News Briefs: Sewer Blockage Leaves 77 Hospital Patients Without Toilet Access

Tensions are rising after a sewer blockage in Atascadero, California, has left 77 patients at Atascadero State Hospital without easy access to toilets and drinking water for more than a week, according to The Sacramento Bee. In rooms without toilets, patients have been given access to portable urinals, which have contributed to degrading sanitary conditions at the hospital, as staff must empty the urinals by hand into trash cans. “We have been just barely managing,” a staffer told the newspaper. “They are starting to unravel. It’s turning into Lord of the Flies slowly.” In the meantime, a contractor is