Officials Race To Shelter People Living On Streets: Ahead of the massive storm expected to drench an already sodden state, officials throughout California are rushing to bring some of the tens of thousands of people living on streets and along waterways into shelters. The San Francisco Chronicle reports though that some unhoused residents in San Francisco are choosing to stay outdoors. And the Los Angeles Times reports from Sacramento.
Scroll down for more news reporting on how to stay safe during the latest extreme weather event.
Easing Medi-Cal Path For Prisoners Before Release: Under the expansion, incarcerated people with a variety of health issues, including chronic conditions, mental illness, substance use disorders, disabilities, or who are pregnant will be eligible to receive assessment and treatment shortly before release. Read more from CalMatters.
Below, check out the roundup of California Healthline’s coverage. For today’s national health news, read KHN’s Morning Briefing.
Los Angeles Times:
Toddler Killed, Cities Evacuated As Massive Storm Lashes Northern California
A powerful winter storm unleashed pounding rain and strong winds across Northern California on Wednesday, leaving a small child dead, triggering evacuations and power outages, and heightening fears of widespread flooding and debris flows. (Lin, Fry, Lin II and Garrison, 1/5)
AP:
Evacuations Ordered As California Storm Knocks Out Power
Officials in California ordered evacuations in a high-risk coastal area where mudslides killed 23 people in 2018 as a huge storm barreled into the state Wednesday, bringing high winds and rain that threatened widespread flooding and knocked out power to more than 100,000 people. (Rodriguez, 1/5)
CapRadio:
How To Stay Safe During Power Outages If You’re Electricity-Dependent
Losing electricity can be especially dangerous, even life-threatening, for people who are power-dependent: for breathing, or mobility, for example. According to SMUD, there are 12,000 people on their “med rate” program, which is for people who are power-dependent. The utility says 5,300 of these people are low income customers, who may be even more vulnerable in an emergency situation. (Wolffe, 1/4)
LAist:
How LA County Prepares For Massive Rainfall — Like The Storm Hitting Us Now
LAist talked to the agency’s public information officer, Steven Frasher, about how the county helps residents — and how residents can help protect themselves — during a big storm. (Dale, 1/4)
Los Angeles Times:
How To Prepare For Massive Storm That’s Hitting California
Here’s what you can do to get your family and home ready for the heavy rain that began to slam California on Wednesday, and how to stay safe during and after the storm. (Roy, 1/4)
Los Angeles Times:
The XBB.1.5 Variant Is Taking Over On The East Coast. Will It Happen In California Too?
You may have come home with it after a recent trip to New England. Or you may have gotten it from that friend or family member who flew in from New York over the holidays. The newest Omicron subvariant of concern is XBB.1.5, and it has arrived in Southern California. This version of the coronavirus is more contagious and more resistant to existing immunity than any of it predecessors. (Purtill, 1/5)
San Francisco Chronicle:
COVID In California: Hospitalizations Up 17% Nationwide Following Christmas
Experts had predicted as much, so it wasn’t a surprise that COVID hospitalizations rose after Christmas, especially among people 70 and above. The good news is that the numbers are still 70% below last January at the peak of the first omicron surge. (Vaziri, 1/5)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Latest COVID-19 Threat Still Simmering In San Diego County
The latest COVID-19 reports show that XBB coronavirus subvariants — especially one tagged XBB.1.5 — are fast becoming the most prevalent types circulating in the United States. But that is not yet the case in San Diego County or most of the West. (Sisson, 1/4)
Politico:
New Covid Strain Is The Most Transmissible Yet, WHO Says
The coronavirus Omicron strain XBB.1.5, which has become the dominant strain in the U.S. in just a matter of weeks, could drive a new wave of cases, a World Health Organization official told reporters Wednesday. (Paun, 1/4)
The Hill:
White House Cautions Against Panic As XBB.1.5 Omicron Subvariant Spreads
White House COVID-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha posted a lengthy Twitter thread on Wednesday addressing concerns over the sudden rise of XBB.1.5. He acknowledged that the subvariant going from 4 percent of cases to 40 percent in a matter of weeks was a “stunning increase.” (Choi, 1/4)
Fortune:
WHO: No New COVID Variants In China, But Data ‘Under-Represent’ Deaths
In a statement released Wednesday, the WHO said that a sample of genomic data provided by China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that almost all cases were of BA.5.2 and BF.7 strains, which are two variants of Omicron. (Gordon, 1/5)
Reuters:
Biden Flags Concern On China’s COVID Response As WHO Doubts Death Toll
U.S. President Joe Biden raised concern about China’s handling of its COVID-19 outbreak hours after the World Health Organisation said it was under-reporting virus deaths, comments likely to provoke a response from Beijing on Thursday. (Orr and Goh, 1/5)
Stat:
Senior WHO Official Faults China For Undercounting Covid Deaths
China is underreporting deaths from Covid-19, a senior official of the World Health Organization said Wednesday as he urged use of a broader definition that would more fully capture the mortality impact of the country’s first big wave of Covid infection. (Branswell, 1/4)
San Francisco Chronicle:
COVID In California: Promising Finding On Early Treatment Against Long COVID
Researchers at the University of Minnesota have discovered that the oral diabetes medication metformin may cut the risk of developing the persistent symptoms of long COVID by 42% when taken for two weeks within 3 days of a confirmed coronavirus infection. (Vaziri, 1/5)
CIDRAP:
COVID Vaccines Appear Safe In Kids Who Had Post-Infection Syndrome
An observational National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study suggests that COVID-19 vaccination is safe for kids 5 years and older who developed the rare but serious post-infection multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). (Van Beusekom, 1/4)
Bloomberg:
A TikTok Trend Sold Out Ozempic, Leaving People With Diabetes Dizzy And Scared
Ozempic, an injection that keeps blood sugar levels in check for patients with Type 2 diabetes, has been in shortage for about four months, according to the database maintained by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and is backordered at Anthony’s Seattle pharmacy. (Court, 1/3)
Axios:
Why We (Still) Can’t Find Any Children’s Tylenol
Respiratory viruses may come and go, but one constant for frustrated parents this season has been the shortage of children’s Tylenol and Motrin. How did some of the most common pediatric fever and pain remedies become as scarce as Taylor Swift tickets? Unlike last year’s baby formula shortage, it’s not because of a broken supply chain, but the result of unexpectedly high consumer demand. (Reed, 1/5)
Reuters:
Walgreens, CVS Plan To Start Offering Abortion Pills
Walgreens Boot Alliance Inc and CVS Health Corp said on Wednesday they plan to offer abortion pills following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision to allow retail pharmacies to offer the drug in the country for the first time. The FDA on Tuesday finalized a rule allowing one of two drugs to be dispensed by retail pharmacies, but sellers will have to weigh whether or not to offer the pill. U.S. abortion rights were curtailed in 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision. (1/4)
NPR:
Abortion Pills Should Be Easier To Get. That Doesn’t Mean That They Will Be
More than half of all U.S. abortions are medically induced through a two-pill regimen that requires a prescription but does not involve surgery. And since Roe v. Wade was overturned in June, rates are expected to increase. (Romo and Lupkin, 1/5)
Reuters:
Sotomayor Felt ‘Shell-Shocked’ After U.S. Supreme Court’s Abortion Decision
Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Wednesday told legal educators she felt a “sense of despair” at the direction taken by the U.S. Supreme Court during its previous term, during which its conservative majority overturned the constitutional right to abortion. (Sloan, 1/4)
Stat:
Geron, Once A Vaunted Biotech, Finally Reports A Success
Geron Corporation, a biotech that made sci-fi-sounding headlines through the ’90s and 2000s before shuffling along in semi-obscurity for the past decade, said Wednesday that its experimental drug proved effective in a late-stage trial for a group of chronic blood disorders. The results, if they hold up to scrutiny, could provide a lifeline for Geron and set up a new treatment for the disease, known as myelodysplastic syndromes, or MDS. (Mast, 1/4)
Reuters:
Geron Says Blood Cancer Drug Succeeds In Late-Stage Study, Shares Surge
Geron Corp said on Wednesday its experimental drug helped more patients with a difficult-to-treat blood cancer achieve independence from routine transfusions in a late-stage trial, sending shares of the drug developer nearly 50% higher. The drug, imetelstat, was being studied in patients with types of lower risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), which requires frequent blood transfusions for patients to manage their anemia, the company said. (Roy, 1/4)
Becker’s Payer Issues:
Centene Boosts Outlook After Winning California Medicaid Contracts
Centene boosted its projected earnings per share for 2024 after scoring more Medicaid managed care contracts in California. According to a Jan. 3 press release, the company expects its earnings per share floor in 2024 to be $7.15, up from $7 as a result of the state’s revised contract decisions. (Wilson, 1/4)
Axios:
Medicare Part B Oversight Gaps Cost Millions Of Dollars
Medicare and its enrollees were unable to realize millions in savings because of gaps in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ oversight of the Part B program, according to a federal watchdog report released Tuesday. (Reed, 1/4)
Modern Healthcare:
HHS Medicaid Rule Clarifies Nonclinical Care Reimbursement
The guidance comes as more state Medicaid programs seek to start paying for services that address members’ social determinants of health. In California and North Carolina, Medicaid agencies launched programs in 2022 that seek to reimburse for nonmedical services such as housing, nutrition, transportation and peer support for high-need beneficiaries. Within these arrangements, managed care plans have struggled with how to pay community-based organizations for their services. (Tepper and Hartnett, 1/4)
Stat:
New Case Study Details Death In Closely Watched Alzhiemer’s Trial
Investigators on Wednesday released the first detailed case report about a patient who died after receiving lecanemab, providing a new glimpse into safety concerns surrounding the closely watched experimental Alzheimer’s drug. (Mast, 1/4)
Stat:
3 Drug Pricing Issues To Watch In 2023
The legislative saga on drug pricing is mostly over for now, but drug pricing policy will still offer plenty of controversy in 2023. (Cohrs, 1/5)
NBC News:
Doctors Call On More People To Learn CPR After Damar Hamlin’s Cardiac Arrest
Doctors are calling on the public to familiarize themselves with lifesaving CPR techniques after Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest during a football game Monday night in Cincinnati. (Bendix, Martin and Lewis, 1/4)
Los Angeles Times:
Want To Learn CPR? Here’s Where To Find Classes
Dr. Mariell Jessup, chief science and medical officer of the American Heart Assn., said she couldn’t say for sure what caused Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s heart to stop during an NFL game Monday night. But she was sure of one thing: “Everyone needs to know how to do CPR.” (Healey, 1/4)
Modesto Bee:
Is Medical Staffing Provided At Football Games In Modesto?
The cardiac emergency suffered by Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, watched by millions of TV viewers Monday night, draws attention to the risks at all levels of the violent contact sport. After he collapsed on the field, Hamlin received immediate attention and CPR from trained personnel to save his life. Hamlin was taken to a Cincinnati hospital, where he remained in critical condition Tuesday. (Carlson, 1/4)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. Day Laborers Struggle To Recover From COVID Pandemic
The economic downturn caused by the pandemic two years ago hit day laborers especially hard. They were exposed to the deadly virus at high rates, unable to stay home or collect unemployment payments. Until last year, most didn’t have access to health insurance. Now, high inflation and interest rates have made jobs more scarce, adding another layer of hardship, pushing many toward or into homelessness. (Vives, 1/5)
