The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: North Bay Doctors’ COVID Vaccine Advice Amid Political Storm? Stick To ‘Science’ 
Dr. Karen Smith, Sonoma County’s health officer, said the recent shakeup at the CDC, which saw the departure of five top officials, could lead to a leadership vacuum at the agency, as well as confusion among patients over vaccine recommendations. (Espinoza, 8/30)

Los Angeles Times: Can I Still Get A COVID Shot? What To Know After A Confounding Week
A week of fast-moving developments has left some with questions about access to the COVID-19 vaccine. While experts and officials say the new federal guidance surrounding COVID vaccine authorization could make it more difficult for many people to be inoculated, there are still unresolved questions and wrinkles yet to emerge. (Lin II, 8/30)

CNN: These Are The Conditions That Make You Eligible For An Updated Covid-19 Vaccine 
This year’s updated Covid-19 vaccines have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for adults 65 and older and younger people with certain medical conditions that put them at a higher risk of a severe Covid-19 infection. (Howard, 8/31)

CBS News: CVS And Walgreens Limit Access To COVID Vaccines As Required By Some State Guidelines
CVS and Walgreens are now requiring a prescription or are not offering COVID-19 vaccines in some states as the companies attempt to follow state guidelines that require approvals from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Food and Drug Administration has approved vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax for all seniors, but only for younger adults and children with health conditions. In a statement, CVS said the pharmacy chain cannot vaccinate those even with a prescription in Massachusetts, Nevada and New Mexico due to state laws and regulations. (Frazier, 8/29)

CIDRAP: ACIP To Review COVID, Hep B, And MMRV Vaccine Recommendations At September Meeting
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has posted the agenda for the upcoming meeting of its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). The ACIP meeting, to be held on September 18 and 19 at CDC headquarters in Atlanta, will include discussions and possible votes on recommendations for COVID-19 vaccines; hepatitis B vaccine; measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccine; and respiratory syncytial virus. The ACIP will also provide updates on its work groups. (Dall, 8/28)

CIDRAP: US COVID-19 Levels Continue To Climb Gradually
Data on US COVID-19 activity continue to reflect low but increasing levels of illness, with activity increasing in most parts of the country, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its latest update. The agency said the epidemic trend for the disease is growing in 16 states and likely growing in 14 others, plus in Washington, DC. (Wappes, 8/29)

San Francisco Chronicle: This Carcinogen Starred In ‘Erin Brockovich.’ It Was Found In LA Air.
Hexavalent chromium, the metal made famous by the film “Erin Brockovich,” has been found in the air around wildfire cleanup sites in Los Angeles, potentially posing a risk to human health, according to a preliminary report released yesterday by a team of researchers. When chromium — found in the soil, electronics and in fire suppressant — burns, it can turn into hexavalent chromium, otherwise known as chromium-6. In the short term, it can irritate the skin, eyes and throat; prolonged exposure can increase the risk of lung cancer. (Munce and Neilson, 8/28)

Times of San Diego: Tijuana River Sewage Crisis Also Polluting Air, New Study Finds
It’s not just in the water. A UC San Diego study discovered a new connection between the decades-long Tijuana River sewage crisis and air quality in South Bay. The study, titled “Heavily polluted Tijuana River drives regional air quality crisis,” was conducted over a three-week period from August to September 2024 and published Thursday in the journal Science. (Stocker, 8/28)

Los Angeles Times: Smell From The Polluted Tijuana River Kept Researcher Awake
New research backs up the concerns of people who live near the Tijuana River and have long complained that foul air wafting from the polluted waterway is making them sick — irritating their eyes and noses, making breathing difficult and causing headaches. The study indicates they’re being exposed to high levels of the toxic gas hydrogen sulfide. As the river flows through Baja California, it takes in untreated sewage and industrial waste from Tijuana, then crosses the U.S.-Mexico border into San Diego County, where beaches are regularly closed because the surf is filled with bacteria from the river. Researchers have now gained new insights into how that water pollution is creating air pollution that besets nearby communities. (James, 8/28)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento Homelessness Ban Leaves Many Without Shelter
Douglas Grieve spent his last few nights outside Sacramento City Hall optimistic, even as he knew his time there was running out. Grieve, a Navy veteran and Sacramento native, had slept at the property for five months. Like many of the location’s regulars, he was drawn to building’s white lights and sense of safety. The black benches allowed him to lock the brand-new Huffy bike bought this month for his 67th birthday. (Miranda, 9/2)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. Has Enough Rental Subsidies To End Veteran Homelessness. Why Aren't They Being Used?
Over the last decade, Los Angeles County housing authorities have received nearly 4,500 rental vouchers to get homeless veterans into permanent housing. If all of those vouchers had been put to use, veteran homelessness would be a thing of the past. (Smith, 8/29)

The Pajaronian: PVHCD Will Seek Partner To Take Over Watsonville Hospital's Day-To-Day Operations
A cascading wave of fiscal challenges such as the election of President Donald Trump, his One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and a cyber attack, has Watsonville Hospital’s leadership team worried that it will not have the financial means to continue to run the facility. As a result, the Pajaro Valley Health Care District (PVHCD) Board of Directors voted Wednesday to seek an outside health care provider to take over day-to-day management of the hospital. (Guild, 8/28)

San Diego Union-Tribune: What New Limits On Student Borrowing Could Mean For San Diego Doctors, Patients And Care 
Starting July 1, 2026, students pursuing professional degrees, such as medicine or law, can borrow only up to $50,000 per year, with a lifetime cap of $257,000, including undergraduate loans. Graduate PLUS loans — which help students pay for education expenses not covered by other financial aid — will be eliminated entirely. For the head of financial aid at UC San Diego’s School of Medicine, it’s the most profound and drastic change he’s seen in his career. (Rodriguez, 9/2)

Becker's Hospital Review: How Forbes' Best Employers For Women Boost Leadership Development
Forty hospitals and health systems were named to Forbes’ list of America’s Best Employers for Women 2025. The list recognizes organizations rated highly by employees on factors such as pay equity, parental leave and advancement opportunities. Leaders from seven of the featured healthcare organizations [including Dana Beckton of Sutter Health] shared with Becker’s how they are supporting women’s leadership development or career advancement — whether through specific programs, workplace culture efforts or broader initiatives. (Kuchno, 8/29)

Bay Area News Group: Bay Area Doctor Pursues Cure For Chronic Hepatitis B As Prevention Falters
Liver specialist Maurizio Bonacini is in the race for a cure for hepatitis B, one of the world’s most widespread diseases and a top cause of liver cancer around the globe. “It’s the last frontier,” said Dr. Bonacini, a San Francisco-based clinical researcher who has spent his career studying the chronic version of the disease estimated to affect more than 2 million people in the United States. (Jung, 9/1)

VC Star: Ventura County Schools To Charge Insurers For Mental Health Care Costs
Some Ventura County schools are picking up a new job as classes get back in session this fall: medical billing. Roughly half of the county's K-12 public school districts will get the ability to charge students' insurance providers for the mental health care services schools offer on campus. (Murtaugh, 8/29)

The War Horse: Veterans' Mental Health Is Being Capped, VA Therapists Say
Mental health providers in five states tell The War Horse that VA medical centers across the country have been instituting similar limits on one-on-one mental health therapy in recent years and transitioning veterans to lower levels of treatment. The trend has led to anxiety—and great debate—among both providers and patients. ... Yet when asked about the therapists’ concerns, a VA spokesperson insisted the claims of widespread caps on individual mental health sessions are untrue. (Rosenbaum, 8/26)

CalMatters: Is Newsom's CARE Court Making A Difference? What The Data Show
Gov. Gavin Newsom stepped up to a lectern on a March day three years ago and proposed a new solution to one of the state’s most difficult problems: How to help the thousands of Californians sleeping on the streets while suffering from severe mental illness. After all, he said, everything the state has done before has failed. One of the state’s prior attempts — a treatment referral program called Laura’s Law – helped just 218 people during the 2018-19 fiscal year, he said. (Kendall, Wiener and Yee, 9/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: Living With Purpose Linked To Lower Risk Of Cognitive Decline
Having a sense of purpose in life may lower your risk of developing cognitive impairment — including dementia — by about 28%, according to a new study by UC Davis researchers. Moreover, having a sense of purpose may also delay the onset of cognitive decline, the study found. The findings, published in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, add to previous research that shows that having a higher sense of purpose is associated with other health benefits like lower risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. (Ho, 8/31)

Voice of OC: Santa Ana Joins Regional Crackdown On Problematic Group Homes
Santa Ana is joining a growing list of Orange County cities regulating problematic sober living homes amid complaints of open drug use, noise and other disturbances in the residential areas they’re located in. Officials in Costa Mesa, Mission Viejo, Buena Park and Fountain Valley have all enacted their own policies to regulate these types of alcohol and drug addiction rehabilitation homes in recent years in an effort to quell residents’ complaints. (Elattar, 8/27)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Fitness Program For Those With Autism Launches In Napa
Arlene Lopez Martinez launched Kidisthenics in 2018 in San Diego to help those with autism address their own sensory needs. When she started the company, she had more than 20 years of experience working as a behavioral specialist and has a Bachelor’s Degree in education, according to the company’s website. (Nguyen, 9/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: Trump Slashed SNAP Funding. How Bay Area Food Banks Are Preparing.
As it does for at least 735,000 others across California, a little yellow CalFresh card gives Asuman Sahan the ability to keep food on the table. Sahan, 52, has been on California’s food stamps program for the past three years. A single mother who used to be unhoused, Sahan has turned to CalFresh when she’s run out of money for food. But the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” has slashed funding for the federal Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP. This $1.25 billion reduction for California means that thousands of low-income people risk receiving fewer food stamp benefits — or losing them altogether. (Rawls, 8/30)

San Francisco Chronicle: What California Lawmakers Are Doing To Fight President Trump
Even as Democrats in Congress have struggled to serve as a check on President Donald Trump in his second term, state lawmakers in liberal California are trying to insulate the state from his policies. California lawmakers are considering dozens of proposed laws to thwart Trump’s ability to carry out mass deportations, restrict abortion and birth control access and limit LGBTQ rights. Democrats control supermajorities in both houses of the Legislature, meaning they can pass laws much more easily than their counterparts in the federal government. (Bollag, DiNatale, Hosseini and Libby, 9/2)

MedPage Today: Military Health Leaders Eye Pentagon Official's Steward Ties
Advocates worry that the founder of a private equity firm tied to one of the nation's largest hospital bankruptcies could affect the U.S. military health system in his new Pentagon role. As deputy secretary of defense, Steve Feinberg brings no military experience but deep private-equity ties to a position overseeing care for millions of service members and their families. (McCreary, 9/1)

CNN: Beta-Blockers: Common Heart Attack Drug Doesn’t Work And May Raise Risk Of Death For Some Women, New Studies Say 
A class of drugs called beta-blockers — used for decades as a first-line treatment after a heart attack— doesn’t benefit the vast majority of patients and may contribute to a higher risk of hospitalization and death in some women but not in men, according to groundbreaking new research. (LaMotte, 8/30)

NBC News: Inflammation May Be A Silent Heart Disease Risk In Healthy Women, New Study Suggests
A silent heart disease risk factor may explain why some women end up having heart attacks and strokes despite seeming like they are healthy, a new study suggests. The analysis of 30 years of data from more than 12,000 women revealed that inflammation was comparable to high LDL cholesterol as a heart disease risk factor, researchers reported Friday at the European Society of Cardiology Congress meeting in Madrid. The results were simultaneously published in the European Heart Journal. (Carroll, 8/30)

CIDRAP: Shingles Vaccine Linked To Lower Heart Attack, Stroke Risk
A new global systematic literature review and meta-analysis shows that shingles vaccination is associated with a statistically significant lower risk of heart attack and stroke, according to a study presented today at the 2025 European Society of Cardiology Congress. The study is based on 19 studies, and the final analysis included eight observational studies and one randomized controlled trial. Across all nine studies, 53.3% of participants were male. (Soucheray, 8/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Novo Nordisk Says Wegovy Cuts Heart Risk By 57% Compared With Eli Lilly’s Obesity Drug
Novo Nordisk said its blockbuster Wegovy weight-loss drug cuts the risk of heart attack, stroke or death by 57% compared with Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro and Zepbound. The Danish pharmaceutical giant said Sunday that the study suggests the heart-protective benefits of semaglutide—the active ingredient in Wegovy—may not be the same for all GLP-1 drugs such as tirzepatide, which is the active ingredient in Lilly’s Mounjaro and Zepbound. (Chopping, 9/1)