San Francisco Chronicle: California Lawmakers Have Tried Two Approaches To Combating The Fentanyl Crisis. Only One Is Taking Off
As California faces a fentanyl overdose crisis, lawmakers are proposing tackling the crisis from two different angles: treatment and punishment. While policy proposals focused on treatment for drug overdoses and addiction have been sailing through the Legislature, ones that would increase punishments for drug dealing have been watered down or stalled. (Bollag, 5/17)

The Washington Post: U.S. Overdose Deaths Plateau In 2022, But Still Exceed 100,000
Drug overdose deaths in the United States plateaued in 2022 but still topped 100,000 — stark proof that the nation remains in the throes of a staggering crisis killing hundreds of Americans daily. According to provisional data released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 105,452 people succumbed to overdoses in 2022, a number poised to increase because of the lag time in reporting deaths by state agencies. The CDC is estimating that number could top 109,000. The death count mirrors 2021, when drugs such as illicit fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine killed more than 107,000 people — a record high for the nation. (Ovalle, 5/17)

USA Today: This Opioid Addiction Drug Is Rarely Misused. So Why Is There So Much Regulation?
Buprenorphine, an important drug in fighting the opioid crisis, has long been closely monitored over concerns it would be abused. But a first-of-its-kind government oversight report released Thursday finds Medicare recipients rarely misuse the drug, which is considered an underused tool to treat opioid addiction and stem overdose deaths. Less than 1% of Medicare recipients potentially misused or diverted the opioid-substitute medication in 2021, according to the report from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services inspector general investigators. (Alltucker, 5/18)

The Independent: Up To One In Three With Rheumatoid Arthritis ‘At Risk Of Long-Term Opioid Use’ 
Up to one in three people diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis could be at risk of long-term opioid use, a new study suggests. Academics warned that people diagnosed with rheumatic and musculoskeletal conditions (RMD) are “vulnerable” to long-term use of the strong pain relief medicines. (Pickover, 5/17)

The Guardian: The China-Mexico Fentanyl Pipeline: Increasingly Sophisticated And Deadly
Advanced money-laundering techniques and clandestine precursor imports combine to stoke the opioid crisis – can the US stem the flow? (Doherty, 5/18)

Voice of OC: Buena Park Looks To Regulate Sober Living Homes
After a barrage of complaints from Buena Park residents, the city council decided to limit sober living homes and other transitional homes in the city. These residences are referred to as “group homes” — any house with six or more unrelated people with disabilities or people recovering from an alcohol or drug addiction. (Hicks, 5/17)

Los Angeles Times: California Bill Targeting ‘Toxic’ Chemicals In Skittles, Other Snacks Passes First Hurdle
A first-of-its-kind law that would ban the use of certain ingredients and dyes linked to cancer and other health issues in processed foods and drinks is now closer than ever to becoming reality in California. Assembly Bill 418, introduced by Assemblymembers Jesse Gabriel (D-Woodland Hills) and Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), would ban the manufacture, sale and distribution of foods containing red dye No. 3, titanium dioxide, potassium bromate, brominated vegetable oil, or propylparaben — starting in 2025. (Arredondo, 5/17)

CalMatters: Multi-Pronged Approach Might Finally Cut Cost Of Insulin
The high cost of insulin has been a niggling thorn in the side of regulators and patients for decades: Prices for the 100-year-old drug have increased more than 600% in the past 20 years, and stories of patients rationing doses abound. Even the most conservative economists point to it as an example of a market gone sour. Despite repeated efforts at the federal and state level to rein in the cost of pharmaceuticals, prices go up each year, growing quicker than any other health care service and routinely outpacing the rate of inflation. (Hwang, 5/17)

Sacramento Business Journal: Delix Therapeutics Starts Clinical Trial Of Non-Hallucinatory Psychedelic Drug Based On UC Davis Research
Delix Therapeutics is recruiting people for its first clinical trials of its drug candidate that harnesses properties of psychedelic compounds to treat neurological problems. Delix, which is based in Boston, is building on research by University of California Davis associate professor and researcher David Olson, who is co-founder and chief innovation officer of Delix. (Anderson, 5/17)

The Hill: Apple To Release More Accessible Features For Users With Visual, Speech Impairments 
Apple Inc. unveiled an array of new features to make its products more accessible to users who suffer from cognitive, visual and speech impairments. In a news release Wednesday, Apple said its new features which include Assistive Access, Live Speech, Personal Voice and Point and Speak, will “draw on advances in hardware and software,” including ensuring user privacy and expanding on the company’s “long-standing commitment to making products for everyone.” (Oshin, 5/17)

The Mercury News: Elizabeth Holmes Ordered To Pay Massive Restitution, Go To Prison May 30
Elizabeth Holmes has run out of options and run out of time. In less than two weeks, the disgraced Theranos founder will enter a Texas prison cell with nearly a half a billion dollars in debt hanging over her head. Holmes, 39, the mother of two young children, was ordered Wednesday to surrender herself for incarceration May 30, after a protracted five-year court battle that attracted worldwide attention. (Baron, 5/17)

Modern Healthcare: VA Seeks To Hold Oracle Cerner Accountable With Revised EHR Deal
The Veterans Affairs Department has renegotiated its agreement with Oracle Cerner to hold the electronic health record company more accountable, the VA said on Thursday. The new contract has been restructured from a single, five-year term to five, individual one-year terms, said Dr. Neil Evans, acting director of the VA's Electronic Health Record Modernization Integration Office, in an email. Evans said the new agreement “dramatically increases VA’s ability to hold Oracle Cerner accountable across a variety of key areas.” (Turner, 5/17)

Military.com: Fewer Tricare Pharmacy Patients Renewed Auto Refills After Confirmation Requirement 
Five percent of Tricare users who previously received automatic prescription refills by mail didn't renew their drugs under a new policy requiring them to confirm the orders, according to the Defense Health Agency. Those patients either disenrolled or didn't consent to renew their prescription between January and the end of March, which was the first three months of the new refill policy, DHA spokesperson Peter Graves told Military.com by email. (Miller, 5/17)

Military Times: Telemedicine Reform Could Remove Barriers To Mental Health Care
Service member concerns drive bipartisan conversation and change. To this end, we’d like to see Congress leverage COVID-19 infrastructure to remove barriers to mental health care for our active duty service members, and make telemedicine a reliable way to deliver care. The “return on investment” is likely to be repaid by increases in military readiness and resiliency; and, importantly, will signify to service members that their mental health needs, including the provision for continuity of care, are a priority. (Herdt and Porter, 5/17)

Fresno Bee: California Mayors Want $2 Billion To Solve Homeless Crisis 
How much money will it take to get enough unhoused residents into stable housing before Californians start seeing a visible improvement in the state’s intractable homeless crisis? (Angst, 5/17)

KQED: San José Mayor Pushes To Use Homelessness Dollars To Build More Temporary Shelters Instead Of Permanent Housing
San José’s city council is weighing a controversial plan to dramatically reshape how the city spends money to reduce homelessness. The proposal, spearheaded by Mayor Matt Mahan, would shift dedicated homelessness dollars away from building affordable apartments to, instead, constructing temporary shelters. The budget plan is the manifestation of an argument Mahan made repeatedly during his mayoral campaign: that local governments have placed too much focus on permanent supportive housing instead of what the mayor describes as low-barrier solutions to quickly provide more shelter for unhoused residents. (Marzorati, 5/17)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento County Ends Program, Leaves Residents Homeless
Britt Macias felt something unfamiliar in a dingy motel room two years ago: hope. She had been homeless for months, but on July 13, 2021, she and her two beloved dogs moved into the Vagabond Inn and slept inside. She quickly got a job she could walk to, helping other homeless people; the hotel provided her meals, so she planned to save up her money. (Lange, 5/18)

KVPR: Trailers Meant For Fresno Area Homeless Residents Have Sat Empty
As the pandemic began to set in in 2020, hundreds of travel trailers were rushed to California cities and counties to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among homeless populations. The trailers were part of the a $150 million state initiative to fund emergency homelessness actions. ... But three years since the trailers made their way to the county — and with the end of the pandemic emergency declared — the county is still searching for a permanent solution for the trailers which have been moved around on separate occasions. (Hok, 5/17)

Los Angeles Daily News: Homeless Shelter For Families Soon To Open In Woodland Hills
The Woodlands will house up to 100 homeless families at the site of the former 818 Hotel and has been embraced by city and county officials as a welcome addition to the neighborhood, as it will help address L.A.’s homelessness crisis while ending illicit activities, such as prostitution, that used to take place at 818 Hotel. (Tat, 5/17)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento Tried To House A Homeless Disabled Woman. She’s Still Living In A Tent 
The city of Sacramento has not provided stable housing for a quadriplegic homeless woman, Holly Porter, as it has promised to try to do. ... The agreement was signed 54 days ago, but Porter, who is described as “functionally quadriplegic,” still spends most of her time in an adjustable hospital bed in a tent at Camp Resolution. (Lange, 5/17)

Los Angeles Times: Skid Row Housing Trust Receiver Mark Adams Has Checkered History
The Trails End Mobile Home Park in Fresno was a shelter of last resort for many of its residents — single parents, retirees, day laborers, people struggling with disabilities or simply to get by. Then the city declared its conditions unsanitary and asked a judge to hand control to a receiver named Mark Adams to improve the property. Two years later, a third of the spots are vacant and the remaining tenants face eviction. (Dillon and Smith, 5/17)

Los Angeles Times: CDC Warns Of An Mpox Rebound Outbreak This Summer
Major cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York are ramping up public awareness campaigns and vaccination programs, especially targeting men who have sex with men and transgender people. (Asiedu, 5/17)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Will Pay $300K To Settle Challenge To Aid-In-Dying Law
California will pay $300,000 to settle a suit by a group of Christian physicians who successfully challenged a provision of the state’s aid-in-dying law that required them to record a terminally ill patient’s request for life-ending medication and refer the patient to another physician. The law allows a patient to receive life-ending drugs if two doctors certify that the patient has six months or less to live and is mentally competent to choose death, and the patient has made two spoken requests for the drugs. (Egelko, 5/17)

San Francisco Chronicle: He Chronicled Battle With Cancer On Nextdoor. Then Tributes Poured In
Randa Talbott has never met Robert Starkey, but she knows him through the glimmering pictures of sunrises over Alta Plaza Park in San Francisco that he posts to the neighborhood networking site Nextdoor. As a good online acquaintance, Talbott followed Starkey even as his posts turned toward the existential struggles of living with terminal bone cancer. After his condition deteriorated and he entered hospice care over the weekend, Talbott felt compelled to post a “thinking of you” card — a picture she took of the Palace of Fine Arts looking north across San Francisco Bay to the hills of Marin, an homage to the many similar images Starkey had shared. (Whiting, 5/17)

San Francisco Chronicle: Most Americans Back Childhood Vaccines — But Some Are Losing Faith
Despite shifting sentiments around school vaccine mandates and persistent skepticism toward COVID-19 shots, most Americans continue to recognize the value of routine childhood vaccines. A recent survey conducted by Pew Research, polling nearly 11,000 U.S. adults, found that nearly 9 out of 10 respondents believe that the benefits of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine outweigh the risks. (Vaziri, 5/17)

Nature: Why Is COVID Life-Threatening For Some People? Genetics Study Offers Clues
An analysis of DNA from more than 24,000 people who had COVID-19 and required treatment in intensive care has yielded more than a dozen new genetic links to the risk of developing extreme illness from the disease. The study, which was published on 17 May in Nature1 and has more than 2,000 authors, highlights the role of the immune system in fueling the later stages of particularly severe COVID-19. The results could one day contribute to the development of therapies for COVID-19 — and potentially other diseases that cause acute respiratory distress or sepsis. (Ledford, 5/17)

NBC News: FDA Panel To Vote On The First RSV Vaccine For Infants
An independent advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration will decide Thursday whether to recommend an RSV vaccine for infants. (Bendix, 5/17)

Politico: Biden Indicates He’s Willing To Make A Debt Ceiling Compromise 
President Joe Biden on Wednesday left the door open to expanding some work requirements as part of a debt ceiling deal, committing only to opposing new restrictions that affect health care programs. “I’m not going to accept any work requirements that’s going to impact on medical health needs of people,” he said, before adding that “it’s possible” a deal could expand work rules for other federal programs. (Cancryn and Daniels, 5/17)

Modern Healthcare: House Panel Advances Bill To Promote PBM Transparency
Pharmacy benefit managers would be subject to new transparency rules under legislation that cleared a key House subcommittee on Wednesday. The Transparent PRICE Act of 2023, which received a unanimous vote in the the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Health Subcommittee, would require PBMs to annually provide employers with detailed data on prescription drug spending, including acquisition costs, out-of-pocket spending, formulary placement rationale and aggregate rebate information. The bill also would order the Government Accountability Office to report on group health plan pharmacy networks, including those owned by health insurance companies. (Nzanga, 5/17)

Stat: Senators Probing Largest Medicare Advantage Plans Over How Algorithms Factor In Care Denials
Senators warned the country’s largest Medicare Advantage insurers at a hearing on Wednesday that they must abide by Medicare’s coverage rules and cannot rely on algorithms to deny care that patients need. Congress is ramping up its oversight, too. Lawmakers in both parties have asked UnitedHealth Group, Humana, and CVS Health’s Aetna for internal documents that “will show how decisions are made to grant or deny access to care, including how they are using [artificial intelligence],” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on a subcommittee with the power to investigate government affairs, during the hearing. (Herman and Ross, 5/17)

CNN: The Abortion Access Map Is Being Dramatically Redrawn This Week
he evolving patchwork of access to abortion care is going through big changes this week, with the entire Southeast on the brink of imposing new limits. Bands of states restricting abortion access could soon extend the entire length of the country, depending on legislative action and pending court battles. (Wolf, 5/17)

Politico: In New Supreme Court Decision, Abortion Lurks Just Below The Surface
Farm conditions for pigs don’t seem to have anything to do with states’ salvos in the hard-fought battle over abortion. But a new Supreme Court ruling in an animal welfare case could become a tool in states’ burgeoning efforts to restrict or expand abortion access even beyond their own borders. The case over the treatment of animals in factory farms splintered the justices Thursday, resulting in five separate opinions. The ultimate outcome was a victory for the right of California voters to dictate requirements for meat sold in their state, even if much of it is produced elsewhere. However, experts say the core issue in the case — the ability of states to take actions with clear impacts beyond their borders — is also central to the legal imbroglio over abortion. (Gerstein, 5/12)

AP: Americans Urged To Cancel Surgeries In Mexico Border City After Meningitis Cases, 1 Death 
State and federal health officials are warning U.S. residents to cancel planned surgeries in a Mexico border city after five people from Texas who got procedures there came back and developed suspected cases of fungal meningitis. One of them died, officials said. The five people who became ill traveled to Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, for surgical procedures that included the use of an epidural, an anesthetic injected near the spinal column, the Texas Department of State Health Services said Tuesday. Four remain hospitalized, and one of them later died. (5/18)

The New York Times: Heat Will Likely Soar to Record Levels in Next 5 Years, New Analysis Says
Global temperatures are likely to soar to record highs over the next five years, driven by human-caused warming and a climate pattern known as El Niño, forecasters at the World Meteorological Organization said on Wednesday. ... “This will have far-reaching repercussions for health, food security, water management and the environment,” said Petteri Taalas, the secretary general of the meteorological organization. “We need to be prepared.” (Plumer, 5/17)