Morning Breakouts

Latest California Healthline Stories

NIH To Examine Whether Kidney Transplants Should Include Donations From Patients With HIV

The study is designed to see if new transplant rules might help alleviate organ shortages. In other public health news: federal officials say they may never know the origin of the romaine lettuce E. coli outbreak; researchers want to know why some people cannot tolerate statins; domestic violence victims face concussion-related health problems; and ongoing struggles in Puerto Rico.

If Doctors Use Your Data To Develop Treatments, Do They Need To Tell You?

Ethicists, patients, doctors and courts are wrestling with that question as efforts grow to expand care through better data and technology. Also, Stat offers a guide to CRISPR, and Madrigal Pharmaceuticals says one of its drugs has shown progress treating fatty liver disease.

Doctors Are Prescribing Fewer Opioids, Says AMA

The number of opioid prescriptions in the U.S. dropped 22 percent between 2013 and 2017, leading to an estimated 55 million fewer scripts, according to the doctors’ group. These numbers are part of the American Medical Association’s argument against proposed federal clinical practice legislation. Also in the news, an exposé on the marketing techniques used by some corners of big pharma regarding these medicines. Meanwhile, updates on California’s experiment in distributing fentanyl tests.

New USC Board Chair Takes Reins Amid Turmoil Over Campus Gynecologist Misconduct Case

In his first act as chairman, Mall developer Rick Caruso hires a law firm to conduct a “thorough and independent investigation” into Dr. George Tyndall’s conduct and the school’s “reporting failures.” In other news: UCLA cardiologist Guillermo Andres Cortes is stripped of his license by state regulators who describe him as a “sexual predator.”