71% of pills tested in Tijuana pharmacies tested positive for dangerous illegal drugs

By Miriam Raftery

Photo courtesy of San Diego District Attorney’s office

February 8, 2023 (San Diego) – Pharmacies in Tijuana and other Mexican cities are selling counterfeit medicines laced with deadly fentanyl and methamphetamines, according to investigations conducted by the Los Angeles Times and by researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles. The tainted fake drugs ranged from narcotic pain pills to pills often used to treat children with attention deficit disorder.

As federal emergency also ends, Medicaid recipients could lose benefits if they don’t re-enroll by March 31

Federal funds for free COVID testing and vaccines will also come to an end

By Miriam Raftery

February 7, 2023 (San Diego) – The County of San Diego will end the nearly 3-year-old COVID-19 emergency on February 28, the same date that the state of California’s emergency declaration ends. The federal government will halt the national public health emergency on May 11.

But outbreaks remain a threat locally and elsewhere. While vaccines and treatments have sharply reduced the death rate from the early days of the pandemic, 12 people died locally in the week ending February 2, when more than 1,800 cases were confirmed and 300 people were hospitalized from the coronavirus.

Over the past three years, more than 976,000 San Diegans have laboratory confirmed positive tests for COVID-19, more than 38,500 have been hospitalized and 5,728 died.

Local health officials urge residents to get the new booster vaccines for protection against recent variants. Nearly 2.7 million San Diegans have received the primary series of one of the approved COVID-19 vaccines and more than 560,000 have received a bivalent booster vaccine.

By Cassie Klapp, County of San Diego Communications Office

February 7, 2023 (San Diego) - The County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) is hosting two community listening sessions to review new services for Medi-Cal members with complex health and social needs and gather community input on how those services should be implemented. 

Source:  San Diego County Sheriff

January 24, 2023 (San Diego) - There is now more access to lifesaving medication in case of an overdose emergency. 

Sheriff's Deputies are handing out free Harm Reduction Kits when they respond to calls for service. You can also get them for free at any Sheriff's Department Station and Substation. No questions asked.

Source:  Office of the Attorney General

January 11, 2023 (Oakland) - California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced California has signed onto a $5 billion multistate settlement agreement with CVS to resolve allegations that the company helped fuel the opioid crisis by failing to appropriately oversee the dispensing of opioids at its pharmacies. The settlement is expected to provide up to $469.8 million in funding to California, the vast majority of which will be used to combat the opioid crisis. Today's approval comes on the heels of similar announcements involving Walmart and Walgreens in recent weeks.

By Fire Chief Sam DiGiovanna

January 9, 2023 (San Diego) --  In the past 20 years, from 2001 to 2020, cancer death rates went down 27%. We all still have a lot of work to do!

Take charge with these Mayo Clinic tips such as eating a healthy diet and getting regular screenings.

January 1, 2023 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• A common DNA test can find cancer in bodies of seemingly healthy pregnant people : Shots - Health News  (NPR)
• XBB variant sparks new Covid concerns (NBC)
• Regular exercise can significantly reduce death, hospitalization from COVID-19  (NPR)
• Growing vaccine hesitancy fuels measles, chickenpox resurgence in U.S. (Washington Post)
• WHO “very concerned“ about reports of severe Covid in China (AP)
• The F.D.A. Now Says It Plainly: Morning-After Pills Are Not Abortion Pills (New York Times)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• Car Makes Record-Breaking 621-Mile Trip on Single Charge Powered by the Sun (Good News Network)
• The cargo hauling aircraft with no pilots aboard (BBC)
• Farm-bred octopus: A benefit for the species or an act of cruelty? (Los Angeles Times)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

December 21, 2022 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Lead and calcium could be in your dark chocolate (Consumer Reports)
• CRISPR gene-editing improves cancer immunotherapy (NPR) 
• Positive Moderna, Merck cancer vaccine data advances mRNA promise, shares rise

SCIENCE AND TECH

• US scientists reach long-awaited nuclear fusion breakthrough, source says (CNN)
•  Twitter dissolves Trust and Safety Council (Washington Post)
• AI-generated fake faces are being used by bad actors online  (NPR)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

By Kristen Hwang, CalMatters

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters

Photo:  USC’s Brett Feldman does a checkup on his patient Gary Dela Cruz on the side of the road near an encampment in downtown Los Angeles. Photo by Larry Valenzuela for CalMatters

December 12, 2022 (Los Angeles) - Living on the streets of California is a deadly affair. The life expectancy of an unsheltered person is 50, according to national estimates, nearly 30 years less than that of the average Californian.

By County News Center, County of San Diego Communications Office

Image credit:  CDC.gov

November 25, 2022 (San Marcos) - Students and staff at California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) may have been exposed to tuberculosis (TB) during this Fall Semester 2022 session, the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) announced yesterday.

By Chuck Westerheide, County of San Diego Communications Office

November 15, 2022 (San Diego) - During a major disaster, a county, city or state medical system may become overwhelmed with patients or, unfortunately, casualties of the disaster. The national government trains and sends out special teams such as the National Disaster Medical System Mortuary Operational Response Team, to assist in areas where their skills are needed.

By Fernanda Lopez Halvorson, County of San Diego Communications Office

November 10, 2022 (San Diego) - San Diego County’s local health emergency for monkeypox (MPOX) is expiring today, Thursday, Nov. 10.

East County News Service

November 2, 2022 (San Diego) -- The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on October 25 to approve a plan proposed by Supervisors Nathan Fletcher and Joel Anderson to use an expected $100 million in settlement money from lawsuits with drug makers to address the opioid crisis in the region.

East County News Service

Photo: CC via Bing

October 24, 2022 (San Diego) -- The San Diego County Department of Environmental Health and Quality (DEHQ) has issued the following beach management actions for Monday, October 24, 2022 including closures of some beaches and an advisory for another due to raw sewage from Tijuana that may cause illness.