Statewide Region Local Health News Articles

Health Crisis & Personal Support

Bill Would Let Therapists and Social Workers Decide When to Confine Mentally Ill Californians

01/29/2024
A pending bill would extend the so-called 5150 confinement authority to county-designated psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers, licensed marriage and family therapists, and clinical counselors.

From California Healthline...

Health Elections & Politics

How Fringe Anti-Science Views Infiltrated Mainstream Politics

01/28/2024
Rates of routine childhood vaccination hit a 10-year low in 2023. That, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, puts about 250,000 kindergartners at risk for measles.

From CalMatters...

Health Crisis & Personal Support

Gavin Newsom Raised Millions for His Mental Health Ballot Measure. His Opponents Have $1,000

01/28/2024
The March ballot measure would raise billions for mental health care, but some clinics fear it would strip them of revenue they need for services they provide today.

From KFF Health News...

Health Animals

A Record Number of Californians Are Visiting Emergency Rooms for Dog Bites

01/25/2024
Those pandemic puppies are growing up to be a public health concern.

From California Healthline...

Health Seniors

Senate Probes the Cost of Assisted Living and Its Burden on American Families

01/25/2024
A U.S. Senate committee launched an examination of assisted living, holding its first hearing in two decades on the industry as leaders of both parties expressed concern about the high cost and mixed quality of care facilities.

From California Healthline...

Health Crisis & Personal Support

988-Hotline Counselors Air Concerns: More Training Needed to Juggle Calls

01/23/2024
In the year and a half since its launch, 988—the country’s easy-to-remember suicide and crisis hotline—has received about 8.1 million calls, texts, and chats. Curiosity is growing about the people taking those calls.

From KFF Health News...

Health Crisis & Personal Support

Rising Suicide Rate Among Hispanics Worries Community Leaders

01/21/2024
The suicide rate for Hispanic people in the U.S. has increased over the past decade. Even elementary school-aged Hispanic children have tried to harm themselves or expressed suicidal thoughts.

From Santa Cruz Sentinel...

Health Crisis & Personal Support

California Panel Holds Up Studies on Psychedelics. Some Researchers Want It Gone

01/19/2024
At the Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, scientists are eager to explore whether a psychedelic chemical found in a toad could help people with depression. But research has been put on hold by the state.

From Los Angeles Times...

Environment Health Sustainability

Sludge Compost Is an Increasing Source of Microplastics, Researchers Say

01/18/2024
California winds spread microplastics from natural fertilizers at higher concentrations than previously known, a team of UCLA researchers has found.

From Los Angeles Times...

Environment Health

Harmful Chemicals in Plastics cost U.S. Healthcare $250 Billion a Year

01/17/2024
The chemicals added to plastics are likely contributing more than $250 billion to annual healthcare costs in the United States, researchers say.

From KFF Health News...

COVID-19 Health

Emergency or Not, COVID Is Still Killing People. Here’s What Doctors Advise

01/17/2024
With around 20,000 people dying of COVID in the U.S. since the start of October, the covid clearly isn’t over. However, the crisis response is.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

Public Safety Health Transportation Elections & Politics Government

Can Traffic Deaths in Los Angeles Be Reduced With a Ballot Measure?

01/16/2024
Image for display with article titled Can Traffic Deaths in Los Angeles be Reduced? Ballot Measure Aims for ‘Healthy Streets’

City council rejected the “Healthy Streets L.A” initiative. Now it’s up to Angeleno voters.

From KFF Health News...

Health Seniors

America’s Health System Isn’t Ready for the Surge of Seniors With Disabilities

01/16/2024
The number of older adults with disabilities that affect their performance of daily tasks will soar in the decades ahead, as baby boomers enter their 70s, 80s, and 90s.

From KFF Health News...

Health Elections & Politics

What Would a Second Trump Presidency Look Like for Health Care?

01/15/2024
On the campaign trail, former President Donald Trump is again promising to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act—a nebulous goal that became one of his administration's splashiest policy failures.

From CalMatters...

Families & Children Health Sports

Parents’ Rights Groups Mobilize as California Advances a Ban on Youth Tackle Football

01/15/2024
The Assembly has until the end of January to decide the fate of the youth tackle football bill, which would prevent kids under 12 from playing the sport to protect them from brain trauma.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

COVID-19 Health Seniors Elections & Politics Resilience

COVID Still Sucks

01/14/2024
Image for display with article titled COVID Still Sucks

A new book, Donald McNeil Jr.’s ‘The Wisdom of Plagues,’ makes me feel angry that I contracted the disease in what should be the post-COVID era.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

COVID-19 Public Safety Health Transportation Crime & Justice Government

Death on the Roads: Traffic Fatality Crisis Far From Over

01/14/2024
Image for display with article titled Death on the Roads: California Traffic Fatality Crisis Far From Over

California in 2024 has implemented two new, potentially important traffic safety laws

From Los Angeles Times...

Health Crime & Justice

California Bill Paves Way for Psychedelic Therapy After Failure to Legalize ‘Magic Mushrooms’

01/13/2024
The move to legalize psychedelics in California appears to be entering a new phase, with incremental steps to permit the drugs in therapeutic settings.

From Los Angeles Times...

Business, Economy & Jobs Health State of California

Newsom Talks Projected $37.9 Billion Deficit

01/10/2024
Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed that lawmakers tap a rainy day reserve and that a minimum wage increase for health care workers be delayed to help the state fight a $37.9 billion deficit. This projection is more than double what Newsom and other officials had anticipated last year.

From Sacramento Bee...

Health Crime & Justice

$10M-Plus Lawsuit Follows Multiple Deaths at Sacramento Jail

01/09/2024
Sacramento attorney Mark Merin has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the family of a man who died in May after being held at the county jail. Other inmates have died in recent years, and the jail is under a federal consent decree to improve its health care.

Statewide Region Local News: Health