KQED: Ravaged By Camp Fire, Paradise's Only Hospital Won't Reopen Until 2020 
Outside the Neighborhood Church in Chico, staff from the Adventist Health Feather River Hospital anxiously awaited news Wednesday of what would happen to the hospital and clinics, which had some facilities significantly damaged in the deadly Camp Fire. ... During the meeting with executives, the staff got their answer. The hospital will reopen, but not until 2020. (Wiley, 12/5)

KPCC: Audio: Traditional Therapy Is Not How Some Thomas Fire Survivors Are Dealing With Trauma 
People affected by California's destructive and dangerous wildfires could face long-lasting psychological harm, like post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. However some wildfire victims, especially those who live in rural areas, find it hard to reach out for, or accept, mental health care. (Perry, 12/5)

KQED: UCSF HIV Research Lab Under Scrutiny By Trump Administration
The Trump administration is pushing back on a Washington Post story that the federal government is moving to eliminate funding for a major UCSF research lab that tests new HIV treatments using fetal tissue. The Post, citing anonymous sources outside the federal government, reported that the administration was ending the seven-year contract and that the decision was coming from the “highest levels.” (Siler, 12/5)

CNN: HHS Contradicts Reports On Fetal Tissue Research Contract
Anonymous reporting led to an "inaccurate" story about federal funding of controversial fetal tissue research, the US Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday. HHS's National Institutes of Health has made no decision on whether to extend a University of California, San Francisco contract for controversial research involving fetal tissue, said Caitlin Oakley, a spokeswoman for HHS. Her statement contradicts Washington Post reporting Tuesday that the "Trump administration has thrown into doubt a multimillion-dollar research contract" with UCSF to test new treatments for HIV. (Scutti, 12/5)

East Bay Times: Abortion Pills Could Be Given Out At UC, CSU Universities In California
Hoping for support from California’s new governor, an Inland state senator has re-introduced legislation requiring on-campus health centers at the state’s public universities to offer abortion-inducing pills to students seeking to terminate their pregnancies. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino, is similar to legislation vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown in September. In his veto message, Brown, who leaves office next month, wrote that the bill wasn’t needed because abortion-inducing medication is “widely available” at off-campus clinics. (Horseman, 12/5)

San Francisco Chronicle: 2 More Death Row Inmates Die; San Quentin Officials Probe Possible Contraband Drugs 
San Quentin prison officials called an emergency meeting Wednesday to discuss a possible connection between contraband lethal drugs and the unexplained deaths of two Death Row inmates on Monday and Tuesday, according to an internal prison document obtained by The Chronicle. ...The fatality came just 24 hours after another condemned inmate, 53-year-old Herminio Serna, was pronounced dead at the facility. (Cassidy, 12/5)

WBUR: Federal Legislation Seeks Ban On Shackling Of Pregnant Inmates
As Congress prepares to adjourn for the holidays, one piece of legislation that's still on the table is a bipartisan criminal justice bill known as the First Step Act. It aims to improve federal prison conditions and reduce some prison sentences, a sticking point for some lawmakers. But the bill also contains a less controversial provision: a ban on shackling pregnant women. (Cohen and Chang, 12/5)

Los Angeles Times: Grand Jury Investigating USC Gynecologist Accused Of Sexually Abusing Hundreds Of Patients
Los Angeles County prosecutors have convened a grand jury to hear evidence about Dr. George Tyndall, the USC gynecologist accused of sexually abusing hundreds of patients during three decades at a campus health clinic, according to two sources familiar with the case. (Ryan and Hamilton, 12/5)

In other news from around the state, San Diego's Alzheimer's Response Team is showing promising early response while some Ventura County clinics may have given patients ineffective vaccines and medications between October 2017 and last month —

The San Diego Union-Tribune: Six Months In, Alzheimer's Response Team Shows Promising Results 
Early results produced by a new effort to help first responders handle dementia-related calls are encouraging enough that some are already thinking about how to expand the program to other communities across the region. Created in June with funding from Grossmont Healthcare District and the county Board of Supervisors, the Alzheimer’s Response Team announced Wednesday that it handled 50 referrals and opened 22 assistance cases in its first six months of operation. Eight of those cases, according to county records, had severe symptoms such as wandering, confusion or lashing out at caregivers. (Sisson, 12/5)

Ventura County Star: Ventura County Clinics May Have Given Ineffective Vaccines To Patients
As many as 23,000 patients may have been given ineffective vaccines and medications by the Ventura County Health Care Agency’s clinic system between October 2017 and last month, the agency said this week. The patients, primarily adults, but about 2,300 who were 18 or under — including 1,255 under age 6 — are being contacted by the agency via letters and telephone calls and being urged to be re-vaccinated at the clinics at no cost, agency officials said. (Harris, 12/5)

The Hill: Manchin Pitched Trump On Reviving Bipartisan ObamaCare Fix 
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) pitched President Trump on reviving a bipartisan fix to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) when the two had lunch on Monday. “I said he's the one who can make a difference,” Manchin told reporters on Wednesday, describing his message on health care in his meeting with the president. “We already have a bipartisan agreement. If he signs onto it, it would be great.” (Sullivan, 12/5)

And in other national news —

Modern Healthcare: New CMS Star Ratings Ignore Socio-Economic Factors 
Hospitals with a high percentage of dual-eligible stays do worse than other hospitals in the readmissions category of the CMS star ratings, hurting their overall star rating, according to a Modern Healthcare analysis of CMS data. In the latest preview of the CMS star ratings that will be released on Hospital Compare in February, the agency didn't risk-adjust hospitals by peer groups based on their dual-eligible population as it currently does in the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program. (Castellucci, 12/5)

CQ: Wisconsin Bill Gives Medicaid Oversight To Legislature
The Wisconsin legislature approved Wednesday morning a measure that would give a legislative committee more control over how Medicaid operates in the state, likely strengthening the controversial work requirements proposed by outgoing Gov. Scott Walker and approved by the federal government. The Medicaid bill was one of three passed early Wednesday that enhanced the Republican legislature’s power at the expense of incoming Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who defeated Walker, the Republican incumbent, last month. (Fischler, 12/5)

California Healthline: Seniors Steamed Over Cuts To SilverSneakers Fitness Program
John Garland Graves was taken aback when he walked into his McKinleyville, Calif., gym in October and learned that his SilverSneakers membership was being canceled. Since 2014, Graves, 69, has enjoyed free access to the gym through SilverSneakers, the nation’s best-known fitness program for seniors. He was disturbed by the news, as are many other people who have recently learned they’re losing this benefit. (Graham, 12/6)

PBS NewsHour: New Study Shows 1 In 6 U.S. Health Care Workers Are Immigrants
According to a new research letter published Tuesday in Journal of the American Medical Association, about one out of six medical professionals are foreign-born. And like [Archana] Chatterjee, they often fill health care jobs in rural or underserved communities, places that have a harder time attracting U.S.-born medical school graduates. (Santhanam, 12/5)

The Desert Sun: Eisenhower Health Adds Additional Residency, Fellowship Programs
A growing medical partnership in the Coachella Valley is designed to address the valley’s medical workforce shortage. Eisenhower Health and the University of California, Riverside, School of Medicine said Tuesday they'd established a plan to grow their affiliation to jointly train future doctors in hopes of retaining those physicians.The partnership will allow the two institutions to expand residency and fellowship training opportunities in the Coachella Valley. The residency program with UCR was launched three years ago and the third class of residents will graduate this summer. With this success, the partners decided to add more. (Hayden, 12/5)

Capital Public Radio: A New Wave Of Kids Is Coming Out As Transgender — And Doctors Are Trying To Keep Up
The American Academy of Pediatrics put out its first policy statement on transgender care this fall, recommending physicians and parents support a child’s gender choice and provide “comprehensive gender-affirming and developmentally appropriate health care.” Adolescent gender clinics are helping to fill the gap; there are roughly 40 in the United States, including a handful in California. (Caiola, 12/5)

NPR: Infections May Raise The Risk Of Mental Illness In Children
Researchers have traced a connection between some infections and mental illnesses like schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder. New research from Denmark bolsters that connection. The study, published Thursday in JAMA Psychiatry, shows that a wide variety of infections, even common ones like bronchitis, are linked to a higher risk of many mental illnesses in children and adolescents. (Chatterjee, 12/5)

KCUR: Doctors Look To Childhood Trauma For Roots Of Puzzling Chronic Pain
About one in five adults in the U.S. suffer from chronic pain, and in a lot of cases, there’s no clear reason why or treatment that works. As the dangers of opioids are becoming clearer, many doctors are looking at other ways to address pain, including addressing childhood trauma. ... At a lab at the University of Kansas Medical Center, liquids stir in flasks, centrifuges whirl, and associate professor of anatomy and cell biology Julie Christianson leads researchers working to understand the links between stress and pain in mice. Christianson explains that pain generally works in two stages. First we have an injury and feel pain, then – just as importantly - our brains dial the pain back down. (Smith, 12/6)

The Hill: 41 Percent Of Adults Don't Plan To Get Flu Shot Despite Last Year's Deadly Season 
More than 40 percent of American adults have not received a flu shot this year and don't plan to do so, according to a new poll released Wednesday. The survey from NORC at the University of Chicago found that, as of mid-November, 41 percent of adults said they haven't been vaccinated and have no plans to change that, despite last season's record-high death toll. (Hellmann, 12/5)

The New York Times: Why Are Scientists So Upset About The First Crispr Babies?
A Chinese scientist recently claimed he had produced the world’s first gene-edited babies, setting off a global firestorm. If true — the scientist has not yet published data that would confirm it — his actions would be a sensational breach of international scientific conventions. Although gene editing holds promise to potentially correct dangerous disease-causing mutations and treat some medical conditions, there are many safety and ethical concerns about editing human embryos. Here are answers to some of the numerous questions swirling around this development. (Kolata and Belluck, 12/5)

NPR: Is America Ready For Prescription Heroin?
The U.S. drug crisis does not appear to be letting up. The nation experienced a shattering 47,000 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2017. Driving the surge are potent, cheap synthetics like fentanyl. They've spread into the illicit drug supply, and in response communities have been trying a range of interventions, from increasing naloxone trainings to upping treatment resources. (Gordon, 12/6)

The Washington Post: Critics Say New Transplant Rules Will Benefit Big City Medical Centers
The organization that controls the distribution of livers for transplant revised its controversial allocation policy for the second time in a year, further limiting transplant centers’ access to organs collected in their areas. The new plan eliminates geographical boundaries drawn years ago that had largely given transplant centers first shot at livers collected from brain-dead donors in hospitals nearby. It moves the liver transplant system farther toward a “sickest-first” model that would send organs to recipients more than 500 miles away if they demonstrate the greatest need. (Bernstein, 12/5)

NPR: More Raw Beef Recalled After Nationwide Salmonella Outbreak
More than 2,500 tons of raw beef are being added to a recall in connection with a salmonella outbreak that federal officials say has sickened hundreds of people across 25 states. The Arizona-based JBS Tolleson processing plant initially recalled about 3,500 tons of potentially contaminated beef in October. JBS, the top global meatpacker that owns the plant, still maintains the move ensured all of the affected product had already been removed from store shelves. (Held, 12//5)

WMFE: Climate Change Means A Rise In Mosquito-Borne Illnesses Like Eastern Equine Encephalitis
The number of people who got sick in the United States from an infected mosquito, tick, or flea tripled between 2004 and 2016. More than 640,000 cases over that time, according to the CDC. In Florida, changing climate and a lack of good diagnostic tools, make it easier for insect-borne diseases like Eastern Equine Encephalitis to spread. The personal and financial costs of even one case of this disease can be catastrophic. (Prieur, 12/5)

The Hill: Judge Adds New Hurdle To CVS-Aetna Merger
A federal judge could throw a wrench into the mega-merger between health giants CVS and Aetna. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon in Washington said this week he is considering delaying the $70 billion merger, and keeping the companies separate until he has a chance to weigh in. (Weixel, 12/6)

Stat: Will A New CVS Pricing Model Lower Drug Costs For Health Plans? 
As criticism of pharmacy benefit managers intensifies, CVS Caremark (CVS) plans to roll out a new prescription-drug pricing model next month for health plans that the company maintains will “simplify” costs and simultaneously add a dose of transparency to a highly opaque system. In short, the PBM will offer so-called guaranteed net pricing for average prescription claims, whether medicines are purchased by mail or from retail or specialty pharmacies. CVS says it will pass through all rebates and administrative fees to its clients while assuming responsibility for manufacturer price hikes and shifts in the mix of brand and generic drugs. (Silverman, 12/5)

Reuters: CVS Offers 'Guaranteed Net Cost' For Pharmacy Benefit Clients
Pharmacy chain and benefits manager CVS Health Corp on Wednesday said as of Jan. 1 it will offer a new prescription benefit option guaranteeing its health plan clients 100 percent of any rebates, discounts or other fees paid by drugmakers. The new plan model is aimed at providing greater drug cost simplicity, predictability and transparency, CVS said. (12/5)

Bloomberg: Pitocin And Ketamine Prices Are Surging As Shortages Drag On 
The price of a drug given to millions of women in the U.S. every year to help speed up labor or recover from childbirth more than doubled this week, in a sign of deepening market dysfunction that has left some health-care providers scrambling to find critical medicines. Endo International Plc raised the price of a one milliliter single-dose vial of Pitocin at the start of December to $3.60, according to its wholesale acquisition cost, up from $1.68 previously. (Koons and Griffin, 12/6)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Infant Ibuprofen Sold At Walmart, CVS, Family Dollar Recalled
Tris Pharma Inc. is recalling three lots of infants' liquid ibuprofen sold at Walmart, CVS and Family Dollar stores in the U.S., the Monmouth, New Jersey-based drug company announced in a news release Wednesday. (Ewing, 12/6)

And in news about Kroger, Walgreens, Bayer, Takeda, Endo and two biotech companies —

The Washington Post: Kroger And Walgreens Want You To Have A One-Stop Shop For Food And Drugs
A one-stop shop for your grocery and pharmacy needs is what Kroger and Walgreens have in store. Through “Kroger Express,” the grocer will add more 2,300 products at 13 Walgreens locations in Northern Kentucky, selling dairy, meat, produce, frozen foods and more. The first pilot store is already open in Florence, Ky., with the remaining 12 locations debuting early next year. Shoppers can also order Kroger groceries online to be picked up at Walgreens. (Siegel, 12/5)

The Wall Street Journal: Bayer Lays Out Plans In Hopes Of Easing Investor Headaches
Germany’s Bayer AG Wednesday laid out ambitious sales and profit targets in its latest effort to convince the market it is serious about boosting profits, reducing debt and stopping a downward spiral in its stock price that has put management under heavy pressure. (Bender, 12/5)

Reuters: Takeda Clears Key Hurdle As Investors Back $59 Billion Shire Deal
Takeda Pharmaceutical has won shareholder approval for its $59 billion takeover of London-listed Shire, creating a global powerhouse that has a stronger drugs pipeline but is also saddled with massive debt. Takeda will be joining the ranks of the world's top 10 drugmakers and gaining expertise in rare diseases through the deal, the biggest overseas acquisition by a Japanese company. (12/5)

Stat: Investor Activists Win Again And Persuade Endo To Catalog Opioid Risks 
Amid complaints from shareholder activists, Endo International (ENDP) has issued a report about the risks of selling opioid painkillers and agreed to expand a so-called clawback policy for executive compensation when negligence occurs. The company will also beef up disclosure of its lobbying efforts. The move is the latest victory for Investors for Opioid Accountability, a coalition of institutional investors that has been pushing drug makers, wholesalers, and pharmacies to take steps to rein in the opioid crisis by changing business practices. Previously, Assertio Therapeutics (ASRT) agreed to monitor opioid risks, but Endo is the first large drug maker to take a more comprehensive step. (Silverman, 12/5)

Stat: Legendary Biotech VC Steven Burrill Sentenced To 2.5 Years For Fraud 
Famed biotech venture capitalist G. Steven Burrill is headed to federal prison after pleading guilty to defrauding his investors and falsifying tax returns. Burrill, 74, faced up to 30 years in prison and $750,000 in fines, but he will serve just 30 months and pay $200 after signing a sealed plea agreement last year. Burrill will surrender to authorities on March 4, according to court documents. (Garde, 12/5)

Stat: This Biotech VC Firm Was Called An Agent Of China. It's Run By U.S. Citizens
When the Trump administration accused China of “unfairly” using venture capital to acquire technologies last month, it singled out the firm 6 Dimensions Capital, calling it a suspicious agent of the Chinese government bent on acquiring U.S. biotechnology. That came as a surprise to 6 Dimensions’ CEO, Leon Chen, who said neither he nor anyone at his firm had ever been contacted by the U.S. trade representative, which issued the report naming his firm. (Robbins, 12/6)