San Francisco Chronicle: COVID In California: Post-Holiday Surge In Cases Likely
COVID-19 cases in the Bay Area have been trending down, but if past patterns hold up, a post-holiday surge is likely in the offing. A surge that followed Thanksgiving peaked in the region on Dec. 13, when new reported coronavirus cases soared to 16,461, up from just dozens or hundreds reported each day in the weeks before that. (Beamish, 1/3)

VC Star: COVID-19 Wave Could Be Plateauing In Ventura County, Official Says
The winter wave of COVID-19 may be starting to flatten out, Ventura County’s health officer said Friday. (Kisken, 1/2)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Workers Urged To Mask Up To Prevent COVID Surge
Faced with the possibility of another COVID-19 surge stemming from parties and travel over the winter holiday season, Los Angeles County health officials are urging workers and students to wear masks in indoor public settings for at least 10 days once they return to work and school. (Money and Lin II, 12/31)

Stat: Covid’s Winter Surge Is Poised To Exceed Summer Peak
The number of people in the United States hospitalized with Covid-19 is about to surpass the figure reached during this summer’s spike, federal data show, as a confluence of factors — from the continued evolution of the coronavirus to holiday gatherings — drives transmission. (Joseph, 1/3)

CBS News: CDC Tracking Rise Of New XBB.1.5 COVID Variant, Already More Than 40% Of U.S. Cases
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday it is tracking a new variant of concern dubbed XBB.1.5. According to new figures published Friday, it estimates XBB.1.5 makes up 40.5% of new infections across the country. (Tin, 12/30)

Axios: XBB.1.5 COVID Variant: What We Know About Symptoms, Severe Cases
The XBB.1.5 COVID-19 subvariant — a new version of the Omicron variant — is sweeping through the United States right now amid a chaotic travel season and the early days of winter. Cases tied to the new variant nearly doubled over the last week, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And that's stoked fears that more cases could be on the way nationwide. (Scribner, 12/31)

ABC7 San Francisco: Why Is California's Most Vulnerable Population Not Up-To-Date On COVID Vaccinations?
CDC data shows only 49% of nursing home residents are up-to-date on their vaccinations in California, as of late Dec. It's even worse among nursing home staff - only 36% are up-to-date. ABC7's data analysis found the rates among both groups started to trend down this week, while deaths continue rising. (12/31)

The Boston Globe: Drug Companies Set Sights On New COVID Medicines To Boost Depleted Arsenal 
It was not that long ago that the medical community had a small arsenal of new drugs to prevent and treat COVID-19 in people most susceptible to severe disease. But the arrival of new variants, as well as the loss of two treatments for immunocompromised people, has amped up the urgency to develop a stronger generation of medicines. (Cross, 12/28)

Los Angeles Times: ‘We Didn’t Have Enough Cribs’: Inside A Children’s Hospital Strained By Viruses
The collision of RSV, influenza, COVID-19 and other viruses has strained children’s hospitals across the country, including Loma Linda in the Inland Empire. (Alpert Reyes, 1/3)

San Diego Union-Times: State Reverses Course, Awards Medi-Cal Contract To San Diego's Largest Operator
About 366,000 fewer San Diego County residents on Medi-Cal will have to change health plans as a result of an announcement from the California Department of Health Care Services Friday. In the waning hours of 2022, the state scrapped its ongoing effort to consolidate the number of private companies it allows to manage Medi-Cal benefits in markets across the state. (Sisson, 12/30)

Los Angeles Times: Counties Face Challenges In Launching CARE Court Program
When Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the CARE Act into law in September, he set the clock on seven counties to have the program with its signature courts up and running by Oct. 1, 2023. ... Three months into implementing its provisions, however, mental health directors advise against setting expectations too high. They point to the logistical and financial challenges of launching a labor-intensive program from scratch, as well as the limiting effect of a decades-old law already on the books governing the treatment of mentally ill people in California. (Curwen, 1/1)

San Diego Union-Tribune: East County's Only Hospital Is Powered By An Off-The-Grid Machine That's Cutting Costs And Emissions 
Hospitals present a challenge to visions of an all-electric-and-no-fossil-fuels future. If the power goes out in your bedroom, you may just need to reset the clock. If the electricity fails in an operating room, people can die. “We need a guaranteed source of energy,” said Anthony D’Amico, Sharp Grossmont’s chief operating officer. Until “we can store solar and wind, natural gas is the only option.” (Nelson, 1/1)

San Diego Union-Tribune: El Cajon Continues To Push Kaiser To Build Long-Promised Hospital On The City's 'Largest And Last' Vacant Lot 
East County’s largest city has changed the rules governing how a health care company must develop land that’s sat vacant for decades, part of an effort to push Kaiser Permanente into building a long-promised hospital. (Nelson, 12/31)

Stat: Health Care Sees A Surge In Financing Platforms For Patients
As inflation-weary shoppers try to make ends meet, many are turning to a modern twist on the layaway plan: buy now, pay later. But while platforms like Afterpay and Affirm were originally built to take the sting out of online shopping, these new financing options are beginning to creep into the world of health care. (Palmer, 1/3)

Reuters: Exclusive: Drugmakers To Raise Prices On At Least 350 Drugs In U.S. In January
Drugmakers including Pfizer Inc, GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Bristol Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca PLC and Sanofi SA plan to raise prices in the United States on more than 350 unique drugs in early January, according to data analyzed by healthcare research firm 3 Axis Advisors. (Erman and Steenhuysen, 12/30)

Stat: 3 Trends To Watch In Hospitals And Health Insurance In 2023
For almost three years, hospitals and health insurers have been riding the waves of the Covid-19 pandemic. Even though they can better predict what lies ahead in 2023, there remain several big unknowns. STAT’s business reporters will be paying attention to three trends in particular: the end of the public health emergency, how hospital price hikes will affect people’s paychecks, and Medicare Advantage’s explosive growth. (Herman and Bannow, 1/3)

Axios: America's Health Care Focus Shifting In 2023
America appears to be resetting its priorities when it comes to health care as inflation and talk of a recession loom larger on voters' minds. A shrinking percentage of Americans across the ideological spectrum view abortion as a top priority heading into 2023, according to a new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Independents are the only group that still views health care reform as a top-five issue. (Reed and Bettelheim, 1/3)

California Healthline: Want A Clue On Health Care Costs In Advance? New Tools Take A Crack At It
Another effort to make upfront cost comparisons possible in an industry known for its opaqueness: an online tool for consumers to get some idea of what they may pay for medical care. (Appleby, 1/3)

California Healthline: ‘An Arm And A Leg’: The Year In Review, From Prenatal Testing To Insulin Pricing
The editorial team of “An Arm and a Leg” looks back on the reporting that hit close to home over the past year, including insulin pricing and prenatal testing. (12/27)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Alzheimer's Association Leader Discusses Programs Future Of San Diego Dementia And Alzheimer's Disease Care 
In spring 2022, Janet Hamada Kelley stepped in to lead the Alzheimer’s Association San Diego and Imperial Counties chapter as its new executive director. (Mapp, 1/3)

CBS News: FDA Decision On Experimental Alzheimer's Drug Expected This Week
The US Food and Drug Administration could decide this week whether to grant accelerated approval to the experimental dementia drug lecanemab, according to Eisai and Biogen, the companies that make the drug. Lecanemab -- one of the first experimental dementia drugs to appear to slow the progression of cognitive decline -- has shown "potential" as an Alzheimer's disease treatment, according to Phase 3 trial results, but raised safety concerns due to its association with certain serious adverse events, including brain swelling and bleeding. (1/2)

Forbes: With FDA Accelerated Approval Of Alzheimer’s Drug Lecanemab Likely January 6th, Discussion Turns To Price And Reimbursement
According to the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), the beta amyloid-directed monoclonal antibody, lecanemab, must be priced lower than $20,600 a year to be cost-effective. Specifically, ICER’s calculations suggest that the Alzheimer’s Disease drug’s demonstrated benefits in a Phase 3 trial - a modest but statistically significant slowing of cognitive decline - are valued at between $8,500 and $20,600 per year. (Cohen, 1/2)

Associated Press: Aduhelm Maker Biogen, FDA Collaboration 'Rife With Irregularities' 
The Food and Drug Administration’s contentious approval of a questionable Alzheimer’s drug took another hit Thursday as congressional investigators called the process “rife with irregularities.” (12/29)

Los Angeles Times: Psychedelics' Use Studied For Alcohol, Drug Disorders
Melanie Senn’s father, long dead, appeared to her as she lay back in the dimly lit room at the Santa Monica clinic, a mask over her closed eyes, and the psychedelic trip began. More precisely, it was his thumb. It was disembodied and huge, materializing in her mind to wipe away her own image. Just as a parent might lick a thumb, she said, and use it to clean the dirtied cheek of a child. (Reyes, 1/2)

CNN: Number Of Young Children Who Accidentally Ate Cannabis Edibles Jumped 1,375% In Five Years, Study Finds
In just five years, the number of small children in the US exposed to cannabis after accidentally eating an edible rose 1,375%, a new study says. There were more than 7,040 exposures to edible cannabis in kids under 6 between 2017 and 2021, according to an analysis of records from the National Poison Data System, a central repository for data from America’s Poison Centers. (Christensen and LaMotte, 1/3)

Bay Area News Group: Demand Rises At California Abortion Clinics Since Roe V. Wade Fell
One woman had never flown on a plane before and was petrified to make the journey from Texas to California. Another drove all night from El Paso to make her appointment because she couldn’t miss work. A third was so worried about getting in trouble that she asked the staff at Planned Parenthood if they could wipe her phone and destroy all evidence of her abortion. (Kendall, 12/2)

Newsweek: Trump Warns Of 'Doom' For Republicans Over Extreme Abortion Views
Former President Donald Trump advised Republicans that if they want to win elections, they must support three exceptions to abortion bans. According to Trump, Republicans should support abortion in cases of rape, incest or to protect the life of the mother. If they don't, he said, they were likely to lose their elections. (Skinner, 12/29)

The Hill: CDC Warns Of Future Surge In Diabetes Among Young Americans
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday warned a surge of diabetes among young Americans is on the horizon, saying diagnoses for the population are expected to soar in the coming decades. The CDC cited a new study published in the journal Diabetes Care, which models a nearly 700 percent increase of Type 2 diabetes diagnoses in Americans under the age of 20 through 2060, if an expected upward trend continues. (Dress, 12/29)

Stat: Diabetes In Youth Is Set To Skyrocket In Coming Decades
The number of young people in the U.S. with type 2 diabetes could surge by about 700% over the next four decades, with a greater burden falling on minority groups, a new model predicts. (Chen, 12/30)

CBS News: New Drug Could Delay Type 1 Diabetes, Need For Insulin Injections
A new FDA-approved drug delays the onset of type 1 diabetes and the need for insulin injections for several years. (Lapook, 1/2)

CIDRAP: CDC Describes Mpox Challenges In Trans Community
Today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), researchers describe American transgender mpox patients, suggesting that more than 70% of patients contracted the virus from sexual intercourse with cisgender men. "These men might be in sexual networks experiencing the highest mpox incidence," the authors explain. (Soucheray, 12/29)

CIDRAP: WHO's New Mpox Guidance: All Contacts Should Avoid Sex For 21 Days
For the first time since August, the World Health Organization (WHO) updated its mpox guidance, recommending that known case contacts avoid sexual contact with others for 21 days, whether symptomatic or not, given that transmission may occur before symptom onset. (Soucheray, 12/27)

Los Angeles Times: Many Patients Aren't Getting Hepatitis C Medication
Michael Mendez said that when learned he had hepatitis C, “I didn’t even know what it was.” Mendez, 47, had been homeless for years in Los Angeles, and said he hadn’t gone to a doctor the entire time he was living on the streets. When Mendez got a roof over his head, at the Arroyo Seco Tiny Home Village, he decided to stop at the UCLA Health mobile clinic that rolled weekly to the Highland Park site — and soon learned about the infection that could jeopardize his life. (Reyes, 1/1)

Bloomberg: The Most Important Health Metric Is Now At Your Fingertips
Heart rate variability (HRV) offers insights into recovery from illness, injury or exercise, can track levels of physical and emotional stress, and even act as a predictor of cardiac failure. Advances in technology, including image sensors, now make HRV measurement accessible to anyone with a chest strap or smartphone. (Tim Culpan, 1/2)

California Healthline: Weighing Risks Of A Major Surgery: 7 Questions Older Americans Should Ask Their Surgeon
How do older adults know when the potential benefits from surgery are worth the risks? And what questions should they ask as they try to figure this out? Our columnist asks experts for guidance. (Graham, 1/3)