Becker's Hospital Review: Workers To Air Concerns Over Alleged Understaffing At California Hospitals
Members of Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West will hold events this week to speak against alleged chronic understaffing at their hospitals, according to a news release shared with Becker's. The union said short-staffed hospitals can result in long wait times, mistaken diagnosis and neglect, making it harder to provide quality care. Union members are asking hospital management to provide adequate staffing and additional support.  (Gooch, 4/11)

Fresno Bee: What Is The Future Of The Closed Hospital In Madera?
As concerns grow with the closure of Madera County’s only adult acute care hospital, a local lawmaker is making tweaks to a piece of legislation aimed at helping struggling hospitals ahead of the bill’s first hearing next week. Various local stakeholders and leaders, such as UC Merced’s chancellor, are also becoming interested in helping find ways to reopen the hospital, which closed its doors in January. Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria, D-Fresno, plans to meet with the president of the University of California system in coming weeks to pitch the idea of a teaching hospital. (Amaro, 4/11)

PBS NewsHour: After A Rural California Hospital Closes, Farmworkers Pay The Price 
Jose Villa was 41 years old when he began to feel almost too exhausted to work. He was endlessly thirsty, and he found himself getting up as many as eight times a night to use the bathroom. “My colleagues noticed,” he said in Spanish. “They told me to get checked out because it could be something serious.” It was diabetes. In fact, by the time he made it to the doctor, Villa says his blood sugar was so high he was at risk of going into a diabetic coma. (Klein, 4/11)

The New York Times: U.S. News Releases New Rankings For Top Law And Medical Schools, Despite A Boycott 
U.S. News & World Report issued new rankings on Tuesday for the nation’s Top 14 law schools and Top 15 medical schools, just months after many of the schools dropped out of the rankings, saying they were unreliable and unfair. ... Yale Law School, which ignited the exodus when it dropped out in November, kept its No. 1 status, though it is now tied with Stanford, which was previously No. 2. The University of Chicago retained its No. 3 spot, Columbia dropped to No. 8 from No. 4, tied with the University of Virginia. (Hartocollis, 4/11)

San Francisco Chronicle: Google Drops COVID Vaccine Mandate For People Entering Its Buildings
Google has become one of the first major technology companies in the Bay Area to eliminate the mandate that employees and visitors entering its buildings must be vaccinated against COVID-19. The Mountain View company said on Tuesday that it was dropping the policy, implemented in December 2021, effective immediately, citing the “extraordinary time” that has passed since the onset of the pandemic. (Vaziri, 4/11)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego Paying Out $110K To Settle Lawsuits Challenging Vaccine Mandate For City Workers 
San Diego is paying out $110,000 to settle two lawsuits challenging the city’s controversial COVID-19 vaccine mandate for its workers, which the City Council repealed this winter. (Garrick, 4/11)

KQED: Why You Should Still Be Washing Your Hands In 2023 — Just Not For COVID
Online handwashing tutorials. Hand sanitizer hoarding. And in every public bathroom, signage urging you to wash your hands to slow the spread of the coronavirus. It may be hard to believe now — after over three years of passionate conversations about masking — but when the COVID pandemic first hit in 2020, vigilant hand hygiene was positioned alongside social distancing as a key measure in the fight to slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2 around the country. (Severn, 4/11)

CIDRAP: Traditional Values Closely Linked To Following COVID-19 Precautions, Except In US
A new study from researchers at the University of California-Los Angeles shows the US population's response to COVID-19 precautions stood in sharp contrast to other countries. Worldwide, people who professed to have more traditional or socially conservative values were more likely to adhere to COVID-19 recommendations, but in the United States people with those values were more likely to dismiss such recommendations. (Soucheray, 4/11)

KQED: Medication Abortion Is Still Possible With Just 1 Drug. Here's How It Works
With the two-drug regimen, patients first take mifepristone — which blocks the hormone progesterone — to end the pregnancy. Patients then take misoprostol 24–48 hours later, which causes the uterus to expel the pregnancy tissue. Patients experience bleeding and cramping, and usually pass the pregnancy within four to six hours after taking the misoprostol. In a misoprostol-alone abortion (PDF), patients start the process with misoprostol, using the same amount as is used in the two-drug regimen. Three hours later, they take misoprostol again, causing the uterus to contract. They repeat this for three to four doses until the pregnancy passes, which usually takes between nine and 12 hours. (Gordon, 4/11)

The 19th: Abortion Pill Ruling Leaves Providers Preparing For Care Without Mifepristone
Abortion providers across the country are preparing for the possibility of providing care without access to mifepristone, one of the two pills commonly used in medication abortion. In some cases, clinics said that they would stop administering medication abortions, the most common method of ending a pregnancy, entirely. (Luthra, 4/11)

The Washington Post: White House Prepares For Legal And Political Battle On Abortion Pill 
The Biden administration, seeking to reassure abortion rights activists without provoking the courts, is privately promising an array of liberal groups that it will wage a fierce legal battle to preserve access to abortion medication, while also developing contingency plans in case those efforts fall short. (Kornfield, Roubein and McGinley, 4/12)

Axios: Abortion Drug Ruling Could Fuel Mistrust In The FDA
Last week's federal court ruling overturning the FDA's approval of a commonly used abortion drug was unprecedented, but experts say it's evidence of an escalation of mistrust in the agency that's been building for years. (Owens, 4/12)

Axios: Survey: Majority Of Americans Say Abortion Pills Should Be Legal
As the status of abortion pills in the U.S. remains influx, a majority of Americans say they believe such medication should be legal, a Pew Research Center survey found. 53% of adults believe medical abortion — the use of a prescription pill or a series of pills to end a pregnancy — should be allowed in their states. (Habeshian, 4/11)

The New York Times: Legal Abortions Fell By 6 Percent In The Six Months After Dobbs, New Data Shows 
The number of legal abortions in the United States decreased just over 6 percent in the six months after the Supreme Court ended the right to abortion last June, according to a report released Tuesday, the most comprehensive and up-to-date count of abortions nationwide. (Sanger-Katz and Miller, 4/12)

CNN: 5 Things The Supreme Court Will Take Into Account In Medication Abortion Case 
As the Supreme Court prepares for yet another controversial abortion case to come its way, the justices will pore over District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk's ruling last week to block the government's approval of the key medication abortion drug at issue. (de Vogue, 4/12)

Reuters: California County Starts Monitoring Wastewater For Illicit Drugs 
As the COVID-19 pandemic wanes, a California county is using the same wastewater monitoring program it used to track the coronavirus to go after another deadly public health crisis: opioids. Marin County, north of San Francisco, began a pilot program in February to collect wastewater samples from its sanitation agency and test them for the presence of substances like fentanyl, methamphetamines, cocaine, and nicotine. (Frandino, 4/12)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Debates Funding Supervised Drug Consumption Sites With Millions From Opioid Settlement Funds
San Francisco supervisors and activists are pressuring City Attorney David Chiu to use more than $130 million the city is set to receive from pharmaceutical companies in opioid litigation to open supervised drug consumption sites. Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who is leading the charge to open the sites, has accused Chiu of standing in the way. Chiu has said he wants nonprofits to pay to supervise drug consumption to shield the city from liability. (Moench, 4/11)

NBC News: Biden’s Drug Czar Declares Fentanyl Laced With Animal Tranquilizer An ‘Emerging Threat’ Facing U.S.
President Joe Biden’s drug czar on Wednesday declared that fentanyl mixed with xylazine, an animal tranquilizer known as “tranq” that has been linked to a rising number of overdose deaths across the U.S., represents an “emerging threat” facing the nation. The declaration from Dr. Rahul Gupta, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, requires the Biden administration to develop a federal plan to address the crisis. (Arkin, 4/12)

KQED: A New Bill Could Help Get Teens Closer To Recovering From Addiction
In 2021, about 1 in 5 deaths among people ages 15-24 were from fentanyl overdoses in California. As this crisis worsens, doctors are seeing more and more demand for life-saving addiction treatment. One crucial piece of the puzzle is a medication called Suboxone, or buprenorphine. It helps block withdrawal symptoms and can allow people to go to school, work, and maintain relationships while recovering. (Guevarra, McClurg, Montecillo and Esquinca, 4/12)

San Francisco Chronicle: Calls For Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s Resignation Are Growing
Democratic activists and left-leaning media outlets called for Sen. Dianne Feinstein to resign Tuesday in the wake of reports that her continued illness has made it tougher for the Senate to confirm President Biden’s judicial nominees. Feinstein has been working at home in San Francisco while she recovers from shingles, according to her office. (Garofoli, 4/11)

Orange County Register: Former Rep. Harley Rouda Exits Congressional Race After Suffering Traumatic Brain Injury
Former Rep. Harley Rouda has dropped out of the race for California’s 47th congressional district on the advice of his doctors. The Laguna Beach Democrat, who launched a 2024 bid for the seat in January, fell late last month, he said on April 11, and suffered a moderate traumatic brain injury. Rouda was treated at a hospital, he said, and had two intraparenchymal hemorrhages, a brain bleed — “a concerning diagnosis to say the least,” Rouda said. (Kang, 4/11)

Voice Of San Diego: City Shelters Struggling To Move Homeless Residents Into Homes 
As the city works to supply more homeless shelter options, its existing shelters are getting worse at helping unhoused people secure permanent homes. From July through February, just 11 percent of the 2,385 people and families who departed city shelters overseen by the San Diego Housing Commission moved into permanent homes, according to agency data. Another 9 percent found other long-term housing in places such as a family member’s home or a transitional program. (Halverstadt, 4/11)

Voice of OC: Calls For Rent Control Increase In Orange County As Housing Crisis Worsens
What started as whispers years ago in Orange County, rent control has now grown into loud calls with residents and advocates showing up to various city council meetings across the region and demanding rent caps. The push comes as counties across California face a worsening housing unaffordability crisis, with demand for living spaces far surpassing the supply – especially low income housing. (Custodio, 4/11)

Oaklandside: What’s Next For Oakland’s Guaranteed Income Program?
A year and a half ago, Terran Johnson’s life seemed to be turning around for the better. Johnson, who experienced homelessness as a teenager, was working for a nonprofit organization, and had stable housing. The Oakland native was also accepted into the city’s Oakland Resilient Families pilot, an ambitious program that intended to give $500 monthly payments to 300 East Oakland participants for 18 months, no strings attached. ... Fast forward to early 2023, and Johnson has experienced a tumultuous series of events. Johnson says he was wrongfully terminated from his job. He started working as a delivery driver and picked up other side jobs but the money wasn’t enough and he fell behind on rent. (Rodas, McBride and Orenstein, 4/11)

Sacramento Bee: Should California Push Sexually-Transmitted Disease Vaccine For College? Bill Could Mandate It 
A California lawmaker wanted to push more middle schoolers to get vaccinated against a sexually-transmitted disease that causes cancer. But now she’s shifting her efforts to college students. Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters, authored a bill that would have added the human papillomavirus, or HPV, vaccine to a list of shots required for eighth grade enrollment. But amendments to her bill have since stripped the enforcement provision from the middle school requirement, stating that students entering eight grade are “expected to be fully immunized.” (Holden, 4/11)

Axios: Syphilis Cases Hit 70-Year High During Pandemic
The CDC focused on four nationally notifiable conditions, finding cases of syphilis jumped 32% in 2021 over 2020, and have increased by 74% over the past five years. Syphilis among newborns, has increased more than 203% in five years. (Reed, 4/12)

East Bay Times: Amid American Gun Crisis, California Leads With Solutions
Opponents of gun safety reform — including congressional Republicans whose subservience to the NRA renders them unwilling to fix the problem — tell Americans that laws are not the solution. But California tells a very different story, and numbers don’t lie. (DeSaulnier, 4/12)

ABC News: Workplaces Are The Most Common Mass Shooting Sites, Data Shows 
The Violence Project, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research center that's funded by the National Institute of Justice, has found the current or former workplaces of perpetrators were the most common sites for mass shootings, which the organization defines as four or more people killed by a firearm. "Most of the shooters had been fired," the organization said. ... The second most common location for mass shootings was at retail locations, which represented 16.9% of all recorded mass shootings, and the third most common location was restaurants and bars, which represented 13.4% of all recorded mass shootings, according to the Violence Project. (Pereira, 4/11)

Los Angeles Times: A Huge Snowbank Fell On Her Husband. A California Woman's Desperate Fight To Save Him
Melissa Cassem still cannot make sense of what happened to her family at their home in the Sierra Nevada during a recent heavy snowfall. In late March, the Cassems were snowed in after a historic winter storm dropped 10 to 15 feet of snow in Alta, Calif., about 60 miles northeast of Sacramento. The family had moved to Placer County from the San Francisco Bay Area a year before. It was Melissa and husband Jason’s dream home. They uprooted their lives and moved with their 9-year-old son, Geoffrey, and 11-year-old daughter, Juliana. (Solis, 4/12)

The New York Times: What Should California’s Official State Food Be?
In its nearly 173 years as a state, California has officially declared a state reptile, a state marine mammal, a state dinosaur, a state dance and a state tartan. The Golden State was even the first to name a state rock. But noticeably absent is an official state food. (Karlamangla, 4/11)