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Stay Well
breaking health news & updates
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With Prop. 1 Passage, Gavin Newsom Again Changes How Californians With Mental Illness Get Help | |
After days of uncertainty, the results are finally in: Californians, by a slim majority, have voted to throw their support behind Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest effort to overhaul how the state cares for people with serious mental illness.
The Associated Press on Wednesday declared that Proposition 1 passed by the narrowest of margins, 50.2% to 49.8%.
The passage of the two-pronged ballot measure will give Newsom funds to fulfill promises he has made while rolling out a series of other mental health policies in recent years – more housing, more treatment beds and a concerted focus on unhoused people with serious mental illnesses.
But it leaves the governor’s critics — including disability rights advocates and individuals living with mental illness — worried about cuts to other mental health programs and fearful it will result in the state placing more people in involuntary treatment. CalMatters Read more
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"This is the biggest change in decades in how California tackles homelessness, and a victory for doing things radically different. Now, counties and local officials must match the ambition of California voters. This historic reform will only succeed if we all kick into action immediately – state government and local leaders, together."
Gov. Gavin Newsom
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California Health Care Giant Making Big Investment In S.F. And AI With "Innovation Center"
In an airy workspace with views of the Bay Bridge, young workers who look like they belong at a tech startup are helping create the future of health care.
Inside Sutter Health’s new “innovation center” at San Francisco’s Pier 1,
steps north of the Ferry Building, some engineers are running mobile
apps to help patients monitor their vital signs. Others are working on sensors for the home that can spot worrisome patient movements. And others are experimenting with cutting-edge artificial intelligence.
Sacramento-based Sutter, Northern California’s largest health system, signed a seven-year lease for the 11,000-square-foot office space in January and opened it for employees this month.
Sutter’s leaders say the move represents a significant investment in San Francisco — especially in AI, which they consider a crucial part of health care’s future — at a time many companies are shrinking their footprint in the city or leaving altogether. SF Chronicle
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Eden Health District Officials In The Community | |
Eden Heath District board members Roxann Lewis and Pam Russo and CEO Mark Friedman, along with Hayward Area Recreation and Park District board member Pete Rosen (left), at a recent Spectrum Community Services #SaveLunch campaign event. It was part of a series of activities held in March supporting a nationwide campaign led by Meals on Wheels America designed to rally communities around our senior neighbors and protect the essential services that enable so many to remain healthy and independent at home. Across the country, Meals on Wheels programs have enlisted elected officials, community influencers, and other prominent figures to deliver meals, speak out for seniors, and raise awareness for the power of Meals on Wheels. Read more about the #SaveLunch campaign | |
Measles Could Be Easier To Get Than COVID-19, UCSF Doctor Says: Here's His Warning As Cases Rise
Concern is mounting over the spread of the measles with the United States already topping the total for all of last year, and experts are warning, for some, the disease is easier to get than COVID. "We've been seeing vaccinations decline in the United States in general, and we're dipping below that magical number of 95% of school-aged children vaccinated," said Dr. Peter Chin Hong, an infectious disease expert at UCSF, noting the drop in vaccination rates is likely fueling the rise in measles cases. "If we dip below 95%, that means it can kind of find the cracks and crevices and infect people who are unvaccinated," he said. ABC7 News Read more
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Ambulance Service Delays In Alameda County Lead To Problems For Firefighters
In a recent — and strongly worded — letter, the managers of two Bay Area cities demanded improvement from Falck, the private ambulance company tasked with responding to emergencies in Alameda County. The officials from Livermore and Pleasanton alleged poor performance and delayed response times that were “outside of those dictated” by Falck’s contract. In sum, the letter reported that ambulances were late to about one in every six medical emergencies in their cities. “The expectation of our community is a quicker ambulance response when 911 is called,” the letter read. East Bay Times Read more
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Bay Area Home Care Agency Fined $100,000 For Placing Unscreened Aides With Clients
A Bay Area home care agency has been fined $100,000 for placing unscreened aides, some of them with criminal records, with elderly and disabled clients, according to prosecutors. The fine is the result of a first-of-its-kind consumer protection lawsuit filed by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, prosecutors said in a news release Thursday. The civil complaint alleged Daly City-based Serving Seniors Care did not obtain required clearances for dozens of aides before they were placed with clients, according to prosecutors. The district attorney’s office also said the agency made false statements on its website and in its client agreements that its aides were properly screened. East Bay Times Read more
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East Bay Doctor Gets Prison, Ordered To Give Up License For Distributing Opioids
An East Bay internal medicine doctor has been sentenced to federal prison and ordered to give up her medical license after admitting to illegally distributing powerful opioids, prosecutors said Monday. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Northern District of California, a judge sentenced 59-year-old Parto Karimi of Alamo to one year and one day in prison on Friday. Karimi pleaded guilty in July to one count of distributing hydrocodone outside the scope of a professional practice. Court documents said that Karimi ran a practice from an ADU at her home under the name "Mindful Medicine" and had previously worked as an emergency room doctor at an East Bay hospital. According to prosecutors, the DEA launched an investigation into Karimi after receiving a tip from the family of one of her former patients who had died. CBS News
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U.S. Life Expectancy Rose In 2022 As Deaths Due To COVID Dropped
Life expectancy in the United States increased in 2022 after two years of decline, according to new final federal mortality data. In a report published early Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), data showed life expectancy at birth was 77.5 years in 2022. While life expectancy hasn't reached pre-pandemic levels, it marked an increase of 1.1 years from 76.4 years in 2021. In total, there were 3.27 million deaths recorded in the U.S. in 2022, about 184,374 fewer deaths than recorded in 2021. ABC News Read more
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Four Years Later, Experts Are Just Beginning To "Scratch The Surface" Of Understanding Long COVID
Millions of Americans are still experiencing long COVID more than four years since the global COVID-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic. According to the most recent federal Household Pulse Survey, between Jan. 9, and Feb. 5, 6.8% of U.S. adults currently have long COVID and 17.6% have had long COVID. Using 2020 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, this means 17.5 million adults currently have long COVID and 45.4 million people have ever had long COVID. Since the early days of the pandemic, scientists have learned a great deal about what puts someone at risk for long COVID, but researchers say we are still "scratching the surface" when it comes to our understanding of what causes the condition or how to treat it. ABC News
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FDA Authorizes New Drug To Protect Immune Compromised From COVID-19
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized a new antibody to protect immunocompromised individuals against COVID-19. The drug, known as Pemgarda and marketed by the biotech Invivyd, is the first such drug to become available since the agency pulled AstraZeneca’s Evusheld off the market in January 2023. New Omicron variants had rendered Evusheld ineffective. Some immunocompromised patients — a group that
includes certain cancer patients, patients with some autoimmune or genetic disorders, and organ transplant recipients — have been eagerly awaiting the new prophylactic. Because their condition or drugs they take for it weaken their immune systems, they don’t always get adequate protection from vaccination. Antibody treatments can add additional protection. STAT Read more
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State/National/International News | | |
Several California Health-Related Nonprofits To Benefit From MacKenzie Scott's $640 Million Donation
Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott announced Tuesday she is donating $640 million to 361 nonprofits after an open call for applications. There are 76 nonprofits in California that stand to benefit from the donations, according to Scott's organization, Yield Giving. The Southern California nonprofit The Cambodian Family is among the recipients. The group will receive $2 million. "When I opened an email from Yield Giving, I was just crying because in my mind as a small nonprofit organization based in Orange County, California, we never thought we would have a chance to be gifted a significant amount like this," said Vattana Peong, executive director of The Cambodian Family. The organization promotes social health by providing refugee and immigrant families the opportunities to develop knowledge and skills. The nonprofit says they plan on using the money to expand their health and wellness classes. ABC7 News Read more
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Major Healthcare Company Defaults And Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
Financial hardship has led dozens of operators of senior facilities to file for bankruptcy over the past three years, with 13 companies filing petitions in 2021, 12 debtors filing in 2022 and 15 more in 2023, according to advisory firm Gibbins Advisors. Notable Chapter 11 filings over the past year have included Evangelical Retirement Homes of Greater Chicago, which filed Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois in June 2023 to sell its assets at auction. Also, Windsor Terrace Health, an operator of 32 nursing homes in California and three in Arizona, filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California in August 2023 listing $1 million to $10 million in assets and liabilities and unable to pay its debts. More recently, Magnolia Senior Living, an operator of four facilities in Georgia, filed for Chapter 11 protection on March. 19 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Finally, Petersen Health Care, operator of about 100 nursing homes, assisted-living and long-term care facilities in Illinois, Iowa and Missouri, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on March 20. The Street Read more
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Gene-Edited Pig Kidney Transplanted Into A Living Patient For The First Time
In a new test of xenotransplantation, a medical team at Massachusetts General Hospital announced Thursday that, for the first time, it had transplanted a kidney from a CRISPR gene-edited pig into a living patient. Surgeons performed the milestone procedure over four hours on Saturday, March 16, without complications. The organ recipient, a 62-year-old man named Richard Slayman, had previously received a human kidney transplant, but it failed after about five years, requiring him to resume kidney dialysis in 2023. STAT Read more
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A New Type Of Bacteria Was Found In 50% Of Colon Cancers. Many Were Aggressive Cases
A type of bacteria that causes dental plaque may be behind a treatment-resistant form of colorectal cancer, a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature found. The particular bacterium, which appears to shield tumor cells from cancer-fighting drugs, was found in
50% of the tumors tested in the study. The discovery, experts say, could pave the way for
new treatments and possibly new methods of screening. Colon cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States and is expected to kill more than 53,000 people in the nation in 2024, according to the American Cancer Society. Rates are rising sharply among younger people: The percentage of people younger than 55 diagnosed with colon cancer
almost doubled between 1995 and 2019, leaping from 11% to 20% of cases. What’s more, these cases are often diagnosed at later, more aggressive stages. NBC News Read more
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Global Fertility Rates To Plunge In Decades Ahead, New Report Says
A new study projects that global fertility rates, which have been declining in all countries since 1950, will continue to plummet through the end of the century, resulting in a profound demographic shift. The fertility rate is the average number of children born to a woman in her lifetime. Globally, that number has gone from 4.84 in 1950 to 2.23 in 2021 and will continue to drop to 1.59 by 2100, according to the new analysis, which was based on the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2021, a research effort led by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. The study was published Wednesday in the journal the Lancet. “What we are experiencing now, and have been experiencing for decades, is something that we have not seen before in human history, which is a large-scale, cross-national, cross-cultural shift towards preferring and having smaller families,” said Dr. Jennifer D. Sciubba, a demographer and author of “8 Billion and Counting: How Sex, Death, and Migration Shape Our World,” who was not involved with the new research. CNN Read more
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Doctors Warn Against Teens And Young Adults Using Drugs Like Ozempic To Lose Weight
Experts are concerned that teens and young adults may be seeking weight loss drugs for the wrong reasons. A lot
of people want to get in shape this time of year before they hit the beach, but according to WebMD, some experts
are worried that teens and young adults
may be turning to drugs like Ozempic simply to look good in a bikini. Doctors say these medications should not be seen as the first or best option to lose weight, especially if someone only wants to shed 5 or 10 pounds or tone a certain area, like the belly. When used inappropriately, these drugs can cause unwanted side effects and could make someone look older. Instead, young people should make sure they are eating healthy foods and getting enough exercise and should resist comparing their bodies to others which can lead to low self-esteem and poor body image. CBS News Read more
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Despite Church Prohibitions, Catholics Still Choose IVF To Have Children
After first meeting while in Catholic high school, Erin and Mickey Whitford dated for 12 years: through college, grad school and early into their careers. Then, three years ago, the Cleveland couple married. "We did make a promise to ourselves in front of our whole congregation at our wedding that we were going to accept children and love them and raise them Catholic," Erin says. "It just seems that our journey is a little different." Different because Mickey, due to a genetic condition, has a low sperm count. "We had tested the other options as much as we could," Mickey says. "And we knew that it was more important for us to bring life into this world than to get the OK from someone on how to do so." Meaning they knew about the Catholic Church's objection to in vitro fertilization but decided to use the procedure anyway. NPR Read more
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Pair Of San Jose Councilmembers Propose Contentious Plan To House Homeless Residents
Two San Jose councilmembers have an ambitious plan to house thousands of the city's homeless residents — but some of their colleagues say it will move the city backwards. Councilmembers Bien Doan and Arjun Batra have proposed a pilot program to build massive assembly room-style homeless shelters, with the option for private rooms. While their proposal — called SJ LUV or Lifting Up Lives — was unanimously rejected at a Rules and Open Government Committee meeting earlier this month, city officials plan to bring it up during budget discussions to determine if it makes sense in terms of cost and time commitment. San Jose has focused on temporary housing that provides private rooms and bathrooms to residents, with large open space shelters being viewed as an archaic approach to addressing homelessness. There are approximately 6,340 homeless residents living in the city and more than 9,900 countywide. NBC Bay Area Read more
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How Los Angeles Is Using AI To Help People At Risk Of Homelessness
Los Angeles County is using artificial intelligence to identify who is at risk of homelessness and then offer resources to keep them housed. The software tracks things like emergency room visits, crisis care for mental health, substance abuse disorder diagnosis, arrests and sign-ups for public benefits like food aid. Officials then reach out to offer cash and services. Once approved they’re assigned a case worker who works with them for up to six months. They’re then given several thousand dollars to spend on essentials. KCRA Read more
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This Major U.S. County Is On The Way To Ending Chronic Homelessness
Karen Staples Gonzalez had been living out of her car from 2015 until 2023, when she was first approached by Hennepin County, Minnesota workers, who began to check in on her and other chronically homeless residents seemingly every day. Gonzalez said they would come by, sign her up for local services and do housing assessments "right on the spot." They first met in April; by December, she was placed in housing of her own. Now, the 63-year-old lives in downtown Minneapolis with her 13-year-old son, right along the Mississippi River, where she always had dreamed of settling. Hennepin County officials told ABC News that they hope to end chronic homelessness by the end of 2025 by using a "person-centered approach," described as having a strong foundation of comprehensive data about who is chronically homeless, where they reside, and what their individual challenges are. ABC News Read more
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"We’re Exhausted": Bay Area Mental Health Shortage Deepens As Need Explodes
For Nataly Velasquez, a counselor at a teen crisis center in Concord, just getting through the day can feel like a small miracle. Velasquez is tasked with leading therapy groups and one-on-one patient sessions, but too often she’s also scrambling to respond to emergencies on the floor of the inpatient mental health hospital. One patient might be trying to harm themself, while another might need help calming a manic episode. “We witness things that you might see in a movie, things that someone might say are extreme or just unbearable to even witness,” the 34-year-old Velasquez said. Across the Bay Area, overwhelmed mental health workers are reaching a breaking point. In addition to serving on the front lines of a national crisis, many are also struggling to manage the costs of living in one of the country’s most unforgiving housing markets. After propping up an already strained system of care during the pandemic, some are leaving the field altogether. Mercury News Read more
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U.S. Drops From Top 20 Happiest Countries List in 2024 World Happiness Report
Unhappy news for Americans: The United States is no longer among the 20 happiest countries in the world, according to new data from Gallup and its partners. In the newly released 2024 World Happiness Report, the U.S. dropped out of the top 20 on the list for the first time in the report's 12-year history. The U.S. now ranks at No. 23, compared to No. 15 last year. The researchers say this is driven in part by a decline in how Americans under 30 feel about their lives. "In the US, happiness or subjective wellbeing has decreased in all age groups, but especially for young adults," Gallup managing director Ilana Ron Levey told CBS News in an emailed statement, adding that social connections are one key factor contributing to these generational disparities in happiness. CBS News Read more
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One Twin Was Hurt, The Other Was Not. Their Adult Mental Health Diverged
Twins are a bonanza for research psychologists. In a field perpetually seeking to tease out the effects of genetics, environment and life experience, they provide a natural controlled experiment as their paths diverge, subtly or dramatically, through adulthood. Take Dennis and Douglas. In high school, they were so alike that friends told them apart by the cars they drove, they told researchers in a study of twins in Virginia. Most of their childhood experiences were shared — except that Dennis endured an attempted molestation when he was 13. At 18, Douglas married his high school girlfriend. He raised three children and became deeply religious. Dennis cycled through short-term relationships and was twice divorced, plunging into bouts of despair after each split. By their 50s, Dennis had a history of major depression, and his brother did not.
NY Times Read more
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Screen Time To Blame For Kids' Mental Health Crisis, Research Suggests
A shocking number of American kids are sad, suicidal and stuck on small screens sucking away their zest for life. This is the indisputable and alarming trend among American children, based on the latest polling and deep research by an NYU professor in a book out next week. The pandemic is often cited as a driver of the teen mental health crisis, but it was brewing long before then. A growing body of research links the acceleration of the crisis to one of this century’s biggest events: the arrival of the smartphone. "Smart phones and social media fundamentally changed the way teens spend their time outside of school,” says Jean Twenge, a psychologist and author of the book “Generations.” "You take a generation of young people, they’re spending a lot more times in their rooms, alone, not sleeping, not hanging out with their friends in person. That’s a pretty bad formula for mental health.” Axios Read more
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Fentanyl Crisis/Drug Trends | | |
Progressive California And Oregon Revive The War On Drugs Amid Fentanyl Crisis
The war on drugs, once a weapon in the nation's fight against substance abuse and related crimes, is making a comeback on the West Coast. Fueled by increasingly visible signs of homelessness and drug use in Oregon and San Francisco, officials are restoring punitive measures for drug-related offenses amid a worsening fentanyl crisis. The laws are meant to rein in dangerous street drugs and curb their use on public sidewalks and parks, but advocates say they will only fill jails with people who need treatment. The change comes after California and Oregon initiated criminal justice reforms aimed at reducing prison populations in recent years. Critics say the new laws will overwhelm the criminal justice system and lead to more overdose deaths and poverty. NBC News Read more
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Drug Overdoses Reach Another Record With Almost 108,000 Americans In 2022, CDC Says
Nearly 108,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2022, according to final federal figures released Thursday. Over the last two decades, the number of U.S. overdose deaths has risen almost every year and continued to break annual records — making it the worst overdose epidemic in American history. The official number for 2022 was 107,941, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, which is about 1% higher than the nearly 107,000 overdose deaths in 2021. Earlier provisional data estimated more than 109,000 overdose deaths in 2022, but provisional data includes all overdose deaths, while the final numbers are limited to U.S. residents. ABC News Read more
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U.K. Cracks Down On Synthetic Opioid 10 Times Stronger Than Fentanyl Causing Overdoses In Europe
As authorities clamp down on fentanyl distribution and the amount of heroin produced in Afghanistan decreases under the Taliban, criminal enterprises have turned to a deadly alternative. Some health agencies in Europe are reporting a rise in deaths and overdoses
from a type of synthetic opioid that can reportedly be hundreds of times stronger than heroin and up to forty times stronger than fentanyl. 2-Benzyl Benzimidazole opioids, commonly
known as nitazines, are a class of synthetic compound developed in the 1950s as painkillers, but which were never approved for use as medicines. CBS News Read more
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The Four Biggest Early Warning Signs You're Experiencing Hearing Loss
While we often think of hearing loss as something that only happens to much older people ― that’s actually not the case. According to the National Institute of Deafness and Hearing Disorders, 1 in 8 people in the United States over the age of 12 have hearing loss in both ears, and about 28.8 million U.S. adults could benefit from hearing aids. While struggling to hear may be the most obvious sign that you need to get your ears checked, it’s not the only one. HuffPost Read more
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About Eden Health District | | |
The Eden Health District Board of Directors are Chair Pam Russo, Vice Chair Ed Hernandez, Secretary/Treasurer Roxann Lewis, Mariellen Faria and Surlene Grant. The Chief Executive Officer is Mark Friedman.
The Eden Health District is committed to ensuring that policy makers and community members receive accurate and timely information to help make the best policy and personal choices to meet and overcome the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other health issues.
We welcome your feedback on our bulletin. Please contact editor Lisa Mahoney.
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