Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
California Stockpiles Penalties From Uninsured Residents Instead of Lowering Care Costs
California is collecting hundreds of millions of dollars a year in tax penalties from uninsured residents. The state was supposed to use the money to help lower costs for Californians who couldn’t afford insurance but hasn’t distributed any of the revenue it has collected — citing uncertain economic times. (Angela Hart, )
CDC To Reevaluate Health Risks From Fort Ord: Federal health officials are conducting a new study to determine whether veterans once stationed at the now-shuttered central California coast military base were exposed to dangerously high levels of cancer-causing toxins. Read more from AP.
New Covid Misinformation Law Suppresses Free Speech, ACLU Says: A California law that would punish doctors who give patients false information about covid has already been challenged by two anti-vaccine physicians. Now it’s being contested by the American Civil Liberties Union, which says the legislation suppresses free speech and isn’t needed to protect patients from medical misinformation or mistreatment. Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Below, check out the roundup of California Healthline’s coverage. For today's national health news, read KHN's Morning Briefing. Note to readers: California Healthline's Daily Edition is off Friday in honor of Veterans Day. Look for it in your inbox Monday.
More News From Across The State
Bay Area News Group:
Abortion Rights Starred In Election In California And Nationwide. And The Impact Was Much Broader
Sweeping support for abortion rights stole the show in this year’s election, uniting voters from California’s red inland and southern districts all the way to Kentucky — and giving Democrats an unexpected, trend-bucking boost in close races here and across the country. (Kendall, 11/9)
Los Angeles Times:
Democrats’ Emphasis On Abortion Stopped GOP Election Gains
This summer, in the weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade, more than three-quarters of a million residents of Michigan signed petitions to put a measure on the ballot to add abortion rights to the state constitution. In the two months before election day, thousands of volunteers made phone calls and knocked on doors more than 1 million times and talked with more than 100,000 voters, according to organizers. And on Tuesday, Michiganders stood in the cold for hours to vote, including at the University of Michigan, where so many waited in line that the final ballots were not cast until roughly 2 a.m. (Nelson, Mays and Lauter, 11/9)
California Healthline:
Abortion Issue Helps Limit Democrats’ Losses In Midterms
Although control of Congress was still undecided Wednesday, Republicans seemed poised to take power in the House, while the fate of the Senate remained too close to call. Economic issues were at the top of voters’ minds, but abortion access also played a large role in their decisions. (Rovner, 11/9)
Politico:
A Predicted ‘Red Wave’ Crashed Into Wall Of Abortion Rights Support On Tuesday
Tuesday’s results likely ensure that millions of people will be able to legally terminate a pregnancy going forward — and bolster progressives’ arguments that reproductive rights is a winning issue that Democrats and their allies should pursue aggressively in the years ahead. “There are lessons here for 2024 that I hope the administration will take to heart,” said Morgan Hopkins, the leader of All* Above All, an abortion-rights advocacy group. “We showed up, especially young voters of color, in record numbers. Now, we need these elected officials to show up for us.” (Ollstein and Messerly, 11/9)
Times Of San Diego:
San Diego County Cannabis Tax Measure Poised To Pass
A proposal to impose a tax on medical and recreational cannabis businesses operating in San Diego County’s unincorporated areas to raise money for health care, fire safety, parks and other government services appeared to be headed for victory Wednesday. Measure A maintained a nearly 15-point margin of support as vote counting from Tuesday’s election continued, with 306,383 yes votes and 227,517 no votes. The county Registrar of Voters estimates there are still 500,000 ballots to be counted. (Sklar, 11/9)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Families Warned Of Possible Tuberculosis Exposure In Chula Vista School
Students and staff at Fred Rohr Elementary School in Chula Vista may have been exposed to tuberculosis during summer and fall sessions, San Diego County health officials said Wednesday. (Lunetta, 11/9)
CapRadio:
Sacramento Area Hospitals See An Uptick In RSV Patients As They Brace For More
The Sacramento region is seeing a rise in respiratory viruses affecting children. That, paired with an early influenza season has local hospital systems taking action to expand care capacity, including adding staff. The county’s public health department, in a press briefing on Wednesday with area hospital physicians, reported it is also working to get the word out to parents about how to prevent infection and what to do if they believe their child is very sick. (Wolffe, 11/9)
NPR:
A Listeria Outbreak Across 6 States Has Been Linked To Deli Meats And Cheeses
Listeria has been traced to deli meats and cheese in six states, causing 16 infections and one death across six states, the CDC said Wednesday. There were seven infections in New York, three in Maryland (one of whom died), one in New Jersey, two in Massachusetts, two in Illinois and one in California from April 2021 to September 2022. (Archie, 11/10)
AP:
WHO Reports 90% Drop In World COVID-19 Deaths Since February
The World Health Organization chief on Wednesday said a nearly 90% drop in recent COVID-19 deaths globally compared to nine months ago provides “cause for optimism,” but still urged vigilance against the pandemic as variants continue to crop up. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that last week just over 9,400 deaths linked to the coronavirus were reported to the WHO. In February of this year, he said, weekly deaths had topped 75,000 globally. (Keaten, 11/9)
CIDRAP:
Global COVID-19 Cases And Deaths Continue To Decline
Weekly COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to drop in most of the world, except for in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific, which saw modest rises, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today in its weekly update on the pandemic. The WHO received reports of more than 2.1 million cases last week, reflecting a 15% drop from the previous week. Countries reported more than 9,400 deaths, down 10% from the week before. (Schnirring, 11/9)
CNN:
Lower Your Blood Pressure To This Number To Reduce Risk Of Severe Covid, Study Finds
High blood pressure is a known risk factor for a bout of Covid-19 severe enough to raise the specter of hospitalization and death. In fact, research has shown having high blood pressure doubles the risk of having a severe case of Covid, even if you are fully vaccinated and boosted. (LaMotte, 11/9)
ABC News:
Paxlovid Rebound More Common Than Initially Thought, Doctors Say
Six months ago, Dr. Joseph Boselli said he was prescribing the antiviral drug Paxlovid to nearly everyone who turned up at his practice with COVID. Now, the internal medicine physician at Jefferson Health in Philadelphia said he's reserving it mostly for people who are 60-plus, with serious health problems, or who aren't up-to-date on their vaccines. (Abdelmalek and Flahrerty, 11/10)
Stat:
FDA Panel Votes Against Veru’s Drug For Severe Covid
An FDA advisory panel voted 5-to-8 to recommend rejecting a new drug for patients hospitalized with Covid-19, ruling that a glimmer of potential life-saving benefit couldn’t make up for a long list of questions around the company’s main trial. (Mast, 11/9)
Stat:
U.S. Set To Face Third Covid Winter Without Key Tools And Treatments
The country is heading into its third Covid winter without crucial tools we’ve relied on at previous points in the pandemic, both as governments roll back their responses and as the virus outruns some of our most important medicine-cabinet defenses. (Joseph and Mast, 11/10)
CIDRAP:
WHO: Weekly Monkeypox Cases Up Slightly
The number of monkeypox cases reported to the WHO rose slightly last week, with 19 countries reporting rises in cases, the head of the WHO said today at a briefing on a host of health issues. (11/9)
News-Medical.net:
What Are The Eye Complications Associated With Monkeypox Infection?
A study published in The Ocular Surface describes the association between monkeypox infection and eye complications in humans. (Dutta, 11/9)
The New York Times:
Medication Treatment For Addiction Is Shorter For Black And Hispanic Patients, Study Finds
Researchers have long known that racial and ethnic minorities are less likely to be prescribed lifesaving addiction treatment options than white people. But even when Black and Hispanic patients start a prescription for buprenorphine — the most popular medication to help those in recovery fight cravings — the typical duration of their treatment is shorter than that of white patients, according to a new data analysis published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry. (Baumgaertner, 11/9)
ABC News:
Prostate Cancer Screening Guidelines May Fail To Address Racial Disparity: Study
Relaxed PSA screening guidelines may be leading to more late-stage cancer diagnoses, and the current recommendations updated to address this concern might preferentially serve white men, a new study suggests. (Farha, 11/10)
AP:
Mindfulness Worked As Well For Anxiety As Drug In Study
Mindfulness meditation worked as well as a standard drug for treating anxiety in the first head-to-head comparison. The study tested a widely used mindfulness program that includes 2 1/2 hours of classes weekly and 45 minutes of daily practice at home. Participants were randomly assigned to the program or daily use of a generic drug sold under the brand name Lexapro for depression and anxiety. (Tanner, 11/9)
The Verge:
In World-First Trial, Lab-Grown Blood Was Just Injected Into Two People
In a world first, two people were injected with red blood cells grown in a lab as part of a clinical trial, the research team announced this week. It’s a first step toward seeing if lab-grown blood cells are safe and work in the body — which would be a major advance for people living with rare blood types or blood disorders. (Wetsman, 11/8)