The Mercury News: Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong Launches Foray Into The Bay Area
In Los Angeles, billionaire doctor Patrick Soon-Shiong is known as the guy who bought Magic Johnson’s share of the Los Angeles Lakers, and made a $70 million investment in the company that owns the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune. In the health care world, he’s considered a controversial, ambitious medical entrepreneur who made his billions investing in biotechnology and developing anti-cancer drugs. So his announcement this week that he has acquired a controlling stake in Integrity Healthcare, the company that now runs the former Daughters of Charity Health System is considered by many to be a boon to the safety-net hospital system, renamed Verity Health. (Seipel, 7/6)

In other hospital news —

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Hospital Association CEO Headed To California
Carmela Coyle, the longtime president and CEO of the Maryland Hospital Association, is stepping down from the post in the fall to head the California Hospital Association. Coyle has served in her current position for nine years. The executive committee of the Maryland association said it will begin a national search for her replacement. (McDaniels, 7/6)

San Francisco Business Times: Why Sutter Health Won't Be Laying Off These Employees After All
Sutter Health's San Francisco hospital was going to lay off 72 workers and close down two units, but the union and system have reached an agreement to give people their jobs back. (Siu, 7/6)

The Bakersfield Californian: Local Hospital Officially Changes Its Name
San Joaquin Community Hospital is now officially called Adventist Health Bakersfield, the healthcare organization announced in a press release Thursday. The Bakersfield hospital announced plans to change its name earlier this year, and with the California Department of Public Health's approval, the name change is official. It has also created a new mission statement: "Living God's love by inspiring health, wholeness and hope." (7/6)

Ventura County Star: Ventura Man Arrested Over Incident At Hospital
A Ventura man was arrested on suspicion of resisting arrest Thursday after refusing to leave Ventura County Medical Center, authorities said. The officer assigned to work inside the emergency room of the hospital at 3291 Loma Vista Road in Ventura was contacted by hospital security at 4:14 p.m. regarding a person who was disturbing and refusing to leave the front lobby, Ventura police said. (7/6)

San Diego Union-Times: 100 Years Of Navy Medicine In San Diego
One hundred years ago, according to Navy lore, the United States entered World War I and opened a troop training camp in San Diego, complete with a budding naval dispensary. The site was Balboa Park, where buildings left over from a 1915 exposition were awaiting new uses. The dispensary has grown into a crown jewel of Navy medicine and is celebrating its centennial this year. (Steele, 7/6)

San Diego Union-Times: Navy Baby ICU In San Diego: Hub For The Pacific
It’s more scary than battle: To have a baby born prematurely, or with a dire medical problem. More than 400 military families return to San Diego Naval Medical Center’s neonatal intensive care unit every year for a reunion. They greet the nurses and doctors who helped saved babies born as early as just over 20 weeks. This 30-bed ward is the center of gravity for Navy preemie babies around the Pacific. (Steele, 7/7)

Los Angeles Times: State Releases Plan To Clean Lead Contamination From 2,500 Parcels Near Closed Battery Recycler Exide 
lead will be removed from the soil of 2,500 of the worst contaminated residential properties including dozens of child-care centers near a shuttered battery recycling plant under a plan released Thursday by state regulators. The Department of Toxic Substances Control plan sets in motion the next two years of a massive cleanup project spanning more than 10,000 properties across seven southeast Los Angeles communities around the Exide Technologies facility. (Barboza, 7/6)

KPCC: State Unveils Long-Awaited Exide Cleanup Plan 
The project will be "the largest cleanup of its kind ever in California," said Barbara Lee, director of the Department of Toxic Substances Control. The agency plans to hire a contractor by the end of August and expects the work to begin sometime after that, said Mohsen Nazemi, deputy director of Toxic Substance Control's Brownfields and Environmental Restoration Program. (Plevin, 7/6)

In other environmental health news —

KQED: Advocates Concerned About Chemical Drifts That Sickened Central Coast Farmworkers
Advocates for farmworkers on both coasts and labor experts are expressing concern about the two dozen agricultural employees who were hospitalized last month in Salinas and Watsonville in a span of one week after fungicides and insecticides apparently drifted on to the fields where they were working... More than 1,000 people in California were sickened by pesticide exposure in 2014, the most recent year for which the Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) has such data. (Goldberg, 7/6)

The New York Times: Opioid Prescriptions Fall After 2010 Peak, C.D.C. Report Finds
The amount of opioid painkillers prescribed in the United States peaked in 2010, a new federal analysis has found, with prescriptions for higher, more dangerous doses dropping most sharply — by 41 percent — since then. But the analysis, by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also found that the prescribing rate in 2015 remained three times as high as in 1999, when the nation’s problem with opioid addiction was just getting started. (Goodnough, 7/6)

Los Angeles Times: In Rural America, Opioid Prescriptions Continue To Flow, New CDC Report Shows
The CDC’s comprehensive report offers a mixed picture of progress in a national effort to reduce the availability of the prescription painkillers, which have been implicated in roughly half of the nation’s 33,000 opioid-related overdose deaths last year. (Healy, 7/6)

The Mercury News: Tobacco Use In Youth-Rated Films Has Increased According To UCSF Study
The number of PG-13 films with actors smoking jumped from 564 in 2010 to 809 in 2016, according to the report. Nearly half of all films that depicted smoking were designed as kid-friendly or youth-rated, according to the report from the University of California, San Francisco and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control Prevention as well as other groups. (Brassil, 7/6)

The Associated Press: Another California Doctor Suspected Of Child Sex Abuse
Another California doctor has been arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing children, some of whom were his patients, authorities said Thursday. Dr. Benjamin Shettell was booked on suspicion of sexually abusing eight minors ranging from 6 to 17, Redding police said in a statement. (7/6)

In other news from across the state —

Sacramento Bee: Frances Gracechild, Advocate For Disabled And Elderly People, Will Be Honored At A Memorial Service In Sacramento
For the past 36 years, Gracechild led Resources for Independent Living in Sacramento, which assists people with disabilities in obtaining housing, technology, personal care and other help to live comfortable and productive lives. Outside of the office, she led protests, spoke at public meetings and pushed for legislation to benefit folks with little political clout. (Hubert, 7/6)

KPBS Public Media: San Diego Housing Homeless To Change Lives, Tent-Covered Landscapes
San Diego has plans to permanently house thousands of people living on the streets and provide counseling and services to help them rebuild their lives. The approach, which has been largely successful in other cities across the nation, could change the landscape of downtown, where people lying listlessly on sidewalks consumed by encampments, has become a new norm. (Murphy, 7/6)

Orange County Register: Food Pantry In Santa Ana Aims To Fight Hunger As It Offers People Compassion And Respect
A cheery food pantry nestled at the back of a renovated older home, Mercado El Sol carries an array of canned goods, produce and meat and dairy products. But the cozy spot near downtown Santa Ana is set up to provide more than just nutritious food in the poor neighborhood it serves: Its aim is to offer patrons measures of compassion and respect. (Walker, 7/6)

San Diego Union-Times: Health Fair Kicks Off Carlsbad Triathlon
On Saturday, a day before the 36th annual Carlsbad Triathlon takes off, the city will host a Carlsbad Lifestyle & Fitness Festival at the Pine Avenue Community Park. The community event features 50 health-oriented vendor booths offering products and services ranging from drug free pain relief and stress management to nutrition, fitness and beauty. (McIntosh, 7/6)

The Associated Press: GOP Leader Says He'll Rework Health Bill, But Offers Plan B
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he plans to produce a fresh bill in about a week scuttling and replacing much of President Barack Obama's health care law. But he's also acknowledging a Plan B if that effort continues to flounder. (Schreiner and Fram, 7/7)

USA Today: McConnell: If GOP Health Bill Dies, Bipartisan Fix Will Be Needed
“No action is not an alternative,” McConnell said. “We’ve got the insurance markets imploding all over the country, including in this state.” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., jumped on the Republican leader's comments, saying McConnell "opened the door to bipartisan solutions." (Collins, 7/6)

The New York Times: Unlikely Holdout Underscores Challenge For Senate Health Bill
Cheryl Hofstetter Duffy began by telling Senator Jerry Moran that she was a breast cancer survivor. Then she asked why the debate over the Affordable Care Act was focused on repealing and replacing the law, rather than simply making it better. When she finished, the crowd jammed into a community center on Thursday applauded. Mr. Moran, a Kansas Republican who came out last week against the Senate leadership’s repeal bill, picked up on the sentiment, lamenting that both parties were locked in opposition over health care, with Republicans pursuing repeal and Democrats saying, he said, “Not one inch are we giving.” “And so the rhetoric puts us into the corners of the ring,” he said, “and never a meeting of the minds.” (Kaplan, 7/6)

Politico: Rand And Donald’s Wild Health Care Ride
After a bitter rivalry during the 2016 presidential campaign, Sen. Rand Paul and President Donald Trump just can’t quit each other. And they are teaming up to confound everyone in Washington on the GOP’s attempts to repeal Obamacare. After Paul dubbed candidate Trump an “orange-faced windbag” and Trump questioned whether candidate Paul had a “properly functioning brain,” the two have begun to build a strong relationship. Trump has expended major energy courting Paul and they’ve developed what Paul calls a “good rapport.” They’ve played golf and chat regularly on the phone. (Everett and Dawsey, 7/7)

The Hill: Senate Republicans Say They're Weeks Away From Healthcare Vote
Republican senators are downplaying the chances of a quick vote next week on their ObamaCare replacement bill amid divisions in the party over what the legislation should look like. "We're still several weeks away from a vote, I think,” Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said at an event Wednesday.  (Sullivan, 7/6)

Los Angeles Times: Republicans Are In Charge. So Why Can't They Deliver On Healthcare?
For the better part of a decade, “repeal and replace” has been Republican gospel, a political talking point and policy manifesto. Other issues that long served as the glue holding together the disparate GOP coalition — free trade, a deep and abiding suspicion of Russia, “traditional family values” — have loosened their grip on the party and its voters. (Barabak, 7/6)

Politico: How The Senate Health Bill Became ‘Obamacare Lite’
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell famously promised to rip out Obamacare “root and branch,” a sentiment echoed by Republicans on the campaign trail for seven years. But Obamacare is proving harder to eradicate than kudzu, and Republicans may be stuck with major parts of Barack Obama’s legacy. (Demko, 7/6)

Sacramento Bee: Dianne Feinstein Bashes Senate Health Care Bill 
Sen. Dianne Feinstein is in San Francisco today, where she’s holding a press conference to deliver a message on her home turf about her staunch opposition to Senate Republicans’ health care bill... Under the GOP bill, the federal government would shift a large share of health care costs to states.  (Hart and Svirnovskiy, 7/7)

Los Angeles Times: Why We Fight For Universal Healthcare
The battle we fight today should be about expanding coverage to millions more, not deciding how much coverage we should take away from people who already have it. Whether Congressional Republicans are successful in their repeal efforts or not, universal healthcare must be our goal. As President Trump realized all too late, healthcare is really complicated. But our priorities should not be: We must endeavor to provide quality, accessible care to every American. (Rep. Adam Schiff, 7/6)

Sacramento Bee: Scared Democrats Are The Hurdle To Single Payer
America has reached a pivotal point in how we think about and legislate health care. While Republicans in Congress continue down the road of gutting, defunding and privatizing health insurance, many on the left and even some conservatives are swinging toward an approach that just five years ago was politically unthinkable – government-financed health insurance for all. (Harry Snyder and Courtney Hutchison, 7/5)

The Washington Post: The Dumbest Criticism Of Single Payer Health Care
Democratic politicians are rapidly embracing single payer health care, and as they do, they’re being met with an utterly bogus criticism. Unfortunately, it’s coming not only from Republicans but also from misinformed members of the media. So before this goes any farther, we need to get a few things straight. (Paul Waldman, 7/6)

Orange County Register: State Couldn’t Pull Health-Care Funding Out Of A Hat 
In California, the Affordable Care Act added 4 million people to Medi-Cal, the health care safety net, by raising the income limit for eligibility. There are now about 14 million people — one-third of the state’s population — on Medi-Cal, called Medicaid in the rest of the country. But the expansion of Medi-Cal is not financially sustainable. (Susan Shelley, 7/1)

Los Angeles Times: As GOP Moves Toward Repeal, A Government Report Shows Obamacare Is Working Well
New data have been released contradicting Republican propaganda about the “failing” Affordable Care Act. What may be more embarrassing to the hardliners pushing repeal is that it comes from the government, specifically the Department of Health and Human Services. (Michael Hiltzik, 7/3)

Los Angeles Times: Republicans Say Medicaid Doesn't Work, So It Should Be Cut. Here Are All The Ways They're Wrong 
The dirtiest little secret of the Republicans’ Obamacare repeal campaign is that its genesis has nothing to do with the Affordable Care Act as such, but with a long-cherished desire to gut Medicaid, which predated the ACA by nearly a half-century. ... The congressional Republicans backing the Obamacare repeal bills that cut the meat and bones out of Medicaid to the tune of $800 billion to $1 trillion, must have some ulterior motivation.  (Michael Hiltzik, 7/3)

The Mercury News: Caveat Emptor: Health Care Hardship If Pre-Existing Condition Limits Return
In today’s corporate America, employees in their 50s and 60s have a reason to feel as vulnerable as a coach. ... Many needing to buy private insurance who have not yet reached the sanctuary of Medicare are out of luck if pre-existing conditions are once again introduced to the purchase of insurance — because most of these folks are no longer in perfect health. (Steve Butler, 7/3)

Los Angeles Times: Ted Cruz Proposes Rescuing Healthy Consumers At The Expense Of The Sick
Sen. Ted Cruz has a litmus test for his Republican Senate colleagues: Do they care more about cutting health insurance premiums than protecting people with preexisting conditions? Granted, Cruz (R-Texas) wouldn’t put it that way. But the amendment he’s seeking to add to the Senate GOP’s bill to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act sets up a choice just that stark. (Jon Healey, 7/6)

Oakland Tribune: How To Combat Drug Companies' Thirst For Profits
When it comes to how high they price their products, drug companies want the public to ignore what they spend on marketing and the tax breaks they get for consumer advertising. Instead of simply acknowledging their pricing strategies, drug companies and their lobbyists have launched a finger-pointing campaign at pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). This isn’t surprising and certainly not unpredictable but ignores the basic fact: Drug companies set the price of the drugs. They can charge whatever they feel the market will bear. (John D. Jones, 7/5)

Los Angeles Times: If You're On A Spouse's Health Plan, What Happens If The Worst Should Happen?
My wife and I were chatting the other night about Republican efforts to reboot the U.S. healthcare system as a horror movie — stripping health coverage from more than 20 million Americans, boosting premiums for many and gutting Medicaid. She finally brought the conversation home by asking: “What happens if something happens to you?” (David Lazarus, 7/4)

San Diego Union-Times: Tax On Sugary Drinks Right Prescription For Children's Health
Simply put, our kids are drinking entirely too much sugar. The majority of that sugar comes from sugary drinks such as sodas, sweet teas and sports drinks. For the record, sugar-sweetened beverages are the single biggest source of calories in teenagers’ diets. These drinks contribute up to 15 percent of their daily calories. As a family physician, I see the effects of this in my practice daily on children, families and our community. I want our youth to grow up and lead a healthy life. For them to have that chance, we have to work together to provide the opportunity. (Eunice Sanchez-Mata, 7/5)

San Diego Union-Times: Soda Tax No Panacea For Obesity Problems
We all want healthier communities, but the evidence clearly shows that beverage taxes have not delivered on the promise of improved public health. Instead, these taxes target working families struggling to make ends meet and small businesses that provide jobs for people living paycheck to paycheck. The facts are clear: Beverages with sugar are not driving the nation’s obesity crisis and data from the federal government prove this. (Fredericka McGee, 7/5)

Orange County Register: Unions Playing Politics With Dialysis Patients’ Lives 
Senate Bill 349 is being sold as a patient protection measure for those undergoing dialysis but, in reality, it puts the health of unions above the health of patients. The legislation, introduced by state Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, who also coauthored the now defunct single-payer health care bill, would require dialysis centers to maintain rigid minimum staffing ratios at all times, including no more than eight patients per nurse and three patients per certified hemodialysis technician. (7/2)

Los Angeles Times: With Healthcare Reform Stalled, Trump And Pruitt Want To Repeal And Replace Clean Water Standards
The Waters of the United States rule was meant to protect the drinking water supply for more than 100 million Americans by clarifying which waterways are covered by the landmark Clean Water Act of 1972, which limits the chemicals and other pollutants that can be discharged into “navigable” U.S. waters. ... The clean water rule might indeed apply to a small pond, but only if it connects with larger waterways and therefore allows any pollutants dumped in it to spread through tributaries to the nation’s drinking water supply. (7/6)

Los Angeles Times: Why I Want Legal Marijuana In My South L.A. District 
A majority of Californians voted in support of legalizing medical and adult-use cannabis. Clearly, the people believe that cannabis is not a dangerous drug when sold and consumed responsibly — and that the cannabis economy, once legalized and regulated, can serve in the best interest of Californians. (Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer Sr. 7/5)