SF Gate: Calif. Says Catholic Hospital's Abortion Policy 'Endangers' Patients
The California Attorney General’s Office is challenging a rural Catholic hospital’s assertion that emergency abortion requirements violate its religious freedom. In recently filed court documents, the state argues that Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Humboldt County “endangers the safety of its patients” by refusing to provide emergency abortion care. This latest move by the office of Attorney General Rob Bonta stems from a lawsuit filed by the state in September on behalf of a Humboldt County woman who says she was denied a medically necessary abortion by St. Joseph after a pregnancy loss. The denial of care endangered her life, the lawsuit states. (LaFever, 2/11)

San Francisco Chronicle: UCSF Benioff Hospital Sued Over Minority Internship Program
The conservative Pacific Legal Foundation has sued UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland over an internship program for minority high school students, alleging the program violates state and federal laws because it bases eligibility on race. The suit, filed Tuesday in federal court in Oakland, also names the UC Board of Regents as a defendant. It was filed on behalf of a 15-year-old Berkeley High School student, identified only as G.H., who applied for the program and was rejected. The student is white. (Ho, 2/11)

Becker's Hospital Review: MemorialCare Launches Pediatric Care Network
Long Beach, Calif.-based Miller Children's & Women's Hospital, part of MemorialCare Health System of Fountain Valley, Calif., is launching a network to provide primary and specialty pediatric care. The Miller Children's Care Network integrates pediatricians and specialists to improve quality, access and value of healthcare to patients in South Los Angeles and North Orange County. The network looks to foster strong partnerships between primary care and specialist pediatricians to create a unified approach to healthcare. (Taylor, 2/12)

Becker's Hospital Review: Shuttered California Hospital Steps Closer To Reopening
A California hospital that closed in 2023 is nearing reopening, CEO Steve Sark announced Feb. 9. In a Facebook video, Mr. Stark said Madera (Calif.) Community Hospital expects the state Department of Public Health to complete a survey assessing its readiness to care for patients. He anticipates the survey will last about a week and will review policies and procedures, facilities, employee files, supplies and equipment. (Gooch, 2/11)

Becker's Hospital Review: UC San Diego Health's 10-Year Strategy For Patient Experience
UC San Diego Health credits its "leading the way" framework with "[e]levating patient experiences during the most vulnerable moments of their lives." Positive patient experiences can speed recovery and improve health outcomes, the National Institutes of Health and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found, according to a Feb. 10 report featured in Discoveries, the system's health sciences magazine. (Taylor, 2/11)

San Francisco Chronicle: Canned Tuna Recalled Due To Botulism Contamination Risk
A widespread recall of canned tuna products from El Segundo-based Tri-Union Seafoods has been issued due to potential contamination with Clostridium botulinum, a bacteria that can cause the life-threatening illness botulism. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the recall Monday, affecting several major brands, including Genova, Van Camp’s, H-E-B and Trader Joe’s. These products were sold across various states at retailers such as Costco and Trader Joe’s. (Vaziri, 2/11)

San Francisco Chronicle: Trader Joe’s And Costco Restrict Egg Purchases Due To Avian Flu
Trader Joe’s and Costco are the latest major retailers to impose nationwide limits on egg purchases in response to supply chain disruptions caused by the ongoing avian flu crisis. ... The bird flu has already impacted at least 23 million birds in the past 30 days, according to USDA data, contributing to the shortage. (Vaziri, 2/11)

Berkeleyside: Know Your Deadly Mushrooms This Rainy Season
Mycologists and mushroom foragers rejoice in the rainy season as it’s when many of their favorite species can be found. But some can be deadly and so, as it does every year around this time, the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) is warning of the danger posed by toxic mushrooms. Two of the world’s deadliest types of shrooms thrive in the East Bay: the Amanita phalloides (death cap) and the Amanita ocreata (Western destroying angel). Both ... contain amatoxin, a lethal chemical compound that causes liver failure. Symptoms of mushroom poisoning typically appear around 12 hours after consumption. (Kwok, 2/11)

Los Angeles Times: Worst Flu Season In Years Swamps California. What About RSV? COVID?
The worst flu season in years is swamping California, prompting a renewed surge in hospitalizations as officials warn the disease could continue circulating at high levels for weeks to come. By one measure, this season has already been more potent than any seen since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, according to data from the California Department of Public Health. The rate at which flu tests returned positive results at the state’s clinical sentinel labs surged to 27.8% for the week ending Feb. 1, the most recent for which complete data are available. (Lin II, 2/11)

CBS News: U.S. Records Most Whooping Cough Deaths Since 2017
The U.S. confirmed at least a dozen deaths from whooping cough last year, according to preliminary figures released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That marks the most fatalities from the bacterial infection since a 2017 surge of the illness, which is also known as pertussis. (Tin, 2/11)

Bay Area News Group: Contra Costa County Health: "We Got Lucky" With Martinez Refinery Fire
A fire at Martinez Refining Company on Feb. 1 released chemicals that can cause cancer and heart and lung disease, but strong winds pushed most of the hazardous smoke away from populated areas, according to Contra Costa County Health Services. (Hunter, 2/12)

Los Angeles Times: Tesla Fined For ‘Serious’ Heat Violation At Freemont Plant 
Tesla has been fined for violating California’s workplace heat protection rules at its Fremont plant. (Hussain, 2/12)

CalMatters: Prop. 36 Promised ‘Mass Treatment’ For Drug Offenses. Some Counties Aren’t Ready 
It’s been three months since California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 36, a new law that pledged to provide “mass treatment” for those facing certain drug charges. But since the law took effect on Dec. 18, some counties are scrambling to fulfill that promise. (Mihalovich, 2/11)

Modesto Bee: Stanislaus Agencies Warn Fentanyl Contains Toxic Chemical
Another chemical agent is showing up in fentanyl sold on the streets. It’s a toxic industrial chemical used to increase the amount of fentanyl sold to unwary users, authorities said. The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office and other agencies released a health alert Tuesday for an industrial chemical known as BTMPS, which is being mixed with fentanyl to increase sales volume. (Carlson, 2/11)

San Francisco Chronicle: How Trump Deportation Agenda Could Worsen California’s Housing Crisis
Day laborers — a majority of whom are undocumented and Latino — make themselves available for construction and other manual labor gigs by waiting in public spaces like street corners, gas stations and in the parking lots of home improvement stores. But since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, immigrant-rights activists say day laborers around the country are thinking twice about looking for work or returning to job sites because of a mass deportation agenda that is picking up steam. ... The workforce withdrawal could exacerbate a national labor shortage and worsen a dire housing shortage, say labor experts. (Flores, 2/12)

Voice of OC: Fullerton Considers Cracking Down On Homeless Camps
Fullerton is the latest Orange County city to look at tightening anti-camping policies in light of a Supreme Court decision that made it legal for cities to cite and arrest people sleeping on sidewalks and parks even if no shelter beds are available. Previously, it was unlawful for a person to be punished for sleeping on public property unless the city had a certain number of shelter beds. (Wilson, 2/11)

NPR: Judge Orders HHS, CDC And FDA To Restore Webpages And Data
A federal judge has ordered federal health agencies to restore websites and datasets that were abruptly pulled down beginning in late January, prompting an outcry from medical and public health communities. The temporary restraining order was granted in response to a lawsuit filed against the federal government by Doctors for America (DFA), a progressive advocacy group representing physicians, and the nonprofit Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group. (Stone, 2/11)

Los Angeles Times: Appeals Court Won't Halt Judge’s Order That Trump Unfreeze Federal Cash
A federal appeals court on Tuesday refused to immediately halt a judge’s order requiring the Trump administration to release billions of dollars in federal grants and loans that remain frozen even after a court blocked a sweeping pause on federal funding. The Boston-based U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals turned back the emergency appeal, though it said it expected the lower court judge to act quickly to clarify his order and would keep considering the issue. (Whitehurst, 2/11)

Bay Area News Group: If President Trump Gets His Federal Funding Freeze, Here’s The One Thing In Santa Clara County That Will Be Hit The Hardest 
As questions continue over whether President Donald Trump can implement a federal funding freeze, a new report from Santa Clara County estimates that roughly $3.6 billion, or nearly 30%, of the county’s current budget comes from the feds. The report also shows where the county will be hit the hardest if that funding were to disappear, as 80 percent of the total money Santa Clara County gets from the federal government goes to a single purpose: health care. (Hase, 2/12)

Times of San Diego: Rep. Sara Jacobs Introduces Legislation To Protect USAID
A group of House Democrats led by California Rep. Sara Jacobs introduced legislation Tuesday to protect the U.S. Agency for International Development against efforts by the Trump administration to dismantle it. The Protect U.S. National Security Act was introduced in order to ensure that any USAID reform abides by existing laws and “maintains American soft power abroad,” according to the language of the bill. (Caspers, 2/11)

Stat: As Outcry Builds Over Trump Cuts To NIH Payments, Drugmakers Are MIA
For decades, academic scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health conducted research into the function of a lung protein that is genetically altered in people with cystic fibrosis. The foundational scientific discoveries eventually led Vertex Pharmaceuticals to develop and win approval for the first medicines to treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis. Those medicines have transformed the lives of people living with the disease and turned Vertex into one of the world’s largest and most valuable drug companies. (Feuerstein, 2/11)

Military.Com: What's In Store For VA Disability Benefits With New Office Of Management And Budget Chief?
During his confirmation hearing Jan. 21, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins pledged to preserve veterans benefits and not "balance the budgets on the backs of veterans." But the confirmation of Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, who contributed to two conservative playbooks that support significant changes to VA disability benefits, has put veterans service organizations on guard against any potential shifts in VA compensation. (Kime, 2/11)

MedPage Today: Trump's NIH Pick Co-Founded New Journal 
A new journal purports to improve the publishing process through open access and public peer review, but it was co-founded by researchers who challenged the U.S. response to COVID-19 -- including President Trump's pick to lead the NIH, Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD. Bhattacharya and Martin Kulldorff, PhD, have founded the Journal of the Academy of Public Health, where "good scientists can publish whatever their studies conclude," Kulldorff said in a post on X. (Fiore, 2/11)