San Diego Union-Tribune: Review Board Study Finds Large Number Of 'Excess Deaths' In San Diego County Jails 
San Diego has the highest number of “excess deaths” among California’s 12 largest county jail systems, according to a new study commissioned by the civilian review board that oversees the Sheriff’s Department. The independent review also found that while Black and Latino people are more likely to be locked up in San Diego County jails, White men and women are more likely to die behind bars. (McDonald and Davis, 4/11)

Orange County Register: State Inspectors Say OC Sheriff Not Serving Moldy Lunch Meat To Jail Inmates 
State regulators, investigating complaints by the American Civil Liberties Union and community activists, have concluded after a surprise visit in March that Orange County jails are not serving spoiled food to inmates. The ACLU of Southern California contacted the California Board of State and Community Corrections on March 10 after a coalition of activist groups issued a report in December alleging inmates for years have been served cold, moldy and bug-infested food in violation of state regulations. (Saavedra, 4/11)

Napa Valley Register: Napa County Fair Brings Back Face-To-Face Message Of Personal, Community Health
For the numerous groups paying attention to the health of Napans individually and as a county, there is no substitute for getting their messages across, person to person. That opportunity finally returned Sunday afternoon when more than 30 groups gathered for Napa County’s first annual Public Health Fair since 2019, after the annual gathering was twice cancelled during the coronavirus pandemic. As hundreds of visitors strolled past a succession of booths and displays at downtown Napa’s Fuller Park, members of more than 30 groups encouraged passers-by to buy produce at the farmer’s market, learn about the dangers of substance abuse, provide life-saving CPR — or even get vaccinated against COVID-19. (Yune, 4/10)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Had Another Mild Flu Season. But Are We In The Clear?
For the second consecutive year, California had an unusually mild flu season. But health experts warn that a late spring surge could be on the way. While outbreaks so far have been far fewer than in a typical flu season, infections are ramping up more than usual for this time of year in some parts of the country, federal data shows, as people emerge from pandemic caution. (Vaziri, 4/11)

San Francisco Chronicle: San Francisco’s Youngest Drug Overdose Victim Last Year Was 14. Her Mother Still Doesn’t Know What Happened
While more than 1,300 people died from drug overdoses in San Francisco over the last two years, many from the powerful opioid fentanyl, few of them were teenagers. In 2021, 645 people died of fatal overdoses, and at least 3 were under the age of 21, according to the most recent data, which provides demographic details for only 469 of those overdoses. In 2020, at least four of the 711 fatalities were teens. The rate of teenagers overdosing nationally is also very small — but it’s growing. The nonprofit Families Against Fentanyl estimates that fentanyl overdose deaths among American teenagers tripled in the past two years. (Fagan, 4/11)

San Francisco Chronicle: New Oklahoma Abortion Law Could Mean More Women Coming To California In Search Of Care
The plight of an East Bay doctor who travels to other parts of the country to provide abortion services shows how quickly the front lines are shifting in the battle over abortion access, as new states pass restrictive laws and the Supreme Court is considering a case that could dramatically change the legal landscape. East Bay obstetrician and gynecologist Rebecca Taub had for years regularly traveled to an Oklahoma abortion clinic, but has redirected her efforts in the wake of the state passing a law virtually outlawing abortion. She has recently been traveling instead to a clinic in Kansas, which is expected to see a surge of new patients from Oklahoma now in addition to Texas, which passed its own restrictive abortion law last year. (Garofoli, 4/11)

Orange County Register: Worried About Nuclear Waste At San Onofre? Other Danger Lurks 
In one doomsday scenario, rocket attacks on the nuclear waste stored at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station send plumes of dangerous radiation skyward. Critics in Southern California spend a lot of time worrying about the safety of the 3.6 million pounds of spent fuel entombed on the bluff above the blue Pacific — but the U.S. Government Accountability Office fixes its gaze on more mundane, and perhaps more terrifying, scenarios involving much smaller amounts of nuclear material routinely used by businesses, hospitals, universities and the like. (Sforza, 4/11)

AP: National Urban League Finds State Of Black America Is Grim 
The National Urban League released its annual report on the State of Black America on Tuesday, and its findings are grim. This year’s Equality Index shows Black people still get only 73.9 percent of the American pie white people enjoy. ... Among dozens of health measures, one stands out: Life expectancy has declined slightly for African Americans, so a Black child born today can expect to live to 74.7, four years less than a white baby. And lifelong inequities loom: Black women are 59% more likely to die as a result of bearing a child, and 31% more likely to die of breast cancer. Black men are 52% more likely to die of prostate cancer. (Warren, 4/12)

San Gabriel Valley Tribune: Workers At Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Vote To Strike 
Workers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center have voted overwhelmingly to authorize an unfair labor practice strike in May, claiming they are understaffed, underpaid and dealing with inadequate COVID-19 protections. The more than 2,000 employees — including nursing assistants, transporters, environmental service workers, plant operation employees, surgical technicians and food service workers — are members of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West. (Smith, 4/11)

San Diego Union-Tribune: El Cajon Will Try Sending Some 911 Calls To Nurses, Not Hospitals
Several years ago in the nation’s capital, a few hundred people who dialed 911 were not taken to a hospital. The next year, nearly 2,900 calls didn’t lead to an emergency room. The year after, it was more than 7,000, according to city data. Since 2018, more than 16,000 calls that once might have resulted in trips to the hospital were instead transferred to nurses, who could still help people find doctors or schedule rides to urgent cares. (Nelson, 4/11)

Los Angeles Times: A Transgender Psychologist Reckons With How To Support A New Generation Of Trans Teens
The parents come to Anderson, 71, in part because she herself is transgender. Anderson also stands out because she is one of the few clinical psychologists specializing in transgender youth to publicly question the sharp rise in adolescents coming out as trans or nonbinary. She has helped hundreds of teens transition. But she has also come to believe that some children identifying as trans are falling under the influence of their peers and social media and that some clinicians are failing to subject minors to rigorous mental health evaluations before recommending hormones or surgeries. (Jarvie, 4/12)

CalMatters: Plans To Curb California Insulin Costs Abound. Will Anything Get Done This Year? 
Last week in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration said it is moving forward with a first-in-the-nation plan to manufacture and distribute more affordable versions of insulin under its generic label, dubbed Cal Rx. (Ibarra, 4/10)

San Francisco Chronicle: Johnson & Johnson Must Pay $302 Million For Deceptive Marketing Of Pelvic Mesh Implants, Court Rules
Johnson & Johnson must pay $302 million in penalties to the state for many years of deceptive marketing to doctors and female patients about pelvic mesh implants that could cause serious vaginal pain and physical damage, a state appeals court ruled Monday. A San Diego County judge had assessed $344 million in penalties against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon in January 2020, finding after a non-jury trial that the company had made misleading and potentially harmful statements in hundreds of thousands of advertisements and instructional brochures for nearly 20 years. (Egelko, 4/11)

Bloomberg: White House To Blunt Medical Debts For Veterans, U.S. Home Borrowers
Vice President Kamala Harris announced new steps designed to reduce the cost of federal home loans for Americans saddled with medical debt and make it easier for veterans to have health care bills forgiven during an event Monday at the White House. “I have met so many people in so many communities in our nation who are struggling with this burden, many of whom are managing an illness or an injury at the same time, and who stay up at night staring at the ceiling, wondering if they will ever be able to pay off their medical debt,” Harris said. “No one in our nation should have to endure that.” (Sink and Cook, 4/11)

PBS NewsHour: Federal Government To Act Against ‘Bad Actors’ In Medical Debt Collection, Harris Says
The federal government will be taking action against “bad actors” who break the law when attempting to collect medical debt, Vice President Kamala Harris said on Monday. “Our administration is also taking action against the bad actors. The folks who violate consumers rights to force people to pay medical debt,” Harris said during a speech announcing the new action to be taken by the Consumer Finance and Protection Bureau. (4/11)

CNN: White House Seeks To Ease Americans' Medical Debt Burden
The White House is seeking to help lessen Americans’ medical debt burden, Vice President Kamala Harris announced Monday. In its latest effort to help people deal with increased costs amid skyrocketing inflation, the White House laid out a four-point plan to help protect consumers. It builds on President Joe Biden’s recent executive order on increasing access to affordable health care coverage. (Luhby, 4/11)

Axios: Biden's Band-Aid On Medical Debt
But an increasing number of insured Americans can't afford deductibles, copayments or other out-of-pocket costs that are rising with the underlying cost of care. More than 40% of households don't have enough liquid assets to pay typical private plan cost-sharing, according to a recent KFF analysis. Taking some of the bite out of medical debt doesn't prevent it from accruing in the first place, and it could have unintended consequences. "Policymakers should be cognizant of potential unintended consequences that could undermine some of their goals. Lenders may find ways to proxy for the hidden medical debt or try to avoid consumers likely to have them," said the American Enterprise Institute's Ben Ippolito. (Owens, 4/12)

Modern Healthcare: HHS To Factor Medical Debt Practices Into Grant Decisions
The Health and Human Services Department will soon request data from more than 2,000 providers related to medical debt, the White House announced Monday. Providers may be asked to submit information on their medical bill collection practices, lawsuits against patients, financial assistance, financial product offerings and third-party contracting or debt-buying practices. HHS will use the information when making grantmaking decisions. The department also will make some of the data public and share potential violations with enforcement agencies. (Goldman, 4/11)

Los Angeles Daily News: USC’s Free Mobile Clinic Provides Dental Services To Homeless And At-Risk Veterans
The clinic kicked off Monday on Veterans Avenue in Westwood. A team of about 40 dental students from the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC were scheduled to provide the care, to be overseen by dental faculty. “This dental care is life saving and I am so very thankful,” said former Marine Alan Burch, 63. “In the Marine Corps your feet could hurt or your back could hurt and you would get through it, but if your teeth hurt you, you couldn’t do much.” (Musgrove, 4/11)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento Clears Homeless Encampment On Fair Oaks And Howe 
Under pressure from Sacramento County, the city of Sacramento on Monday cleared a highly-visible homeless encampment that had been present for more than a year — a move activists say could have been illegal. A tight-knit camp of about 30 people was located on a well-lighted one-acre grassy lot at Fair Oaks Boulevard and Howe Avenue. The land is public, owned by the city, meaning crews could not clear the camp without offering all individuals shelter beds or housing, according to the 2018 decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals known as Martin vs. Boise. (Clift, 4/11)

AP: California Bill Aims To Remove Homeless From River Parkways
Lawmakers in California want to make it easier to remove homeless people along rivers and other open spaces after the body of a 20-year-old woman was found close to some tents at a popular park near the state's capital city earlier this year. Emma Roark vanished after taking a walk at about noon on Jan. 27 along the American River Parkway, a 32-mile paved pedestrian trail that runs along the river and connects various parks between Sacramento and Folsom. Millions of people use the parkway each year. But like most vast public spaces, it's become a popular spot for homeless people to camp. (Beam, 4/10)

Los Angeles Times: New State Government Efforts To Tackle California's Housing Crisis 
A year after the creation of sweeping laws to increase the construction of duplexes and small apartment buildings, California lawmakers have turned their attention to money for affordable housing and easing the burdens of homeownership for first-time buyers. It’s an agenda that has so far drawn less attention and sparked fewer political fights than the one that dominated housing discussions at the state Capitol in 2021. (Wiley 4/11)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Longtime City Employee To Lead San Diego's Planning Efforts During Housing Crisis
A longtime San Diego city employee has been selected to spearhead efforts to solve the local housing crisis and shift infrastructure spending toward low-income neighborhoods. Heidi Vonblum, who has worked for San Diego since 2009 as a deputy city attorney and planning official, was promoted Monday to planning director by Mayor Todd Gloria. (Garrick, 4/11)

Sacramento Bee: Economic Crisis Caused By COVID-19 Hurt Women More Than Men
Did California’s unemployment troubles during the COVID-19 pandemic trigger a “she-cession?” Has the state suffered through an economic crisis that hit people of color and less educated people harder? A new study by the nonpartisan California Policy Lab, released Tuesday, suggests strongly that both answers are yes. (Lightman, 4/12)

Axios: Axios-Ipsos Poll: Most Americans Say COVID Is No Longer A Crisis
Less than one in 10 Americans now describe COVID-19 as a crisis — with about three in four calling it a manageable problem and one in six saying it's no problem at all — according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index. These sentiments — and the public's growing desire to be done with mask mandates and other restrictions — raise significant challenges for public health officials in managing new surges, and could create real political headwinds ahead of the midterms. (Talev, 4/12)

The Hill: Why The Latest Rise In COVID-19 Cases Is Being Treated Differently  
COVID-19 cases are showing signs of rising again, even as many Americans are eager to move on. ... While there are now upticks in the Northeast, there are not yet signs of the massive spike that hit over the winter. That omicron variant-fueled spike already infected many people, helping provide them some immunity against the current outbreak, in addition to the immunity provided by vaccines and booster shots. (Sullivan, 4/11)

The Hill: Pelosi Tests Negative For COVID, Set To Exit Isolation 
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced on Monday that she has tested negative for COVID-19 and will exit isolation on Tuesday. She tweeted: "Today, happily I tested negative for COVID. Tomorrow, I will be exiting isolation at the direction of the Capitol’s Attending Physician and consistent with CDC guidelines for asymptomatic individuals. Many thanks to everyone for their good wishes, chocolates and chicken soup." (Schnell, 4/11)

NBC News: Seven Days, 18,000 Deaths: A Look At Omicron’s Deadliest Week
No week of the omicron wave saw more deaths than the week of Jan. 30 to Feb. 5. More than 18,400 deaths were recorded, according to NBC News’ tally, more deaths in a single week than in all of June and July 2021 combined. The death toll — which occurred two weeks after cases peaked across the United States — made the week the deadliest thus far of 2022 and one of the deadliest weeks of the pandemic. (Chiwaya, 4/7)

Fox News: California, New York Handled COVID-19 Lockdowns The Worst, Florida Among The Best, A New Study Shows
A new study has graded states by how well they handled the coronavirus pandemic and its subsequent restrictions and lockdowns, showing a stark contrast between liberal and conservative states. The Committee To Unleash Prosperity study compared state performance on metrics including the economy, education, and mortality from the virus, and examined how states and their respective governments handled the pandemic response. (Richard, 4/11)

The Hill: Biden Seeks To Resume Federal Worker Vaccine Mandate
The Biden administration on Monday asked a federal appeals court to clear a procedural hurdle that remained after a key legal victory last week and allow the administration to quickly resume enforcement of its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal employees.  The request to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, if granted, would effectively reinstate the public health policy after it was put on hold across the country in January by a federal judge in Texas. (Kruzel, 4/11)

Axios: Biden Official: Mask Mandate For Airplanes Could Be Extended
Extending the federal transportation mask mandate that applies to airplanes, buses and trains is "absolutely on the table," Ashish Jha, the White House's new COVID-19 response coordinator, said Monday on the Today Show. The transportation mask mandate was extended last month but is currently set to expire on April 18. Jha stressed that the decision to extend the transportation mandate lies with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Rochelle Walensky. (Saric, 4/11)

The New York Times: New Drug Slashed Deaths Among Patients With Severe Covid, Maker Claims 
An experimental drug halved the death rate among critically ill Covid patients who were receiving supplemental oxygen and were at high risk for serious lung disease and death, the drug’s developer announced on Monday. ... The new drug, sabizabulin, reduced deaths among hospitalized Covid-19 patients so drastically in a clinical trial that independent safety monitors recommended stopping it early, officials at Veru Inc., the drug’s maker, said. The trial was halted on Friday. The results of that trial have not been peer-reviewed or published in a medical journal. (Rabin, 4/11)

AP: CVS, Feds Reach Agreement On Vaccine Portal Accessibility 
CVS Pharmacy has reached a settlement with federal prosecutors that will ensure the company’s online vaccination scheduling portal remains fully accessible to people with disabilities, officials said Monday. The U.S. attorney’s office in Rhode Island alleged the company, which operates nearly 10,000 retail pharmacies nationwide, was in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act because the portal was not accessible to people who use screen reader software designed for the visually impaired, and to those who have difficulty using a mouse. (4/11)