Category: Health

Thousands of Kaiser Permanente health care workers went on strike this morning, Wed., Oct. 4 at hospitals and medical offices in San Diego and across the country.

Kaiser has failed to reach a deal with a coalition of unions to renew a contract that expired Sept. 30. Union leaders are fighting for more staffing and higher annual pay raises, arguing their wages have not kept up with the rising cost of living and inflation.

By Chas Smith / Beach Grit / October 2, 2023

As surfers, as seafaring adventurers, we are well aware of the dangers we face every time we step foot in the vast ocean. From sharks to stingrays, extra chilly temperatures to sunburn, trouble lurks everywhere to make no mention of the surfboard itself. The fiberglass and foam missile, either Patriot or SCUD (longboard), is the vehicle for fun, certainly, but get out of line and wham-o. Right in the kisser. Or worse.

The County is still issuing a water advisory for Dog Beach in Ocean Beach due to high levels of bacteria and are advising people and pets to avoid water contact.

The advisory for Dog Beach has been in effect since August 3.

Station: San Diego River outlet to 300′ South (FM-010)
Status Since: August 3, 2023
Bacteria levels exceed health standards. Avoid water contact in the advisory area.

On Thursday, July 27, County officials issued an advisory for the OB Pier at Newport Avenue, advising people to not get in the water because of high bacteria levels, which exceed the state’s health standards. It’s still in effect Friday.

At Dog Beach, the water remains under the same advisory, and has been since June 16.

Everybody in the Water: It’s Hot. Stay Cool. Stay Safe.

By Colleen O’Connor

The heat wave is here to stay. Some suggestions. Find some shade. Some trees. Some fountains. Pool. Ocean or Bay. Some Water.

Get in it. By it. Under it. On it. Drink it. Lots of it. One of the great gifts of San Diego’s geography is the water that surrounds us. Find a municipal pool near you.

By Jillian Wilson / HuffPost & Yahoo / June 29, 2023

The ocean can be anti-inflammatory and exfoliating, experts say. Healing, detoxifying and cleansing are all words you’ve probably heard to describe the ocean.

Now, many people tout the benefits of ocean water when it comes to skin and health issues —

Declaration by Chairwoman Vargas, Vice Chair Lawson-Remer Also Requests Governor, Federal Government Declare Emergency

The County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously today to declare a County-wide state of emergency as pollution and sewage continue to flow across the U.S.-Mexico border, contaminating local ocean water and several beaches.

By Terrie Best

The US president does not like cannabis. In fact, I am told by DC lobbyists that he hates it. He does not want to be the president that reschedules the plant – which I’m sure but can’t prove – he once called the devil’s lettuce. Yet Biden will likely go down in history as the one who at least moved the ball.

The federal ball has been all but frozen since the Controlled Substance Act placed cannabis in Schedule I with no medicinal value. Getting it into one of the other four places in the CSA has proven to be impossible, with agencies such as the FDA and DEA wholeheartedly dug into the drug war.

By Paul Sisson / San Diego Union-Tribune / June 6, 2023

Employees at Kaiser Zion Medical Center in Grantville are calling for the suspension of all surgeries at the facility due to what they say is visible contamination of the trays that hold sterilized surgical instruments.

By Delaney Eyermann / WRAL / Jun. 1, 2023

A new study discovered that a chemical found in sucralose, which is sold under the trade name Splenda, damages DNA.

Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found sucralose-6-acetate, the chemical that forms when we digest Splenda, is “genotoxic,” meaning it breaks up DNA.

By Megan Kitt / The Coronado Times / May 29, 2023

This year, Memorial Day kicked off a “summer of misery” – at least that’s how Laura Wilkinson Sinton, who is fed up with beach closures related to ongoing Tijuana sewage crisis, describes it.

“What do we want? Stop the poop!” chanted more than 50 people at a protest on Saturday. “When do we want it? Now!”

The protest was organized by Wilkinson Sinton and Marely Ramirez, who pulled it together in just three days after researching the extent of the sewage problem.

The bean counters of medical establishments have figured out how to keep our doctors busy

By Joni Halpern

Take a good look at your doctors the next time you go to see them.  They don’t have time to do more than glance at you, so you can give them a good going over while they engage in cyber-course with computerized algorithms that now dictate every moment of their working life.

You’ll notice a growing number of your doctors look tired; they have bags under their eyes, regardless of their age.