Bay Area News Group: See How Covid Deaths Are Plummeting This Spring In California And The US
The number of COVID deaths continues to fall in California and the rest of the country, dropping 65% in the last three months in the Golden State, another sign that the virus is losing its grip on our lives. (Rowan, 4/28)

Bay Area News Group: Maker Of Fast COVID Tests Chops Hundred Of Bay Area Jobs
A maker of rapid coronavirus tests has revealed plans to chop hundreds of jobs in the Bay Area, a grim disclosure that suggests tech and biotech layoffs in the region have yet to run their course. Cepheid, a medical devices and biotech company, has told state labor officials that it has decided to cut 625 positions in the Bay Area, according to official government filings. (Avalos, 4/27)

Los Angeles Times: COVID Detected In California Mule Deer, First Wild Case Here
California wildlife officials have confirmed the state’s first case of COVID-19 in a wild animal, detected in a mule deer killed in 2021 in El Dorado County. The coronavirus has been confirmed in pets and zoo animals, but the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said this is the first case of COVID-19 confirmed in “free-ranging California wildlife,” according to a news release from the agency. (Toohey, 4/27)

The Hill: CDC Relaxes COVID Restrictions For International Travelers 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is relaxing COVID-19 restrictions on international travelers as the national public health emergency is set to expire next month. The CDC said in an update on its website posted Thursday that it will consider anyone who has received a single dose of a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine on or after Aug. 16, 2022, to meet the requirements for boarding an airplane to the United States. (Gans, 4/27)

The Washington Post: California Launches A Tough Plan To Stem Mental Illness, Homelessness 
There are a lot of invisible companions in East Village. They live in the cluttered tents that crowd sidewalks, bunk down beneath highway underpasses and wander perilously in the middle of streets. Paul Thomas has a girlfriend with one, he says, but he is frightened by it. The two share a tent and, at times, the back seat of a banged-up Toyota Avalon. But his girlfriend’s other partner, her imaginary one, is constantly with them. (Wilson, 4/27)

Politico: A New Portrait Of American Teenagers In Crisis 
In 2021, 1 in 5 high school students said they witnessed violence in their communities, and 3.5 percent said they carried a gun. Nearly 9 percent of students said they’d been forced into sex in their life. A third of female students said they had considered suicide in the past year, and over 13 percent said they’d attempted suicide. A sweeping series of surveys of U.S. high school students released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have an urgent message for parents and policymakers: America’s kids are in crisis. (Mahr, 4/27)

The Hill: Percentage Of Teen Girls Considering, Attempting Suicide Rose In Second Year Of Pandemic: CDC
The percentage of teenage girls considering and attempting suicide rose in 2021, a sign of declining mental health during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 30 percent of female students in grades 9-12 seriously considered attempting suicide in 2021, up from 24.1 percent in 2019. The amount of teen girls who made a plan for suicide also rose from 19.9 to 23.6 percent, and the percentage who attempted suicide rose from 11 to 13.3 percent. (Gans, 4/27)

Stat: FDA Warns Of Security Vulnerability In Illumina Sequencing Machines 
The Food and Drug Administration warned health care providers Thursday that a security vulnerability in DNA sequencers made by San Diego-based Illumina could allow unauthorized users to access or alter potentially important medical data. (Herper, 4/27)

USA Today: Mounjaro, Tirzepatide Found Effective For Weight Loss, Eli Lily Says
In a second large study, the drug Mounjaro, now used to treat diabetes, has shown its effectiveness at helping people lose weight. The drug is not yet approved for weight loss, but likely will be later this year, now that two trials have found it effective with similar side effects as other weight loss medications. (Weintraub, 4/27)

Stat: Biden Officials Propose Slate Of Medicaid Transparency Changes
The Biden administration on Thursday rolled out proposals to set national standards for care in Medicaid and children’s health care plans, amid upheaval for millions of Americans’ coverage in both programs. (Owermohle, 4/27)

Axios: Worker Pay, Wait List Transparency Would Be Revealed Under New Biden Administration Medicaid Proposal
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Thursday proposed new reporting rules for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Programs health plans, that would, among other things, set national standards for appointment wait times and require disclosure of provider payment rates. (Dreher, 4/28)

The New York Times: Biden Faces His First Big Choice On Debt Limit
This week’s vote by House Republicans to couple deep spending cuts with an agreement to raise the debt limit for one year has put President Biden on the defensive, forcing him to confront a series of potentially painful choices at a perilous economic moment. Mr. Biden has long maintained that he would not negotiate spending cuts or other efforts to reduce the federal debt as part of discussions over raising the nation’s debt limit, which must be raised in order for the United States to keep borrowing money to pay its bills. (Tankersley, 4/27)

Bay Area Reporter: CA Auditor Slams State Healthy Agency's LGBTQ Data Collection Efforts
The state's auditor has faulted the California Department of Public Health for being sclerotic with its efforts to collect LGBTQ demographics and criticized the agency for having inconsistent policies on how local health officials should be gathering such information. In a report released Thursday, the auditor suggested lawmakers need to take additional legislative steps to address the ongoing issues with the collection of sexual orientation and gender identity data. (Bajko, 4/27)

Bloomberg: California Flavor Ban Drives Down Sales Of Marlboro Maker’s Cigarettes
Altria Group Inc., maker of Marlboro cigarettes, said a ban on flavored tobacco in California is hurting sales more in that state, as consumers turn to the illicit market or add their own menthol to products. (Kary, 4/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Enacts First-In-Nation Crackdown On Train Pollution
When it reached 114 degrees last summer, Sacramento resident Judith Johnson struggled to stay cool. She lives 50 yards from railroad tracks where freight trains often idle for several days straight, she said. Opening the windows would increase the noise and let in the fumes; turning on the air conditioner would still suck in foul air. The accumulating diesel fumes have triggered migraines and a chronic sore throat, and loud booms and hisses from the engines have also disrupted her sleep, Johnson said. (Hao, 4/27)

The Bakersfield Californian: Kern's 3-Year Mental Health Plan Open To Public Comment, Feedback 
Mental health leaders in Kern County have unveiled their draft plan for how they intend to spend and staff local programs for the next three years. And they’re looking for your input. (Donegan, 4/27)

San Diego Union-Tribune: California Medical Board Reforms May Not Go Far Enough As One San Diego Case Illustrates
Operating under a bright spotlight, the Medical Board of California — the agency charged with protecting health care patients through licensing, regulation and oversight of doctors and some other medical workers — is sometimes seen as being more interested in protecting medical professionals than in holding those accused of wrongdoing to account. (4/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: Straight? Your Fertility Treatments Are Covered. Queer? Tough Luck
Kids were always a part of our plans. Immediately after our honeymoon, we found a clinic to begin fertility treatments. After our initial consultation, we were excited and hopeful. Then, we got a call from our insurance provider Aetna saying it wouldn’t cover my treatments because of its infertility policy, which at the time said that a member could get coverage for fertility treatments only “if he or she is unable to conceive or produce conception after 1 year of frequent, unprotected heterosexual sexual intercourse.” (Mara Berton, 4/26)

San Diego Union-Tribune: The Constant Fear Of Gun Violence In Schools Is Affecting Teens' Mental Health
There have been hundreds of school shootings since the Sandy Hook shooting more than 10 years ago, leaving a host of mental health issues and destroyed lives in their wake. While a lot of adults and politicians are debating which guns are the right guns for people to own, too few are addressing the silent victims quietly suffering from anxiety and fear. (Chase Robert Glazier, 4/27)

Los Angeles Times: School Meals Are Laden With Sugar And Sodium. Students Need Healthier Food
Nutritious meals are a key part of helping level the playing field in the educational attainment of lower-income students, especially Latino and Black children. California public schools began offering free meals to all students beginning in the 2022-23 school year in light of rising rates of food insecurity and to destigmatize free school meals. (4/28)

CalMatters: California Could Make It Harder To Flavor Medicine For Kids
For a child struggling to take their medicine, flavoring the medication literally helps make the medicine go down. But recently, the California Board of Pharmacy has created some ambiguity in the regulatory language related to flavoring. This is raising concerns for many pharmacists. (Sonya Frausto, 4/24)

VC Star: California Prison Guards Get A Warning
Few labor groups have more clout in California government than the prison guards union, whose members draw an average annual salary of almost $55,000, not counting their often-copious overtime. (Tom Elias, 4/27)

Orange County Register: How Did Frankie Taylor Overdose In A State-Licensed Addiction Treatment Center?
Today’s story is hard to hear, but terribly important. It’s about Frankie Taylor, who was all of 19 when he overdosed at the Lighthouse Treatment Center in Anaheim. His parents want you to know that Taylor is far more than how he died. The sweet, sensitive type, Taylor loved the stage. He did magic tricks. In fifth grade, delivered a dramatic reading of Rudyard Kipling’s “If,” entirely from memory. Bought an electric guitar 10 days before the school talent show, taught himself to play Johnny Cash/9 Inch Nails’ “Hurt,” and performed it (in black top hat!) to riotous applause. (Teri Sforza, 4/23)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Close To Home: Only A Lawsuit Can Save Petaluma’s Birthing Center
The Petaluma Health Care District has said all the right things when it comes to the imminent closing of Petaluma Valley Hospital’s birthing center. Now, it must take immediate action to prevent Providence from shuttering the center as scheduled on Monday, May 1. (Jim Goerlich and Sal Rosselli, 4/28)