Californians Face Off Over Masks — Again: Residents of Sonoma County are urging others to “put aside the politics” after health officials this week recommended wearing face masks in indoor public settings to help curb the spread of covid, flu, and RSV. While some residents cheered the change, others called it “an over-response to the whole covid thing in general.” Read more from The Press Democrat. Scroll down for more covid updates.
LGBTQ+ Families In Bay Area Say They Lack Mental Health Support: A needs assessment of LGBTQ+ families conducted by a San Francisco-based nonprofit found that many are struggling with mental health issues and feel socially isolated. Read more from Bay Area Reporter.
Below, check out the roundup of California Healthline’s coverage. For today’s national health news, read KHN’s Morning Briefing.
San Francisco Chronicle:
Flu, RSV May Have Peaked In Bay Area, But COVID Cases Still Rising
While COVID-19 cases continue to climb in the Bay Area, there are signs that two other viral infections — influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, better known as RSV — may be retreating. Recent figures reveal that California’s percentage of positive RSV tests peaked in mid-November and has steadily fallen since then. RSV-associated emergency department visits, which mainly affect children and seniors, also appear to have plateaued across the country, according to surveillance data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Vaziri, 12/14)
Sacramento Bee:
New COVID-19 Subvariants Are Leading Charge In California Now. What Are BQ.1 And BQ.1.1?
New variants continue to crop up as we enter the third December since the arrival of COVID-19. (Truong, 12/14)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Are Repeat COVID Infections, Winter Surges A Long-Term New Normal?
Now, “We have entered a phase in which mandates of any kind will be very unpopular, and people are making their own mask and vaccination choices, hopefully based on some kind of personal risk assessment,” said Anne Liu, an infectious disease doctor at Stanford. (Hwang, 12/14)
CNBC:
Biden Administration Makes At-Home Covid Tests Available For Free Again This Winter
The Biden administration is making rapid Covid tests available for free again this winter through a limited round of ordering. Households can now order a total of four rapid Covid tests for free at CovidTests.gov. Orders will start shipping next week, just days before families gather for the Christmas holiday, and deliveries will continue in the following weeks, according to the White House. (Kimball, 12/15)
AP:
US Deaths Fell This Year, But Not To Pre-COVID Levels
The number of U.S. deaths dropped this year, but there are still more than there were before the coronavirus hit. Preliminary data — through the first 11 months of the year — indicates 2022 will see fewer deaths than the previous two COVID-19 pandemic years. Current reports suggest deaths may be down about 3% from 2020 and about 7% vs. 2021. (Stobbe, 12/14)
AP:
Los Angeles School District Sued In Student’s Overdose Death
The mother of a 15-year-old girl who died of a suspected fentanyl overdose in a high school restroom has filed a negligence and wrongful-death lawsuit against the Los Angeles Unified School District. Elena Perez seeks damages, including “for the loss of love of her daughter,” but the lawsuit does not specify a dollar amount. (12/14)
CBS News:
Drug Overdose Deaths Slow After Reaching Record Highs In 2021, CDC Data Shows
The rate of drug overdose deaths has slowed from record-high levels, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC estimated that there have been 107,735 predicted overdose deaths in the 12-month period that ended on July 2022. (Breen, 12/14)
CBS News:
Top Justice Department Official Calls On Social Media Companies To Do More As Teens Die From Fentanyl
The Drug Enforcement Administration says it is investigating more than 120 cases that involve social media. The agency has issued a warning about emoji code language dealers use to target young buyers. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, who oversees the DEA, says fentanyl is the agency’s top priority. (O’Donnell, Hastey, Morse and Yilek, 12/14)
San Francisco Chronicle:
SF’s Deadly Failure On The Drug Crisis Is Unfolding Inside Its Own Housing Program
A new Chronicle investigation has found a crucial danger: the disproportionate number of people dying inside city-funded hotels in the Tenderloin. (Thadani and Palomino, 12/15)
Bay Area Reporter:
Tenderloin Merchant Group Starts Petition To Demand Tax Refund Over Drug Crisis
Another merchant revolt is in the works four months after small business owners in the Castro penned a letter to various city officials demanding, among other things, that 35 beds in the city’s shelter system be designated for unhoused people in the LGBTQ neighborhood. This time, business owners in the beleaguered Tenderloin are demanding a refund of last year’s taxes and fees to help them cover the costs of trying to sustain businesses amid the crime and drug dealing on the neighborhood’s streets. (Burkett, 12/14)
The Wall Street Journal:
The Tragic Rise Of Fentanyl, Mapped
In just a few years, illicit fentanyl has pushed America’s drug fatalities to a record, reaching into every corner and demographic group in the country. (Rust and Kamp, 12/14)
AP:
Biden Administration Proposes Crackdown On Scam Medicare Ads
The Biden administration on Wednesday proposed a ban on misleading ads for Medicare Advantage plans that have targeted older Americans and, in some cases, convinced them to sign up for plans that don’t cover their doctors or prescriptions. The rule, proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, would ban ads that market Medicare Advantage plans with confusing words, imagery or logos. The new regulation would also prohibit ads that don’t specifically mention a health insurance plan by name. (Seitz, 12/14)
Reveal:
How Anti-Abortion Pregnancy Centers Can Claim To Be Medical Clinics And Get Away With It
The reports from the Women’s Help Center echo stories told by OB-GYNs from around the country, underscoring how reproductive health providers are often held to higher medical standards than abortion foes. “In any other field of medicine, this would not be tolerated,” said Dr. Jasmine Patel, an OB-GYN in California associated with Physicians for Reproductive Health. “How can you just set up shop and claim to be medical but have no medical training?” (Morel, 12/15)
CalMatters:
California Jailed Disabled Man 9 Years Waiting For Trial
Eight years, 9 months, 24 days. That’s how long Lorenzo Mays waited inside a cell in the Sacramento County jail, struggling to understand the court system well enough to stand trial for a 2010 murder he insists he didn’t commit. Arrested at age 27, Mays’ intellectual disability made it hard for him to make sense of terms like “no contest” or “plea bargain” or even the role of a judge and jury. He told one psychologist he thought he was in jail for witnessing a murder. (Wiener, 12/15)
Los Angeles Times:
People With Disabilities Reap Benefits Of Surge In Telework
After generations of being overlooked and sidelined in the job market, Americans with disabilities are enjoying an unprecedented employment boom — thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Widespread acceptance of remote working and an overall labor shortage have opened up historic opportunities for some of the nation’s most skilled and underutilized workers. (Lee, 12/15)
AP:
California Reparations Task Force Dives Into What Is Owed
After more than a year delving into history and studies to make its case for reparations to California descendants of enslaved Black people, a first-in-the-nation task force began deliberations Wednesday to quantify how financial compensation might be calculated and what might be required to prove eligibility. (Austin and Har, 12/15)
Los Angeles Times:
As Hate Crimes Continue To Rise, LAPD Chief Blames Social Media, Kanye West
Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, said the most recent statistics put L.A. in line with other major cities across the U.S., which have seen their own increases in reported hate crimes. He said that a significant number of offenders in Los Angeles are people with mental health issues. (Jany and Winton, 12/14)
Capitol Weekly:
New CA Law Removes Crime Of Loitering To Commit Prostitution
Senate Bill 357 becomes effective Jan. 1. It eliminates from the law books the crime of loitering in a public place with the intent to commit prostitution, known as section 653.22 in California code. State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) called the existing law a method of profiling people, including trans woman, trans people of color and women of color. “You don’t have to do anything,” he said. “Police can arrest someone for how they dress, how high their heels are.” (Riquelmy, 12/14)
CalMatters:
California Housing Crisis: Health Care On The Street
Few Californians have more severe health needs than people experiencing homelessness, but they’re also the least likely to get care. In a state where nearly 174,000 people experience homelessness, less than a third of unhoused people enrolled in the state’s free insurance program have ever seen their primary care provider. (Tobias, 12/15)
Los Angeles Times:
Eviction Protections, Payments Kept Homelessness In Check In L.A., Study Shows
Eviction moratoriums and cash income from extended unemployment insurance and stimulus payments helped thousands of economically vulnerable people in Los Angeles County avoid becoming homeless during the pandemic, a new study has found. The study released Wednesday by the Economic Roundtable estimated that homelessness increased 13% from 2020 to 2022 — a higher figure than the official count — but that it would have climbed to 23% without the interventions. (Smith, 12/15)
Voice Of San Diego:
Why San Diego Still Doesn’t Have A Homeless Safe Campground
Downtown advocates rallied behind a seemingly simple concept early this year: Let unsheltered residents set up camp in a sanctioned place with access to services and amenities. Getting it done hasn’t been simple. Mayor Todd Gloria, downtown City Councilman Stephen Whitburn and Housing Commission Chair Mitch Mitchell say the safe camping project remains in the works as street homelessness and suffering tied to it surge. (Halverstadt, 12/14)
Voice Of San Diego:
North County Report: Historically Men-Only Shelter Will Expand To Accept Women And Children
Catholic Charities, the nonprofit that runs La Posada, plans to add a second floor to the shelter to serve women and children. La Posada started in 1992 as housing for farmworkers. In 2013, it became a permanent shelter with 50 beds for farmworkers and 50 beds for adult homeless men. It’s one of only two low-barrier shelters in North County. (Layne, 12/14)
Los Angeles Times:
Big Cannabis Is Funding UCLA, Harvard, MIT Studies On Weed
When UCLA started its cannabis research initiative five years ago, the university hailed the undertaking as one of the first academic programs in the world dedicated to studying the health impacts of pot. Legalization was quickly taking hold around the country, and the cannabis industry was attempting to transform the plant’s image from an illicit substance that gets you high to a health and wellness product. (Elmahrek, 12/15)
Bay Area News Group:
Share The Spirit: Meet The Diabetic Alert Dogs Who Save Lives
As Kathleen Fraser sits curled up on her couch in her San Francisco apartment, describing the daily challenges of living with Type 1 diabetes, her black Labrador Ransom reaches up a paw and pats her knee. (Ross, 12/15)
Axios:
Patients’ Health Care Spending Spiked In 2021
Americans’ out-of-pocket health spending rose 10.4% in 2021, a growth rate not seen since 1985 that was driven in part by demand for dental services, eyeglasses and medical supplies, according to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ annual National Health Expenditures report. (Owens, 12/15)
LAist:
New Moms Face Pressure To #SnapBack And It’s Harming Their Health
Soon after Megan Gearhart gave birth to her son in 2016, acquaintances congratulated her on how she looked. “I looked really good postpartum, my baby weight did not stick around,” she said. After having a baby, mothers are barraged with pressure to return to their pre-pregnancy lives and bodies during one of the most vulnerable periods of their lives — in comments from family or coworkers, or in the veneration of slim physiques on social media. (Fortier, 12/8)
CNN:
Only 14% Of Diagnosed Cancers In The US Are Detected By Screening, Report Says
A small proportion — 14.1% — of all diagnosed A small proportion – 14.1% – of all diagnosed cancers in the United States are detected by screening with a recommended screening test, according to a new report. The remaining diagnosed cancers tend to be found when someone has symptoms or seeks imaging or medical care for other reasons, suggests the report, posted online Wednesday by researchers at the nonprofit research organization NORC at the University of Chicago. (Howard, 12/14)
USA Today:
Parkinson’s Disease More Common Than Previously Thought, Study Shows
Parkinson’s disease strikes nearly 90,000 older Americans a year, 30,000 more than was previously estimated, according to a study published Thursday. Incidence rates differed across the country. States with higher rates of older residents saw more diagnoses of the disease, whose risk typically increases with age, but so did some “Rust Belt” states in the Northeast and Midwest that have a history of heavy industry manufacturing. (Weintraub, 12/15)
