Los Angeles Times: Monterey Park Restaurant Patrons May Have Been Exposed To Hepatitis A
L.A. County health officials are warning that some diners at a Monterey Park restaurant may have been exposed to hepatitis A. An employee at a Buffalo Wild Wings in the city was found to be infected with the highly contagious liver infection, the county Department of Public Health said in a release Wednesday. Customers who ate at the restaurant at 4000 Market Place Drive in Monterey Park between Nov. 13 and 22 might have been exposed and should receive a hepatitis A vaccine if they are not already immunized, health officials said. (McDonald, 11/27)

Los Angeles Times: Elevated Radiation Detected At Former Bay Area Landfill Turned Art Park
State-ordered environmental testing has uncovered elevated levels of cancer-causing radiation at a popular spot for hikers and dog walkers in the Bay Area, according to a new report. Over the summer, the city of Albany hired hazardous waste specialists with Cabrera Services Inc. to survey for the presence of radioactive waste at the Albany Bulb, a former municipal landfill for construction debris that now features scenic hiking trails and a sprawling collection of outdoor art. (Briscoe, 12/2)

Los Angeles Times: Fresno County Woman Dies After Bitten By Rabid Bat In Classroom
A Fresno County woman died after being bitten by a rabid bat in the middle school classroom where she taught art, according to public health officials and published reports. The Fresno County Department of Public Health reported last week that a county resident had died from rabies after being bitten by a bat in Merced County. Health officials did not name the victim, but friends identified her as Leah Seneng, 60, an art teacher at Bryant Middle School in the small Merced County city of Dos Palos, according to reports in the Fresno Bee and KFSN-TV. (Ormseth, 12/1)

NBC News: Cucumbers Recalled In 26 States Over Possible Salmonella Contamination
An Arizona produce company is recalling all sizes of its whole, fresh American cucumbers in California and 25 other states because they could be contaminated with salmonella, it said. SunFed said in an announcement posted online Thursday by the Food and Drug Administration that cucumbers it sold from Oct. 12 to Nov. 26 were recalled because of the potential contamination, which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. (Rudy, 11/29)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Flu, RSV Trending Upward And COVID Remains Flat As Holiday Season Arrives 
Coronavirus cases have been flat locally, likely due to the outsized surge that occurred this past summer, but the flu appears to be ramping up on its traditional trajectory, indicating that the latest spike of cases will be seen in late December and early January. (Sisson, 11/28)

Bay Area News Group: Bay Area Commemorates World AIDS Day 
From a candlelight vigil in San Jose to a lakeside celebration in Oakland, Bay Area communities are coming together to honor those who lost their lives to AIDS and the continued progress to overcome the disease as part of World AIDS Day. (Lopez, 12/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: World AIDS Day: SF Castro Sidewalk Art Project Memorializes Lives Lost
Armed with a wagon full of chalk, a laminated list of names and a set of kneepads, Mark Morgan sat hunched on the sidewalk in San Francisco’s Castro district on Sunday, writing the names of hundreds of Bay Area residents who died during the AIDS epidemic beginning in the 1980s. Last year, in honor of World AIDS Day, the 67-year-old covered a city block with names that began with the letter “A.” (Mishanec, 12/1)

ABC News: Emotional Bidens Commemorate World AIDS Day At The White House 
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden held an emotional commemoration for World AIDS Day at the White House on Sunday, expressing empathy with families who have lost loved ones and telling them they “felt a special obligation to use this sacred place to ensure everyone is seen.” Behind the Bidens, a giant red ribbon hung on the South Portico and the AIDS Memorial Quilt was placed across the South Lawn. The quilt now with 50,000 panels with 110,000 names and weighs 54 tons. This was the first time it has been displayed on the lawn. (Gomez, 12/1)

The Hill: Joe Biden Decries 'Stigma' And 'Misinformation' On World AIDS Day
President Biden called for a fight against “stigma” and “misinformation” on World AIDS Day in remarks at the White House. “We stand united in the fight against this epidemic,” Biden said Sunday. “It matters, it matters. … I remember as senator, when this epidemic was raging, the stigma, the misinformation, the government failing to act and acknowledge the dignity of [LGBTQ] lives and the seriousness of the AIDS epidemic.” ... “It caused serious harm,” the president said Sunday of the government’s inaction at the time. “It compounded pain and trauma for a community watching a generation of loved ones and friends perish. It was horribly, horribly wrong.” (Suter, 12/1)

The New York Times: A. Cornelius Baker, Champion Of H.I.V. Testing, Dies At 63 
A. Cornelius Baker, who spent nearly 40 years working with urgency and compassion to improve the lives of people with H.I.V. and AIDS by promoting testing, securing federal funding for research and pushing for a vaccine, died on Nov. 8 at his home in Washington. He was 63. Gregory Nevins, his companion, said the cause was hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Mr. Baker — who was gay and who tested positive for H.I.V. — became active in Washington in the 1980s, during the early years of the AIDS epidemic. (Sandomir, 11/30)

Los Angeles Times: Is The Supreme Court About To Let Red States Ban Hormone Treatment For Transgender Teens?
The conservative Supreme Court is poised to leap into another culture-war battle between red states and blue states, this time involving medical rights of transgender teens and their parents. Two years after the conservative majority overturned national abortion rights, the justices will hear arguments Wednesday over whether states may ban hormone treatment and puberty blockers for adolescents suffering from gender dysphoria. (Savage, 12/2)

CNN: In Transgender Care Case, Supreme Court To Consider How Far Equal Protection Goes
When the Supreme Court hears an appeal Wednesday from transgender youths challenging a Tennessee ban on their medical care, fundamental principles forbidding sex discrimination will be on the line. The justices’ view of whether landmark decisions tracing back a half-century apply to transgender rights will affect more than the access of young people to puberty blockers and hormone treatments. At the case’s core is the crucial question of how much judicial scrutiny laws regarding transgender individuals demand. (Biskupic, 12/2)

AP: First Transgender Attorney To Argue Before The Supreme Court, Challenging Health Care Ban For Minors
When the Supreme Court this week wades into the contentious issue of transgender rights, the justices will hear from an attorney with knowledge that runs deep. Chase Strangio will be the first openly transgender attorney to argue before the nation’s highest court, representing families who say Tennessee’s ban on health care for transgender minors leaves their children terrified about the future. (Whitehurst, 12/2)

NBC News: Supreme Court Hears Fight Over FDA's Refusal To Approve Flavored Vapes
The Supreme Court on Monday will hear a dispute over the Food and Drug Administration's refusal to approve flavored e-cigarettes over public health concerns. The case puts the FDA's role in approving new tobacco products under the microscope at a time when e-cigarettes, or vapes, have flooded the market. Makers of flavored vapes have brought various cases around the country challenging FDA decisions. (Hurley, 12/2)

Vox: The Huge Stakes In A Supreme Court Case About Vaping By Children And Teens 
FDA v. Wages and White Lion Investments, which the Supreme Court will hear on the first Monday in December, is a significant case in its own right. It involves the Food and Drug Administration’s long-delayed attempt to regulate flavored nicotine vapes and to prevent children from becoming addicted to nicotine because they are enticed by vapes with fruit or candy flavors. But the case is also significant for another reason. Seven federal appeals courts unanimously rejected legal challenges to the FDA’s decision not to authorize certain flavored vapes and e-cigarettes. Only one outlier court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, took a position that is unusually favorable to tobacco companies, which led us to this Supreme Court case. (Millhiser, 11/25)

Becker's Hospital Review: California System Reduces Workforce, Streamlines Leadership
Escondido-based Palomar Health is planning big changes after reporting a financial loss in the 2024 fiscal year. Palomar is the largest public health system in California, with two hospital campuses and more than 900 affiliated medical providers. Fitch downgraded the system earlier this year to a "BBB-" after 18 months of weak performance due to deciding volumes and increased labor and supply expenses. On Nov. 27, the system announced a planned workforce reduction. (Dyrda, 12/2)

Stat: New Cancer Treatment May Be Hamstrung By ‘Talent Shortage’
Radiation is a core part of cancer treatment, and has been for generations. But over the last couple of years, there’s been a surge of interest in a new type of treatment, one that is testing drug developers and health care practitioners alike. (DeAngelis, 12/2)

NBC News: Depression Affects A Third Of Cancer Patients. Experts Say It’s One Of The Biggest Gaps In Oncology
Simone Webster always struggled with her emotions and mood swings. But the floodgates really opened last year when she was diagnosed with breast cancer at 31 years old. “There must have been something I did,” said Webster, her eyes watery. “What did I do to cause this?” The depression came in waves, a deep hopelessness overwhelming Webster, now 33, and making her feel like she needed to escape reality. “There’s so much you lose,” Webster said, including her right breast, her boyfriend and her chance of having kids. “It feels really dumb to feel hopeful.” (Bajaj, 11/29)

Modern Healthcare: Siemens Healthineers Releases 2 New Photon-Counting CT Scanners
Siemens Healthineers launched two new, more affordable photon-counting CT scanners on Dec. 1. The new models come three years after the company introduced its Naeotom Alpha, which was the first commercially available photo-counting CT available for clinical use. Photon-counting CT can produce higher-resolution images by counting each X-ray photon that travels through the patient and generating anatomical and functional information. It requires lower radiation doses than traditional CT and can detect small structures with fewer artifacts. (Dubinsky, 12/1)

Berkeleyside: Berkeley Swept Homeless Camp With No Shelter Offer, Attorney Says
City workers cleared a West Berkeley homeless encampment last week, acting on the broadened authority the City Council granted them earlier this year to sweep camps. The 10 people living in tents at the intersection of Fourth Street and Bancroft Way were not offered shelter before the encampment was removed early on the morning of Nov. 20, according to Andrea Henson, an attorney and co-founder of the group Where Do We Go Berkeley, which organized the camp. City workers also removed several unattended tents and items from two other camps the homeless advocacy organization has set up around Berkeley. (Savidge, 11/27)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Thousands Of San Diego Students Are Homeless. Here’s How One Young Woman Made Sure You’d Never Notice Her 
When Satberry and her family first got to San Diego in 2016, there were about 16,500 students countywide who lacked a steady roof, according to the California Department of Education. By last academic year the total had risen to more than 17,800, including children who’ve temporarily doubled up in houses with other families. (Nelson, 12/1)

The Wall Street Journal: A Generation Of Drug-Addiction Survivors Is Entering Old Age 
America’s drug crisis has many survivors. Jerry Schlesinger, 72, is among the longest tenured. He tried heroin at 15. Today, he has been sober for two years. In between, decades of illicit drug use wrecked his lungs and teeth and compromised his liver. America spent millions of dollars imprisoning, housing and treating him before he stopped using. “You’re not done until you’re done,” Schlesinger said. His is a living history of a drug crisis that has left millions of people in poor health and searching for purpose. The most senior are entering old age. Their struggles show how the damage wrought by addiction will linger long after the death toll drops. (Wernau, 12/1)

The New York Times: Mexican Cartels Lure Chemistry Students To Make Fentanyl 
The cartel recruiter slipped onto campus disguised as a janitor and then zeroed in on his target: a sophomore chemistry student. The recruiter explained that the cartel was staffing up for a project, and that he’d heard good things about the young man.“ ‘You’re good at what you do,’” the student recalled the recruiter saying. “‘You decide if you’re interested.’” In their quest to build fentanyl empires, Mexican criminal groups are turning to an unusual talent pool: not hit men or corrupt police officers, but chemistry students studying at Mexican universities. (Kitroeff and Villegas, 12/1)

The Atlantic: Imagine A Drug That Feels Like Tylenol And Works Like OxyContin
Doctors have long taken for granted a devil’s bargain: Relieving intense pain, such as that caused by surgery and traumatic injury, risks inducing the sort of pleasure that could leave patients addicted. Opioids are among the most powerful, if not the most powerful, pain medications ever known, but for many years they have been a source of staggering morbidity and mortality. (Friedman, 11/29)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Left A Baby In The Care Of Her 11-Year-Brother. Now, She's Dead
The soft-spoken 18-year-old had run out of food for his three younger siblings. He told the Canoga Park High School counselor that his mother was disappearing for days at a time, leaving him and his siblings, ages 11, 3 and 1, with hardly anything to eat. He filled his stomach with water to stave off the hunger. (Ellis, 12/2)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Efforts To Open Migrant Aid Center In San Diego County Stall Once More
After spending another two months negotiating with a potential operator to establish and run its new migrant transition center, San Diego County has once again failed to close the deal. (Alvarenga and Mendoza, 12/1)

The New York Times: Long A ‘Crown Jewel’ Of Government, N.I.H. Is Now A Target 
The National Institutes of Health, the world’s leading public funder of biomedical research, has an enviable track record. Research supported by the agency has led to more than 100 Nobel Prizes and has supported more than 99 percent of the drugs approved by federal regulators from 2010 to 2019. No surprise, then, that the agency has been called “the crown jewel of the federal government.” But come January, when President-elect Donald J. Trump and congressional Republicans take charge, the N.I.H. may face a reckoning. (Rosenbluth and Anthes, 12/1)

Stat: Former FDA Chief Scott Gottlieb Trying To Undermine RFK Jr.’s Senate Confirmation
Scott Gottlieb, who served as Food and Drug Administration commissioner in the first Trump administration, is raising concerns with Senate Republicans about the president-elect’s selection of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, he said in a television appearance Friday. Gottlieb maintained that there is “skepticism in the Republican caucus [on RFK Jr.’s nomination], more than the press is reporting right now.” (Zhang, 11/29)

The Wall Street Journal: How RFK Jr. Transformed From Green Hero To Vaccine Skeptic
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been a crusader for decades, first for the environment and then about vaccines, often clashing with the medical establishment in his quest. He once brought his own PowerPoint presentation to meet with Dr. Anthony Fauci, to convince the nation’s then-top infectious-disease expert that scientifically proven and widely accepted childhood vaccines weren’t actually safe. Now his distrust of authority has taken him to the unlikely pinnacle of that establishment—if he can convince lawmakers that he will be a responsible steward of the U.S. health system.  (Peterson, Whyte and Andrews, 12/2)

The New York Times: Dr. Dave Weldon, Trump’s CDC Pick, Wasn’t On Anyone’s Radar 
Dr. Dave Weldon, a former Republican congressman who is President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has been off the political stage for more than 15 years. Now running a private medical practice in Malabar, Fla., Mr. Weldon was hardly regarded as a leading candidate to run the federal agency, a $9 billion behemoth with a staff of more than 13,000 that has become a locus of conservative rage. (Mandavilli and Mueller, 11/29)

Stat: Cardiologist In Charge Of YouTube Health Fights Misinformation 
YouTube plays a unique role in people’s everyday lives, says Garth Graham, the company’s global head of healthcare and public health. “People come to us to learn how to fix their fridge and to learn about medicines,” he said in an interview. “There’s a lot of responsibility, and we take that seriously. Responsibility is at the core of how YouTube works and how we treat sensitive information, particularly around health.” (St. Fleur, 11/29)