No End In Sight For KP Worker Strike: The union representing some 2,400 striking Kaiser Permanente mental health workers said negotiations with the health care provider have broken down heading into a second week of picketing. Read more from LAist.
Redondo Beach Reduces Homelessness To ‘Functionally Zero’: After starting a homeless court and building up its shelter, housing, and outreach services, the South Bay city of Redondo Beach has reached the point where more people are getting shelter and housing than becoming homeless. Read more from the Los Angeles Times. Keep scrolling for more on the homelessness crisis.
Below, check out the roundup of California Healthline’s coverage. For today's national health news, read KFF Health News’ Morning Briefing.
More News From Across The State
Los Angeles Times:
Health Advocates Call State Plan On Maternal Deaths Burdensome
Dozens of maternal health organizations and advocates are urging the California surgeon general to suspend the rollout of a plan aimed at reducing maternal mortality, saying that the recently announced initiative won’t effectively address the crisis and “risks exacerbating existing inequities.” In a letter shared with The Times, representatives of organizations including the California Black Women’s Health Project, Black Women for Wellness and the California Nurse-Midwives Assn. faulted the plan for “placing undue burden on individuals” and failing to “explicitly name and address racism as a root cause of maternal health inequities.” (Alpert Reyes, 10/29)
Politico:
A California Ballot Measure Wants To Ban Slavery. Why Is It Losing?
A ban on slavery and involuntary servitude seems like it should be an easy sell in a progressive state like California. So why does it look like voters may reject Proposition 6 next week? The measure, which would amend California’s state constitution to ban involuntary servitude in an effort to eliminate forced prison labor, faces no formal opposition. But its backers are struggling to explain it to voters with limited resources at their disposal. Their efforts are complicated by a louder debate about another crime-related measure, Prop 36, on which voters appear inclined to back a tougher approach. (Schultheis, 10/28)
Merced Sun-Star:
First Human Case Of H5N1 Bird Flu Confirmed In Merced County
Merced County, California, has seen its first case of H5N1 bird flu, according to the Merced County Department of Public Health. The county said that the infected individual had direct contact with cattle at a Merced County dairy farm and laboratory tests confirmed the case after symptoms were detected following the direct exposure. (Kuhn, 10/28)
Bloomberg:
Bird Flu Cases In Dairy Cows Roil California Farmers
Dairy farmers in California are grappling with a steadily advancing outbreak of avian flu in their herds – a problem few of them want to talk about publicly, but that none of them can afford to ignore. Bird flu has been reported in more than 170 herds in California since late August, with the state accounting for nearly half of all US cases detected in dairy cows since the outbreak began in March. (Peng, 10/28)
CIDRAP:
H5N1 Avian Flu Isolate From Dairy Worker Is Transmissible, Lethal In Animals
In experiments designed to learn more about the threat from the H5N1 avian flu virus spreading from cows to people, researchers found that an isolate from a sick dairy worker may be capable of replicating in human airway cells, is pathogenic in mice and ferrets, and can transmit among ferrets by respiratory droplets. The team, based at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and Japan, reported its findings today in Nature. Working in a high-containment lab, the researchers used an H5N1 isolate grown from the eye of a dairy worker who had experienced conjunctivitis after exposure to infected cows. (Schnirring, 10/28)
The Hill:
California's Salton Sea Dust Triggering Child Respiratory Issues: Study
Wind-strewn dust from California’s lithium-rich, shrinking Salton Sea may be triggering respiratory issues in children who live nearby, a new study has found. Among the many symptoms — worse for those young people who reside closest to the saline lake — are asthma, coughing, wheezing and sleep disruptions, according to the study, published in Environmental Research. (Udasin, 10/28)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Costco Recalls Kirkland Salmon, Could Be Fatal To Some Consumers
Costco has issued a recall for over a hundred cases of Kirkland Signature Smoked Salmon after laboratory tests detected the presence of listeria monocytogenes, a bacterium that can pose serious health risks. Acme Smoked Fish Corp., a Costco supplier based in Brooklyn, N.Y., alerted customers to the recall on Oct. 22. (Vaziri, 10/28)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
As San Diego Sprints To Replace Lost Shelter Beds, The City Turns Toward More Private Rooms
Two San Diego nonprofits have agreed to give the city access to dozens of beds for homeless residents as the region prepares for the coming closure of multiple large facilities within an already strained shelter system. (Nelson, 10/28)
The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat:
New Care Unit At Petaluma Homeless Shelter Improves Odds People Will Get Off Streets After Hospital Visits
Beds are in place and walls are newly painted at the new Lassar Health & Wellness Center in Petaluma. And a waiting list is lined up to come in the doors when its officially open Nov. 1. (Hay, 10/28)
Voice of San Diego:
Palomar Health Board Elections Could Shift Board Power Dynamics
Three seats on the board of Palomar Health are up for election this year, with two of the three incumbents facing challengers, as the healthcare district grapples with financial uncertainty and a controversial new management structure. The three incumbent candidates typically align in their votes, while their challengers seem to want the healthcare district to go in a different direction. If challengers manage to take two of the three seats, it could disrupt the current board majority’s voting patterns and significantly impact how the board handles challenges ahead. (Layne, 10/28)
Becker's Hospital Review:
Cedars-Sinai Creates Health Sciences University: 4 Notes
Los Angeles-based Cedars Sinai has established a health sciences university to expand graduate education opportunities and offer pathways into allied healthcare careers. (Carbajal, 10/29)
AP:
People Opt Out Of Organ Donation Programs After Reports Of A Man Mistakenly Declared Dead
Transplant experts are seeing a spike in people revoking organ donor registrations, their confidence shaken by reports that organs were nearly retrieved from a Kentucky man mistakenly declared dead. It happened in 2021 and while details are murky surgery was avoided and the man is still alive. But donor registries in the U.S. and even across the Atlantic are being impacted after the case was publicized recently. A drop in donations could cost the lives of people awaiting a transplant. (Neergaard, 10/28)
Becker's Hospital Review:
The Rise Of Hospitalists, Explained
Long gone are the days when primary care physicians stopped by a hospital on the way home from a hectic day to check on a patient. Since 1999, hospitalists have largely taken over that job for primary care physicians and internists. The number of physicians practicing adult hospital medicine grew 50% in 2012 to 2019, totaling 44,037 by 2019. Rural and urban hospitals employ these hospitalists to cut costs, improve quality and perhaps make a small dent in the growing shortage of physicians who are leaving their practices because of burnout. (Asin, 10/28)
Modern Healthcare:
Hospital-At-Home Programs Delayed, Cut Amid Cost, Size Concerns
Some health systems are pausing, scrapping or delaying the launch of hospital-at-home programs despite a broader industry push to provide more healthcare in the home. Health systems such as Tufts Medicine, Franciscan Health, Cone Health and UCSF Health pointed to high costs, a shortage of eligible patients and regulatory uncertainty as driving their decisions to curtail home-based hospital programs. But despite the hurdles, others are moving full-speed ahead with new programs or expansions. (Eastabrook, 10/28)
Becker's Hospital Review:
Health Systems' Top Picks For Clinical Documentation
Nuance and Abridge are emerging as top choices among healthcare providers for AI-driven clinical documentation tools, an Oct. 25 report from KLAS found. The report aims to provide healthcare organizations with insights into why certain vendors are being chosen, incorporating feedback from 80 organizations that implemented these tools between January and August 2024. (Diaz, 10/28)
Modern Healthcare:
Epic Sues Epic Staffing Group Over Trademark Claims
Healthcare software developer Epic Systems sued Epic Staffing Group this month claiming trademark infringement, according to court documents. Epic Staffing Group disputes the claims. According to the court filing, “The services that Epic and Epic Staffing Group offer under their EPIC-formative marks are closely related because they both can be, and are, used to provide services to healthcare providers. Epic’s customers, and consumers in general, are likely to believe Epic Staffing Group’s services originate from and/or are affiliated with Epic.” (Johnson, 10/28)
Becker's Hospital Review:
FDA Approves Expiry Extension For Baxter IV Products: 5 Updates
Baxter has received FDA approval to extend the shelf life of more than 50 intravenous and irrigation products by up to 12 months, now allowing for a 24-month expiry from products made before September 2024, according to an Oct. 28 news release from the company. (Murphy, 10/28)
Politico:
Harris Turns Up The Volume On Abortion In Her Stump Speech
Kamala Harris has spent the last 99 days of her candidacy talking about abortion. She’s taking that message up a notch in the final week of her campaign. Borrowing from the impassioned abortion-focused address she gave in Houston on Friday, Harris’ revamped stump speech now cuts even deeper on reproductive rights. At a rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan Monday night, Harris slammed Texas’ abortion ban, which prohibits the procedure at conception with no exceptions for rape and incest, punishable by up to 99 prison years in prison; rebuked Trump for “[refusing] to acknowledge the pain and suffering he has caused”; and appealed to the “men of America” to protect the women in their lives. (Messerly, 10/28)
Mother Jones:
Trump’s Surgeon General: Please Don’t Let RFK Jr. “Go Wild On Health”
Donald Trump’s pledge alarmed public health professionals, including Dr. Jerome Adams, his own surgeon general. ... Adams has been a strong supporter of the development and distribution of Covid vaccines, and others, including by testifying at a 2021 House hearing on how to encourage Covid vaccine uptake. On Monday, Adams spoke at a conference of the American Public Health Association—which endorsed his 2017 nomination as Surgeon General—on his concerns about Kennedy, especially his anti-vaccine stances. (Metraux, 10/28)
Modern Healthcare:
Why Healthcare Issues Matter Despite Low Priority In 2024 Election
The point of campaign rhetoric is to convince people to vote for one side or the other, catering to hopes those words will turn into policy. The ads and news clips blaring at voters are impossible to avoid. But what happens when a vital issue is all but missing from the debate? That’s a question stakeholders in the healthcare industry need to at least consider this election season when immigration, inflation, crime, abortion and the fate of democracy are the dominant themes on the hustings. (McAuliff, 10/28)
NPR:
3 Health Care Issues At Stake In The Presidential Election
As the 2024 election heads into its final weeks, the direction of policies affecting the health of millions of Americans is at stake. The next president and Congress will have the power to put their mark on major health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid that combined cover nearly 150 million Americans. They’ll be able to direct resources for how the United States fights the drug overdose crisis and how the country prepares for the next pandemic. (Levi, 10/28)
The War Horse:
It Took 8 Deployments, 3 Pregnancies, And $43,700 In IVF Treatments For Kristin And Joe To Have Their Baby
Infertility struggles impact women in the military at a rate three times the national average, a survey reveals. This is how one Navy couple overcame the obstacles. (Edwards, 10/29)
American Homefront Project:
In States With Fewer Abortion Restrictions, Providers Seeing More Military Patients
Patients at A Woman’s Choice ─ an abortion provider in Danville, Virginia ─ can leave messages in a journal for the people who come after them. "I can tell you this much, you will get through this," reads one anonymous handwritten note. "You have made the best choice for you in your circumstances, and you have a whole lot of life left to experience and enjoy." The messages are a way to build community among women who may not have a great deal of outside support, said clinic manager Danielle Floyd. (Walsh, 10/28)
VC Star:
Ventura County Launches 'Think Again' Campaign Aimed At Curbing Fentanyl Overdoses
A Ventura County interagency task force announced the launch of its “Think Again” campaign to raise awareness of resources available for addiction treatment and prevention last week in Ventura. (Araujo, 10/28)
Times of San Diego:
UCSD School Of Medicine Awarded $8 Million To Understand Genetic Foundations Of Addiction
The University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has received a hefty grant to study addiction and its genetic basis. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has approved a five-year, $8 million grant for the school to study the genetics of substance use disorders and ultimately aim to understand why some people are more susceptible to addiction than others. (Binkowski, 10/28)
The Washington Post:
Fentanyl Victims’ Parents Divided On Trump, Harris
Many have taken to social media to echo Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s vows to tighten border security and deliver harsher penalties for criminals trafficking fentanyl. To share how fentanyl poisoned their son or daughter, others have joined candidates at roundtables, on campaign videos and even rallies like ones held recently by Vice President Kamala Harris. One group, Families Against Fentanyl, put up billboards during both political conventions to highlight the unrelenting drug crisis. (Ovalle, 10/28)
Health Innovations and Technology
The Wall Street Journal:
IOS 18.1 Is Out Now: Apple Intelligence, New Siri Look And AirPod Hearing Aids Arrive
Don’t be fooled by the tiny decimal in iOS 18.1. Apple’s latest software update might be small in name, but it’s big in significance. Released Monday, the software brings the first wave of Apple Intelligence features—that is, if you’ve got an iPhone 15 Pro or any of the new iPhone 16 models. If you’ve got a pair of AirPods Pro 2, iOS 18.1 brings the ability to take the new clinical-grade hearing test and then, if you need the assistance, set the earbuds up as a pair of hearing aids. (Stern, 10/28)
Stat:
New Schizophrenia Treatment Uses Avatars To Address Inner Voices
Promising results from a new digital therapy could help tackle one of psychiatry’s most intractable problems — hearing voices. Auditory verbal hallucinations are one of the hallmarks of psychosis, particularly in people with schizophrenia, which affects 24 million people globally. These voices often bully or abuse the voice hearer, commenting incessantly on the person’s thoughts and behavior or even urging them to harm themselves. (Broderick, 10/28)
Axios:
Your Next Prescription Could Include An App For Personalized Health Care
Federal regulators are confronting a new twist in drug development: manufacturers that include software with the medicine to prod patients to take pills as directed, manage side effects or track how well a treatment works. (Reed, 10/29)
The Washington Post:
Many Older Americans Don’t Trust AI-Generated Health Information
About 74 percent of adults older than 50 say they would have little or no trust in health information generated by artificial intelligence, according to the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging. The report analyzed data from a survey administered in February and March to 3,379 U.S. adults between ages 50 and 101. Over half of the adults (58 percent) reported looking for health information on the web in the past year. (Docter-Loeb, 10/28)
The Wall Street Journal:
Biden’s Cancer Moonshot’s Last Acts: Easing Pediatric Drug Shortages
The Biden administration took steps to alleviate shortages of cancer drugs for children, part of a final push for one of the president’s domestic priorities: reducing the nation’s cancer burden. The federal government is testing a new way to prevent treatment disruptions for seven pediatric cancer drugs by improving communication between hospitals, nonprofits and wholesalers. Shortages of cancer medicines regularly plague hospitals and patients, sometimes forcing them to delay or change care. (Abbott, 10/28)
Stat:
Dreams Of Cancer Vaccines Are Becoming More Real. Here Are 9 Scientists Making It Happen
Vaccines are the original immunotherapy, in the view of Ryan Sullivan, a cancer immunotherapy researcher and oncologist at Mass General Cancer Center. But many other modes of immunotherapy for cancer were approved first — checkpoint blockade drugs like Keytruda and engineered immune cell therapies like Yescarta. Shadowed by the successes of other therapies, the field of cancer vaccines was “seemingly dying,” Sullivan said. (Chen, 10/29)
Berkeleyside:
Remembering Bruce Ames, Creator Of Test To Detect Carcinogens
Bruce N. Ames, a University of California, Berkeley, biochemist who developed a low-cost test for carcinogens that became an initial screen for drug toxicity and ultimately kept many cancer-causing chemicals out of food and consumer products, died on Saturday, Oct. 5, at the age of 95. (Sanders, 10/28)
CBS News:
Lung Cancer On The Rise In U.S. Asian Women Who Don't Smoke. Experts Hope To Expand Screenings
For the last five years, Vicky Ni has been battling lung cancer — a diagnosis that came out of the blue in 2019 after she went to a doctor for pain in her shoulder. "He was taking X-rays of my neck, and it was only by chance that the bottom corner of the X-ray showed a raised diaphragm," Ni said. "I was stunned beyond words." The 54-year-old lawyer and mother of two is now part of a medical mystery: lung cancer in nonsmoking, Asian American women had been rising for more than a decade before Ni received her diagnosis. (Cook and Weicher, 10/28)
HealthDay:
Colonoscopy Still Beats New Blood Tests At Spotting Colon Cancer
Middle-aged folks facing a colon cancer screening now have a blood test they can choose over a standard colonoscopy. However, the blood test isn't as effective as colonoscopy at detecting and preventing colon cancer, a new review finds. About two and a half times more colon cancer deaths can be expected to occur in people taking the blood test every three years as recommended, compared to those who undergo colonoscopy once a decade. (10/29)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Oakland Mayor Reveals Grant To Fund More Anti-Violence Program Coaches
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao announced Monday that the city received a $2 million grant last month to address violence — her latest attempt to improve public safety, which supporters of a recall campaign against her say she has failed adequately to do. Thao, who faces the recall vote in a week, said the award will help the city bolster Ceasefire, an anti-violence program that went dormant during the pandemic before her election. (Ravani, 10/28)
AP:
The Dispute Around A Women's Volleyball Team Touches On A Broader Question: How To Define 'Fair'
One member of the women’s volleyball team at San Jose State University is part of a lawsuit challenging the presence of transgender athletes in women’s college sports. (Hajela, 10/28)