Fox 5 San Diego: Sharp HealthCare Workers Ratify Their First Union Contract
After months of intense negotiations, nearly 5,000 frontline healthcare workers at Sharp HealthCare have ratified their first union contract. The workers, represented by SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), include professionals at multiple campuses, including Sharp Grossmont Hospital, Sharp HospiceCare, Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center, and Sharp Metropolitan Medical Campus. (Coakley, 11/24)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Parents Sue Grossmont Hospital Alleging Negligence In Death Of 4-Year-Old Son 
A recently filed lawsuit accuses Sharp Grossmont Hospital of negligent care that led to the death of a 4-year-old boy from Canada who visited San Diego with his parents in August 2023. (Sisson, 11/23)

Becker's Hospital Review: As Some Nurse Managers Eye The Exit, Health Systems Evolve
The national average exit rate for nurse managers is 8.8%, according to a recent report. At hospitals in California, Ohio and Louisiana, leaders shared with Becker's how they have achieved turnover rates as low as 3%. The American Organization for Nursing Leadership and Laudio, a healthcare intelligence platform company, found the highest exit rates in the first few years of a nurse management role. In the first four years, between 10% and 12% of nurse managers step down and return to front-line work. In the first three, up to 12% leave the organization. (Twenter, 11/22)

CBS News: Oakland County Woman Convicted In $1.4 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme
A 71-year-old Oakland County woman has been convicted for her role in a health care kickback scheme that costed Medicare over $1.4 million, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Mary Smettler-Bolton is convicted of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and receive illegal health care kickbacks and one count of violating the federal Anti-Kickback Statute. (Lentz, 11/23)

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Residency Slots Target Primary Care, Psychiatry
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is focusing on primary care and mental healthcare in its latest Medicare residency payments. CMS on Thursday released 200 new graduate medical education residency slots, many of which are set aside for students looking to pursue careers in primary care and psychiatry. (Early, 11/22)

Times of San Diego: UFCW Members Ratify New Three-Year Agreement With Rite-Aid
The union representing more than 3,500 Rite Aid employees said its members have ratified a new contract that includes wage increases and protections for health benefits and pensions. The workers are represented by seven locals that are part of the United Food and Commercial Workers — UFCW Local 135 in San Diego and Imperial counties — along with locals 8GS, 324, 770, 1167, 1428, and 1442. (Binkowski, 11/24)

USA Today: Singulair May Be Linked To Severe Mental Health Side Effects: FDA Study
A new study on a drug widely prescribed for asthma is binding itself to receptors in the brain and is linked to severe mental health issues and suicide, according to new research. The Food and Drug Administration presented the preliminary results of a study on the asthma drug Singulair, which is sold generically as montelukast, to a "limited audience" at the American College of Toxicology meeting in Austin, Texas on Nov. 20, according to Reuters, which reviewed the scientific presentation. (Gomez, 11/24)

AP: As Many As 1 In 5 People Won’t Lose Weight With GLP-1 Drugs, Experts Say
In clinical trials, most participants taking Wegovy or Mounjaro to treat obesity lost an average of 15% to 22% of their body weight — up to 50 pounds or more in many cases. But roughly 10% to 15% of patients in those trials were “nonresponders” who lost less than 5% of their body weight. Now that millions of people have used the drugs, several obesity experts told The Associated Press that perhaps 20% of patients — as many as 1 in 5 — may not respond well to the medications. It’s a little-known consequence of the obesity drug boom, according to doctors who caution eager patients not to expect one-size-fits-all results. (Aleccia, 11/23)

CBS News: Why The U.S. Medical Field Is Pushing For More Black Doctors
As a child, 40-year-old Dontal Johnson dreamed of becoming a doctor, but never saw himself represented in the profession. "I had never seen a Black doctor growing up, and one of the crazier things is I never saw a Black doctor until I hit college," Johnson said. Johnson decided to apply to medical schools in Texas, but when a friend told him about a potential school in Nashville, Tennessee, full of Black students, he was in disbelief. (Duncan, 11/22)

FiercePharma: Gilead Supports ‘Sanctuary’ For Black Breast Cancer Patients
Triple-negative breast cancer, or TNBC, is a rare and especially aggressive form of breast cancer that grows and spreads faster than other types. Black and Hispanic individuals are disproportionately affected; Black patients, in particular, have about twice the risk of developing TNBC compared to white patients and the lowest TNBC survival rate across all races. Despite that heightened risk, there’s still a lack of resources and research specifically targeting Black triple-negative breast cancer patients. A new initiative is aiming to fill in that gap: With backing from Gilead, a group of cancer support organizations has unveiled the Black TNBC Sanctuary, a website equipped with information about the disease and ongoing clinical research, plus a wealth of resources spanning nearly two dozen areas, such as community support, genetic testing, survivorship and mental health. (Park, 11/20)

Orange County Register: Addicts Came To Southern California From Afar To Get Sober But Wound Up Dead 
The Southern California News Group has been reporting on fraud, abuse and death in California’s private-pay addiction treatment industry for nearly eight years, and the allegations against Young’s businesses are just the latest installment. Despite myriad new laws, more state inspectors and federal crackdowns aiming to rein in the industry, people on the inside say it remains essentially unchanged. (Sforza, 11/25)

Orange County Register: ‘Especially Disgusting’: Former Workers, Patients, Level Accusations At California Addiction Treatment Empire 
Christine Hand, the erstwhile house manager of this sober living home in Los Angeles, knew she’d incur the wrath of her employer. She and her boyfriend had complained, in writing, about all manner of alleged transgressions in Nathan Young’s addiction treatment empire, from insurance fraud to prescribing unneeded medications to instant evictions and “forced homelessness,” they said in missives that landed at police stations and in government email boxes from Los Angeles to Sacramento, signed by both Hand and Anthony Morrison. (Sforza, 11/25)

CBS News: "Pink Cocaine" Is The Latest Street Drug. This Team Of Researchers Has Been Warning The Public About It For A Year
The death of music star Liam Payne. Sex trafficking allegations against Sean "Diddy" Combs. A deadly car crash involving an Instagram model. Many Americans have only recently learned of the drug known as "pink cocaine" from a deluge of celebrity horror stories. Joseph Palamar, an associate professor of population health at NYU Langone, would say they are late to the party. "A lot of people just think it's this new powder that's going around," Palamar said. "It's a pretty pink powder, and everyone's starting to use it, when it really started increasing was around mid-2023."  (Hanson, Geller and Sherman, 11/24)

Los Angeles Times: Why Did California 'Kill' Its Booming Hemp-Derived THC Industry?
After banning hemp products that contain THC and other intoxicating compounds, California regulators are starting to crack down — catching some retailers by surprise and upending the lucrative market for cannabis-adjacent drinks and gummies. (Sheets, 11/25)

The New York Times: Dr Martin Makary Chosen To Head The FDA
President-elect Donald J. Trump announced on Friday that he would nominate Dr. Martin A. Makary, a Johns Hopkins University surgeon with a contrarian streak, to be commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Makary, 54, rose to prominence more than a decade ago as a critic of the medical establishment, speaking out about patient safety and working with hospitals to improve practices. He also gained attention during the pandemic, weighing in on herd immunity, vaccines and masks in 2021, roiling some doctors who were still contending with packed I.C.U.s and hundreds of deaths a week. (Jewett, 11/22)

Politico: Trump To Nominate Makary To FDA 
Makary emerged during the Covid pandemic as a critic of the FDA — first on how long it took the agency to review data leading up to its approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and then for not considering changes to recommendations for children in light of the risk of a rare heart condition in young males that’s been linked to the shot. His suggestion that the agency slow-walked the first Covid vaccines to undermine then-President Trump prompted fierce pushback from agency leaders. Four years later, Makary, a Johns Hopkins gastrointestinal surgeon who advised the first Trump White House, stands to be recognized for his vociferous support of the president-elect’s pandemic response. (Gardner and Lim, 11/22)

Stat: Trump’s Pick To Run FDA Is Top Exec Of Company That Provides Compounded Weight-Loss Drugs
Martin Makary, President-elect Trump’s pick for running the Food and Drug Administration, is an executive of the telehealth company Sesame, which connects consumers to physicians who can prescribe compounded weight-loss drugs. If confirmed as FDA commissioner, Makary would take the lead of the agency as it grapples with high-stakes policy issues that could impact Sesame’s business. The FDA — and patients — have been caught in the middle of a fight between the makers of branded drugs used to treat obesity and pharmacies that have been compounding cheaper versions of those drugs for more than two years. (Wilkerson, Zhang and Palmer, 11/24)

Stat: Seven Criticisms Of FDA Covid Policies Offer Hints About Makary's Priorities
Johns Hopkins surgeon Marty Makary has criticized – sometimes with harsh language –  the Food and Drug Administration that President-elect Trump has tapped him to lead. (Zhang, 11/24)

Stat: ‘We Dodged A Bullet’: Biotech And Pharma React To Selection Of Marty Makary For FDA Commissioner
STAT reporters reached out to key figures in biotech, pharma, and medical devices to find out what they think about President-elect Trump’s pick of Johns Hopkins pancreatic surgeon Martin “Marty” Makary as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. (DeAngelis, Feuerstein, Herper, Lawrence, St. Fleur and Wosen, 11/23)

Politico: Trump Picks Former Florida Rep. Dave Weldon To Lead CDC 
President-elect Donald Trump has tapped former Florida Rep. Dave Weldon, a physician and vaccine safety skeptic, to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While in Congress, Weldon introduced legislation to move oversight of vaccine safety from the CDC to an independent agency within HHS. He has also repeatedly voiced serious reservations about the independence of the federal government’s vaccine safety review process, and previously suggested that a mercury-based preservative once commonly used in vaccines, thimerosal, is linked to a rise in autism. (Messerly, 11/22)

Bloomberg: Donald Trump's CDC Director Pick Is Former Congressman Dave Weldon 
For the first time in its 78-year history, the nominee for CDC director will require Senate confirmation, a change promoted by Republicans who say the agency needs more accountability. ... Weldon was a practicing physician before serving multiple terms in Congress starting in 1994. As a congressman, he promoted the idea that thimerosal, a mercury-containing vaccine preservative, caused children to become autistic. He also sponsored legislation to ban thimerosal from childhood flu vaccines. The CDC, which Weldon has now been tapped to lead, says on its website that “research does not show any link between thimerosal and autism.” (Smith, 11/22)

The Washington Post: Trump Health Picks Largely Untested In Fighting Disease Outbreaks
When the next pandemic strikes, Americans will again depend on a cadre of senior health officials to steer the nation’s response and reassure the public. But the team rapidly assembled by President-elect Donald Trump is largely untested, possesses scant infectious-disease expertise and has often questioned vaccines and other interventions overseen by the agencies they have been tapped to lead. (Sun, Diamond, Roubein and Nirappil, 11/24)

AP: Trump's Health Agency Picks Could Help Carry Out Kennedy's Overhaul
The team that President-elect Donald Trump has selected to lead federal health agencies in his second administration includes a retired congressman, a surgeon and a former talk-show host. All could play pivotal roles in fulfilling a political agenda that could change how the government goes about safeguarding Americans’ health — from health care and medicines to food safety and science research. In line to lead the Department of Health and Human Services secretary is environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine organizer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Stobbe, 11/23)

CalMatters: RFK Jr. Couldn't Stop CA Vaccine Laws. He Could Set US Health Policy
Five years ago, hundreds of people crowded the halls of the state Capitol protesting legislation that sought to tighten California’s vaccine rules. Outside, music blasted something about a revolution and people carried signs that read “Vaccine mandates violate bodily autonomy.” From the sea of red-clad protesters emerged a familiar face idolized by the anti-vaccine activists: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Ibarra, 11/25)

San Francisco Chronicle: Fact Checking RFK Jr And The Science Behind Fluoridated Drinking Water
President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration could try to remove fluoride from drinking water, according to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy, who was tapped Nov. 14 by Trump to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, has called fluoride an “industrial waste” and linked it to cancer and other diseases and disorders while campaigning for Trump. (Putterman, 11/24)

Politico: Trump Chooses Fox News Contributor Dr. Janette Nesheiwat For Surgeon General 
President-elect Donald Trump said Friday he has chosen Dr. Janette Nesheiwat to serve as surgeon general in his new administration. Nesheiwat is a Fox News medical contributor and serves as a medical director at CityMD, a network of urgent care centers in New York and New Jersey. Nesheiwat, who specialized in emergency and family medicine, has supported vaccines that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee for HHS secretary, has cast doubts about. But she at times seemed to criticize the CDC’s guidance about Covid vaccines. She has also called into question the standards of care for youth with gender dysphoria from the American Academy of Pediatrics. (Frazier and Payne, 11/22)

The New York Times: Trump Picks Dr. Janette Nesheiwat To Be Surgeon General
In a social media post, Dr. Nesheiwat pledged “to work tirelessly to promote health, inspire hope, and serve our nation with dedication and compassion.” A spokeswoman for CityMD said Dr. Nesheiwat has worked there for 12 years. The company has had a major impact on medical care in the city. Many New Yorkers now often find it more convenient to drop by one of its storefront clinics than book an appointment with their primary care doctor because they are open on weekends and into the evenings. ... In September 2022, Dr. Nesheiwat told NashvilleVoyager that she had taken care of more than 20,000 Covid-related patients over the past two years. (Goldstein, 11/23)

Newsweek: How Janette Nesheiwat And RFK Jr Could Be Split On Vaccines 
As the debate over vaccine safety and policy continues to polarize the public, two prominent figures—Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, Donald Trump's pick for surgeon general, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's pick for health and human services secretary—represent starkly different perspectives. Their differing views could see the cabinet divided over the key issue of the vaccine mandate in an administration that has not yet made any firm remarks on whether it supports vaccines. While Nesheiwat has been a proponent of vaccines, Kennedy Jr. has been one of the most vocal critics, often touting conspiracy theories and misinformation. (McHardy, 11/23)

Politico: Trump Selects Former NFL Player Scott Turner To Lead Housing Agency
President-elect Donald Trump selected motivational speaker Scott Turner of the America First Policy Institute to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, offering him a pivotal role in an area that has become one of Americans’ biggest concerns. ... As HUD chief, he would likely seek to slash the department’s funding, reverse Biden-era fair housing policies and overhaul homelessness programs, all goals laid out by the Trump campaign. While Turner’s views on housing issues aren’t clear, the AFPI agenda calls for “addressing the root causes of homelessness” rather than pursuing the “housing first” approach that Democrats favor. (O'Donnell, 11/22)

AP: What To Know About Scott Turner, Trump's Pick For Housing Secretary 
Turner, 52, is the first Black person selected to be a member of the Republican’s Cabinet. Turner grew up in a Dallas suburb, Richardson, and graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He was a defensive back and spent nine seasons in the NFL beginning in 1995, playing for the Washington Redskins, San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos. ... Turner joined the Texas House in 2013 as part of a large crop of tea party-supported lawmakers. He tried unsuccessfully to become speaker before he finished his second term in 2016. He did not seek a third term. Trump introduced Turner in April 2019 as the head of the new White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council. Trump credited Turner with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.” (Licon, 11/23)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Wait, Did Trump Endorse San Diego’s Safe Sleeping Sites For Homeless People? 
Trump’s first administration opposed the federal government’s longstanding “Housing First” policy that prioritizes getting people safe places to live before other problems are addressed. (Nelson, 11/24)

BBC: What Happened When A City Started Accepting - Not Evicting - Homeless Camps
As cities across North America grapple with homelessness, one Canadian city has taken a different approach by regulating tent encampments instead of banning them, as it tries to tackle what one official calls the issue "of the decade". (Yousif, 11/25)

NPR: Trump Taps Brooke Rollins Of America First Policy Institute For Agriculture Secretary
As the new head of USDA she would oversee nearly 100,000 employees, and would oversee the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which makes up over half of its nutrition budget, as well as the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and school meal regulation. She would be the second woman to lead the department, following Ann Veneman who served under President George W. Bush. (Bustillo, 11/23)

Los Angeles Times: California Infant Dead Amid Listeria Outbreak Tied To Yu Shang Food Items
A California infant has died from listeria amid an outbreak linked to certain ready-to-eat meat and poultry products that have been recalled. Eleven people across four states have been infected with the outbreak bacterial strain, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and nine of them have been hospitalized. Seven cases have been reported in California, two in Illinois, and one each in New York and New Jersey. (Lin II, 11/22)

The Mercury News: Santa Clara County Activates Hotline For Non-Police Crisis Response
Heading into the holiday season, which experts and authorities say has long coincided with an uptick in stress, anxiety and depression, Santa Clara County has streamlined access to a program that responds to instances of serious emotional distress without police intervention. About a year after it was initially proposed, the county has established a direct phone line to its Trusted Response Urgent Support Team, or TRUST. By contacting 408-596-7290, callers will be relayed straight to the program, which provides over-the-phone counseling support, and has four community-staffed field teams to help South Bay residents in person. (Salonga, 11/24)

San Diego Union-Tribune: This Employee-Owned Construction Company Offers 100% Paid Medical And Dental - And Padres Tickets
Tech companies might get all the attention for wild employee benefits but, in San Diego, some of the best perks in town are at a construction company. Employee-owned Erickson-Hall Construction Co. has 100 percent paid health and dental insurance (with no deductible), 401(k) contributions without an employee match, and generous vacation and sick time packages. (Molnar, 11/24)