Santa Cruz County Health Digest

The facts of climate change can lead to feelings of hopelessness and despair. Some California activists are creating communities for people to talk about those feelings.

A new California law will ban over two dozen chemicals from fragrances and cosmetics. It’s another first-in-the-nation law—and another instance of California following European Union regulators.

The European Union has banned certain additives that are used in American candies and baked goods. California is on the cusp of prohibiting their sale by 2027.

The last four years have been a turbulent period for Watsonville Community Hospital.

A long-awaited, controversial report weighs updates to standards that state officials say have failed to protect fish and wildlife. But environmentalists, Native tribes and others already are furious about how long this has taken—and the state is years away from taking action.

GOP leaders and activists will hear Friday from Donald Trump and other presidential candidates before deciding whether to change the party platform on abortion and same-sex marriage.

Companies set the original test dates arbitrarily due to these diagnostic at-home tests being developed rapidly. So, check your boxes before you toss them.

Several anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers are advertising abortion pill reversal. California Attorney General Rob Bonta calls the claims false advertising that mislead vulnerable patients.

Outbreaks have wreaked havoc on the state’s river ecosystems for years. But this year was different. Faster, colder river waters led to fewer outbreaks of the harmful algae.

California voters likely will see a mental health ballot measure on the March 2024 election. One would issue a $6 billion bond to create housing for people with mental illnesses.

Cases are on the rise, and so are hospitalizations and deaths. So the federal government's release of new, updated COVID boosters feels like good timing.

Naloxone, a nasal spray that can reverse the adverse effects of opioids, became available in drug stores last week. The drug is sold under the brand names Narcan and RiVive and can be purchased over the counter.

About 5,300 companies would file annual emissions reports. The aim is to hold corporations accountable for the role they play in climate change.

A last-minute legislative deal would raise pay for California health care workers while giving medical providers a guarantee that they won’t have to battle local measures on employee compensation.

Nearly a third of K-12 students statewide were chronically absent in 2020-21, more than three times the pre-pandemic rate. Some school officials fear that pattern is becoming the new normal.

California wildfires every year emit as much carbon as almost 2 million cars, posing a threat to efforts to battle climate change.

In rapid-fire votes in suspense file hearings, lawmakers determined the fate of hundreds of bills on crime, transgender students and more.

The federal judge monitoring medical care in the Monterey County Jail repeatedly scolded the health care provider in a recent hearing over the size of fines it will have to pay for persistently poor performance.

Experts are recommending that people wait for the newest booster when it becomes available—even though it remains uncertain how well the immunity it induces will match up with the latest coronavirus strains.

About 65 million people globally are estimated to be living with so-called post-COVID-19 condition—a number reported to be increasing in the absence of approved treatments and continuing viral spread.

Santa Cruz County Deputy Health Officer Dr. David Ghilarducci told the Sentinel that four of the county's seven nursing homes were experiencing COVID outbreaks. He added that five deaths across seven facilities in the past two weeks are tentatively tied to COVID.

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants counties to spend some revenue from California’s so-called “millionaire’s tax” on the state’s homeless crisis. That alarms advocates for programs that are getting that money today.

The link between PFAS and testicular cancer among service members was never directly proven—until now.

To qualify for Leqembi, patients must undergo a PET scan that looks for amyloid plaques, the protein clumps that clog the brains of many Alzheimer’s patients.

A state appellate panel has set aside a lower court's ruling favoring a local group’s clean syringe distribution efforts.

Santa Cruz County schools lack consistent standards to accommodate student learning after a concussion. The Sentinel asked high schools and school districts across the county to provide any protocols and statistics tracking concussions among their students.

In California, there are some 50 kinds of mosquitoes. About six carry harmful diseases such as West Nile virus, Zika, dengue and yellow fever viruses.

The group is slated to receive $520,911 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to support programs in withdrawal management, residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation treatment, perinatal treatment, medication-assisted treatment, DUI correction, and intensive outpatient services.

So-called medical conscience objection laws have existed at the state and federal levels for years, with most protecting providers who refuse to perform an abortion or sterilization procedure.

Last year California began providing free school lunches to all TK-12 students, regardless of family income. Now, with an influx of state and federal money, school districts are revamping kitchens and training staff so they can provide freshly made, healthy meals.

More than 70% of people have been exposed to medical or health-related misinformation, according to a GoodRx Health study. This means many people are struggling to tell the difference between factual information and false information.

How bad is California hunger? A lot depends on your access to food aid, which expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic but is being reduced.