Fox News: Efforts To Prevent Military Suicide Plagued By Incomplete Data And Continued Stigma, Expert Says
Efforts to prevent military and veteran suicides have been hindered by a lack of accurate data and a failure to understand the root cause of the issue, with one study showing that the rate of suicide among veterans could be as much as 37% higher than the number reported by the Department of Veterans Affairs. (Lee, 9/26)

Military Times: Veterans Suicide Rate May Be Double Federal Estimates, Study Suggests
Officials from America’s Warrior Partnership, in a joint study with University of Alabama and Duke University, reviewed census death data from 2014 to 2018 for eight states and found thousands of cases of suspected or confirmed suicides not included in federal calculations. (Shane III, 9/17)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Mental Health Crisis: Help Eludes Even The Youngest San Diegans 
The crisis in mental health care for kids can be seen at all levels, but especially in the 24-bed psychiatric unit at Rady Children’s hospital. (Sisson, 9/24)

Los Angeles Times: Does Anyone Else Feel As If They're Drowning? Mental Health Is Suffering
There’s no way to sugarcoat it: These are challenging times to live in Los Angeles. In the last few years an unprecedented number of stressors have coalesced around us— skyrocketing inflation and immense income inequality; record-breaking drought and heat waves; an alarming rise in hate crimes, especially against Asian, Black and LGBTQ residents; and the many lingering effects of a devastating global pandemic. (Netburn, 9/25)

The Washington Post: On Calls When A Person Is Suicidal, Some Police Try A New Approach 
Police in a small but growing number of states are trying a new tactic on calls when someone is threatening suicide. They respond, assess and sometimes, depending on the situation, they leave. It’s happening in Fresno, Calif., where last year, police were called to the home of a man who barricaded himself in his house with a gun and was threatening to kill himself and police, if they entered. It’s happening in Birmingham, Ala., where in 2020, police were called to the home of a man holding a gun to his head and threatening to shoot himself or officers if they didn’t back off. And it’s happening in Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland, as police departments grapple with how best to assist someone who is suicidal, armed and doesn’t necessarily want police to intervene. (Chesler, 9/23)

CBS News: "You're Not Alone": Suicide Attempts Among Teen Girls Increased 50% During Pandemic, CDC Finds
Suicide is the third leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 24 in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since 2019, the number of teenage girls who have been suicidal has increased 50%, according to the CDC. Samantha Quigneaux, a family therapist at Newport Healthcare, said it's getting worse because of "the pressure of the return to normalcy." (Oliver and Cutrona, 9/23)

Houston Chronicle: Megan Thee Stallion Launches Website For Mental Health Resources
Houston rapper Megan Thee Stallion is out with a new message for her fans: bad bitches have bad days too. That's the name of a new website she's launched as a guide to diverse mental health resources, including the LGBTQ Psychotherapists of Color directory, Therapy for Black Girls and the StrongHearts Native Helpline. (Rice, 9/25)

KMPH: California Leads In Opioid Deaths; Dignity Health Honored For Prevention Efforts
More than 100.000 people died as a result of drug overdoses in 2021 and California is leading in the number of deaths, according to the CDC. However, staff at Mercy Medical branches are working to get people help. Elizabeth Pulatie, who is the chief nurse executive officer at the Mt Shasta branch, said they have felt the strain of the increase in opioid use over the past few years. (Carroll, 9/22)

The Hill: Biden Announces $1.5B In Funding To Battle Opioid Overdoses, Support Recovery 
President Biden on Friday announced that his administration would distribute $1.5 billion to states and territories, including tribal lands, to fund responses to opioid overdoses and support recovery. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will disseminate the funding through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) State Opioid Response and Tribal Opioid Response grant programs as part of National Recovery Month. (Folmar, 9/23)

San Bernardino Sun: Southern California Jails Trying To Keep Fentanyl Out, But Inmates Are Still Dying
Jails in Southern California are taking steps to guard against fentanyl-related deaths among inmates, but some are still dying and now deputies and nurses at the institutions are facing the threat of exposure. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco recently announced that fentanyl has been confirmed in the deaths of three inmates and suspected in two other deaths so far in 2022. That total, matching the deaths attributed to fentanyl in 2021 and 2020, constitutes more than 38% of the 13 in-custody deaths this year. (Nelson, 9/25)

Axios: Drug Treatment Center Admissions Fell 23% During COVID
Admissions to drug treatment facilities fell by more than 23% during the pandemic as substance use disorders and overdose deaths rose, a new analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows. (Bettelheim, 9/23)

San Francisco Chronicle: COVID Is In A Lull, Again. Experts Say It’s Still A Time Of ‘Trade-Offs’
His comment was off the cuff — and the White House spent the rest of the week walking it back. But when President Biden said last Sunday on CBS’s “60 Minutes” that the COVID-19 pandemic was “over,” his words fell on American ears all too eager to believe he was right. It’s true that the long summer coronavirus surge is winding down, with case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths falling sharply. Weddings and reunions, maskless shoppers at the supermarket and throngs of people crowding into music festivals reinforce the sense that the worst is past and life is getting back to normal. (Allday, 9/24)

CIDRAP: Study Shows Previous Omicron Infection Most Protective Against BA.2
A study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases demonstrates that previous Omicron BA.1 infection was the most protective factor against BA.2 infection (associated with a risk reduction of 72%) and gave greater protection than primary infection with pre-Omicron SARS-CoV-2 (38%) or three doses of an mRNA vaccine in people with no previous infection (46%). (9/22)

Bay Area News Group: Do COVID Vaccine Mandates Still Make Sense As Other Pandemic Orders Wind Down?
The state just ended its vaccinate-or-test order for schoolteachers, but Gilroy Unified School District is one of many places – federal, state and local governments, schools, colleges and private businesses – where vaccine mandates remain on the books. And that’s raising questions about whether it’s time to retire them, too. (Woolfolk and Welle, 9/25)

CBS News: CDC Says Some Nursing Homes And Hospitals No Longer Need To Require Universal Masking
The change, one of many published Friday evening to the agency's guidance for COVID-19 infection control for healthcare workers, marks one of the final sets of revisions in a sweeping effort launched in August to overhaul the CDC's recommendations for the virus. (Tin, 9/23)

Stat: 'Disaster To Disaster': Walensky Decries Underinvestment In Public Health
For the record, Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, would take the job again. (Cueto, 9/23)

Axios: Moderna Seeks Emergency Authorization For COVID Booster For Children
Moderna announced Friday that it has requested emergency use authorization for its omicron COVID-19 booster shots for children aged 6-17 years old. (Habeshian, 9/23)

Bay Area News Group: Do COVID-19 Vaccines Help Keep You From Going Bald?
The COVID-19 vaccines can help keep you from getting the nasty virus, missing many days of work or school, and ending up in the hospital or the graveyard. But can they keep you from going bald? (Woolfolk, 9/26)

Bay Area News Group: San Mateo Care Home Faces Wrongful Death Suit After Second Resident Dies From Drinking Cleaning Fluid
A San Mateo assisted-living facility is facing a wrongful death lawsuit after a second resident died from drinking cleaning fluid that was mistakenly served as juice. Peter Schroder Jr. was 93 years old when he died Sept. 7, 13 days after he drank the fluid during breakfast at Atria Park of San Mateo, according to the suit. Trudy F. Maxwell, 93, also died after the incident. (Turner and Green, 9/24)

San Francisco Chronicle: Stuck In Place: How Older Adults End Up Trapped Inside Their Own Homes
Seven months ago, Betty Gray could climb the 11 inside steps leading to her Berkeley apartment, though it would take her about 15 minutes. In her 70s and suffering from chronic pain and congenital arthritis, she’d park her wheelchair at the bottom of the stairs and then scoot backward up each step. At the top, she’d pause before grasping the rail “for dear life” as she pulled herself to her feet. But one day in February, Gray’s legs quivered like Jell-O as she stood at the top of the stairs. She remembers stumbling backward, rolling down all 11 steps and the sound of her head smacking the concrete floor at the bottom. Paramedics arrived, but Gray refused a ride to the hospital — she didn’t want to have to face those stairs once she was discharged. They helped her into her apartment and that’s where she remained. (Marshall-Chalmers, 9/24)

San Francisco Business Journal: Jacob Bradley-Rowe steers financial turnaround of 40-year-old HIV nonprofit Sunburst Projects
Sunburst Projects was a niche nonprofit on the precipice of closing its doors. Then Jacob Bradley-Rowe took over as executive director. (Hamann, 9/23)

Los Angeles Daily News: LA City Council Committee Divided On Whether To Stay With LAHSA Homeless Services
As the Los Angeles region struggles to get its arms around how to house the tens of thousands of people living on the streets, L.A. city leaders on Thursday, Sept. 22 returned to a long-running debate over how homeless services should be overseen. (Chou, 9/25)

CapRadio: Sacramento Faces An Alarming Shortage Of Senior Affordable Housing. Some New Units Are On The Way
Violeta McCloskey was homeless before she moved into her apartment at a senior affordable housing community near Tahoe Park in 2011. She had lost her home to foreclosure and was living in her SUV. To get by, she treated her asthma and brushed her teeth each morning at a nearby bingo hall and relied on McDonald’s for free coffee. (Nichols, 9/23)