Daily Edition for Thursday, February 13, 2025
Fremont Makes It a Crime To Help Homeless Camps: Over fierce objections, Fremont has approved an ordinance that prohibits camping on all public property and allows prosecutors to criminally charge anyone “aiding” or “abetting” a homeless camp. The penalty is a fine of up to $1,000 and up to six months in jail. Read more from Bay Area News Group and CalMatters.
Republican States Claim Zero Abortions. A Red-State Doctor Calls That ‘Ludicrous.’
By Sarah Varney
Illustration by Oona Zenda
In several red states, officials say few or no abortions happened in 2023, raising alarm among researchers about the politicization of vital statistics.
Daily Edition for Wednesday, February 12, 2025
San Francisco Picks New Public Health Director: Daniel Tsai, who ran the Medicaid program under former President Joe Biden, will succeed Grant Colfax as San Francisco’s new public health director. Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle. Plus: How the city's mayor is fast-tracking a new behavioral health center.
An Arm and a Leg: How Do You Deal With Wild Drug Prices?
By Dan Weissmann
“An Arm and a Leg” is collecting stories for a new series about how Americans get the medicine they need when faced with sticker shock.
Top California Democrats Clash Over How To Rein In Drug Industry Middlemen
By Christine Mai-Duc
Frustrated by spiraling drug costs, California lawmakers want to increase oversight of pharmaceutical industry intermediaries known as pharmacy benefit managers. It’s unclear whether they can persuade Gov. Gavin Newsom to get on board.
Daily Edition for Tuesday, February 11, 2025
Flu Deaths Surpass Covid Deaths In California: More people are dying from flu than from covid this winter for the first time since the novel coronavirus started flooding emergency rooms in 2020. At least 561 people have died from flu in California since July 1. Read more from Bay Area News Group.
A Year After Super Bowl Parade Shooting, Trauma Freeze Gives Way to Turmoil for Survivors
By Bram Sable-Smith and Peggy Lowe, KCUR
Survivors and witnesses of gun violence often freeze emotionally at first, as a coping mechanism. As the one-year mark since the parade shooting nears, the last installment in our series “The Injured” looks at how some survivors talk about resilience, while others are desperately trying to hang on.
Daily Edition for Monday, February 10, 2025
NIH Funding Cuts Alarm UC Medical Researchers: Drastic cuts to National Institutes of Health “indirect funds” for medical research has prompted deep concerns at the University of California over how to continue studies into life-saving treatments. Read more from the Los Angeles Times. Scroll down for more on the federal spending cuts.
Blood Transfusions at the Scene Save Lives. But Ambulances Are Rarely Equipped To Do Them.
By Michelle Andrews
More than 60,000 people bleed to death every year in the United States. Many of those deaths occur before the patient reaches a trauma center where blood transfusions can be given.
House Cats With Bird Flu Could Pose a Risk to Public Health
By Sarah Boden
The current strain of bird flu is spreading from wildlife and livestock to house cats. To keep pets healthy, many virologists and veterinarians say, house cats shouldn’t eat raw food and should be kept indoors. Despite no known cases of H5N1 transmission between cats and people, some public health agencies and virologists are warning cat owners to be mindful of the theoretical risks to the health of humans in their households if a pet gets sick.
