Stat: White House Issues Rules To Push Insurers To Cover Mental Health Care
The Biden administration on Monday announced it would finalize a highly anticipated proposal meant to force health insurers to cover mental health care on the same basis as physical health conditions. It is the latest salvo in a long-running federal government effort to crack down on insurance plans skimping on treatment for conditions including anxiety, depression, and addiction. (Facher, 9/9)

VC Star: Vista Del Mar, County Reach Agreement For Involuntary Patients
Officials overseeing a Ventura psychiatric hospital where admissions of involuntary patients have been suspended for almost a year over deficient care have signed an oversight agreement needed to restart those admissions. (Wilson, 9/8)

Voice of OC: Orange County Drops Contract With Flagship Mental Health Nonprofit After Failed Audit 
For years, Orange County supervisors have touted their Be Well program as their signature response to mental health. But last week, a different narrative came into focus with county officials abruptly announcing plans to pull millions of dollars in funding at the end of September after an audit found systemic failures in their program like failing to properly train staff and correctly bill the county. That audit comes after officials in Anaheim and Newport Beach publicly questioned the effectiveness of Be Well’s street health program for months, asking how much impact the millions they’ve spent for help on homelessness has had. (Biesiada, 9/9)

Capital & Main: Still Waiting For Kaiser’s Plan To Fix Its Mental Health Care Shortfalls
When it was announced last fall, Kaiser Permanente’s unprecedented $200 million settlement with the State of California was seen as a significant step toward shoring up Kaiser’s consistently abysmal performance in providing mental and behavioral health care to its patients. Ten months later, almost nothing has changed. Not only that, but Kaiser and the state haven’t yet come to terms on an action plan, the foundation from which new policies and procedures would be set in motion. (Kreidler, 9/6)

KQED: The Golden Gate Bridge’s Suicide Prevention Net
This summer, activists and families of people who have lost loved ones to suicide commemorated the official completion of a stainless steel safety net under the Golden Gate Bridge. Back in January, KQED’s Lesley McClurg told us the story of how family members advocated for this addition to the bridge. (Guevarra, McClurg and Montecillo, 9/9)

The Mercury News: Gov. Newsom Vetoes Controversial Housing Bill Meant To Help Undocumented Immigrants
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday, Sept. 6, vetoed a controversial housing bill that would have ensured Californians are not excluded from assistance programs due to their immigration status. AB 1840 would have ensured that an applicant’s status was not the sole reason they were denied from any of California’s Housing Finance Authority’s home purchase assistance programs, including the Dream for All Program, which provides a loan for first-time homebuyers. (Schallhorn, 9/7)

KQED: 'A Revolving Door': Why Getting Housing Doesn't Always Mean An End To Homelessness
A couple of years ago, Larry Williams was living out of his Nissan Sentra and recovering from gunshot wounds that left him alternating between a wheelchair, crutches and a cane. Williams, now 30, had gotten caught in the crossfire at Oakland’s Juneteenth festival at Lake Merritt in 2021, not long after the pandemic put an end to his job as a security guard. (Rancaño, 9/9)

The New York Times: A Migrant Family Struggles For A Year In San Francisco
They huddled in the cold on a graffiti-covered bench last November, the twin girls dozing in their parents’ laps while the older children buried their heads in their phones. Most nights, the family of six waited like this outside a San Francisco school gymnasium until it could be converted into a homeless shelter. Once inside, they slept each night on a small patch of the floor, then rose early each morning to secure a spot in one of the three showers shared by 69 people. They had to leave by sunrise so the school gym could be returned to its intended purpose. (Knight, 9/8)

Los Angeles Times: Bill To Regulate California Warehouse Development Generates Sweeping Opposition
Xochitl Pedraza moved to San Bernardino County eight years ago. After three decades of city living, unincorporated Bloomington offered a rural community where she could buy an acre of land and raise chickens. But Pedraza’s neighborhood has become more industrial in recent years, as developers have converted large swaths of property along the 10 Freeway into a logistics corridor for e-commerce. ... A bill on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk would establish standards for industrial warehouses that, according to supporters, would better protect the health of residents such as Pedraza. (Plevin, 9/7)

inewsourse.org: State Moves To Revoke License For Veterans Village
State health department regulators are seeking to revoke the license of Veterans Village of San Diego to provide residential substance abuse treatment, citing “serious concerns about client safety” there in the wake of seven deaths since 2022. The state has issued a temporary suspension order, cutting off reimbursements under the state Medi-Cal program, including the Drug Medi-Cal services that paid for scores of people at the Pacific Highway facility. It is effective Monday. (Moran, 9/6)

Military.com: New Standards For The VA Caregivers Program Are Still In Limbo. Advocates Want Them Released. 
Advocates for family members and friends who support severely ill or injured veterans who need daily care are pushing the Biden administration for answers on the future of a Department of Veterans Affairs program that provides benefits to those caregivers. Twelve organizations, including the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Wounded Warrior Project, wrote President Joe Biden on Wednesday asking him to publish new program standards for the VA's Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers, which have been in the works for more than two years. (Kime, 9/6)

The Boston Globe: ‘The Early Evidence Is Flashing Red’: Elizabeth Warren Convenes Panel On Military Blast Injuries
Dennis Hernandez knew he was in trouble when he watched a video of himself stress-testing a security system for a client and realized he had no recollection of doing it. The video had been filmed that morning. Hernandez, a retired special forces veteran, suspected his short-term memory problems stemmed from repeated exposures to the pressure waves unleashed by low-level explosions. During his 22 years of service, he’d been exposed to breaching charges used to blow open doors countless times, along with multiple IEDs. But when he finally sought help from the Department of Veterans Affairs, he realized he was on his own. (Piore, 9/8)

San Francisco Chronicle: Discovery Of One Tiny Medfly In Bay Area Prompts Quarantine
A minuscule bug that caused an ecological nightmare across Northern California more than 40 years ago is back, scientists in Alameda County announced Friday. The county’s agricultural commissioner last week introduced measures to prevent the spread of Mediterranean fruit flies over a 70-square-mile area after officials discovered one mated female in Fremont, the California Department of Food and Agriculture said in a statement. The female fly is among the first discovered in the region since the department eliminated the insects after a multimillion-dollar eradication program in the 1980s. (Mishanec, 9/8)

KVPR: Merced County Confirms Its First Fatal Case Of West Nile Virus This Year
Merced County health officials on Thursday revealed the first fatal case of West Nile Virus this year took place in the city of Merced. The patient was described as an elderly individual, and details about that person’s identity are being kept confidential. ... According to California Department of Public Health, there have been 27 human cases of the virus in the state this year, three of which have been fatal. Those numbers only include the year up to Aug. 30.(The Merced FOCUS, 9/6)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Researchers Studying Sewage Crisis Temporarily Pull Out Of South County Amid Reported High Levels Of Sewer Gas
Researchers studying the health and environmental impacts of the cross-border sewage crisis said Friday they are temporarily pulling their teams collecting air and water samples in southern San Diego County communities because of “concerningly high” levels of hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas. (Murga, 8/6)

Los Angeles Times: Amid California’s Scorching COVID Summer, Focus Turns To Vaccinations
Unlike recent temperatures, California’s COVID summer may no longer be heating up — though officials caution the virus continues to circulate at levels plenty high enough to pack a potent infectious punch. Any discernible slowdown would still be welcome news for the virus-weary state, however. And although it’ll take a few more weeks of measurement to confirm the trajectory, health officials hope the release of updated vaccines will help further dent the wave. (Lin II, 9/9)

Berkeleyside: Oakland Gets New COVID Vaccines Ahead Of The Expected Winter Spike
The summer COVID-19 surge peaked in August, according to Alameda County Public Health officials, but they also caution an unpredictable winter surge is on the horizon and are urging people, especially the immunocompromised, to stay up to date on their vaccines. Dr. Joanna Locke from Alameda County Public Health Division of Communicable Disease Control & Prevention said the summer surge lasted longer than expected. “COVID keeps us guessing, so it’s hard to predict when and how long the winter surge will be,” she said. (Rasilla, 9/6)

Los Angeles Times: Former Employee Of COVID Testing Tycoon Ordered To Stand Trial For Extortion
A former employee of a Pasadena businessman whose company made billions of dollars selling COVID tests was ordered Friday to stand trial, along with two alleged accomplices, for attempting to extort $20 million from him by threatening to post sex tapes online. Sunny Xiaolei Sun, 41, a former employee of Pasaca Capital, and Lihua Stearns, 58, and Xiadong She, 64, a Nevada couple, will each face trial on one count of extortion in the alleged plot against founder Charles Huang. They are not in custody, with the trial expected sometime next year. (Darmiento, 9/7)

CIDRAP: Saline Drops Reduce Duration Of Common Cold In Kids, Study Finds 
"We found that children using salt-water nose drops had cold symptoms for an average of six days, where those with usual care had symptoms for eight days. The children receiving salt water nose drops also needed fewer medicines during their illness," said study author Steve Cunningham, MBChB, PhD, from the University of Edinburgh. ... The authors also said using saline nasal drops can reduce forward transmission often virus to household members. (Soucheray, 9/6)

NPR: Recalled Eggs Linked To Multistate Salmonella Outbreak
A salmonella outbreak linked to recalled eggs has sickened 65 people in nine states, U.S. health officials said. Eggs labeled “Milo’s Poultry Farms” and “Tony’s Fresh Market” are subject to the recall, which was announced on Friday. Most of the illnesses are concentrated in Wisconsin and Illinois, but people also reported illnesses in California, Utah, Colorado, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan and Virginia. (Bowman, 9/7)

CNN: Valley Fever At Lightning In A Bottle Festival: Officials Warn
After nearly 20 cases of Valley fever were identified after a summer music festival in California, state health officials are warning that risk from the fungal infection rises in the late summer and early fall. (Hassan, 9/6)

NBC News: U.S. Prepares For Possible Arrival Of More Severe Strain Of Mpox
Senior Biden administration officials said Friday that the United States is preparing for the possible arrival of a more severe version of mpox, which has taken off in the Democratic Republic of Congo and other countries in Africa resulting in more than 600 deaths there. As of Thursday, there have been more than 24,800 reported cases of this version of the virus, known as clade 1, so far this year, the World Health Organization said at a separate briefing Friday. The WHO declared the outbreak a global health emergency in August. (Lovelace Jr., 9/6)

USA Today: Missouri Resident Contracts Bird Flu With No Known Exposure
A Missouri resident has tested positive for bird flu even though there is no evidence the person came into contact with an animal infected with the virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a Friday evening news release. Acquiring the virus without animal contact raises safety concerns because it may be an indication that the potentially quite deadly virus could develop the ability to transmit from human-to-human, although the CDC still considers such a risk "low" at the moment. (Weintraub and Cuevas, 9/6)

Reveal, The Marshall Project: She Ate A Poppy Seed Salad. Child Services Took Her Baby.
Pregnant with her fifth child, Susan Horton had a lot of confidence in her parenting abilities. Then she ate a salad from Costco: an “everything” chopped salad kit with poppy seeds. When she went to the hospital to give birth the next day, she tested positive for opiates. Horton told doctors that it must have been the poppy seeds, but she couldn’t convince them it was true. She was reported to child welfare authorities, and a judge removed Horton’s newborn from her care. “They had a singular piece of evidence,” Horton said, “and it was wrong.” (Walter, 9/7)

San Francisco Chronicle: Don’t Die Summit In SF Offers Guidance On Living Healthier, Longer
No one wants to die right now. That’s what Bryan Johnson, the tech billionaire who spends $2 million a year in an attempt to extend his lifespan, believes we can all agree on, he said Sunday during a summit at San Francisco’s Pier 35. (Hernandez, 9/8)

San Francisco Chronicle: Rory Kandel Of Rory’s Bakehouse On Living With Multiple Sclerosis
Watch Rory Kandel bake, and you can see the joy it brings her. In her pink shirt and apron, with a heart-shaped locket around her neck and her brown hair in a bouncy ponytail, she makes a huge batch of chocolate chip cookies. She pours eggs, flour, creamed butter, sugar and semisweet chocolate chips into a large mixer and diligently scoops 162 hefty mounds of dough onto sheet trays. In her commercial kitchen in Napa, more pink and hearts cover an entire wall, along with cheerful drawings of her doughnuts, pretzels and cookies that have a loyal following in Wine Country. What you can’t see is that Kandel is in excruciating pain. (Kadvany, 9/8)