San Diego Union-Tribune: Hospitals Say Hundreds Of Local Patients Waiting To Discharge Over Delayed Health Insurance Approvals 
This week, the California Hospital Association sued Anthem Blue Cross, the state’s largest health insurance company, alleging that the health care giant takes far too long to approve placement in skilled nursing and other sorts of “post-acute” settings, causing an estimated 4,500 Californians to languish in emergency departments and hospital beds “waiting for their insurers to approve and arrange for their discharge.” (Sisson, 4/29)

Modern Healthcare: Kaiser, Aetna To Cover Wegovy For Medicare Advantage Enrollees
Medicare Advantage insurers are weighing coverage of pricey new anti-obesity drugs after federal regulators last month announced traditional Medicare would cover Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy for patients with heart disease. Kaiser Permanente’s Kaiser Health Plan and CVS Health’s Aetna will cover Wegovy for eligible Medicare Advantage enrollees, companies’ spokespeople confirmed in emailed statements. (Tepper, 4/26)

Bloomberg: Kaiser Permanente May Have Sent Private Patient Data To Google, Microsoft And X
Oakland-based health plan Kaiser Permanente said its websites and apps may have inappropriately sent members’ private information to tech giants including Alphabet Inc., Microsoft Corp. and the social media company X. (Tozzi, 4/29)

Fierce Healthcare: FTC Finalizes Changes To Health Breach Notification Rule
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) finalized a rule Friday that aims to tighten the reins on digital health apps sharing consumers' sensitive medical data with tech companies. The agency issued a final version of its revised Health Breach Notification Rule to underscore the rule’s applicability to health apps in a bid to protect consumers' data privacy and provide more transparency about how companies collect their health information. (Landi, 4/26)

Fresno Bee: Fresno County's Neediest Residents May See Welfare Programs Cut In California Budget Deficit
In light of a $58 billion budget deficit, Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed $41.9 million in cuts to CalWORKs. Locally, the program helps 50,654 residents annually with a staff of over 2,600. (Castanos, 4/26)

CalMatters: Are California Police Missing Domestic Violence Murders? New Bill Would Let Families Review Cases 
Ashby’s bill would give parents, siblings or the domestic violence victim’s children the right to obtain photos taken during a coroner’s investigation into a death declared a suicide, so that they can have them for an independent review of the case. (Sabalow, 4/28)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: State Report On Sonoma County Avian Flu Outbreak Targets Biosecurity Breaches As Possible Culprit 
A newly published state investigation into Sonoma County’s avian flu outbreak cites a number of farm management practices that might have enabled spread of the virus this winter — and raises the possibility animal welfare activists introduced the deadly pathogen during incursions onto two bird farms in October and November. (Barber, 4/26)

Reuters: Bird Flu: US Tests Show Pasteurized Milk Is Safe
Additional tests of milk showed that pasteurization killed the bird flu virus, federal health officials said on Friday, as Colorado became the ninth U.S. state to report an infected dairy herd. Federal lawmakers urged the Biden administration to further contain the virus' spread as tests showed one in five U.S. commercial milk samples contained remnants of the virus, suggesting the outbreak is more widespread than previously thought. (Steenhuysen and Polansek, 4/26)

Stat: H5N1 Bird Flu Testing In Cows Will Be More Limited Than USDA Said 
New federal rules aimed at limiting the spread of the H5N1 bird flu virus among dairy cattle go into effect Monday, but detailed guidance documents released Friday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture reveal its mandatory testing order is less stringent than initially described. (Molteni, 4/26)

NBC News: Bird Flu Cases Are Likely Being Missed In Dairy Workers, Experts Say
Dr. Barb Petersen, a dairy veterinarian in Amarillo, Texas, had been caring for sick cows for several weeks in March when she and a colleague finally pinned down the cause of the illness among the herd: the H5N1 strain of the bird flu. It was the first time the virus had been detected in cattle. ... During that same time, she said, dairy workers — including those who were never in close contact with the sick cows — also fell ill. (Edwards, 4/27)

Axios: Hospital Reporting Of Respiratory Disease To Lapse
Hospitals starting this week will no longer have to report data on admissions, occupancy and other indicators of possible system stress from respiratory diseases to federal officials as another COVID-era mandate expires. (Bettelheim, 4/29)

CIDRAP: US Respiratory Virus Levels Continue To Decline As Officials Track Shift In SARS-CoV-2 Proportions
Respiratory virus activity continued to decline last week, and though COVID-19 indicators continue to decline, estimates of new variant proportions show some notable shifts in SARS-CoV-2, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its weekly updates today. In its weekly snapshot for flu, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the CDC said no states are reporting high activity. Only one—North Dakota—is reporting moderate activity. (Schnirring, 4/26)

AP: Flu Season Winds Down In US 
The U.S. flu season appears to be over. It was long, but it wasn’t unusually severe. Last week, for the third straight week, medical visits for flu-like illnesses dipped below the threshold for what’s counted as an active flu season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. Other indicators, like hospitalizations and patient testing, also show low and declining activity. No state is reporting a high amount of flu activity. Only New England is seeing the kind of patient traffic associated with an active flu season right now, but even there flu impact is considered modest. (Stobbe, 4/26)

CIDRAP: Long-COVID Patients More Likely To Report Psychiatric Symptoms, Cost Barriers To Therapy 
A study in JAMA Network Open finds that while US adults with long COVID have a higher rate of psychiatric conditions such as depression and anxiety and are just as likely to receive treatment, many cite cost as a reason for not seeking care. A team led by University of British Columbia researchers parsed data on 25,122 US adults with and without long COVID (or post-COVID condition [PCC]) from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey, a nationally representative interview-based survey, from October 2023 to February 2024. (Van Beusekom, 4/26)

CIDRAP: Study Reveals Promising Results For Abatacept For Severe COVID
A new study shows good results in patients with severe COVID-19 for abatacept, an anti-inflammatory immunomodulating drug used to treat psoriatic arthritis, according to findings published yesterday in JAMA Network Open. The study was based on results seen among 395 hospitalized patients in the ACTIV-1 IM randomized clinical trial, designed to assess the efficacy of abatacept, which inhibits T-cell activation, reducing multiple inflammatory cytokines. A previous ACTIV-1 trial showed the drug decreased mortality in hospitalized patients with COVID-19, but optimal dosing of the drug based on body weight is still unknown, the authors said. (Soucheray, 4/26)

CIDRAP: Risk Of Uveitis Recurrence Higher In Year After COVID Vaccination
The incidence of uveitis in the year after COVID-19 was 17% among nearly 474,000 Korean adults with a history of the inflammatory eye condition, according to a report in JAMA Ophthalmology. Uveitis is a potentially serious inflammation of the eye's middle layer of tissue that can cause symptoms such as pain, redness, and blurry vision. (Van Beusekom, 4/26)

CalMatters: Abortion Rights: Beverly Hills Is Showing CA Limits
The billboards popped up in January, looming above busy intersections near the city limits of Beverly Hills, where such advertising is banned. “Los Angeles should be SAFE for abortion seekers,” declared the signs, which depicted a group of four young women of color staring defiantly at passersby. “Fight back against attempts to shut down DuPont Clinic.” Weeks later, at a forum ahead of Beverly Hills’ March city council election, moderator Andrea Grossman pressed the crowded table of candidates about their position on abortion rights. (Koseff, 4/29)

USA Today: Mitch McConnell Says He Doesn't See Path For National Abortion Ban
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-K.Y., said on Sunday that he does not believe a nationwide ban on abortions would pass in his chamber, but McConnell declined to comment on whether he would personally support such a measure. “I don't think we'll get 60 votes in the Senate for any kind of national legislation,” McConnell said on NBC’s “Meet the Press" when asked whether he would back a federal abortion ban if it came to a vote. “It's going to be sorted out at the state level,” McConnell, 82, said. (Waddick, 4/28)

CNN: How Justice Amy Coney Barrett Drove The Supreme Court’s Debate On Abortion And Trump Immunity 
Chief Justice John Roberts may emerge as the pivotal vote in two politically charged cases on abortion and presidential immunity the Supreme Court heard this week, but it was Justice Amy Coney Barrett who owned the arguments. In a pair of high-profile hearings, the 52-year-old former law professor dug into a lawyer defending Idaho’s strict abortion ban – at one point exclaiming she was “shocked” by his explanation of how the law worked in practice. A day later, she nudged an attorney for former President Donald Trump into a series of potentially critical concessions. (Fritze, 4/27)

The Guardian: Junk Science Is Cited In Abortion Ban Cases. Researchers Are Fighting The ‘Fatally Flawed’ Work
The retraction of three peer-reviewed articles prominently cited in court cases on the so-called abortion pill – mifepristone – has put a group of papers by anti-abortion researchers in the scientific limelight. Seventeen sexual and reproductive health researchers are calling for four peer-reviewed studies by anti-abortion researchers to be retracted or amended. The papers, critics contend, are “fatally flawed” and muddy the scientific consensus for courts and lawmakers who lack the scientific training to understand their methodological flaws. (Glenza, 4/28)

The Wall Street Journal: The Tragic Pregnancy Stories Filling The Abortion Campaign Airwaves 
Amanda Zurawski has only opened a box of items she lovingly collected during her pregnancy a few times. The baby book, the blanket, stuffed animals and the tiny clothes reminded her of the harrowing days when she learned her pregnancy wasn’t viable. But last month she volunteered to go through the box, on camera, for a campaign ad on behalf of President Biden. Texas law restricting abortion initially prevented Zurawski, at 18 weeks pregnant, from getting an induction abortion. The 37-year-old contracted a serious infection before eventually delivering a stillborn baby girl. (Lucey, 4/27)

Los Angeles Times: California Weighs Regulations On Herbal Substance Kratom
It comes in greenish powders, capsules and extracts, and is readily found in smoke shops and online. Some say they use it for an energy boost or as a mood lifter. Others seek relief from pain. It can act both as a stimulant and as a sedative. Doctors have warned that in some cases, it has spurred seizures or vomiting, and the Drug Enforcement Administration categorizes it among its “drugs of concern.” (Alpert Reyes, 4/29)

The Washington Post: Agony Over Ecstasy: FDA Bid Shows It’s Hard To Test Psychedelics
The first attempt to win government approval of a psychedelic drug for mental health treatment is generating skepticism about its clinical trials, a case that reveals the unique challenges of bringing mind-altering, illegal drugs into mainstream medical care. A recent independent analysis questioned the integrity of patient studies that are being used to support the Food and Drug Administration application for MDMA — also known under the street name ecstasy — to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, citing a host of problems. (Ovalle and Gilbert, 4/27)

The Washington Post: Study Looks At Teens Who Deny Suicidal Thoughts, But Later Die By Suicide 
Nearly 1 in 3 teens with depression who deny having thoughts of suicide or self-harm on a commonly used mental health screening questionnaire go on to kill or harm themselves in the following months, a new analysis suggests. The study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, looked at 13-to-17-year-olds with depression diagnoses who answered Question 9 of the Personal Health Questionnaire (PHQ), which is used to screen for depression severity, before intentionally harming or killing themselves between 2009 and 2017. (Blakemore, 4/28)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: New Rehab Center In Santa Rosa Will Bolster Local Options For Drug And Alcohol Treatment
The county’s largest provider of drug and alcohol treatment services for low-income residents is to reopen a drug addiction recovery and detox center in Santa Rosa, restoring a key element to the landscape of addiction services in Sonoma County and also adding a new component. (Hay, 4/26)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Parents, Physicians Raise Fentanyl Awareness At Napa Valley Film Screening, Discussion
When Dr. Colleen Townsend told the audience at a fentanyl education forum that she now gives an opioid-overdose antidote as a high school graduation gift, there was a round of appreciative applause. (Benefield, 4/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: Fentanyl Overdoses Hit A Surprising Group Of San Franciscans: Dogs
The first time Brandy Martin used the overdose-reversing nose spray Narcan on her bulldog, Jack, he was just 4 months old, she said. Martin, 43, said she brought Jack to a friend’s apartment and the dog licked a piece of the tinfoil that her friend was using to smoke the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl. Jack’s body went limp in Martin’s arms, she said, and it took three rounds of Narcan before he became alert and began moving again. (Angst, 4/27)

Modesto Bee: Modesto-Area Authorities Work To Stop Illegal Cannabis
Black-market marijuana in Stanislaus County is a multimillion-dollar industry, with customers coast to coast. There’s a growing suspicion among some that customers include local, legal dispensaries, but it’s difficult to substantiate the theory. The way legal marijuana is tracked and traced, from seed to sale, is all through software designed to monitor legal weed specifically. The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office’s focus is on disrupting illegal grows, not on inspections and oversight of dispensaries. (Morgan, 4/29)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Face Shields, Dry Suits, Showers: Lifeguards In South County Adapt To Persistent Sewage Contamination 
Coronado lifeguards use leak-proof dry suits for open water rescues. Imperial Beach lifeguards decontaminate in showers after leaving the ocean. And both have ditched jet skis for the protection offered by boats. These aren’t new equipment standards. (Murga, 4/28)

The Desert Sun: Cancer Support Community Brings Education And Care To Palm Springs
After supporting patients in Los Angeles for 40 years, Cancer Support Community (CSC) has recently expanded to Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley. Providing free social, emotional and mental support for cancer patients and their families, CSC provides accessible and equitable care to all with tailored offerings for the communities, including LGBTQ+ people, Spanish-speaking individuals and older adults. (Stephen-Smith, 4/26)

CBS San Francisco: California Health Officials Issue Warning About Raw Oysters From Korea Over Norovirus 
The California Department of Public Health issued a warning to distributors and retailers to not sell raw oysters from a Korean company over a potential link to norovirus cases. In a statement posted Friday, health officials said the oysters in question are from JBR Inc., a company based in Tongyeongsi, South Korea. Officials said the oysters are likely connected to at least 33 confirmed and probable cases of norovirus reported among patrons who ate at three restaurants in San Diego County in late March and April. (Fang, 4/26)

Times of San Diego: Living To 100: What Residents Of The World's 'Blue Zones' Do Differently
Due to the aging population and the increasing prevalence of chronic disease here in the U.S., people are yearning to know what they can do to make a difference not just in our lifespan but also our health span, which are the years of future mental and physical health. They are seeking solutions that are basically free, and free from side effects, and that have been proven in diverse populations around the world. One philosophy that has shown to provide true health benefits is garnering more and more attention: following a lifestyle similar to those who live in a “blue zone.” (Hardisty, 4/28)