KQED: Newsom Celebrates Proposition 1 Victory After 'Sleepless Weeks'
Gov. Gavin Newsom celebrated the passage of Proposition 1 on Thursday after his ambitious proposal to reshape care for Californians grappling with behavioral health issues and homelessness won narrow approval from voters following more than two weeks of vote counting. “Change has its enemies, change is tough, change is hard,” Newsom said at a press conference in Los Angeles. “These have been a few long weeks, sleepless weeks.” (Marzorati, 3/21)

Voice of OC: Another Orange County City Bails On CA League Of Cities Over Prop 1
Huntington Beach’s City Council majority voted this week on a tight 4-3 margin to leave the California League of Cities this week over the municipal lobbying group’s support for Proposition 1 – citing fears it could proliferate group homes in neighborhoods. “This is unforgivable and we cannot continue sending tax dollars to an organization that hurt us so badly,” said City Councilman Casey McKeon, who spearheaded the move, during Tuesday’s council meeting. (Custodio, 3/22)

Los Angeles Blade: Padilla, FCC Introduce Bill To Improve 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), joined by U.S. Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.), Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, introduced a measure on Thursday to improve the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Calls are currently routed to mental health professionals and local public safety officials based on the caller’s area code — even though, as the lawmakers and officials noted during their announcement — in many cases, the area code, especially for cell phone numbers, does not match the location from which they are calling. (Kane, 3/21)

Axios: Screen Time To Blame For Kids' Mental Health Crisis, Research Suggests
A shocking number of American kids are sad, suicidal and stuck on small screens sucking away their zest for life. This is the indisputable and alarming trend among American children, based on the latest polling and deep research by an NYU professor in a book out next week. (Pandey, 3/22)

Bay Area News Group: Bay Area Home Care Agency Fined $100,000 For Placing Unscreened Aides With Clients
A Bay Area home care agency has been fined $100,000 for placing unscreened aides, some of them with criminal records, with elderly and disabled clients, according to prosecutors. (Green, 3/21)

Capital & Main: Nurses Union Says State Watchdog Does Not Adequately Investigate Staffing Crisis
Pediatric nurses at the UC Davis Medical Center say they are in the midst of a staffing crisis, a claim the health system flatly denies. Nurses at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center report severe overcrowding and patients sometimes placed in hallways in the emergency department for days, which UCLA says it has received waivers from the state to allow. Neither concern has been addressed to nurses’ satisfaction at the local level. That’s not uncommon; it’s one reason they’re represented by a union. But when the union and the hospitals still can’t agree on the issues, the cases escalate to the state level. That’s where it gets fuzzy. (Kreidler, 3/21)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego Ambulance Takeover Yields Faster Response Times 
San Diego’s takeover of city ambulance service is significantly cutting emergency response times, and yielded the first month with no response-time violations since the city switched ambulance providers in November 2021. (Garrick, 3/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: Sutter Health’s Digital Innovation Center Taps SF Tech And AI Prowess
In an airy workspace with views of the Bay Bridge, young workers who look like they belong at a tech startup are helping create the future of health care. Inside Sutter Health’s new “innovation center” at San Francisco’s Pier 1, steps north of the Ferry Building, some engineers are running mobile apps to help patients monitor their vital signs. Others are working on sensors for the home that can spot worrisome patient movements. And others are experimenting with cutting-edge artificial intelligence. (Ho, 3/22)

Sacramento Business Journal: Walgreens Closing Store Near Placerville
Pharmacy chain Walgreens is shuttering another area store soon, which will be at least its third local closure so far this year. (Abbott, 3/21)

CalMatters: California Workers Must Wait Even Longer For Indoor Heat Protections
California workplace safety rules for indoor heat protection are five years late, and the Newsom administration wanted to delay them again over state prison cost concerns. But the safety board rebelled and passed the rules anyway. (Kuang, 3/21)

Times Of San Diego: Sen. Padilla Announces $103 Million Funding For South Bay Sewer Plant Repair 
U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said Thursday that he has secured more than $103 million in additional funding to help repair the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant located near the U.S.- Mexico border. In a news release, Padilla said the money was appropriate for the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission, as part of a bipartisan package. (Sklar, 3/21)

Politico: The Ohtani Gambling Scandal Is Revealing The Risks Of Unfettered Sports Betting 
Despite public health concerns and mounting scandals, lawmakers on Capitol Hill have mostly ignored the issue. (O'Brien, 3/21)

The War Horse: Booted From The Army, He Spiraled. Now He Works To Solve The Veteran Homelessness Crisis.
On a foggy December morning, Dennis Johnson parks his Toyota Tacoma beneath an overpass in downtown Oakland, California. To his left is a homeless encampment so dense it spills off the sidewalk and into the streets. To his right is the Oakland Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic, and outside the clinic, a homeless veteran—in his 80s, Johnson says—sitting on a bench, on top of a torn gray sleeping bag. The man’s hooded sweatshirt pools around his withered frame. (Marshall-Chalmers, 3/21)

AP: Drug Overdoses Reach Another Record In 2022, CDC Says 
Nearly 108,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2022, according to final federal figures released Thursday. Over the last two decades, the number of U.S. overdose deaths has risen almost every year and continued to break annual records — making it the worst overdose epidemic in American history. (Stobbe, 3/21)

Bloomberg: 270,000 Overdose Deaths Thrust Fentanyl Into Heart Of US Presidential Race
To understand the 2024 US presidential election, it is essential to understand the politics of fentanyl. Americans have been traumatized by a years-long wave of overdose deaths caused by the synthetic opioid. Once rarely used outside hospitals, fentanyl has become a ubiquitous street drug made by criminal gangs, often in Mexico, from cheap chemicals typically manufactured in China. It frequently is a hidden ingredient in other illicit drugs and can have fatal consequences for unsuspecting users. (Griffin, Meghjani, and Dmitrieva, 3/21)

Stat: Ibogaine Psychedelic Therapy For Opioid Addiction Unlikely, Official Says
The psychedelic ibogaine is unlikely to ever receive approval as a treatment for opioid addiction, the federal government’s top addiction researcher said Thursday. The remarks from Nora Volkow, the longtime director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, serve as a cautionary note amid widespread enthusiasm about ibogaine, a naturally occurring substance that drug companies and researchers have increasingly cast as a potential paradigm-shifting addiction treatment. (Facher, 3/21)

Stat: Testing GLP-1 Drugs Like Wegovy To Treat Addiction Has 'Exciting' Data
Early data regarding the use of GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy to treat addiction is “very, very, exciting,” Nora Volkow, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said Thursday. (Facher, 3/21)

NBC News: Medicare Will Cover Wegovy To Reduce Heart Disease Risk
Medicare will provide coverage for Wegovy for patients with an increased risk of heart attack, stroke or other serious cardiovascular problems, an agency spokesperson said Thursday. The decision, experts say, could grant millions of patients access to the popular yet expensive weight loss medication. Medicare, which currently provides health insurance to more than 65 million people in the U.S., has long been barred from paying for weight loss drugs. (Lovelace Jr., 3/21)

CBS News: Doctors Warn Against Teens And Young Adults Using Drugs Like Ozempic To Lose Weight
Experts are concerned that teens and young adults may be seeking weight loss drugs for the wrong reasons. ... Doctors say these medications should not be seen as the first or best option to lose weight, especially if someone only wants to shed 5 or 10 pounds or tone a certain area, like the belly. When used inappropriately, these drugs can cause unwanted side effects and could make someone look older. (Marshall, 3/21)

USA Today: Lawsuits: Ozempic, Other Weight Loss And Diabetes Drugs Harmful
Paulsen Bronston tried different medications to manage his diabetes, to no avail, before his doctor suggested a new drug. In 2018, the doctor advised Bronston, who lives in the Navajo Nation, to take Ozempic to lower his blood sugar. The benefits outweighed any risk of side effects, his physician said. ... "I started hurting really bad. I got yellow eyes and stuff like that," Bronston said. "Next thing you know, I was in the hospital, having my gallbladder removed." (Alltucker, 3/21)

Bay Area Reporter: Berner Confirmed As Federal Judge; Biden Ties Obama For Out Jurists
With the U.S. Senate confirmation of a lesbian federal bench nominee, President Joe Biden has now tied former President Barack Obama's record of 11 openly LGBTQ federal judges. Nicole Berner was confirmed in a 50-47 vote by the Senate March 19. She had no Republican votes. She will now be sitting on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. As the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, Berner, 59, had been general counsel for the Service Employees International Union. (Ferrannini, 3/19)

Fox News: Dem Earmarks Fund Groups Handing Out Transgender Devices To Youth, $1.8M For Late-Term Abortion Clinic
Several new Democrat earmarks in this year's congressional budget request are raising eyebrows among conservative groups. The 1,000 page budget — released around 2:30 a.m. on Thursday — includes earmarks that would go toward controversial LGBTQ+ facilities and a late-term abortion clinic. Another request includes a multimillion-dollar proposal for what critics dub "gun confiscation" research. (Joseph and Elkind, 3/21)

Modesto Bee: Stanislaus County Cutting More Health Services For The Poor
The Stanislaus County Health Services Agency is proposing to turn over operation of a west Modesto health clinic to Golden Valley Health Centers as the county continues to reduce its health services for low-income residents. The county agency also proposes to close its specialty clinic in the black-glass building on McHenry Avenue and stop providing physical rehabilitation services for the poor. (Carlson, 3/21)

Voice Of San Diego: San Diego’s Next Police Chief Once Led Agency’s Homeless Efforts 
 Mayor Todd Gloria has chosen a San Diego native who helped create the police division focused on homelessness as the city’s next top cop. Gloria announced Thursday that he will appoint Assistant Chief Scott Wahl, who now oversees special projects and legislative affairs, to replace current Chief David Nisleit when he retires in June. (Halverstadt, 3/21)

Los Angeles Times: Family Of 15-Year-Old With Autism Fatally Shot By Deputies Files Claim Against San Bernardino County 
The family of Ryan Gainer, a 15-year-old boy with autism who was shot and killed by San Bernardino County sheriff‘s deputies outside his Apple Valley home this month, has filed a wrongful death claim against the county, attorneys announced during a news conference on Thursday. The claim, which signals that the family plans to sue the county, says legal action could focus on allegations of assault, battery, false imprisonment, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. (Fry and Campa, 3/21)

Axios: Government Spending Deal Keeps Health Programs Near Status Quo
The latest government funding deal wasn't just stripped of big health policy changes — it also lacks significant raises for a host of federal health agencies. A gridlocked Congress essentially settled on flat funding for the Department of Health and Human Services, avoiding an automatic sequester cut while leaving pandemic preparedness, mental health, biomedical research and public health efforts running at or near the status quo. (Knight and Sullivan, 3/22)

Modern Healthcare: Congress Unveils $1.2T Spending Bill With HHS Budget
Community health centers and a slew of healthcare programs would receive funding increases under a sweeping bipartisan government appropriations bill congressional leaders introduced Thursday. The $1.2 trillion fiscal 2024 spending package covers about 70% of the federal government, from defense to labor, and includes $117 billion for Health and Human Services Department operations. The measure must be enacted by midnight Friday — an uncertain outcome — to prevent a partial government shutdown. (McAuliff, 3/21)

The Washington Post: Democrats Seize On A GOP Budget Proposal That Would Raise Social Security Retirement Age
In a deeply polarized election year, President Biden and fellow Democrats wasted little time lambasting a budget proposal from a large group of House Republicans that would, among other things, raise the retirement age for Social Security and endorse a bill that would codify that life begins at conception. The fiscal 2025 budget proposal was released Wednesday by the Republican Study Committee — a bloc that includes 80 percent of Republicans in the House, including every member of House leadership. RSC’s proposed budget was released weeks after House Republicans advanced the conference’s official budget plan out of committee. (Vazquez, 3/21)

HuffPost: House Republicans Back Bill Threatening IVF
A large majority of House Republicans released a budget proposal on Wednesday endorsing legislation that would threaten to make in vitro fertilization illegal nationwide. The move is a stunning turnabout after most of the party spent weeks voicing support for IVF following a controversial Alabama Supreme Court ruling that led providers in the state to halt the procedure. (Vagianos, 3/21)

The Hill: White House Calls Out House’s Conservative Caucus Budget For ‘Extreme’ Abortion Proposals
The White House on Friday called out the Republican Study Committee’s (RSC) budget proposal for backing legislation that would put strict restrictions on abortion access. The group, which comprises nearly 80 percent of all House Republicans, proposed a budget that endorses the Life at Conception Act, which would implement protections for unborn humans. Democrats argue that the legislation would threaten access to in vitro fertilization (IVF). (Gangitano, 3/22)

NPR: Catholics Still Choose IVF To Have Children Despite Church Prohibitions
Religious objections to in vitro fertilization came into sharp focus after the Alabama Supreme Court afforded frozen embryos the same legal protections as children. While many religious groups in the U.S. have no specific prohibition to the procedure, the Catholic Church clearly opposes it. But many Catholic couples turn to IVF despite their church's teaching. (DeRose, 3/22)

AP: Requiring Ugly Images Of Smoking's Harm On Cigarettes Won't Breach First Amendment, Court Says 
A federal requirement that cigarette packs and advertising include graphic images demonstrating the effects of smoking — including pictures of smoke-damaged lungs and feet blackened by diminished blood flow — does not violate the First Amendment, an appeals court ruled Thursday. The ruling from a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was a partial victory for federal regulators seeking to toughen warning labels. But the court kept alive a tobacco industry challenge of the rule, saying a lower court should review whether it was adopted in accordance with the federal Administrative Procedure Act, which governs the development of regulations. (McGill, 3/21)

CNN: Smoking Actually Increases Dangerous Belly Fat, New Study Finds 
Mark another point against smoking: It may cause an increase in a type of body fat linked to serious disease, according to a new study. Both starting smoking and spending a lifetime smoking cigarettes was associated with an increase in abdominal fat, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Addiction. (Holcombe, 3/21)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Measles Makes An Unwelcome Comeback
California is one of 17 states with confirmed cases so far this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In one reported instance, a single child exposed 300 people from 16 counties during two hospital visits this month in Sacramento and San Joaquin counties. (3/17)

East Bay Times: California Prop. 1's Proof Of Worth To Be In Its Performance
California Proposition 1’s final narrow passage more than two weeks after the March 5 elections raises one very basic question: Could it help solve homelessness or merely be another financial boondoggle helping a few but leaving the crisis in the streets essentially unsolved? (Thomas D. Elias, 3/22)

Fresno Bee: Valley Children’s CEO Pay Is Excessive. Scale It Back To Earn Community Trust
Since its founding seven decades ago, Valley Children’s Hospital near Fresno has developed into one of the nation’s best medical centers for treating young people with life-threatening diseases. It is in the news now, however, for a different reason: the eye-popping pay given to its chief executive officer and other top leaders. (3/22)

Orange County Register: Addiction Treatment And Sober Homes, With Their Spasms Of Chaos, Prompt New Bills
The sober living home where Christopher Lee Kearns allegedly tried to kill his 8-year-old son with a screwdriver bills itself as a calm, quiet, “working man’s” place. Rent is $175 a week or $700 a month. Folks must have a job or be looking for one. They must attend mandatory house meetings and are encouraged to attend 12 step meetings as well. “A very good group of guys that are all straight and sober,” a recent Craigslist ad said. “Including weed!” Kearns, 28, has been charged with attempted murder and child abuse and endangerment. He has pleaded not guilty. (Teri Sforza, 3/17)