U.S. Health Care Still ‘A Big, Creaky System,’ Obama Says In San Diego: Former President Barack Obama lauded the advances that researchers are making in precision medicine but lamented the sluggish pace of adoption of these technologies in the U.S. health care system at an event in San Diego on Wednesday. Obama said the system has evolved so it is “more of a disease care system than a health care system." Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune.
S.F. Unveils Plan To Reduce Overdoses By 15% By 2025: Amid increasing political pressure, San Francisco released for the first time a plan with measurable goals to reduce overdose deaths after a streak of fatalities that left roughly 1,700 people dead in less than three years. 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.
More News From Across The State
Los Angeles Daily News:
A Memorial To Those Who Died From COVID-19 In LA County Gets The Go-Ahead
A memorial to more than 33,500 people of Los Angeles County who lost their lives to COVID-19 is in the works as a result of a unanimous motion adopted by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. (Scauzillo, 9/28)
San Francisco Chronicle:
COVID In California: S.F. Undercounted 1,400 Cases Due To A Data Error
San Francisco added 1,400 previously unreported cases since the beginning of September to its COVID-19 dashboard on Wednesday to make up for a California Department of Public Health processing error that affected the accuracy of the city’s data. Officials identified the error on the dashboard, noting that the “case data has been identified and corrected.” (Vaziri, 9/28)
CIDRAP:
New Blood Test Aims To Predict Who Will Get Long COVID
In a small study today in eBioMedicine, researchers from University College London show that a blood sample taken at the time of COVID-19 infection could predict who would develop persistent symptoms up to 1 year later by using precise measurements of proteins. (9/28)
The Guardian:
Covid Might Have Changed People’s Personalities, Study Suggests
The impact of the Covid pandemic may have been so deep that it altered people’s personalities, according to research. Previously psychologists have failed to find a link between collective stressful events, such as earthquakes or hurricanes, and personality change. However, something about the losses experienced or simply the long grind of social isolation appears to have made an impact. (Devlin, 9/28)
The New York Times:
Physician Burnout Has Reached Distressing Levels, New Research Finds
Ten years of data from a nationwide survey of physicians confirm another trend that’s worsened through the pandemic: Burnout rates among doctors in the United States, which were already high a decade ago, have risen to alarming levels. Results released this month and published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, a peer-reviewed journal, show that 63 percent of physicians surveyed reported at least one symptom of burnout at the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, an increase from 44 percent in 2017 and 46 percent in 2011. Only 30 percent felt satisfied with their work-life balance, compared with 43 percent five years earlier. (Whang, 9/29)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. Moves Closer To Ending COVID-19 Eviction Protections
Some of the country’s longest lasting COVID-19 protections against eviction moved closer to ending Wednesday when a Los Angeles City Council committee advanced a measure to repeal the rules at the end of January. Under the plan, starting Feb. 1, L.A. landlords will once again be able to evict tenants for unpaid rent and other reasons even if tenants have been affected by COVID-19. The city’s current rules have prohibited such evictions since March 2020. (Dillon, 9/28)
San Francisco Chronicle:
How Many Abortion-Seekers Are Actually Traveling To California?
California is spending millions and implementing new laws to bolster its ability to accommodate abortion-seekers from all over the country— but there’s a catch: It is virtually impossible to find out how many people from out-of-state are traveling here for medical help that in some cases is paid for with state taxpayer dollars. (Garofoli and Bollag, 9/28)
San Francisco Chronicle:
SF DA Brooke Jenkins Could Charge Fentanyl Dealers With Murder
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said Wednesday that she may seek to convict accused drug traffickers with murder if their product is linked to an overdose death — a seismic escalation of the city’s handling of criminal drug cases. (Cassidy and Swan, 9/28)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Fentanyl-Laced Pill Kills California Teen, Epidemic Reaches Suburbs
Nobody quite knew what compelled Zachary Didier, a floppy-haired, straight-A high school student from Placer County, to buy what he thought were opioid painkillers from a dealer over Snapchat. But what was likely an impulsive decision, made during a pandemic lockdown, changed everything for the Didier family. (Swan, 9/28)
Los Angeles Blade:
Unvaccinated 14 Times More Likely To Contract Monkeypox
U.S. health officials are celebrating preliminary data on the vaccine used in the monkeypox outbreak, which has led them to conclude eligible persons who didn’t get a shot were 14 times more likely to become infected than those who are vaccinated. (Johnson, 9/28)
Stat:
Early Analysis Suggests Monkeypox Vaccine Is Reducing Risk Of Infection
A very preliminary analysis of data from 32 states appears to suggest that the monkeypox vaccine being used in the United States is reducing the risk of infection among vaccinated people, Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday. (Branswell, 9/28)
The Washington Post:
Should I Still Be Worried About Monkeypox?
The monkeypox outbreak is showing signs of slowing in the United States and around the globe. Daily U.S. infections now average around 200 after peaking around 450 in mid-August. Health officials attribute the decline to vaccines and behavioral change among gay men who have reduced sexual activity, the most common mode of transmission. But they’re also bracing for monkeypox to stick around as a background threat with periodic flare-ups. (Nirappil and Sun, 9/28)
Bloomberg:
Monkeypox Update: WHO Renaming Effort Too Slow For Some
More than three months after the World Health Organization said it would combat the stigma and racism around the monkeypox virus with a new name, no decision has been made. (Ighodaro, 9/28)
NPR:
Zoonotic Diseases Like COVID-19 And Monkeypox Will Become More Common, Experts Say
Researchers say these types of viruses, known as zoonotic diseases, or ones that spread between humans and animals, will become increasingly commonplace as factors such as the destruction of animal habitats and human expansion into previously uninhabited areas intensify. (Archie, 9/29)
The Washington Post:
Bitten By A Fox, Rep. Bera Introduces Bill To Reduce The Cost Of Rabies Vaccine
Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.) has introduced legislation aimed at reducing the cost of the rabies vaccine for uninsured Americans months after a fox bit him as he was walking on Capitol Hill. “Despite being a fatal disease, rabies is preventable if treated quickly,” Bera said in a statement Wednesday, which is World Rabies Day. “After being bit by a rabid fox, I was fortunate to have access to readily available and low-cost vaccines. But for too many Americans, the costs of treatment would break their banks.” (Scott, 9/28)
San Francisco Chronicle:
‘Who Is Going To Hold Kaiser Accountable?’ Patients Detail Mental Health Care Failings
A San Francisco mother whose daughter nearly jumped in front of a train learned that a Kaiser Permanente therapist would be able to see her — in a month. A mentally unstable man who begged in vain for Kaiser to hospitalize him drove to a cliff and leaped to his death. A therapist whose client blamed Kaiser for her son’s mental health crisis agreed that therapists were stretched too thin and apologized. Those were among the shocking stories revealed during a San Francisco Board of Supervisors hearing Tuesday as politicians sought to understand why Kaiser delivers what patients, families and employees called deeply inadequate mental health care, even as the city spends nearly $500 million a year with the health care giant. (Asimov, 9/28)
Los Angeles Times:
From BTS To Zoom Therapy, Why Korean Americans Are Seeking More Mental Health Help
For more than 3 million followers on TikTok, Nick Cho is their “Korean Dad.” He walks his followers through a back-to-school shopping trip and wonders if they should buy “anime backpacks.” He does a finger heart as he cooks Korean ramen for two in stone pots with slices of cheese. (Park, 9/28)
Los Angeles Times:
How To Start Talking About Mental Health Within Latino Families
Norma Fabian Newton had heard of other new mothers experiencing the “baby blues,” short-term sadness and anxiety. But when she had her first child in her early 30s, she described her experience as a “constant barrage of thoughts.” “I was constantly thinking, ‘I’m not equipped to be a parent, I hate myself, or I hate this decision,’” she said. (Garcia, 9/28)
The Mercury News:
Oakland School Shooting: 6 Wounded, Shooter At Large
In one of the Bay Area’s worst school shootings in recent memory, six people were wounded when multiple shots rang out near a group of East Oakland schools on Wednesday afternoon. Hundreds of students were sent into lockdown as police swarmed the grounds searching for a shooter who hours later had not been captured. (Kamisher, Kelly and Rodgers, 9/28)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Oakland School Shooting Injures 6; Police Seek Attacker
Six adults were shot at a high school in East Oakland on Wednesday afternoon in a mass shooting that left two victims with life-threatening injuries. Police responding to the 1:45 p.m. shooting at the King Estate of Rudsdale Newcomer High School, on the 8200 block of Fontaine Street, found the victims inside the school. Two of the victims were carpenters who work for the school district and the four others also had connections with the district, but it was unclear whether they were staffers or students. (Ravani, Swan and Fagan, 9/28)
The Mercury News:
Oakland: Cycle Of Terror, Relief For Parents Amid School Shooting
For the second time in a month, hundreds of parents rushed from across Oakland to their child’s East Oakland school with only one question running in their minds: Is my child safe? The scene played out in stark horror Wednesday as a shooting that left six people injured rocked a campus that houses several schools in the Eastmont Hills neighborhood. The incident came almost exactly a month to the day after gunfire rang out at a school just three miles down the hill in deep East Oakland — a shooting that left a 13-year-old student wounded and a 12-year-old student facing criminal charges. (Rodgers, 9/28)
Times Of San Diego:
USS Nimitz Remains Docked At North Island Due To Jet Fuel Contamination Of Drinking Water
The Bremerton, WA-based USS Nimitz is docked at Naval Air Station North Island due to contamination of the aircraft carrier’s drinking water by jet fuel, the U.S. Naval Institute reported Tuesday. The warship has been connected to San Diego’s water system since Sept. 17, a day after the crew discovered fuel in the water, according to the nonprofit USNI. (Jennewein, 9/28)
The Bakersfield Californian:
Local Organizations Discuss Progress, Support For Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
Children get different kinds of cancers than adults, notes Dr. Ravi Patel, founder of the Comprehensive Blood and Cancer Center in Bakersfield — and that’s a good thing. (Smith, 9/28)
San Joaquin Valley Sun:
Ad Check: Bonta Defends Salas Over Prescription Drug Votes Targeted In New Commercials
California Attorney General Rob Bonta joined Asm. Rudy Salas (D–Bakersfield) to defend his record as he attempts to oust Rep. David Valadao (R–Hanford) in Congress. Wednesday’s press conference came in response to an advertisement put out from the NRCC that highlighted Salas’s vote on Assembly Bill 2486 in 2018. (Gligich, 9/28)
Sacramento Bee:
Gavin Newsom Signs Law Requiring California Schools To Purchase American-Made Food
Public institutions in California will have to opt for American-made food products starting Jan. 1, 2024 under a bill signed Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Senate Bill 490 states that public institutions, including schools, need to budget for and purchase American-made foods unless they are more than 25% of the cost of imported ones. (Diaz, 9/28)
Stat:
FDA Proposes New Rules For Which Foods Can Be Called ‘Healthy’
The change is a major win for certain food makers, including the company behind KIND bars, that had long been pushing the agency to update its label policies. KIND first filed a petition pushing the FDA to update its “healthy” label seven years ago, arguing that the previous regulations allowed some companies to tout specific nutrients in sugary cereals and sodium-flooded products that could have misled the public into believing those foods were healthy. (Castillo, 9/28)
The Washington Post:
The FDA Issues New Guidelines On What Foods Can Be Labeled 'Healthy'
The Food and Drug Administration announced new rules Wednesday for nutrition labels that can go on the front of food packages to indicate that they are “healthy.” Under the proposal, manufacturers can label their products “healthy” if they contain a meaningful amount of food from at least one of the food groups or subgroups (such as fruit, vegetable or dairy) recommended by the dietary guidelines. They must also adhere to specific limits for certain nutrients, such as saturated fat, sodium and added sugars. For example, a cereal would need to contain three-quarters of an ounce of whole grains and no more than 1 gram of saturated fat, 230 milligrams of sodium and 2.5 grams of added sugars per serving for a food manufacturer to use the word “healthy” on the label. (Reiley, 9/28)