned. Her baby was breech and the doctor wouldn’t allow her to try to give birth vaginally, so she ended up with an unwanted cesarean section. “[The obstetrician] wouldn’t even give me the option,” she recalled later in a podcast called “Healing Trauma Mamas.” Lineweaver said she felt like she “didn’t have control” and that the birth process was “a nightmare.” (Cohen, 2/23)

CIDRAP: Study Shows Persistent COVID-19 Infections Fairly Common
Researchers at the University of Oxford published new findings yesterday in Nature suggesting as many as 1 to 3 out of every 100 COVID-19 infections in the United Kingdom persist longer than 30 days, and patients with persistent infections are 55% more likely to report developing long COVID. Persistent infections have long been a concern to COVID-19 researchers, because people with prolonged infections tend to display a high number of viral mutations, making them reservoirs of new variants. (Soucheray, 2/22)

CIDRAP: Researchers Identify Mechanism Behind Brain Fog In Long COVID
Disruptions in the blood-brain barrier along with a hyperactive immune system are the likely mechanisms behind "brain fog" in patients who are experiencing long COVID, an Irish research team reported today in Nature Neuroscience. Brain fog has been reported during acute COVID infection and has also been reported in nearly 50% of patients who experience long COVID, or symptoms well past the acute phase of COVID-19. (Schnirring, 2/22)

The San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego Judge Blocks State From Enforcing Law Meant To Hold Gun Industry Accountable For Gun Violence
A federal judge in San Diego has temporarily blocked California Attorney General Rob Bonta from enforcing a portion of state law that gave Bonta, local governments and private citizens the ability to hold gun companies legally liable for gun violence. (Riggins, 2/22)

Los Angeles Times: Chiquita Canyon Landfill Leaks Pose Imminent Danger, EPA Says
Federal officials have ordered operators of Chiquita Canyon landfill to take immediate steps to protect human health and the environment, saying the smoldering Castaic facility poses an imminent danger to nearby communities due to noxious odors and hazardous liquid waste. The action taken Thursday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency comes amid growing calls to shut down the facility. (Briscoe, 2/23)

Axios: Mental Health Is Seen As A Top Health Threat To U.S.
Americans see poor mental health as one of the biggest threats to public health, ranking just behind obesity and the long-running opioid epidemic, according to the latest Axios-Ipsos American Health Index. Almost 9 out of 10 people say their own emotional wellbeing is very or somewhat good, but they view mental health issues as a serious societal threat that now outranks access to firearms, cancer or COVID-19. (Millman, 2/23)

AP: Wendy Williams Diagnosed With Same Form Of Dementia As Bruce Willis
Former talk show host Wendy Williams has been diagnosed with the same form of dementia that actor Bruce Willis has, a statement released Thursday on behalf of her caretakers says. The statement said the 59-year-old’s diagnoses of primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia “have already presented significant hurdles in Wendy’s life” and have behavioral and cognitive impacts. (McCartney, 2/22)

The Washington Post: Why Viagra Has Been Linked To A Lower Risk Of Alzheimer’s Disease
Viagra can be a wonder drug for men with erectile dysfunction, helping them maintain their sex lives as they age. Now new research suggests the little blue pill may also be beneficial to aging brains. The findings are based on a massive study of nearly 270,000 middle-aged men in Britain. ... The researchers noticed a distinctive pattern. The men who were prescribed Viagra or a similar drug had an 18 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, compared with men who weren’t given the medication. (Amenabar, 2/22)

Orange County Register: Brea Man Who Pretended To Be A Doctor Arrested Again In Alleged Plan To Open New Clinic 
Less than two weeks after being released from prison for impersonating a medical doctor and performing unlicensed medical procedures, a 63-year-old Brea man was arrested for the second time, after allegedly trying to open a new Botox business, prosecutors said Thursday. (Darwish, 2/22)

CNN: What, When And How You Eat Food Affects Your Health, According To A Doctor
What you eat and don’t eat can reduce your risk of medical conditions such as heart disease and cancer and increase life expectancy, according to decades of research. But while much of the advice focuses on what not to eat, I also wanted to learn more about when and how people can eat to optimize their health. (Hetter, 2/22)

Los Angeles Times: California Wants To Make Your Healthcare Less Expensive 
Californians have racked up billions of dollars in medical debt. Two years ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature granted authority to a new agency, the Office of Health Care Affordability, to rein in health costs that were racing ahead of residents’ ability to pay. But this effort is in danger of being watered down before it can benefit them. (Glenn Melnick, 2/23)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Millions Of Older Women Need Affordable Caregivers 
Imagine inching closer to 65, childless, with a small nest egg, chronic health issues and a family history of Alzheimer’s. Imagine being an unpaid caregiver at the same time. Imagine looking forward and fearing that there’s no support for you if the fine balance you maintain now should tumble. (Gemma Bulos and Barbara Provost, 2/19)

Los Angeles Daily News: Make Child Birth Safer In California 
California has a child birth crisis. On Feb. 15, California State Auditor Grant Parks released a review of the state’s Comprehensive Perinatal Services Program, which helps reduce the percentage of babies born with low birth weights. Weights under 5 pounds 8 ounces are considered too low. The audit found the percentage of such births jumped from 6.7% in 2014 to 7.3% in 2021, affecting about 30,000 infants. (2/20)

Los Angeles Times: Your Air Quality May Be More Dangerous Than Your Phone Is Telling You. The EPA Is Fine With That 
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent adoption of a more stringent annual limit on fine particulate matter, or soot, fulfills an overdue obligation to curb a pervasive and deadly type of air pollution that triggers asthma, heart attacks, strokes and a host of other health problems. (2/23)

CalMatters: Gavin Newsom Wants To Resolve California's Long Debate Over Mental Health
California’s efforts to care for the mentally ill date back to its admission as a state in 1850. The latest wrinkle is Proposition 1, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s overhaul of mental health services. (Dan Walters, 2/20)

CalMatters: California's Chief Plan For Seniors Overlooks The Realities Rural Families Face
California’s latest Master Plan for Aging commendably underscore the need for policies to address the challenges aging populations face. But it fails to portray the realities for older adults in rural, low-income areas, who are at greater risk of poverty and homelessness. (Sarah Ramirez, 2/20)

San Francisco Chronicle: Death Of Nonbinary Oklahoma Student Shows Us Who Isn’t Safe In School
Last week, a family buried their nonbinary child, Nex Benedict, who died after being brutally beaten in the girls’ bathroom at their high school in Oklahoma. According to their mother, 16-year-old Benedict had been bullied relentlessly for a year leading up to the incident, in which a group of peers ganged up on them and a trans student. It’s a horrific case and one that is inseparable from its context amid a climate of seemingly unceasing anti-LGBT demonization in the state and the nation. (Soleil Ho, 2/21)