San Francisco Chronicle: FDA Approves First Vaccine To Protect Against Risky Respiratory Virus
After nearly six decades of research and development, the first vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus has been approved in the U.S. The Food and Drug Administration gave the green light to Arexvy, made by GSK, on Wednesday, marking a significant public health milestone. (Vaziri, 5/3)

Stat: New Eli Lilly Alzheimer’s Data Poses Medicare Coverage Conundrum
Eli Lilly’s latest anti-amyloid Alzheimer’s treatment seems to slow the disease, the company announced this week — news that adds even more pressure on Medicare’s unprecedented restrictions on coverage. Medicare has so far held firm on its plans to require patient registries for the entire class of anti-amyloid Alzheimer’s drugs, even after they are fully approved. (Cohrs, 5/4)

CalMatters: The State Approved Money To Lower The Cost Of Covered California Insurance. Now Pressure Is Mounting To Make Sure It Happens
Legislators and advocates have been pushing Gov. Gavin Newsom since last year to make good on a longtime promise to funnel money from a controversial tax penalty into the Covered California marketplace, making health insurance cheaper for nearly 1 million enrollees. (Hwang, 5/3)

Axios: DEA Seeks To Temporarily Extend COVID Telehealth Prescribing Rules
The Drug Enforcement Administration has asked the White House for more time to finalize draft rules that proposed reinstating stricter limits requiring doctors to evaluate patients in-person before prescribing certain drugs — like Adderall and opioid use disorder treatment — via telehealth. (Moreno, 5/3)

California Healthline: Biden Administration Issues New Warning About Medical Credit Cards
The Biden administration on Thursday cautioned Americans about the growing risks of medical credit cards and other loans for medical bills, warning in a new report that high interest rates can deepen patients’ debts and threaten their financial security. In its report, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau estimated that people in the U.S. paid $1 billion in deferred interest on medical credit cards and other medical financing in just three years, from 2018 to 2020. (Levey, 5/4)

Stat: Juul Execs Shower House Oversight Chair With Campaign Cash
Juul executives wrote personal checks to the head of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), right as he launched a critical probe of the FDA’s regulation of e-cigarettes. On March 28, Comer sent a sharply worded letter to FDA commissioner Robert Califf questioning whether the agency’s decisions on authorizing certain vapes “have been influenced by political concerns rather than scientific evidence.” He also requested a slew of documents detailing the FDA’s regulatory decisions. (Florko, 5/4)

Fresno Bee: St. Agnes Medical Center CEO To Retire Amid Regionalization
Saint Agnes Medical Center’s president and chief executive officer Nancy Holligsworth will retire at the end of this month amid a reorganization and will be replaced by a new CEO based in Idaho, according to a letter sent to employees and providers on Wednesday obtained by The Bee. (Amaro, 5/3)

San Diego Union-Tribune: County To Pursue Groundbreaking Mental Health Training Programs 
With the approval of three new initiatives Tuesday, San Diego County is taking its first steps in addressing a mental health care worker shortage that is predicted to grow significantly over the next five years. (Sisson, 5/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: Stanford-Branded Hospital Unit Broke Laws, Feds Say
A major East Bay hospital violated state and federal laws related to its pediatric program, prompting federal health regulators to threaten to pull hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicare funding, interviews and documents obtained by The Chronicle show. A January report by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services identified fundamental problems at John Muir Health’s pediatric intensive care unit at its Walnut Creek medical center, “creating the potential of substandard care to go undetected and continue,” according to a letter and “statement of deficiencies” from the federal authority. The agency’s findings raised questions about whether John Muir’s PICU was admitting children who were sicker than it was prepared to handle. (Dizikes and Gafni, 5/4)

Benito Link: Hazel Hawkins Seeking $10-Million Line Of Credit
On April 27, the San Benito County Health Care District Board of Directors approved in a 4-0 vote a resolution to authorize the district to obtain a line of credit not to exceed $10 million with an as yet unnamed commercial lender. The board’s hope is that it will not have to dip into those funds, but according to B. Riley Advisory Services, which is a consulting firm Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital hired, the hospital remains in dire straits. The firm said even the line of credit might not be enough to save the hospital. (Chadwell, 5/3)

Bay Area News Group: Santa Clara Council OKs Transitional Housing Project For Homeless Families 
Despite strong opposition by many Santa Clara residents, a 30-unit interim housing complex for homeless families may soon be built on county-owned land on the corner of Lawrence Expressway and Benton Street. (Hase, 5/3)

Axios: Employers Grapple With Coverage Of Weight Loss Drugs Like Ozempic
Employers are fielding a surge of demand from their workers for obesity care benefits — specifically, for a buzzy class of weight loss drugs — and it's getting pricey. (Reed, 5/4)

NBC News: Versions Of Ozempic And Wegovy Weight-Loss Drugs Face Crackdowns
A growing number of states are threatening to take legal action against pharmacies that make or dispense unauthorized versions of the weight-loss medications Ozempic and Wegovy. At least four states are already curbing the manufacturing of copycat versions over safety concerns and more could soon follow, experts say, as the two medications soar in popularity in the U.S. (Lovelace Jr., 5/3)

The Washington Post: What The End Of The Covid Public Health Emergency Means For You
The Biden administration will end the public health emergency for the coronavirus pandemic on May 11. ... Here’s how major health policies will be affected when the public health emergency ends. (Sun and Goldstein, 5/4)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Carlsbad-Based Jenny Craig Shutting Down After 4 Decades 
Jenny Craig, a Carlsbad-based weight loss institution for nearly four decades, will soon be closing its doors, a move that comes amid reported financial troubles and efforts to sell the company. (Weisberg and Rocha, 5/3)

San Francisco Chronicle: Feeling Alone? Here Are Ways To Combat Loneliness And Isolation
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy on Tuesday released a federal advisory, “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation” — one of the clearest signals yet that top U.S. health officials view loneliness as a critical public health concern and are mapping out ways to fight it. This step follows action by a number of other countries, including the United Kingdom and Japan, that have appointed ministers of loneliness in the last few years. (Ho, 5/3)

Bay Area News Group: In Pleasanton, An Ancient Japanese Tradition Points The Way To Better Living For An Aging Population
Every week, a small group of older women gathers in a little room next to the courtyard of a senior living center in Pleasanton to practice the centuries-old Japanese craft of arranging flowers. (McCarthy, 5/4)