Latest From California Healthline:
California Healthline Original Stories
California and New York Aim to Curb Diet Pill Sales to Minors
California and New York would be the first states to require anyone under 18 to obtain prescriptions to purchase over-the-counter weight loss products, which some research has linked to eating disorders. (Laurie Udesky, )
LA Confirms First Death From MPX: A Los Angeles County resident has died from MPX — the nation’s first confirmed fatality linked to the disease, public health officials said Monday. Another death was reported in Texas in late August but officials haven't said whether it was caused by MPX. Read more from the Los Angeles Times and Bay Area News Group. Scroll down for more on MPX.
Many Burning Man Revelers Now Have Covid: There are no official numbers on how many festivalgoers have become infected, but many attendees have posted on Twitter and Reddit that they tested positive during the exodus, or a few days after getting home. Some left early after testing positive. Read more from Bay Area News Group.
Below, check out the roundup of California Healthline’s coverage. For today's national health news, read KHN's Morning Briefing.
More News From Across The State
San Francisco Chronicle:
Get The New COVID Bivalent Booster Shot By Halloween, White House Urges
In an interview for Andy Slavitt’s “In the Bubble” podcast, Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, said high-risk individuals should get the new shots right away and everyone else should get it in early fall. “I think it’s really important for people to get it by Halloween,” he said. “Why Halloween? Because three weeks after Halloween is Thanksgiving, and there’s a lot of travel, and you’re seeing family, and you’re seeing friends. And few weeks later, it’s the holidays.” (Fracassa and Vaziri, 9/12)
San Francisco Chronicle:
When Should You Get The Omicron Booster?
There's a reformulated booster shot that targets the omicron variants of COVID-19 as well as the ancestral strain of the virus. The booster is a milestone in how quickly science is able to respond to the ever-evolving virus. But with pandemic and vaccination fatigue setting in, does such a breakthrough even matter? (9/12)
Times of San Diego:
SD County Public Health Officials Report 1,036 New COVID Cases, 5 Deaths
San Diego County reported another 1,036 new COVID-19 cases Monday, while also noting five more deaths from the disease. According to the county Health and Human Services Agency, another 474 infections were recorded Saturday, 331 on Sunday and 231 on Monday. (Ireland, 9/12)
The Hill:
These 10 States Still Have COVID Emergency Orders In Place
While the COVID-19 pandemic has faded as a major concern for much of the American public, there are still 10 states across the U.S. with emergency orders in place. California is one of them. (Dress, 9/12)
Los Angeles Times:
‘I’m Living From Day To Day’: Isolating For MPX Can Put People Out Of Work For Weeks
When a doctor told Ivan that he needed to isolate himself and not share bedsheets to keep the MPX virus from spreading, he wondered: How? “It would be absurd trying to isolate while sharing a bed,” the Hayward, Calif., resident said in Spanish. The 43-year-old man, who is gay, had been splitting a bedroom with a female friend to save money in the San Francisco Bay Area, where rents are steep. He was grateful when another friend offered him somewhere else to isolate, but then there was the money: Doctors warned that isolation might last weeks as his lesions healed, and Ivan was out of sick days at the grocery store where he works. (Reyes, Perez-Moreno and Toohey, 9/12)
Politico:
As Demand For The Monkeypox Vaccine Stalls, Outreach Goes Hyperlocal
Federal health officials working to stem the monkeypox outbreak are shifting tactics in their immunization campaign as interest in the vaccine wanes and gaps getting the shot to communities of color persist. Earlier this summer, eager people snapped up vaccination appointments in cities from New York to Los Angeles. But a POLITICO review of a Biden administration pilot program that began last month to offer shots at large events found that supply outpaced demand, a trend mirrored nationwide as vaccine uptake has slowed. Now the administration says it’s widening the net, creating another pilot to send vaccines to smaller venues and clinics. (Messerly and Mahr, 9/13)
Center For American Progress:
5 Facts About The Monkeypox Outbreak
A July 2022 Annenberg Science Knowledge survey found that 48 percent of Americans were unsure if monkeypox is less contagious than COVID-19 and nearly two-thirds (66 percent) were unsure whether there is a vaccine for monkeypox. (Johns, 9/12)
CNN:
Smoke From The Mosquito Fire Begins Creating Unhealthy To Hazardous Conditions In Northern California
A wall of smoke from the Mosquito Fire in the Sierra Nevada mountains is creating hazardous conditions in Northern California, choking the air with smoke as strong winds complicate firefighting efforts. (Vera and Salahieh, 9/12)
Los Angeles Times:
Despite Heat, Few People Go To L.A. Cooling Centers. Why?
Anthony Willis has been living at a homeless encampment on Vermont Avenue and West 3rd Street near Koreatown for years. During the blistering heat wave last week that brought triple-digit temperatures to portions of Southern California, Willis used a hand fan, a big umbrella and drenched himself with ice to stay cool. “It’s so hot,” said Willis, 35, on Friday. “I go to the Starbucks and grab ice water every day to keep from dying out here. I’m surprised we have a breeze coming through today — the wind is actually blowing.” (Lin, 9/13)
Los Angeles Times:
Amid Heat Waves, When Will L.A. Offer Bus Riders More Shade?
It was 103 degrees on a Friday afternoon as Ken Willis waited for the 152 Metro bus under a thick tree canopy in North Hollywood. He didn’t even consider resting on the two bare metal bus benches baking in the sun. “If you sit on the benches, you just sweat to death,” he said. “On extremely hot days, the shade is not enough to keep you cool.” (Uranga, 9/12)
Los Angeles Times:
Extreme Heat And Homelessness. What's California's Plan?
As the temperature edged past 110 one afternoon last week, the air inside L’aMaira Tyson’s sagging nylon tent felt like a blast from an open oven. “It’s hot out here,” she said with stoic understatement, reclining next to two jugs of bottled water near a freeway overpass and a busy street in Sacramento. “I get through it with God.” (Chabria and Smith, 9/13)
Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento Renters Say Landlord Ignored Broken A/C, Roaches
Lourdes Diaz Gomez and her two young grandchildren have been baking in their south Sacramento apartment. They lived with a broken air conditioner in an apartment managed by Stanford Properties for over three months, including last week’s record-breaking heat wave. (Clift, 9/13)
Sacramento Bee:
Dialysis Proposition On Ballot For Third Time This November
Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, or SEIU-UHW, evolved into one of California’s fiercest political players in 2018 when it bankrolled a ballot initiative to more stringently regulate the state’s for-profit dialysis industry. California voters rejected it by a wide margin, and did so again in 2020. Both sides spent a total of nearly $300 million for what union leaders called a fight for reform, and what the industry says is a strategy of economic attrition to force it to the bargaining table. (Tucker-Smith, 9/13)
Sacramento Bee:
Newsom Gave COVID Bonuses To CHP And Prisons, But Not Others
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, California state department leaders decided which of their employees were essential and which weren’t under guidelines issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration. Those deemed essential had to keep reporting in-person to prisons, state hospitals, fire stations and office buildings while others could work from home. (Venteicher, 9/12)
Capitol Weekly:
Capitol Weekly Interview: Randall Hagar And Mental Health Care
Randall Hagar has been in the forefront of major mental health policy and legislation in California for decades. As the father of a severely mentally ill adult son and longtime legislative advocate for California psychiatrists, he has deep knowledge of both family struggles and the complex intricacies of mental health policy. (Bathen, 9/12)
Palm Springs Desert Sun:
Borrego Community Health In Bankruptcy But Will Keep Clinics Open
Borrego Community Health Foundation announced Monday that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but will keep all its clinics open — including several in the Coachella Valley — while it restructures its finances and resolves state regulators' concerns about its billing practices. (Sasic, 9/12)
Sacramento Business Journal:
Kaiser Hires Jay Robinson To Lead Sacramento Service Areas
Kaiser Permanente has brought in a new top executive to lead its Sacramento region operations after the moving on and moving up of two area managers this year. (Hamann, 9/12)
KVPR:
Kern County's Mothers And Babies Are Dying And No One Seems Certain Why
Childbirth is safer in California than in most of the country. But some parts of the state—namely the San Joaquin Valley—lag behind. In 2019, Kern County’s infant mortality rate was 57% higher than the state average, according to data from the research and advocacy organization March of Dimes. It’s one of the highest rates in California. (Klein, 9/12)
Reuters:
Gilead Settles Patent Fight With Generic Drugmakers Over HIV Drugs
Gilead Sciences Inc has settled patent disputes with five drugmakers over proposed generic versions of its blockbuster HIV drugs Descovy and Odefsey and hepatitis B drug Vemlidy, it said Monday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Generic drugmakers Apotex Inc, Lupin Ltd, Cipla Ltd, Macleods Pharmaceuticals Ltd and Hetero Labs Ltd will receive non-exclusive licenses to the patents, allowing them to sell generic versions of the HIV drugs starting in October 2031 and Vemlidy in January 2032, according to the filing. (Brittain, 9/12)
Modesto Bee:
Stanislaus School Principal Is Alive Thanks To Heart Pump
Sandra Villasenor received lifesaving help from health care providers and good Samaritans when she survived a medical emergency a year ago. Villasenor said she also has a sense of gratitude for a piece of medical technology — the world’s smallest heart pump — for allowing her career to resume. She is principal of Grayson Elementary School in western Stanislaus County. (Carlson, 9/13)
KQED:
Why Oakland Invests In Arts And Culture To Reduce Gun Violence
Josie de la Cruz Park in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood was bustling for five Friday nights in June and July. Kids jumped in a bounce house and chased baby goats in a petting zoo. Families ate free nachos and took home school supplies and diapers. DJs spun records, graffiti artists battled and event-goers admired the sparkling paint jobs on custom cars. At the event series’ closer on July 15, Grammy-nominated, Oakland-raised rap duo Los Rakas delivered an arena-worthy performance in Spanish and English as attendees of all ages danced in the low-key neighborhood park. (Voynovskaya, 9/12)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
San Diego's New Homeless Shelter First To Offer Mental Health, Addiction Services On Site
The beds are made, the showers and restrooms are in place, and mental health and addiction specialists are ready to work with clients at the new homeless shelter in San Diego’s Midway District. (Warth, 9/12)
CapRadio:
A Record 199 Unhoused Sacramento County Residents Died In 2021, Report Finds
A record 199 unhoused residents died in Sacramento County in 2021, up significantly from 137 the previous year, according to a report published on Monday. Advocates said the findings in the Sacramento County 2022 Homeless Deaths Report should be a call to action for greater housing and health care options for the thousands of people countywide who live in tents, vehicles, shelters or on sidewalks and face a greater risk of premature death due to a lack of permanent housing. (Nichols, 9/12)
AP:
Biden Hopes Ending Cancer Can Be A 'National Purpose' For US
President Joe Biden on Monday urged Americans to come together for a new “national purpose” — his administration’s effort to end cancer “as we know it.” At the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Biden channeled JFK’s famed moonshot speech 60 years ago, likening the space race to his own effort and hoping it, too, would galvanize Americans. “He established a national purpose that could rally the American people and a common cause,” Biden said of Kennedy’s space effort, adding that “we can usher in the same unwillingness to postpone.” (Miller and Johnson, 9/13)
NPR:
Biden Reignites Cancer Moonshot On Anniversary Of Kennedy's 1962 Moon Speech
"This cancer moonshot is one of the reasons why I ran for president," Biden said. "Cancer does not discriminate red and blue. It doesn't care if you're a Republican or a Democrat. Beating cancer is something we can do together." (Shivaram, 9/12)
The Wall Street Journal:
New Cancer Drug Beats Chemotherapy In Study
New data from the first of a new type of cancer drug suggest its benefits and limitations, while leaving room for other candidates seeking to enter the lucrative market. Amgen Inc.’s lung-cancer pill Lumakras beat out a common chemotherapy in a late-stage study, helping patients survive without their tumors getting worse, though it failed to prove that it reduced overall deaths, the company said. (Walker, 9/12)
U.S. News & World Report:
Blood Test Shows Promise At Catching Cancers Early
A single blood test that can screen for more than 50 cancers seems to work fairly well in the real world, a preliminary study reveals. Researchers found that of over 6,600 apparently healthy people aged 50 and older, the blood test detected a possible cancer "signal" in roughly 1%. When those individuals had more extensive testing, cancer was confirmed in 38%. Experts called the findings an "important first step" in seeing how the so-called multi-cancer early detection test could fit into real-world care. (9/12)
The Hill:
FDA Schedules Meeting On OTC Birth Control Pill Application
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has scheduled a joint meeting to discuss pharmaceutical company Perrigo’s application for what could be the first over-the-counter (OTC) daily birth control pill available in the U.S., the company announced Monday. The joint meeting will be held on Nov. 18 with the FDA’s Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee and the Obstetrics, Reproductive, and Urologic Drugs Advisory Committee, according to Perrigo. (Choi, 9/12)
Bloomberg:
GOP’s Graham To Again Propose National Abortion Restrictions
US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham plans to introduce legislation to restrict abortion nationally, as the politically explosive debate is emerging as one of the central issues in the midterm election campaign. (Litvan, 9/13)
The Hill:
Harris: ‘Probably By Design’ That Attacks On Abortion, Voting And LGBTQ Rights Come From Same ‘Sources’
Vice President Harris on Monday said it was “not by accident, but probably by design” that the same “sources” who threaten abortion rights also work against voting rights and LGBTQ rights. Harris made the remarks at a meeting she convened with civil rights and abortion rights activists. Attendees included Rev. Al Sharpton, Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Johnson and Center for Reproductive Rights CEO Nancy Northup. (Choi, 9/12)
AP:
Woman Whose Rape DNA Led To Her Arrest Sues San Francisco
A rape victim whose DNA from her sexual assault case was used by San Francisco police to arrest her in an unrelated property crime on Monday filed a lawsuit against the city. During a search of a San Francisco Police Department crime lab database, the woman’s DNA was tied to a burglary in late 2021. Her DNA had been collected and stored in the system as part of a 2016 domestic violence and sexual assault case, then-District Attorney Chesa Boudin said in February in a shocking revelation that raised privacy concerns. (Rodriguez, 9/13)