San Francisco Chronicle: California Rejects CDC, Backs Medical Groups On COVID Vaccines
In a break from the past, California is endorsing COVID-19 vaccine recommendations from national medical professional organizations rather than federal health officials. State public health departments typically adopt vaccine recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which takes their cues from a scientific advisory panel composed of experts who specialize in vaccines and infectious diseases. But the last several months have been marked by unprecedented, troubling and at times confusing restrictions to COVID vaccine access. (Ho, 9/9)

MedPage Today: Physicians Group Recommends All Adults Get A COVID Booster
The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) split with federal health officials and recommended that all U.S. adults get an updated COVID-19 vaccine for the upcoming respiratory virus season. In particular, people 65 years or older, those at increased risk for severe outcomes, and anyone who has never received a COVID-19 shot before should be prioritized for vaccination, AAFP said. (Rudd, 9/9)

Los Angeles Times: California’s School Vaccine Mandate Could Soon Come Under Threat By Trump
A series of federal actions aimed at pressuring states to allow parents to opt out of school vaccine mandates for religious or personal reasons threatens to undermine California’s ironclad ban on such exemptions. ... The law is credited with bringing California’s rate of kindergartners vaccinated against the measles to 96.1% in the 2024-25 school year, up from 92.6% in 2014-15, even as the national rate declined. California is one of just 10 states with a kindergarten measles vaccination rate that exceeds the 95% threshold experts say is needed to achieve herd immunity. (Gold, 9/10)

San Francisco Chronicle: How To Navigate COVID Vaccine Chaos In California
Just weeks after the federal government dramatically reduced eligibility for COVID-19 vaccinations, people trying to get an updated booster shot in California are reporting confusion and frustration, with access, policies and availability all over the map. (Roy, 9/10)

The Wall Street Journal: Health Officials Hunt For Cases Connecting Covid Shot And Harm In Pregnant Women
Top health officials under Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are compiling examples of harmful effects of Covid shots on pregnant women to share with the public, people familiar with the matter said, furthering the administration’s scrutiny of vaccines and a debate with GOP lawmakers over their efficacy. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary and one of his top deputies, vaccines chief Vinay Prasad, are seeking to waive privacy protections around certain data on Covid vaccines and pregnant women, people familiar with the matter said. (Essley Whyte, 9/9)

CIDRAP: Pfizer Reports Strong Phase 3 Clinical Data For 2025-26 COVID Vaccine
Yesterday Pfizer and BioNTech reported phase 3 clinical trial data for their updated COVID vaccine, Comirnaty. That vaccine is authorized for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for seniors 65 and older and for younger adults with at least one underlying health condition. The data show at least a fourfold increase in neutralizing antibodies, reinforcing preclinical data, and Pfizer has submitted these data to the FDA. (Soucheray, 9/9)

CNN: US Death Rate Dropped Back To Pre-Covid Levels In 2024, CDC Report Says 
The death rate in the United States returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2024 as Covid-19 fell out of the top 10 leading causes of death, according to a report published Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (McPhillips, 9/10)

Los Angeles Times: MAHA Child Health Report Ignores Gun Violence, The Leading Cause Of Child Death
The Make America Healthy Again Commission, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has released its Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy, a 20-page report the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services described as a “sweeping plan” to “reverse the failed policies that fueled America’s childhood chronic disease epidemic.” In a meeting livestreamed Tuesday from the department’s headquarters, MAHA commission members ticked through ways the U.S. will tackle poor diet, chemical exposures, excess prescription medications and the toxic combination of too much stress and too little physical activity — the four primary threats to child health the commission identified in May. Absent from the document was any mention of guns, the leading cause of death for people under the age of 18. (Purtill, 9/9)

AP: RFK Jr.'s New Report Calls For More Scrutiny Of Vaccines And Autism
The Trump administration directed the nation’s public health and environmental agencies to prioritize investigations into vaccine injuries, prescription drug use and autism’s causes in its latest “Make America Healthy Again” report released Tuesday. The 20-page report, overseen by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., echoes many of the talking points Kennedy and those in his wide-ranging and politically diverse “MAHA” movement have united around. (Seitz, 9/10)

The New York Times: Read The MAHA Strategy Report
A report from the White House outlines strategies to combat childhood chronic disease and attempts to set a MAHA agenda for the country. (9/9)

The 19th: The EPA Ended Her Research Into How Climate Change Endangers Children
Jane Clougherty has dedicated the majority of her professional life to researching the health effects of air pollution and, more recently, extreme heat. But in May, she got an email from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that ground her potentially life-saving work to a halt. (Kutz, 9/9)

Bay Area News Group: Downtown Streets Team To End Homeless Outreach Efforts Across Bay Area
A Bay Area nonprofit that helps homeless people across the region find jobs and housing in exchange for volunteering to clean up local streets is abruptly shutting down, citing a loss of millions of dollars in public funding amid a financial and political environment that has “shifted dramatically in recent months.” (Varian, 9/9)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Homelessness Is Down In Sonoma County, But Officials Worry Funding Cuts Could Jeopardize Efforts
Sonoma County homeless officials are keeping an anxious eye on looming federal budget deliberations that could bring cuts to critical local programs, including housing vouchers. (Murphy, 9/9)

San Francisco Chronicle: What It's Like Inside S.F.'s First-Ever Sober Homeless Shelter
Gary Noakes has spent the last few years bouncing between a handful of San Francisco homeless shelters — and he has unsettling stories to tell about each of them. A bunkmate smoked fentanyl next to him in the middle of the night. Guests started brawls. Dirty bathrooms were strewn with feces and discarded needles. So when Noakes, a 43-year-old recovering fentanyl and methamphetamine user, was offered a room in the city’s first-ever sober shelter, he was glad to have a new place to seek refuge. (Angst, 9/10)

CBS8: West Nile Virus Found In San Diego's City Heights And Skyline Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes collected recently in routine monitoring in the City Heights and Skyline neighborhoods have tested positive for West Nile virus, San Diego County announced Monday. To help reduce mosquito activity in the neighborhoods, the County’s Vector Control program will be inspecting and treating mosquito breeding sites and conducting follow-up mosquito trapping in the areas. (Sheets, 9/9)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego County OKs Studies, Money For Tijuana River Valley Sewage Crisis
The Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a policy package Tuesday that aims to study and alleviate the Tijuana River Valley sewage crisis, even as a recent pact between the Trump administration and Mexico vows a “permanent 100% solution” by 2027. (Robinson, 9/9)

CalMatters: The Rotten Egg Smell At The Salton Sea Could Be Making People Sick
Residents around the Salton Sea have long complained of respiratory ailments from particulate pollution that wafts from its shoreline. Now UCLA researchers have identified another air pollutant that could be sickening people in communities near the inland lake: hydrogen sulfide. That’s a gas from decaying, organic matter that produces a rotten egg smell and is associated with eye irritation, headaches, nausea and other symptoms. In a pair of reports released last week, the Latino Policy & Politics Institute at UCLA described how algal blooms produce the gas in the water, and how it wafts across nearby neighborhoods. (Brennan, 9/10)

The New York Times: Scientists Begin Testing Bird Flu Vaccine In Seals
Wildlife veterinarians have begun testing bird flu vaccines in marine mammals, which have suffered enormous losses in the ongoing global outbreak. The first trial, which began in July, is tiny, enrolling just six northern elephant seals that were already being rehabilitated at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, Calif. But if the results are promising, the researchers hope to quickly begin vaccinating wild Hawaiian monk seals, an endangered species that they fear could be wiped out by the virus. (Anthes, 9/9)

Los Angeles Times: How Exposure To Noise And Heat Affects Your Brain
A pioneering study seeks to figure out how a combination of high heat and loud noise impacts the brains and health of L.A. residents. Blanca Lucio likes to spend her mornings tending to her zucchinis, cucumbers, watermelons and traditional Mexican herbs at a small community garden near downtown Los Angeles. With its cool, damp air, the garden brims with what Lucio calls “magic.” The only sound comes from green June bugs buzzing by her ears and children playing at the community center across the street. (Beason, 9/9)

Becker's Hospital Review: Duke Health's CEO To Join Kaiser Permanente
Craig Albanese, MD, is leaving Durham, N.C.-based Duke University Health System to join Kaiser Permanente. ... At Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, Dr. Albanese will serve as president of integrated care and coverage. He will begin his new role Sept. 29, and lead day-to-day operations for the integrated healthcare system, reporting directly to Greg Adams, chair and CEO. He will oversee market presidents, hospital operations, continuum services, pharmacy, human resources, labor strategy and consumer experience. (Dyrda, 9/9)

Becker's Hospital Review: 2 Cedars-Sinai Hospitals To Roll Out AI-Driven Documentation Platform
Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai will implement an AI-powered documentation platform from health tech company Regard at two of its hospitals to support clinicians and streamline diagnosis. The health system began working with Regard in 2017 through its startup accelerator program and later invested in the company’s Series B financing round via Cedars-Sinai Health Ventures. Since then, Cedars-Sinai has licensed the platform to assist physicians, nurses and revenue cycle staff by reducing manual chart review and note writing. (Jeffries, 9/9)

Voice of OC: OCFA Chief Alleges Unfairness In Ambulance Contract Bid
The leader of Orange County’s biggest fire department is calling to change how the county runs its ambulances, asking county leaders to get rid of their private ambulance contractor and alleging they stacked the deck against him during contract negotiations. It comes after OC Supervisors rejected calls from the Orange County Fire Authority to let the agency take over 911 calls for half of the county and instead let Falck handle the calls. (Biesiada, 9/9)

Modern Healthcare: CMS Drops Medicare Advantage Unused Benefits Notification Policy
Medicare Advantage carriers will not be required to remind members about unused supplemental benefits, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services notified insurers Monday. CMS will not enforce the mandate “while it reconsiders the regulatory requirements,” the agency wrote in a memo to health insurance companies. The policy was scheduled to take effect next year. (Tong, 9/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Executive Action Cracks Down On Pharmaceutical Ads
President Trump on Tuesday signed an executive action calling for stepped-up federal enforcement of rules for pharmaceutical ads. Here’s what to know: In conjunction with the action, the Food and Drug Administration said it is sending thousands of enforcement letters to drugmakers related to misleading ads. In addition, the Department of Health and Human Services is planning to close what the administration sees as a loophole allowing certain broadcast ads to give abbreviated descriptions of drug side effects. (Essley Whyte, Andrews and Lukpat, 9/9)

Modern Healthcare: 340B Drug Spending Rose 565% From 2010-2021, CBO Reports
Spending on prescription medications under the 340B Drug Pricing Program grew more than sixfold from 2010 to 2021, according to a report the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office published Tuesday. Safety-net providers participating in 340B spent $43.9 billion on covered drugs in 2021, a 565% increase from $6.6 billion in 2010, the legislative branch agency reported. The findings are limited to the 90% of 340B providers that use the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Prime Vendor Program. (Early, 9/9)

Bloomberg: Hims To Launch New Offerings For Men With Low Testosterone
Hims & Hers Health Inc. plans to launch offerings for men with low testosterone on Wednesday, marking the telehealth company’s long-awaited move into the fast-growing hormonal health category. The offerings expand Hims’ core sexual health franchise amid a slowdown in weight-loss drug sales that has dragged on its stock price in recent months. (Muller, 9/10)

The Bay Area Reporter: Advocates Rally In DC To Save HIV Funding
Nearly 100 advocates recently rallied on Capitol Hill to protest pending cuts to HIV prevention, services, and research in the United States and worldwide. Displaying panels from an AIDS activist quilt submitted by organizations from the Bay Area and across the country, the activists called on lawmakers to save HIV funding. “We refuse to be silent in the face of attacks to programs our communities rely on,” Ande Stone, director of community mobilization and policy at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, told the Bay Area Reporter. (Highleyman, 9/9)

CNN: Marijuana May Cause Chromosomal Defects In Human Egg Cells, Study Finds 
Marijuana may damage oocytes — unfertilized eggs in female ovaries — in ways researchers worry may lead to infertility, miscarriage and possible genetic defects in babies, new research has found. (LaMotte, 9/9)