El Tímpano: Lingering Fears Over Past Immigration Policies Are Fueling A Reluctance To Enroll In Medi-Cal 
Though the Trump-era public charge rule is no longer in place, it's left people wary of signing up for newly expanded health benefits. (Aguilera, 9/25)

The Washington Post: Democrats To Unveil ACA Tax Credit Plan, Teeing Up Next Health-Care Fight 
Democrats on Wednesday launched a legislative push to extend federal subsidies that defray the cost of health insurance for millions of Americans. The effort tees up another Affordable Care Act fight that could stretch into next year — and perhaps challenge the next president. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) introduced legislation to make permanent tax credits that lower the cost of plans sold through the Affordable Care Act. Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), who helped craft the initial legislation to create the expanded tax credits almost four years ago, introduced companion legislation in the House. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) joined Shaheen and Underwood at a news conference to unveil the legislation Wednesday. (Diamond, 9/25)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Dr. Tanya Phares, Sonoma County Health Officer, Submits Resignation Notice
Sonoma County Health Officer Dr. Tanya Phares, who has been in her role for less than a year, has given the Board of Supervisors notice that she intends to resign, county officials confirmed Wednesday. (Espinoza, 9/25)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Graybill To Separate From Palomar Medical Group, Citing Cyber Attack 
The coming split of North County’s Graybill and Palomar Health medical groups will force about 45,000 patients to make a decision: Follow their doctors to different medical offices or stay put and be seen by someone new. (Sisson, 9/25)

VC Star: Health Care Execs Get Most Of Ventura County's Top Government Salaries
It’s no secret that health care executives are well compensated. Million-dollar-plus salaries for the people who run hospitals and health care systems are common. (Biasotti, 9/26)

Becker's Hospital Review: California System CEO Envisions Diversified Revenue Stream
Todd Suntrapak, president and CEO of Valley Children's Healthcare in Madera, Calif., knows the importance of developing new and reliable funding sources to achieve financial stability in the long term. That's why he is passionate about "outside-the-healthcare-financial-box thinking," he told Becker's. As part of this mindset, Mr. Suntrapak's organization is moving forward with plans for a 443-acre community development project featuring retail, housing, and recreational amenities, dubbed "The Hill." ... Mr. Suntrapak anticipates that the project will ultimately provide independent and diversified revenue outside of patient income, establishing solid financial footing for the nonprofit system. (Gooch, 9/25)

Bloomberg: Los Angeles’ Dengue Cluster Grows To Four Cases In Two Weeks
Los Angeles County public health authorities are dealing with a fourth case of dengue reported in just over two weeks, as evidence mounts that the mosquito-borne infection is circulating in the area for the first time. None of the four patients recently traveled to areas where dengue regularly occurs, suggesting the virus is spreading locally via infected mosquitoes, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in a statement. The infection disclosed Wednesday isn’t related to a cluster of three cases announced earlier this month, officials said. (Fay Cortez, 9/25)

Bay Area News Group: With Avian Flu Now In 34 California Dairy Herds, Health Experts Watch Closely
Faced with a surge in the number of California cows infected with H5N1 bird flu, state officials have quarantined 34 dairies and are urging other farms to take protective biosecurity measures. (Krieger, 9/26)

CIDRAP: Review Finds Serious Gaps In Steps To Control Avian Flu In Mammals
Global strategies to control mammal-to-mammal avian flu transmission aren't working and pose an ongoing threat to people, especially as the viruses become entrenched in Europe and the Americas, according a team of virologists led by the United Kingdom's Pirbright Institute. Their bird's-eye view of the current H5N1 avian influenza panzootic in mammals appeared yesterday in Nature. Also, the team laid out different evolutionary pathways that could turn the influenza panzootic into a human pandemic virus. (Schnirring, 9/25)

The Hill: Trump's Former CDC Chief Endorses RFK Jr. To Lead Chronic Disease Commission
The Trump administration’s former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) endorsed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the “right man for the job” to lead a commission on chronic childhood disease. In an op-ed published Tuesday in Newsweek, Robert Redfield said he believes in Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.  (Weixel, 9/25)

Los Angeles Times: Imperial Beach Residents Say Tijuana River Is Poisoning Them
The Tijuana River should not be flowing this time of year. But throughout the dry season, it has — delivering millions of gallons a day of an unnatural mix of water, neon green sewage and industrial waste from Tijuana through the city of Imperial Beach to the Pacific Ocean. This 4.4-square-mile beach town of 27,000 largely working-class and Latino residents, sitting just south of San Diego, is appealingly affordable. But it also bears the brunt of Tijuana’s population boom. Its beaches just reopened last weekend, after having been closed for more than 1,000 days because of ocean bacteria levels that are a hundred times higher than safe amounts. The stench of rotting eggs after dark is overwhelming for south San Diego residents, keeping some awake all night. (Deng, 9/26)

Times of San Diego: Bipartisan Nuclear Waste Act Co-Authored, Co-Sponsored By San Diego Legislators
Nuclear waste is stored in communities across the United States, and the systems in place to manage it are old, underfunded, and out of date — potentially putting the health of entire communities at risk. The bipartisan Nuclear Waste Administration Act of 2024, authored by California Democrat Mike Levin and Texas Republican August Pfluger, would bring the country’s nuclear waste management program up to date and establish an independent Nuclear Waste Administration to oversee it. (Binkowski, 9/25)

Military.com: VA Checking For Connection Between PFAS Chemicals And Kidney Cancer In Afflicted Veterans 
The Department of Veterans Affairs will study whether kidney cancer is linked with exposure to chemicals used in military-grade firefighting foam and other products to determine whether veterans may be eligible for expedited benefits. The VA announced Wednesday that the process could decide whether kidney cancer should be designated a presumptive service-connected condition for former service members who were exposed to per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals, or PFAS, often called "forever chemicals" for their environmental persistence. (Kime, 9/25)

Reuters: EPA Must Address Fluoridated Water's Risk To Children's IQs, US Judge Rules 
A federal judge in California has ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen regulations for fluoride in drinking water, saying the compound poses an unreasonable potential risk to children at levels that are currently typical nationwide. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco on Tuesday sided with several advocacy groups, finding the current practice of adding fluoride to drinking water supplies to fight cavities presented unreasonable risks for children’s developing brains. (Raymond, 9/25)

NPR: Trying To Stay Safe In A Wildfire? There's An App That Can Help
As climate change contributes to longer wildfire seasons and increases the likelihood of destructive fires, more people in Western states find themselves searching for local wildfire information. But finding accurate, specific and timely information can be challenging, especially in the middle of an emergency. (Baker, 9/25)

AP: Moving Homeless People From Streets To Shelter Isn't Easy, San Francisco Outreach Workers Say 
Outreach workers in San Francisco visit homeless people living in tents to match them with shelter. But it's not a straightforward process. (Har, 9/26)

Voice of OC: Anaheim Looks To Bolster Anti-Camping Laws After Supreme Court Ruling
Anaheim City Councilwoman Natalie Meeks wants her colleagues in Anaheim to bolster city laws against homeless encampments – potentially joining a host of OC cities tightening anti-camping laws in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling this past summer. ... Meeks also called on the city’s homeless task force to identify barriers to enforcing current anti-camping laws. (Elattar, 9/25)

NPR: Politicians Often Link Crime And Homelessness. The Reality Is More Complex
As more people end up living in parks and under viaducts nationwide, residents and politicians in the communities around them have increasingly seen encampments as a threat to public safety.It has become a major talking point in the race for governor in Washington state and in San Francisco’s mayoral race. ... But how much do homeless encampments really affect crime in communities? (Anderson, 9/26)

Los Angeles Times: Sex Abuse In L.A. County Juvenile Halls In Spotlight At Senate Hearing
Testifying Wednesday before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, Breane Wingfield said she was 14 when, in 2005, she was sexually assaulted in a van by a deputy probation officer employed at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey. It happened again at a holding cell at the Compton Courthouse, she said. And again, almost daily, she alleged, by a guard at Camp Joseph Scott, a juvenile probation facility in Santa Clarita. “No one interfered or protected us,” said Wingfield, 32, her voice cracking as she recounted the abuse. “I did what I needed to do to survive.” (Castillo and Ellis, 9/26)

Los Angeles Times: A Rookie Kamala Harris Worked To Protect Child Sex Workers
Twenty years ago, freshly elected as San Francisco’s district attorney, Kamala Harris urged California lawmakers to crack down on child sex trafficking and warned that her fellow prosecutors had gotten it all wrong. Minors should not be arrested as “child prostitutes” and charged for their own abuse, she said, but deserved to be treated as victims who needed support. (Mays, 9/26)

Los Angeles Times: Study: More Women Charged With Pregnancy-Related Crime Since Roe's End
It became more common for authorities to charge women with crimes related to their pregnancies after the fall of Roe vs. Wade in 2022, a new study found — even if they’re almost never accused of violating abortion bans. In the year after the U.S. Supreme Court ended the nationwide right to abortion in its Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling, at least 210 women across the country were charged with crimes related to their pregnancies, according to the report released by Pregnancy Justice, an advocacy organization. That’s the highest number the group has identified over any 12-month period in research projects that have looked back as far as 1973. (Mulvihill, 9/25)

Mother Jones: Big Tech Would Be Key To Delivering Project 2025’s Anti-Abortion Plans
Last week, 15 civil liberties groups sent a letter to the CEOs of eight of the biggest tech companies—including Meta, Apple, TikTok, and Google, among others—demanding they explain how they would protect users’ data and privacy, as well as combat abortion-related misinformation on their platforms if Project 2025’s anti-abortion recommendations were set in motion. “As written, Project 2025 would rely heavily on your companies to further its extreme agenda,” states the letter, which Mother Jones is the first to report. The signatories—which include Accountable Tech, GLAAD, and The Tech Oversight Project—warn that Project 2025’s anti-abortion policies would lead to “heightened surveillance and an increase in the trend of law enforcement using criminal subpoenas to weaponize the consumer data your companies collect and store.”  (McShane, 9/25)

Fox News: 55% Of Americans With STDs Got Infected By A Cheating Partner: Study
A new study has exposed the sexual health habits of some Americans. The research, conducted by DatingNews.com, analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau to determine how and where Americans have been contracting and spreading STIs (sexually transmitted infections), also known as STDs (sexually transmitted diseases). Among the findings was the fact that 55% of people with an STI contracted it from a cheating partner. (Stabile, 9/26)

The War Horse: Few LGBTQ Veterans Apply For Biden’s Promised Pardons
The White House claimed that “thousands” of veterans could benefit when President Biden announced this summer he was issuing pardons to gay veterans who were forced out of the military because of their sexual orientation “and have carried the burden of this great injustice for decades.” But three months later, only eight veterans have applied for pardons—six from the Air Force, two from the Army, and none from the Coast Guard, Navy, or Marines. (Marshall-Chalmers, 9/26)

CNN: LGBTQ+ Adults May Have Higher Risk Of Poor Brain Health, Study Finds
Those in the LGBTQ+ community may have a higher risk of adverse brain health outcomes compared with straight cisgender people — those who identify as the sex they were assigned at birth, a new study has found. The large study of more than 393,000 adult participants, published Wednesday in the journal Neurology, found a 15% higher risk of a composite brain health outcome — including dementia, stroke and late-life depression — defined as a depressive episode first diagnosed at or after age 60. (Rogers, 9/25)

AP: US Suicides Held Steady In 2023 — At A Very High Level 
U.S. suicides last year remained at about the highest level in the nation’s history, preliminary data suggests. A little over 49,300 suicide deaths were reported in 2023, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That number that could grow a little as some death investigations are wrapped up and reported. Just under 49,500 were reported in 2022, according to final data released Thursday. The numbers are close enough that the suicide rate for the two years are the same, CDC officials said. (Stobbe, 9/26)

USA Today: CDC Data Reveals Women Use Firearms More Often In Suicide Deaths
More U.S. women are using firearms in suicide deaths, according to a new federal report. Firearms were used in more than half the country’s record 49,500 suicide deaths in 2022, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows. Traditionally, men die by suicide at a much higher rate than women, and they often do so using guns. However, a CDC report published Thursday found firearms were the leading means of suicide for women since 2020, with suicide deaths among women also increasing. (Cuevas, 9/26)

Military.com: Veterans Could Get Free Gun Safes Under Suicide Prevention Proposal Introduced In House 
Any veteran who wants a lockbox to store their firearm would be able to get one for free from the Department of Veterans Affairs under a bipartisan bill introduced in the House on Wednesday aimed at curbing veteran suicides. The bill, which has won the endorsement of a firearms industry group in addition to gun control groups, builds off an existing pilot program at the VA that provides lockboxes to at-risk veterans. (Kheel, 9/25)

The New York Times: Heads Up: That Patient Portal May Contain Your Therapy Notes
Starting in 2021, the federal government required all U.S. health care systems to share clinicians’ visit notes electronically, often referred to as open notes, as part of the 21st Century Cures Act. This includes therapy progress notes, which typically provide information about the client’s appearance and mood, a diagnosis, the treatment plan and any progress the client has made toward therapy goals. As a result, mental health visit notes are easily accessible via online portals from many health care institutions. But there are still networks that choose not to make the notes so easy to find. (Caron, 9/25)

USA Today: Biden To Sign Order On Machine Gun Devices, Shooter Drills
President Joe Biden will sign an executive order Thursday aimed at restricting new firearm technology that makes existing weapons more dangerous and helping students address the trauma caused by active shooter drills at schools. White House officials said the executive order will target machine gun conversion devices that turn regular firearms into machine guns that fire fully automatic, plus 3D-printed guns that do not have the typical serial numbers. ... White House officials say Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have heard from parents and educators about the potential trauma caused by a new barrage of active-shooter trainings in schools. Biden's executive order directs a bevy of federal agencies, including the Departments of Education, Homeland Security and Surgeon General to prepare a report in 110 days about how to implement drills and when. (Penzenstadler, 9/26)

Balls and Strikes: Ghost Guns Are Making The Gun Violence Crisis Worse. Will The Supreme Court Care?
Building, buying, or selling your own gun has never been easier. Go to the website for a purveyor of “weapon parts kits,” and you can anonymously order partially-completed weapons that you can fully assemble at home. Take half an hour or so to put the pieces together, and voilà, you have an unlicensed, untraceable gun. Weapon parts kits are like Lego sets that you can use to commit a school shooting. (Dennie, 9/25)

Stat: Ozempic Linked To Lower Opioid Overdose Rate, Study Shows
People taking semaglutide medications like Ozempic for diabetes may be at reduced risk of drug overdose, according to new research. Prescriptions for semaglutide, which includes Ozempic and Rybelsus, were linked to lower overdose rates among patients with type 2 diabetes who were also diagnosed with opioid use disorder, according to a paper published Wednesday. (Facher, 9/25)

Stat: Higher Buprenorphine Dose Safe For People With Fentanyl Addiction: Study
Patients who received higher doses of buprenorphine, a common medication used to alleviate opioid withdrawal and cravings, were less likely to be hospitalized and less likely to discontinue treatment, according to a new study. (Facher, 9/26)

The New York Times: What To Know About Galaxy Gas, The Latest Name In Nitrous Oxide Misuse 
Galaxy Gas, a vendor in Georgia, sells canisters of nitrous oxide that it says are meant to turn liquid cream into foam for beverages and desserts. But videos of young people inhaling the gas from colorful canisters — some of them advertising flavors like vanilla cupcake and strawberry cream — have gained traction on TikTok, YouTube and X in videos with millions of views. The visibility of the products on social media, where the name “Galaxy Gas” has taken off as a shorthand for nitrous canisters generally, has prompted a fresh wave of concern about the dangers of the gas and its appeal to young people. (Holtermann, 9/25)