Reuters: US Authorities Charge Healthcare Company Ontrak's Boss With Insider Trading 
U.S. authorities on Wednesday charged the head of the [Santa Monica, California-based] health care company Ontrak Inc. with insider trading, marking the first criminal case involving the use of a special trading plan designed to help shield executives from such charges. Ontrak Chairman and CEO Terren Peizer sold more than $20 million of Ontrak stock between May and August 2021 while in possession of material non-public negative information related to the company's largest customer, authorities said. (Gillison and Singh, 3/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Healthcare CEO Faces Charges Of Making Illicit Stock Sales In Prearranged Trades 
Ontrak Chief Executive Terren Peizer set up the prearranged trading plans in May and August 2021, just before his company disclosed the loss of health insurer Cigna Corp. as a major customer, according to a federal grand-jury indictment unsealed Wednesday. Mr. Peizer sold about 641,000 shares of Ontrak stock when he was aware of the undisclosed bad news, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which also sued him. When Ontrak revealed on Aug. 19, 2021—three days after he began trading—that Cigna cut ties with Ontrak, the stock dropped 45%. (Michaels, 3/1)

Los Angeles Times: UC System Hospital Nurses Complain Of Overcrowding 
Nurses at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and UCSF Medical Center at Parnassus went public this week with complaints about overcrowding and staffing issues that they say have led to eroding conditions for patients. At the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, patients sometimes lie in hallways on gurneys for days at a time, said Dianne Sposito, an emergency room nurse at the hospital. (Evans, 3/1)

The Desert Sun: Bankruptcy Court Approves Sale Of Borrego Health To DAP Health
The approved sale by bankruptcy court is a critical first step in the process of having DAP Health assume control of all Borrego Health clinics. (Sasic, 3/1)

Reuters: California Fertility Clinic Sued For Using Embryo With Deadly Cancer Gene 
A California couple sued a Pasadena-based fertility clinic on Wednesday, saying it allegedly implanted an embryo carrying a rare gene that causes deadly stomach cancer and then falsified records to cover up its mistake. In their lawsuit against HRC Fertility, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Jason and Melissa Diaz said their son, now a year old, will require total stomach removal surgery as a young adult to prevent or treat the cancer. They said they went to HRC Fertility specifically to avoid having a child with the gene, which Jason carries. (Pierson, 3/1)

The Washington Post: Fertility Clinic Accused Of Implanting Embryo With Rare Cancer Mutation 
The events alleged in the lawsuit are an example of the consequences of errors in a growing but lightly regulated industry that helped women have 84,000 births in 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Diazes’ allegation that the clinic attempted to cover up its mistake is an unusual aspect of the lawsuit, which also names the couple’s doctor and in vitro fertilization coordinator. (Bernstein, 3/1)

CalMatters: Dyslexia Screening: Teachers Reject Union's Opposition
For years, the California Teachers Association has opposed universal dyslexia screening for students, helping to defeat legislation that would have mandated it. And yet, many classroom teachers are advocating for all students to be tested. As another possible legislative battle looms, the statewide teachers union’s opposition to mandatory screening continues to frustrate many educators. According to classroom teachers across the state, the California Teachers Association’s position will perpetuate a “wait-to-fail” approach to reading instruction that forces educators to sit by while students fall further and further behind. (Hong, 3/2)

Bay Area News Group: California Creates Hotline To Report Excessive School Disciplines
For years, school districts in California have masked their official suspension and expulsion rates by quietly pushing so-called problem students from the classroom. Sometimes, it’s as simple as sending them home early. Other times, it’s as extreme as forcing kids to transfer to another school. (Miolene, 3/2)

Los Angeles Times: LAPD Officers Could Stop Responding To Some Nonviolent Calls
As part of its upcoming contract talks, the Los Angeles Police Protective League intends to tell city negotiators that it is willing to let other city departments or nonprofit agencies respond to calls about panhandling, illegal sidewalk vending, urinating in public, mental health episodes in which there is no threat of violence or criminal activity, and dangerous dog complaints in which “no attack is in progress.” (Zahniser, 3/1)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento Sheriff Jim Cooper Will Give Inmates Warmer Clothes 
Sacramento Sheriff Jim Cooper has reversed his position on providing cold-weather gear to jail inmates, with the county informing advocates late Tuesday that the sheriff will use inmate welfare funds to buy warm clothing for all inmates, advocates say. (Stanton, 3/1)

The New York Times: Board Denies Parole For Sirhan Sirhan, The Assassin Of Robert F. Kennedy 
A California panel on Wednesday denied parole for Sirhan B. Sirhan, the man convicted in the 1968 assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, in its first review of the case since Gov. Gavin Newsom decided last year that Mr. Sirhan, 78, should not be released. The parole board’s latest decision, which followed a hearing via videoconference from the state prison in San Diego, where Mr. Sirhan has been held, was the second time in three years that Mr. Sirhan’s release had been considered. He has spent more than a half-century behind bars for shooting Mr. Kennedy, then a candidate for president, inside the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles at the end of a campaign appearance in 1968. At the time, Mr. Sirhan was 24. (Hubler, 3/1)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Prosecutor Suspended For 'Misgendering' Defendant 
The outspoken prosecutor at the center of one of the most controversial cases of Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón’s first term in office has been suspended for remarks he made about the gender identity of a defendant. Deputy Dist. Atty. Shea Sanna, who has long criticized the office’s handling of the Hannah Tubbs case, was suspended for five days without pay last week because he repeatedly referred to Tubbs, who is transgender, by male pronouns in meetings and during court hearings in early 2022, records show. (Queally, 3/1)

Los Angeles Times: Startling Increase In Deaths Of Orange County Homeless People 
More homeless people in Orange County are dying each year, and accidental drug overdoses involving fentanyl are a leading reason why, according to a new county report. Within a 10-year span, the report found, the number of deaths of people experiencing homelessness more than quadrupled, with 395 deaths recorded in the county in 2021. (Hernandez, 3/1)

KQED: As Bay Area Eviction Moratoriums Expire, Local Lawmakers Scramble
George Wu is willing to die to end Alameda County’s eviction ban. The San Leandro property owner launched a hunger strike Sunday to protest the moratorium, which he blames for $120,000 and counting in unpaid rent. Wu plans to camp out in front of the county administration building day and night, through cold and rain, until lawmakers lift the ban. (Rancaño, 3/1)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego Gets $880K Cannabis Equity Grant To Boost Access 
San Diego’s long-awaited cannabis equity program has been awarded an $880,000 state grant to help people affected by the war on drugs enter the legal cannabis industry. (Garrick, 3/2)

The Wall Street Journal: More Younger People Are Getting Colorectal Cancers, And Doctors Don’t Know Why
A larger share of people are being diagnosed with colorectal cancer at a younger age and at a more dangerous stage of the disease, a report showed. Doctors aren’t sure why. The American Cancer Society said Wednesday that about 20% of new colorectal cancer diagnoses were in patients under 55 in 2019, compared with 11% in 1995. Some 60% of new colorectal cancers in 2019 were diagnosed at advanced stages, the research and advocacy group said, compared with 52% in the mid-2000s and 57% in 1995, before screening was widespread. (Abbott, 3/1)  

CBS News: Colon Cancer Rates Keep Rising In Younger Age Group, New Study Finds
Sixty percent of new cases are advanced-stage disease. "Shockingly, 1 in 5 people who will be diagnosed presently are younger than 55 years of age, which is quite young for colorectal cancer," says American Cancer Society CEO Dr. Karen Knudsen. (3/1)

CNN: Colorectal Cancer Rising Among Adults Younger Than 55, Report Shows
The new report also says that more people are surviving colorectal cancer, with the relative survival rate at least five years after diagnosis rising from 50% in the mid-1970s to 65% from 2012 through 2018, partly due to advancements in treatment. That’s good news, said Dr. Paul Oberstein, a medical oncologist at NYU Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center, who was not involved in the new report. The overall trends suggest that colorectal cancer incidence and death rates have been slowly declining. (Howard, 3/1)

Fresno Bee: Fresno Hospitals Brace For Nursing Staff ‘Crisis’ As COVID Emergency Order Expires 
Fresno area hospitals are bracing for more setbacks to the Central Valley’s medical system after California officially ended its COVID-19 declaration of emergency on Tuesday. (Montalvo, 3/1)

CapRadio: As California’s COVID Emergency Ends, Sacramento Infectious Disease Expert Shares Reflections
It has been a long, arduous, confusing, frustrating and stressful three years with COVID-19. But this week, there is a significant change and possibly a renewed sense of hope — even symbolic — for Californians as the state’s emergency declaration expires. Many of the rules, regulations, laws and things that changed our way of life for the past three years are sunsetting. (Gonzalez, 3/1)

LAist 89.3: COVID-19 AMA: The End Of California’s Covid Emergency, Division Over Origins Of The Covid Virus And More
California’s covid emergency officially ended yesterday. It allowed Gov. Gavin Newsom to enact almost 600 pandemic-related state executive orders suspending or changing laws to fight the virus. The emergency declaration helped California hospitals get through huge numbers of patients by permitting facilities to temporarily expand treatment spaces (including in hospital gift shops) and allowed hospital administrators to hire workers from out of state to cope with staffing shortages. (3/1)

CapRadio: Photos: As State Of Emergency Ends, What The Pandemic Has Looked Like In The Sacramento Region
With California ending its COVID-19 state of emergency Feb. 28, CapRadio Visual Journalist Andrew Nixon reflects on what covering the ongoing pandemic for the past three years has meant and some of the images that stuck with him. The onset of COVID-19 pandemic immediately changed how photojournalism was done. It made it more challenging, especially at first, to do the work and minimize risks at the same time. I was always weighing risks even for a simple assignment. (Nixon, 3/2)

The New York Times: Premature Births Fell During Some Covid Lockdowns, Study Finds
Nearly 50,000 preterm births may have been averted across a group of mostly high-income countries in one month alone. (Preston, 3/2)

CIDRAP: Vaccine May Limit Long-COVID Impact, Studies Show, But Controlled Trials Needed 
Two new observational studies suggest that COVID-19 vaccination lowers long-COVID incidence and severity, although the authors of a related commentary say trials comparing vaccination with a placebo are needed. The research was published yesterday in BMJ Medicine. (Van Beusekom, 3/1)

Reuters: US Panel Backs GSK Vaccine, Heating Up RSV Vaccine Race
A panel of outside advisers to the U.S. health regulator on Wednesday backed GSK's respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, setting it up for a race with rival Pfizer to become the first approved U.S. shot against the disease. The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) advisory committee voted unanimously in favor of the vaccine's effectiveness in preventing lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV in adults aged 60 and above, and voted 10 to 2 for its safety. The panelists seemed significantly more confident about the demographic profile used during the GSK study in comparison to Pfizer's RSV vaccine, which was recommended by the FDA panel on Tuesday. (Mandowara and Esunny, 3/1)

CIDRAP: FDA Panel Recommends GSK's RSV Vaccine For Ages 60 And Up 
GSK's vaccine, called RSVPreF3 (Arexvy), is a recombinant product that contains a glycoprotein antigen based on the RSV A subgroup and is given with a proprietary adjuvant—the same one in GSK's Shingrix shingles (herpes zoster) vaccine—designed to boost the immune response. It is administered as a single 0.5-milliliter dose. The group based its efficacy assessment on clinical trials that enrolled nearly 25,000 people, half of whom, as the control group, received a saline injection. Overall efficacy was 82.6% against lower respiratory tract illness, with an efficacy of 94.1% against severe disease. Efficacy was high for both RSV A and RSV B and was even higher, at 93.8%, in the oldest age-group in the study, those ages 70 to 79. (Schnirring, 3/1)

The Washington Post: Albuterol For Children's Hospitals Scarce After Illinois Plant Shutdown
Children’s hospitals across the country lost a supplier of a common respiratory medicine with the sudden shutdown of an Illinois manufacturing plant last week, which specialists warned will prolong shortages of an important treatment for kids with RSV and asthma who show up in emergency rooms. Akorn, a company that has struggled under bankruptcy for two years and had been the subject of Food and Drug Administration enforcement actions, shut down its U.S. operations on Thursday, including manufacturing facilities in Illinois, New Jersey and New York. (Rowland, 3/1)

Stat: Report Finds Medicare Part D Plans Improperly Authorized Opioids
A government watchdog found that Medicare drug plans improperly authorized thousands of prescriptions for certain powerful opioids over a recent four-year period, a failure that cost taxpayers $86 million as the opioid crisis was raging across the U.S. (Silverman, 3/2)

Reuters: Cardinal Health, McKesson Prevail In Georgia Families' Opioid Trial
Drug distributors Cardinal Health Inc, McKesson Corp and JM Smith Corp on Wednesday prevailed at trial in Georgia in a case brought by families of opioid addicts accusing the companies of acting as drug dealers. A jury in Glynn County Superior Court handed down the verdict after two days of deliberations, according to Courtroom View Network, which carried live video of the trial. It was the first trial of opioid claims brought by individual plaintiffs, rather than government entities. (Pierson, 3/1)

Stat: Advocates, Lawmakers: Biden Telehealth Rule Will Worsen Drug Crisis
Doctors, public health experts, and even Democratic members of Congress are sounding the alarm on a new Biden administration proposal to restrict access to a key addiction-treatment medication. The proposal would curtail access via telehealth to buprenorphine, a common and highly effective drug used to treat opioid use disorder. (Facher, 3/2)

CBS News: Opioid Crisis Settlements Have Totaled Over $50 Billion. But How Is That Money Being Used? 
A series of settlements from lawsuits related to the opioid crisis have flooded billions into the United States. This influx of money, advocates say, presents a unique opportunity for the U.S. to fund treatment solutions for substance use disorder and the overdose epidemic. The settlement money comes from a number of legal battles around the nation and the world. Companies including Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson and Walgreens have settled, to the tune of billions of dollars, for their role in fueling the opioid crisis through actions like downplaying the risks of prescription opioids and promoting the use of the drugs. (Bree, 3/1)