Tuesday, May 30, 2023 | California Healthline

Los Angeles Times:
With Fentanyl Deaths Soaring, L.A. County Is Giving Out Drug Pipes And Other Supplies

Pipe handouts and other harm reduction can be a bridge to treatment, and cut infection and disease, including HIV. But pipes are controversial, not just in GOP circles but on Skid Row, a drug “recovery zone” that saw the worst of the crack epidemic. (Holland, 5/30)

USA Today:
What Is Kratom? Herbal Drug’s Side Effects, Withdrawal Explained

Millions of Americans have turned to kratom, an over-the-counter herbal drug extracted from the leaves of a tree native to Southeast Asia, for relief of pain, anxiety and even withdrawal symptoms from opioids. But the Food and Drug Administration has said kratom may be harmful. The agency has sought to restrict imports of the substance and recently seized a large shipment to an Oklahoma manufacturer. (Alltucker, 5/27)

Los Angeles Times:
Even In California, Anti-Abortion ‘Crisis Pregnancy Centers’ Seem To Be Untouchable

At Sierra Pregnancy and Health, Executive Director Cary Wilcox beams with pride holding a plastic model of what will soon be a new mobile clinic thanks to a flood of donations after its “biggest year ever.” Outside the nondescript nonprofit just 20 miles from the California capital, a sign advertises “abortion pill reversal” — a practice involving the hormone progesterone that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists deems “unethical” and “not supported by science.” (Mays, 5/28)

NPR:
Sperm Or Egg From Any Cell? It’s Called IVG And It Holds Huge Promise And Peril

It’s a Wednesday morning at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in downtown Washington, D.C., and Dr. Eli Adashi is opening an unprecedented gathering: It’s titled “In-Vitro Derived Human Gametes as a Reproductive Technology.” It’s the academy’s first workshop to explore in-vitro gametogenesis, or IVG, which involves custom-making human eggs and sperm in the laboratory from any cell in a person’s body. (Stein, 5/27)

The Hill:
Poll: Most Don’t Trust Supreme Court To Decide Reproductive Health Cases

Most respondents in a new poll said they don’t trust the Supreme Court to decide cases related to reproductive and sexual health. Only 37 percent of adults said they trust the court “a lot” or “somewhat” to make the right decision on reproductive and sexual health, according to the poll released Friday by KFF. The results come amid an ongoing lawsuit that seeks to undo federal approval of the common medication abortion pill mifepristone, and almost a year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. (Weixel, 5/26)

Patch:
58 CA Facilities Ranked Among America’s Best Maternity Hospitals

58 facilities in California are among America’s best maternity hospitals, according to a recent ranking from Newsweek. (Karnes, 5/28)

San Francisco Chronicle:
Tracking Bay Area COVID-19 Through Wastewater Testing

But there’s another tool used by the CDC to watch for local outbreaks that has become increasingly important: wastewater surveillance. As more people rely on home test kits and fewer on official tests that are tallied by health departments, analyzing the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in sewage has become a crucial means of spotting trends. (Kwon and Chen, 5/29)

Axios:
America’s COVID-Free Summer Mindset

Americans who’ve long wanted to put COVID in the rearview mirror are actively embracing the idea the pandemic is over. For the first time, the majority of the public agrees the crisis has passed, according to the Axios-Ipsos American Health Index. (Bettelheim and David, 5/29)

The Atlantic:
Fall’s COVID Shots May Be Different In One Key Way

This fall, millions of Americans might be lining up for yet another kind of COVID vaccine:  their first-ever dose that lacks the strain that ignited the pandemic more than three and a half years ago. Unlike the current, bivalent vaccine, which guards against two variants at once, the next one could, like the first version of the shot, have only one main ingredient—the spike protein of the XBB.1 lineage of the Omicron variant, the globe’s current dominant clade. (Wu, 5/26)

The New York Times:
With Mpox At Risk of Flaring, Health Officials Advise, ‘Get Vaccinated’

Now, a year after a global mpox outbreak began and just as Pride celebrations and the summer party season are set to start, public health authorities are warning of a risk of new outbreaks, nationally and in New York City, primarily among men who have sex with men. (Otterman and Stack, 5/29)

CNN:
Doctors Say This Is The Most Important Virus You’ve Never Heard Of

The past winter was a heavy one for respiratory viruses, dominated by surges of RSV, influenza and Covid-19. But just as it was winding down, a little-known virus that causes many of the same symptoms – a lower lung infection, hacking cough, runny nose, sore throat and fever – was just picking up steam. Cases of human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, spiked this spring, according to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s respiratory virus surveillance systems. (Goodman, 5/29)

Bay Area News Group:
Stanford Team Designs ‘Electronic Skin’ To Mimic Our Sense Of Touch

Stanford scientists have developed a soft and stretchable electronic skin that can directly talk to the brain, imitating the sensory feedback of real skin using a strategy that, if improved, could offer hope to millions of people with prosthetic limbs. (Krieger, 5/30)

USA Today:
Scientists Use AI To Discover Antibiotic To Fight Deadly Hospital Bug

Scientists have used artificial intelligence to identify a new antibiotic that might be useful to fight a deadly drug-resistant bacteria commonly found in hospitals and medical offices. Researchers report they used an AI algorithm to predict molecules that would neutralize the drug-resistant bacteria Acinetobacter baumannii. Researchers discovered a potential antibiotic, named abaucin, “can effectively suppress” the growth of the stubborn bacteria on the skin of mice, according to a study this week in the journal Nature Chemical Biology. (Alltucker, 5/27)

Stat:
Musk’s Neuralink Can Now Study Its Brain Implant In Humans

Neuralink can now study its brain implant in humans after securing a go-ahead from the Food and Drug Administration. It’s a critical turning point for the Elon Musk-led company — but the startup, however closely watched, is playing catch-up compared to its peers in the neurotechnology field. “In terms of first in human, Neuralink is almost two decades behind,” said JoJo Platt, a neurotech strategist. (Lawrence, 5/26)

Stat:
How The New Oral Polio Vaccine Is Stacking Up

When a new and hoped-to-be safer oral polio vaccine started to make its way into use in March 2021, there was huge optimism that this long-needed tool would help the polio eradication campaign quell a growing problem that was — and is still — complicating efforts to stamp out polio forever. Two years later, expectations surrounding the new vaccine, known as novel oral polio vaccine type 2, or nOPV2 for short, are moderating a bit. (Branswell, 5/26)

San Diego Union-Tribune:
Drug Use, Suicides, Thefts, Now A Fatal Shooting: Data Show Years Of Problems At Downtown San Diego Library 

The San Diego Central Library is a $185 million jewel of a building. Located just blocks from Petco Park in the city’s East Village, its silhouette cuts an impressive figure in the downtown skyline. But under its domed roof, employees and patrons regularly witness unruly behavior, drug use and mental health emergencies. (Winkley, 5/28)

KQED:
Advocates For Unhoused San Franciscans Say Encampment Sweeps Continue Despite Court Order, Call On Judge To Rein City In

Lawyers for unhoused San Francisco residents and their advocates say the city isn’t complying with a court order to stop sweeps of homeless encampments until it has enough shelter beds for those on the streets. It’s the latest in the ongoing lawsuit challenging the city’s homelessness response. In a motion filed Thursday (PDF), they’re asking the court to take steps to ensure the city doesn’t clear encampments or destroy unhoused people’s property while the suit moves forward. They want the court to appoint a special master to monitor the city’s actions, and require the city to produce sworn compliance reports. (Rancaño, 5/27)

The Mercury News:
Can ‘Social Housing’ Help Solve California’s Housing Crisis?

Over the past half-decade, California lawmakers have signed off on almost a hundred laws seeking to alleviate the state’s deepening housing crisis. Yet developers still aren’t building anywhere near enough affordably priced homes for everyone who needs them. Now, a state assemblymember from San Jose is pushing a novel proposal he believes could finally jump-start affordable housing development by allowing the state government to get into the homebuilding business. (Varian, 5/30)