Modesto Bee: These Are The Most Unsafe Hospitals In California, Report Says. See If Yours Made The List
When going to the hospital for medical treatment, surgery or a simple exam, patients in California expect medical staff to meet a certain standard of care. (Linn, 12/10)

Modesto Bee: Another Dispute Threatens To Rip Apart Stanislaus Regional 911 Partnership. Sheriff Wants Out 
Dialing 911 is a simple step for someone needing emergency help. But the system for dispatching emergency units is not simple, and the complexities are tearing apart the 25-year-old Stanislaus Regional 911 system. (Carlson, 12/9)

Becker's Hospital Review: Scripps Back In The Black After $242.7M Turnaround In FY 2024
San Diego-based Scripps Health reported $206.2 million in operating income (4.2% margin) in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, a $242.7 million turnaround from the $36.6 million operating loss (-0.9% margin) in the previous fiscal year. Revenue increased 14.1% year over year to $4.9 billion while expenses grew by 8.4% to $4.7 billion, according to financial documents published Nov. 6. Labor costs increased 5.4% to $1.9 billion and supply expenses rose 7.8% to $823 million. (Condon, 12/9)

Modern Healthcare: Cala Health Raises $50M From J&J Innovation, Ascension Ventures
Cala Health, a bioelectric medicine company, raised $50 million in a growth round, with participation from existing vendors including Johnson & Johnson Innovation, OSF Ventures and Ascension Ventures, among others. The round, which was co-led by Vertex Growth Fund and Nexus NeuroTech Ventures, will help the company accelerate efforts to bring its products to market. (12/9)

San Francisco Chronicle: “Forever Chemicals” Found To Taint Rural California Drinking Water
Juana Valle never imagined she’d be scared to drink water from her tap or eat fresh eggs and walnuts when she bought her 5-acre farm in San Juan Bautista, Calif., three years ago. Escaping city life and growing her own food was a dream come true for the 52-year-old. Then Valle began to suspect water from her well was making her sick. (Norman, 12/10)

Los Angeles Times: Fertilized Soil May Be Major Source Of Smog Near Salton Sea 
For decades, Southern California’s war on smog has focused on strategies to reduce pollution from tailpipes and smokestacks. But one of the main drivers of lung-aggravating smog may be right underneath our feet, according to new research. (Briscoe, 12/9)

Times of San Diego: Western Governors Adopt Bipartisan Policy Resolutions On Air Quality, Energy
Six governors announced five bipartisan policy resolutions on air quality, compensatory mitigation, energy, healthcare and workforce development at the 2024 Winter Meeting of the Western Governors’ Association Monday in Las Vegas. The resolutions, among 29 approved on a bipartisan basis by Western Governors, serve as the foundation for leveraging their collective influence to advocate for Western priorities in Washington D.C. (Sarup, 12/9)

The New York Times: Suspect Is Charged In C.E.O.’s Murder After Arrest In Pennsylvania
Mr. Mangione, officials said, had a gun and a silencer similar to the ones used in the Dec. 4 shooting, and a fake driver’s license that matched one used by the man suspected in the killing. He also carried with him a three-page handwritten manifesto condemning the health care industry for putting profits over patients. “These parasites had it coming,” it said, according to a senior law enforcement official who saw the document. It added: “I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done.” (Shanahan, 12/9)

Los Angeles Times: Murder Suspect In CEO Killing Had California Ties, Records Show
A 26-year-old man has been charged with murder and multiple other counts in the death of the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, who was gunned down last week on the streets of New York. After an intensive manhunt, Luigi Mangione was taken into custody Monday by law enforcement in Pennsylvania on suspicion of killing Brian Thompson, 50, in an early-morning ambush Wednesday. (Winton, Castleman, Solis, Hernandez, Lin and Harter, 12/9)

The Washington Post: 3 In 5 Underinsured Adults Said They Avoided Needed Care Because Of Cost
Some 8 percent of Americans, or an estimated 26 million people, lacked health insurance in 2023, according to the Commonwealth Fund 2024 Biennial Health Insurance Survey. Before implementation of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, nearly twice as many people, 16 percent of the population, were without health coverage, the Commonwealth Fund reported, citing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (McMahan, 12/9)

The Hill: Gallup Poll: Majority Of Americans Say Health Care Is Government Responsibility
Sixty-two percent of Americans say it’s the federal government’s responsibility to ensure everyone has health care coverage, a survey from Gallup found. The figure is the highest it’s been in more than a decade. It slipped to its low of 42 percent in 2013, during the difficult rollout of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as ObamaCare. (Irwin, 12/9)

San Francisco Chronicle: SCOTUS Turns Down Case On Forced Outing Of Trans Students In Schools
While the Supreme Court considers challenges to state laws banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender youths, the court denied review Monday of a school district’s refusal to require its teachers to notify parents that their child identifies as transgender. Over the dissents of Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh, the court rejected a challenge to a policy by the school board in Eau Claire, Wis., that allows a school to seek a student’s permission before informing parents of the student’s gender identity. A similar law is due to take effect statewide in California next month and is being challenged in court. (Egelko, 12/9)

Voice of OC: Orange County Leaders Ramp Up Questioning Of Another Major Pandemic Contract
The creators of Orange County’s COVID-19 vaccination app are being audited by county auditors, facing numerous questions around whether they delivered on all the promises of the Othena app they were paid millions for. ... The Othena app faced numerous questions after it was approved and launched without public discussion, with the contract ballooning from around $1.2 million to as much as $5 million despite repeated glitches and one county supervisor publicly saying the app “sucked.” (Biesiada, 12/9)

Voice of OC: Orange County Supervisors Look To Ban Whippets
Nitrous oxide sales may soon be banned in unincorporated Orange County as the OC Board of Supervisors move to stop the sale of the recreational inhalant – also known as NOS and whippets. Supervisor Katrina Foley pushed for the ban, citing an uptick in the usage of drugs like nitrous oxide. ... Whippets – a sedative – can lead to a host of health issues, according to an online article from the Yale School of Medicine. (Gradillas, 12/9)

The New York Times: The Brave New World Of A.I.-Powered Self-Harm Alerts
Dawn was still hours away when Angel Cholka was awakened by the beams of a police flashlight through the window. At the door was an officer, who asked if someone named Madi lived there. He said he needed to check on her. Ms. Cholka ran to her 16-year-old’s bedroom, confused and, suddenly, terrified. Ms. Cholka did not know that A.I.-powered software operated by the local school district in Neosho, Mo., had been tracking what Madi was typing on her school-issued Chromebook. (Barry, 12/9)

NPR: Lawsuit: A Chatbot Hinted A Kid Should Kill His Parents Over Screen Time Limits
A child in Texas was 9 years old when she first used the chatbot service Character.AI. It exposed her to "hypersexualized content," causing her to develop "sexualized behaviors prematurely." A chatbot on the app gleefully described self-harm to another young user, telling a 17-year-old "it felt good." The same teenager was told by a Character.AI chatbot that it sympathized with children who murder their parents after the teen complained to the bot about his limited screen time. (Allyn, 12/10)

Los Angeles Times: Trump's First Term Brought A Vaccine. His Second Could Bring Retreat
President Trump once celebrated the COVID-19 vaccines released at the end of his first term as “one of the greatest achievements of mankind,” echoing the sentiments of mainstream medical officials who praised their rapid development as pivotal in combating the then-raging pandemic. But as his second administration takes shape, some are sounding the alarm regarding Trump’s picks to lead major public health agencies, concerned that the nominees’ skepticism, if not hostility, toward vaccines could jeopardize the nation’s ability to respond to new or resurgent infectious threats. (Lin II, 12/8)

The New York Times: Nobel Laureates Urge Senate To Turn Down Kennedy’s Nomination
More than 75 Nobel Prize winners have signed a letter urging senators not to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. The letter, obtained by The New York Times, marks the first time in recent memory that Nobel laureates have banded together against a Cabinet choice, according to Richard Roberts, winner of the 1993 Nobel in Physiology or Medicine, who helped draft the letter. (Rosenbluth, 12/9)

Stat: Pharma Not Lobbying Against RFK Jr. For Trump's HHS Secretary
The pharmaceutical industry is not lobbying senators to stop the confirmation of long-time critic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the top health care role in the Trump administration. RFK Jr., President-elect Trump’s pick to run the Department of Health and Human Services, has lambasted the pharmaceutical industry and spread discredited ideas about vaccines. But his rhetoric has not yet compelled drugmakers to try to convince senators to oppose his confirmation. (Zhang and Wilkerson, 12/9)

AP: Trump Appointees May Offer Clues On Administration's Abortion Policy
As Donald Trump’s Cabinet begins to take shape, those on both sides of the abortion debate are watching closely for clues about how his picks might affect reproductive rights policy in the president-elect’s second term. Trump’s cabinet picks offer a preview of how his administration could handle abortion after he repeatedly flip-flopped on the issue on the campaign trail. (Fernando, 12/9)

NPR: Food Recalls: What To Know About Recent Outbreaks, Food Safety Tips
A Gallup poll in July found Americans' confidence in the government to ensure a safe U.S. food supply had sunk to a record low. "While 57% express at least a fair amount of confidence in the government to keep food safe," the organization said, "28% of Americans do not have much confidence and 14% have 'none at all.'" (Chappell and Aubrey, 12/9)

Newsweek: Antidepressant Recall Update As FDA Sets Risk Level
A commonly prescribed antidepressant has been recalled across the U.S. due to fears of contamination with a potentially cancer-causing chemical. 233,003 bottles of the drug, named Duloxetine, were voluntarily recalled by their distributor, Rising Pharmaceuticals, Inc.—based in East Brunswick, New Jersey—on November 19. ... The recalled drugs have now been issued a "Class II" risk level by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (Thomson, 12/9)

The New York Times: E.P.A. Bans Perc And T.C.E., Two Chemicals Used In Dry Cleaning
The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday banned two solvents found in everyday products that can cause cancer and other serious diseases. It was a move long sought by environmental and health advocates, even as they braced for what could be a wave of deregulation by the incoming Trump administration. For decades, communities close to factories, airports, dry cleaners and other sites have lived with the consequences of exposure to trichloroethylene, or TCE, a toxic chemical used in cleaners, spot removers, lubricants and glue. (Tabuchi, 12/9)

USA Today: Will FDA Ban Red Dye 3? Food Additive Under Scrutiny In Petition
A red food dye prevalent in candies, drinks and other products could soon be banned in the United States if federal regulators side with a petition that is under review. The Food and Drug Administration has signaled that it may finally crack down on the use of the additive known as red dye No. 3, an artificial dye that gives a cherry-red coloring to thousands of American products. While the FDA has claimed that red 3 ... can be safe to consume, advocates have long called for its ban amid concerns that the food dye is linked to cancer and behavioral problems in children. (Lagatta, 12/9)

Stat: Early Treatment May Delay Or Prevent Multiple Myeloma In High-Risk Patients, According To New Study
It’s been decades since Vincent Rajkumar, a multiple myeloma physician and researcher at the Mayo Clinic, remembers first feeling that he was treating patients far too late. Myeloma, he explained in an interview, is unique among cancers in that it is only considered cancer once patients experience organ damage like renal failure and bone lesions. It would be better, he believed, to start treating patients sooner — rather than watching and waiting until after all that suffering has begun. (Chen, 12/9)

Reuters: AbbVie's Parkinson's Disease Drug Improves Patient Mobility In Late-Stage Study
AbbVie's experimental drug to treat early Parkinson's disease helped significantly improve patients' ability to carry out daily tasks such as eating and walking, months after the drugmaker disclosed its success in a separate study. The late-stage study tested the safety and efficacy of flexible doses of the once-daily drug, tavapadon, ranging from 5 milligrams (mg) to 15 mg, as a monotherapy, the company said on Monday. (Sunny, 12/9)

Reuters: GSK's Drug Combo Shown To Cut Risk Of Death By 42% In Type Of Blood Cancer
British drugmaker GSK said on Monday its experimental cancer drug Blenrep in combination with other treatments reduced the risk of death by 42% in multiple myeloma, a common type of blood cancer, at or after first relapse compared to an existing treatment. An interim analysis of data from a trial dubbed 'DREAMM-7' showed the drug in combination with the drug bortezomib plus the steroid dexamethasone showed statistically significant overall survival results compared to a standard of care daratumumab combination as a second line or later treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, GSK said. (12/9)