Axios: COVID-19 Hospitalization Rates On Rise In CA 
COVID-19 hospitalization rates across California rose 8% between June and July amid signs of a late summer wave sweeping the country. With so little testing happening these days compared to the height of the pandemic, hospitalization rates are now one of the best proxies for estimating broader viral spread. (Dickey, Fitzpatrick and Beheraj, 8/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: COVID Cases Are Rising In The Bay Area. Here’s How To Protect Yourself
A local theater troupe cancels a weekend of performances because cast members have COVID. A Sunday luncheon is postponed because the hostess has fallen ill. A colleague catches the coronavirus on a trip back from Italy. The nearby Walgreens is sold out of home test kits. There’s no mistaking that the SARS-CoV-2 virus is staging an unwanted comeback in the Bay Area. The uptick in COVID cases evokes memories of summers since 2020. Official figures, though early, back up the anecdotes: The state’s test positivity rate has climbed to 11.8%, its highest level since the beginning of the year, and hospitalizations are up more than 63% in the last month, from a seven-day average of 163 admissions per day in mid-July to 266 per day last week. (Vaziri, 8/22)

Science: COVID-19 Boosts Risks Of Health Problems 2 Years Later, Giant Study Of Veterans Says
Three-and-a-half years since SARS-CoV-2 spread around the world, scientists are still documenting the virus’ myriad effects on human health. What’s clear already is that those effects can continue long beyond the original infection. Now, researchers have attempted to quantify this long-term harm using a massive database of U.S. veterans’ health records. They found a dramatically increased risk of dozens of conditions including heart failure and fatigue, sometimes years postinfection. Overall, the team estimates, COVID-19’s public health impact is more than 50% greater than that of cancer or heart disease. (Oxford, 8/21)

Politico: CDC, Pharmacies Try To Speed Up Covid Vaccine Program For The Uninsured 
Just days after warning that pharmacies would not provide free Covid vaccines to the uninsured until October, the Biden administration and retail pharmacies are trying to accelerate the timeline. Biden health officials are now attempting to finalize contracts that would allow pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens to offer the shot to uninsured Americans as early as mid-September, when the government plans to make an updated version of the vaccine available to the broader public. (Cancryn and Lim, 8/21)

Time: New CDC Director Mandy Cohen On Abortion, COVID-19, And More
Dr. Mandy Cohen is the new director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The former health secretary for North Carolina, she led the state’s COVID-19 response and improved Medicaid access for eligible residents. Just one month into her new job, Cohen spoke with TIME about what we can expect next in the ongoing government response to COVID-19, the tumultuous legal battles currently surrounding women’s health, and her vision for the embattled public health agency. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. (Park, 8/21)

Stat: FDA Approves Pfizer's RSV Vaccine Designed To Protect Newborns
The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved a Pfizer vaccine that aims to protect newborns against RSV by vaccinating pregnant people in the latter part of pregnancy. The vaccine, Abrysvo, has also been approved for use in adults 60 and older to protect them against respiratory syncytial virus. (Branswell, 8/21)

The New York Times: RSV Vaccines: What To Know For Babies, Pregnant Women And Older Adults 
The two adult vaccines, which were created by Pfizer and GSK, are very similar, both in terms of how well they protect against symptomatic R.S.V. infection and in their side effects. They also work the same way biologically — targeting a protein the virus uses to fuse to human cells — and were developed based on the same decade-old scientific discovery, which is why they’ve emerged at the same time. (Smith, 8/21)

Bay Area News Group: Day Spa Source Of Legionnaire's Disease That Killed Two
A hot tub at a Richmond day spa was the likely source where bacteria grew and caused a Legionnaires’ disease breakout that killed two people and sickened at least two more earlier this month, health officials said Monday. (Hurd, 8/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: Richmond Spa Likely Source Of Legionnaires’ Disease That Killed 2
Lab testing has confirmed that the Richmond spa that was being investigated as the source of Legionnaires’ disease that killed two people earlier this month did in fact have high levels of legionella bacteria in its hot tub — making it the likely origin of the disease among several people, Contra Costa County officials said Monday. Six customers are believed to have been infected after visiting Zen Day Spa in Richmond. Two people died, two fell ill shortly after visiting the spa and are suspected to have had Legionnaires’ disease, and two more were later found to have lab-confirmed Legionnaires’ disease. (Ho, 8/21)

Fresno Bee: Human Cases Of West Nile Virus Confirmed In Fresno Area. How To Protect Yourself
The Fresno County Department of Public Health has reported two human cases of West Nile Virus so far this year. And the county is among the leaders in the state in captured mosquito samples found to be carrying the virus. The county’s first mosquito samples found to be carrying the virus were reported July 19. (Sheehan, 8/21)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Exec Hopes Scripps Medicare Advantage Departure Can Be Solved 
Scripps Health insisted last week that it remained open to keeping its most sought-after medical groups working with Medicare Advantage plans, and one key health insurance executive says he is feeling more hopeful than was previously the case. (Sisson, 8/21)

La Jolla Light: La Jolla's Sanford Burnham Prebys Adding Six Scientists In Hopes Of Launching New Era Of Collaboration 
Seven months after local billionaire T. Denny Sanford gave La Jolla-based Sanford Burnham Prebys $70 million to help recruit new faculty members to explore cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, a cohort of a half-dozen has been hired, and one has already started working. (Mackin-Solomon, 8/21)

Los Angeles Times: 911 Dispatcher's Voice Helped O.C. Woman Aid Husband Having Cardiac Arrest 
When Steve Kielty woke up from a medically induced coma his wife, Sharon, leaned over and explained his heart had stopped beating. “No way,” he said incredulously from his hospital bed. Before he collapsed in their Rancho Santa Margarita home on the morning of July 1, Steve Kielty, 62, worked in his garden and complained of indigestion. Sharon Kielty, 59, was in the bathroom, a few feet away when she heard her husband let out a bone-chilling gasp and hit his head on a doorway. (Solis, 8/21)

CNN: Screen Time Linked With Developmental Delays, Study Finds
Handing your baby a phone or tablet to play with may seem like a harmless solution when you’re busy, but it could quickly affect their development, a new study has found. Having anywhere from one to four hours of screen time per day at age 1 is linked with higher risks of developmental delays in communication, fine motor, problem-solving and personal and social skills by age 2, according to a study of 7,097 children published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. (Rogers, 8/21)

NBC News: Gun Deaths Among U.S. Children Rose Again In 2021, CDC Data Shows
Gun-related deaths among children in the U.S. reached a distressing peak in 2021, claiming 4,752 young lives and surpassing the record total seen during the first year of the pandemic, a new analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. The alarming statistic clearly indicated that America’s gun violence epidemic has gotten worse, experts say. More than 80% of the gun deaths were among males 19 and younger. Black male children were more likely to die from homicide. White males 19 and younger were more likely to kill themselves with guns. (Lovelace Jr., 8/21)

EdSource: ‘Powerful’ Child Abuse Expo Could Come To Merced County Schools 
Six rooms, each a different story, holding the secrets of a different child and a distinct type of abuse. “Some secrets should be told,” is inked on posters and flyers. The Lisa Project exhibit does exactly that. It bares the secrets that are often hidden by displaying what child abuse looks like in various situations. Its sounds — in children’s voices — detail all sorts of abuse. Showing temporarily in Merced County this past week, the exhibit forces guests to hear, see and feel child abuse and be immersed in the reality many children face. (Thornton, 8/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: LGBTQ Students Returning To Hostile Environments — Even In California
California remains one of the most progressive states in the country when it comes to supporting and protecting LGBTQ students and their families, said advocates working to retain those supports. But the battles show that California is not immune from the culture wars driving anti-LGBTQ sentiments nationally. (Allday, 8/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Schools Embrace LGBTQ Students Amid National Culture War
Kena Hazelwood gathered two dozen health teachers days before San Francisco Unified started this year for what district officials feel is vital training: how to support LGBTQ students amid worrying rates of bullying, harassment and suicide among them. By the end of the hourlong session, the teachers had learned how to address gender identity in class. They also got information about the growing list of pronouns used in the rainbow community and how to respond when a trans student comes out to them. This was definitely not a conversation happening in many parts of the country given the anti-LGBTQ laws and policies coming out of Florida, Texas and even some school districts in California. (Tucker, 8/21)

Military.com: Commissaries Bringing Healthier, Fresh Food Closer To Home For Army Soldiers 
Soldiers at 10 Army posts have better access to healthy snacks and fresh deli items as part of a new program that puts commissary kiosks and outposts near their barracks or workspaces, according to the Defense Commissary Agency. Through a partnership with the Army, commissaries have installed kiosks in locations "convenient to soldiers on duty in the middle of the day" and stocked them with items such as sandwiches, salads, sushi, fresh fruit, drinks and other wholesome foods, DeCA officials told Military.com in a recent interview. (Kime, 8/21)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Sonoma County Board Of Supervisors Poised To Vote On Plan To Bring Thousands Of New Housing Units To County
Months behind a state deadline, Sonoma County officials are close to finalizing a housing plan intended to support affordable housing development. (Murphy, 8/21)

Reuters: Indivior To Pay $30 Million To Settle Health Plans' Suboxone Claims
Indivior has agreed to pay $30 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed in a U.S. court by health plans accusing the drugmaker of illegally suppressing generic competition for its opioid addiction treatment Suboxone. The settlement, disclosed on Saturday in a filing by lawyers for the health plans in federal court in Philadelphia, must still be approved by a judge. Indivior is still facing claims by drug wholesalers that bought Suboxone from the Virginia-based company directly, with a trial scheduled in October. (Pierson, 8/21)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Alzheimer's Group To Discuss Dementia Research In San Diego 
On the heels of an international conference, the Alzheimer’s Association San Diego and Imperial Counties chapter will host its annual research town hall this Thursday. (Mapp, 8/21)

Los Angeles Times: Is Tom Girardi's Dementia An Act? Court To Hear Evidence 
Was the disgraced legal legend’s behavior evidence of pronounced dementia — or a canny performance? That question will be the subject of a competency hearing Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton, who must determine whether Girardi should proceed to trial or be confined to a government facility for additional evaluation. Girardi’s lawyers say he has little short-term memory and is legally incompetent to go before a jury. Prosecutors contend that is largely an act and Girardi has been feigning dementia for years to dodge accountability for stealing millions of dollars from clients. (Ryan, 8/22)

The Oaklandside: Oakland’s Psychedelic Mushroom Church Applies For Permit To Keep Operating
Oakland’s psychedelic mushroom church, which promotes the religious use of cannabis and psilocybin as a way to connect with God, may be on the cusp of resolving a three-year legal saga with the city. (Burnett, 8/21)

Bay Area News Group: Los Gatos Party Mom Court Hearing Delayed Over Medical Issue -- Spider Bites?
In a brief hearing, Judge Elizabeth C. Peterson said only that O’Connor’s absence “may be medically related” and that she had “no reason to doubt that there is good cause” for her refusal to ride from jail to the courthouse. (Woolfolk, 8/21)

Politico: Generic Drug Giants Settle Federal Price-Fixing Charges 
Two generic drug giants agreed Monday to settle long-running criminal price-fixing charges with the Justice Department, including the unusual move to sell off the drugs involved. The U.S. arms of Israel-based Teva and India-based Glenmark are paying $225 million and $30 million, respectively, according to court filings. The companies agreed to enter into deferred prosecution agreements, a resolution in which charges are suspended but a company must admit wrongdoing. It can later face charges if it does not follow the terms of the deal. (Sisco, 8/21)

Reuters: Boehringer Latest To Sue US Over Drug Price Negotiation Plan 
Boehringer Ingelheim sued the U.S. government in an attempt to block a program that gives the Medicare health insurance plan the power to negotiate lower drug prices, joining other drugmakers and business groups claiming that it would stifle development of new medicines. In a complaint filed on Friday in federal court in New Haven, Connecticut, the privately-held German drugmaker said the program violates the U.S. Constitution by giving federal regulators too much power to dictate drug prices. (Pierson, 8/21)

Stat: Eli Lilly CEO Gives To Mike Pence Presidential Super PAC 
David Ricks, who leads Eli Lilly, made a major early donation to a super PAC in support of former vice president Mike Pence — one of the first big 2024 donations from a major player in the pharmaceutical industry. (Cohrs, 8/22)