Voice of San Diego: San Diego’s Boundary Refs Could Be Headed Into A New Fight, This Time With A Public Healthcare District
A power struggle could be brewing between San Diego’s boundary refs and a healthcare district in the middle of a major restructuring process, and it all started with a comment at a public meeting. Nearly five months ago, Palomar Health, a public healthcare district that operates Palomar Medical Centers in Escondido and Poway, partnered with a newly formed private nonprofit company called Mesa Rock Healthcare Management, Inc. that now manages the healthcare district’s top executive staff. That management change raised eyebrows because it meant that a public agency was moving a significant portion of its operations into a private entity. (Layne, 7/24)

CalMatters: Jury Sides With CA Prison Doctor Who Faced Double Dipping Inquiry
A jury last week awarded nearly $2 million to a former California prison psychiatrist who claimed the state retaliated against him when officials began raising questions about how he earned high incomes from two government agencies. A decade ago, Anthony Coppola held a senior position at a former state prison in Tracy and a part-time assignment as a psychiatrist at Alameda County’s Santa Rita Jail. (Duara, 7/24)

MedPage Today: U.S. News Releases This Year's 'Best Medical Schools,' With Changes
After being delayed for the second year in a row, U.S. News & World Report rolled out this year's "Best Medical Schools" rankings with substantial changes. Notably, the best institutions for research and primary care were sorted into tiers, rather than by ordinal rankings. (The "Best Hospitals" rankings from U.S. News have also moved away from ordinal rankings.) In another change, medical schools that have opted to no longer submit data to U.S. News went unranked this year. (Henderson, 7/23)

Stat: Blood Culture Bottle Shortage Challenges Hospitals, Labs
Hospitals across the country are facing a severe shortage of supplies of blood culture bottles, critical tools for diagnosing serious and sometimes life-threatening bloodstream infections. (Branswell, 7/23)

Stat: Jeff Shuren, Medical Devices Head At FDA, To Leave Agency
Jeffrey Shuren, longtime chief regulator of medical devices at the Food and Drug Administration, announced to staff on Tuesday that he is leaving the agency, according to six sources and an email reviewed by STAT. (Lawrence, 7/23)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Sonoma County Black Homelessness Statistics Spark Wide Calls For Reform 
Questions about whether alleged negligence by a homeless services nonprofit contributed to the death of a 21-year-old Black man have spurred new discussions about whether Black residents — who make up a disproportionate share of the numbers of people homeless in Sonoma County — are being failed by the local social services system. (Hay, 7/23)

San Francisco Chronicle: This Bay Area County Made It A Crime For Homeless To Refuse Shelter. What Happened Next?
Five months after San Mateo County made it a crime for homeless individuals to refuse available shelter beds, officials have not issued a single citation or arrested anyone. County supervisors in late January adopted an ordinance giving authorities the ability to levy criminal penalties against unhoused people who turn down offers of temporary housing or shelter. The legislation sparked backlash from advocates who argued it criminalized homelessness. (Angst, 7/23)

San Francisco Chronicle: Oakland Begins Sweep Of Homeless From Pristine Beach
The much-anticipated sweep of a bayfront homeless encampment near the Bay Bridge began Tuesday morning with doughnuts, a few flat tires being fixed, and a handful of police officers and city cleanup workers nonchalantly watching. It was nothing like the forceful eviction some of the dozen camp residents had expected, but the message was still clear when the crews showed up at 9 a.m.: Move out, or within three days, Oakland city workers will take everything left behind to storage or the trash. This was the first high-profile sweep of a homeless camp since a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month loosening clearance rules, and city representatives said they want it to go smoothly with a minimum of conflict. (Fagan, 7/23)

San Francisco Chronicle: The Earth Just Experienced Its Hottest Day On Record
The Earth this weekend marked an alarming climate milestone: Sunday was the planet’s hottest day on record, according to preliminary data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. The globe’s average temperature of 17.09 degrees Celsius, or 62.76 degrees Fahrenheit, logged on July 21, was the highest since at least 1940. (Lee, 7/23)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Tells Supreme Court It's Not Responsible For Ocean Water Quality
In a case that could limit the authority of federal and state agencies to regulate water pollution, San Francisco is arguing to the Supreme Court that it is responsible only for the pollutants its sewage-treatment plants discharge into the ocean, and not for the quality of the waters themselves. The court agreed in May to hear San Francisco’s appeal of a ruling that said the city was failing to protect swimmers and bathers from discharges of sewage into the Pacific Ocean. The ruling, due by June 2025, will determine whether local governments can be penalized for pollution near their shores, or whether — as they contend — the law requires them only to limit contaminants to levels set in advance, like specific discharges per million parts of water. (Egelko, 7/23)

Los Angeles Times: Are Presidents Exempt From Doctor-Patient Confidentiality?
In a typical presidential election year, voters might wonder how the candidates’ views stack up on issues such as abortion, tax cuts, gun rights and immigration policy. But this year, as a 78-year-old Republican Party nominee campaigned to replace an 81-year-old Democratic incumbent, a different question rose to the forefront of many voters’ minds: What’s in their medical files? (Kaplan, 7/24)

Fox News: Biden Health Concerns Persist As He Makes First Appearance After Ending Campaign
President Biden was seen boarding Air Force One in Delaware on Tuesday, marking the first time he has been seen in public since being diagnosed with COVID-19 on July 17. The president held a mask in one hand as he gave onlookers a thumbs-up and a salute before disappearing into the plane. (Rudy, 7/23)

Capitol Weekly: Experts Expound: The Age Issue
Age played a major role in Joe Biden stepping away from another campaign, but he is just one of many state and federal elected officials of advanced age, including Republican nominee Donald Trump. So the question for our expert panel is this: Should there be an age limit for elected officials? (7/23)

Politico: Abortion Faded From The Spotlight. Harris Is Trying To Bring It Back
Democrats for the last month have been too busy fighting over whether President Joe Biden should lead the ticket to keep voters’ attention on abortion. Vice President Kamala Harris is trying to bring the focus back. On Monday, Harris told campaign staff in Wilmington, Delaware, that she would prevent Republicans from enacting a national ban because “the government should not be telling a woman what to do with her body.” On Tuesday, she concluded a rally in a Milwaukee suburb by promising to sign legislation that would “restore reproductive freedoms.” And on Wednesday, the Harris campaign said it plans to counter former President Donald Trump’s rally in Charlotte with an abortion-focused event in North Carolina featuring Hadley Duvall, a Kentucky woman who was raped by her stepfather when she was 12. (Messerly and Ollstein, 7/24)

Modern Healthcare: PBM Congressional Hearing Gets Heated As Lawmakers Grill Execs
Lawmakers and executives from three major pharmacy benefit managers presented diametrically opposing views at a heated Capitol Hill hearing Tuesday, as major bills aimed at reining in the organizations remain stalled in Congress. Members of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability blamed the highly concentrated PBM industry for raising drug prices and running independent pharmacies out of business, while leaders from CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and Optum Rx all countered that the sector in fact lowers prices and supports local pharmacies. (McAuliff, 7/23)

Stateline.org: Angry Patients Spur New State Watchdogs To Bring Down Drug Prices
Spurred by fed-up consumers, states are trying to curb spiraling prescription drug costs by assembling special public boards to investigate and regulate pricing. The idea is similar to a local utility board: a public group that sets rules or makes recommendations to ensure that what they’re regulating — in this case, prescription medications — is affordable. (Vollers, 7/23)

Stat: Analysis: U.S. Patent Office Software Mistakes Extend Patent Life For Drugs
Amid concerns that the pharmaceutical industry abuses the U.S. patent system, a new paper suggests one way to crack down on the problem — amend a little-known method for correcting mistakes that lengthen the life of a patent and, consequently, can greatly add to the cost of medicines. (Silverman, 7/23)

PoliticoPro: Federal HIV Program Set To Wind Down
A federal program to curb HIV by distributing free medication to the uninsured will stop accepting new patients at the end of the month, senior health officials confirmed to POLITICO. The Ready, Set, PrEP program will cease new enrollments on July 30, though it will continue providing the pre-exposure prophylaxis drug, known as PrEP, to existing enrollees, either by mail or at their pharmacy. (Ollstein and Lim, 7/23)

Stat: Key Disability Civil Rights Law Would Get A Big Refresh Under A New Bill
A key piece of disability civil rights law could get a much-needed refresh. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) will introduce legislation Wednesday to strengthen and extend Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The proposed update would boost online accessibility for people with disabilities on federal websites and significantly expand protections and working conditions for disabled federal employees. (Broderick, 7/24)

The Washington Post: American Airlines Launches New Tag System To Handle Wheelchairs Better
American Airlines announced on Tuesday an automated tagging program for passengers with mobility devices. The streamlined system, the carrier said, should help it better manage passengers’ wheelchairs, scooters and other indispensable equipment. The new computer-generated tags, launched last week at airports worldwide, replace the ones written by customer service agents. The new markers resemble checked-bag tags but with a greater wealth of information, such as where to deposit the device upon landing; details about the equipment, including weight, battery type and any preexisting dings or damage; and an inventory of disassembled parts. (Sachs, 7/23)

Stat: Children With Cerebral Palsy See Small Gains From Robot-Aided Rehab
For many kids with cerebral palsy, walking is taxing. They might spend thousands of hours step-stepping in physical therapy to make walking easier. In recent years researchers have developed robots to aid this rehabilitation. (Broderick, 7/24)

The Washington Post: Blind Barbie With A Cane, Textured Skirt And Braille Packaging Hits Shelves
The most popular fashion doll in the world now has a line with a vision impairment. Blind Barbie has the shiny hair, high heels and picture-perfect features typically associated with the doll. But she also comes with a red-and-white cane, sunglasses that provide additional eye protection for individuals who may be sensitive to light, and a slightly upwards-looking gaze that blind people may have. Her skirt is designed with a textured ruffle, and brightly colored high-contrast hooks to make changing outfits easier for people with vision impairments. (Javaid, 7/23)

KVPR: With The U.S. Bird Flu Outbreak Uncontained, Scientists See Growing Risks
For nearly four months, the spread of bird flu in the nation’s dairy cattle has stoked fears that, if left unchecked, the virus could eventually unleash a pandemic.The recent cluster of human cases connected to poultry farms in Colorado only underscores that the threat remains real. (Stone, 7/24)

Los Angeles Times: 'Smart Vapes' With Games Could Lure Youths, Experts Say
Introduced as battery-powered sticks that emit nicotine-infused vapor, vape pens have transformed into increasingly sophisticated entertainment devices. And that, researchers say, is a potentially huge problem. Disposable vapes gained small illuminated displays last year, typically to show how much battery life remained. In about six months, though, the displays grew to the size of a flip phone screen and came equipped with retro games similar to Pac-Man and Tetris — on a product that costs less than $20. (Garcia, 7/23)

Los Angeles Times: Questions And Anger After Twins, 3, Die Of Suspected Fentanyl Exposure
Two days before Jestina James watched paramedics rush her nephews to the hospital, the twin boys were celebrating their third birthday at Chuck E. Cheese. ... On July 11 — two days after the boys’ birthday — both toddlers became unresponsive and were rushed to the hospital after prosecutors say they were exposed to fentanyl, becoming the latest victims in a tragic trend of infants killed by the extremely potent synthetic opioid. (Toohey, 7/24)

Sacramento Bee: How do you tell kids a friend was killed? These Sacramento adults speak from experience
A boy died on Ethan Way in Arden Arcade, the second child homicide this summer. How do children and teachers grapple with gun violence? (Desai, 7/24)