Sacramento Bee: What Are The Benefits, Risks Of Marijuana Use? Experts Are Just Finding Out
While Piomelli and other marijuana researchers acknowledge a shortage of research on the benefits and risks of the drug, they also said they feel the need to spread what is known about cannabis as California and seven other states move forward with legalized, recreational weed for adults. Piomelli was one of several public health experts who spoke Thursday during a legislative briefing at the state Capitol on the health effects of cannabis. (Branan, 1/26)

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Working To Keep Babies, Families Close At Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital
Unfortunately, the house [for parents and families of newborn patients at the neonatal intensive care unit of Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital who could not otherwise afford to stay with their children], which was occupied the night of the fire, burned to the ground. The family inside escaped after being roused by a hospital security guard and safely evacuated, and they later reunited with their infant. Sutter has continued to help parents by providing hotel vouchers but, according to Cleary, they’re rapidly exhausting their available funds. Each year, the four furnished rooms in the Shea House served as temporary homes to 50 or more families who stayed from two to 60 days. Providing hotel vouchers and gift cards for meals is considerably more expensive and more difficult for parents who are worried about their infants. (Nett, 1/25)

In other news —

San Diego Union-Times: Palomar Health Realignment Includes 42 Employee Layoffs 
Palomar Health laid off 42 employees who do not provide “direct patient care” earlier this week, officials confirmed Thursday. Some of those layoffs were at Palomar Medical Center Poway, “from areas that do not affect direct patient care,” said Palomar Health Public Relations Manager Derryl Acosta. No details on affected positions were available. (Himchak, 1/25)

KPBS: Medical Examiner: Homeless Deaths On The Rise In San Diego County
Volunteers were out early Friday canvassing the streets, canyons and riverbanks as part of San Diego County’s annual homeless count. But one stat is already known: The number of homeless people dying in the county increased significantly in 2017, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office. (Castañeda, 1/26)

In other news from across the state —

LA Daily News: You Should Stay Away From These Wild ‘Death Cap’ Mushrooms, California Officials Warn 
Health officials are particularly concerned about two kinds of mushrooms that can cause extensive liver damage: The Amanita phalloides also known as the “death cap” features an umbrella like cap while the Amanita ocreata or “destroying angel,” includes a flatter beanie atop a longer, white stalk. Health officials said a bloom of death caps last winter “resulted in 14 mushroom poisonings in (Northern) California that required hospitalization.” (Abram, 1/25)

Capital Public Radio: Vegan Fraternities? At UC Davis, Frats Compete For Meat-Free Street Cred 
Theta Xi and Theta Chi are competing to see which house can accrue the most vegan points by consuming meat-free meals, going to film screenings and other campus activities sponsered by the activists. The idea for the Vegan Frat Challenge came from a Davis student group called P.E.A.C.E., or People for the Elimination of Animal Cruelty through Education. (Mitric, 1/25)

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Santa Rosa Med Student Pauses Education To Start Medical Supply Nonprofit
The newly formed Supply The Change is still in its infancy but has a board of directors and is well into its initial project. Partnering with Northern California-based Sutter Health, as well as UCSF, the group has amassed unused and surplus health care supplies such as sterile surgery implements, catheters and blood collection devices, and is preparing the first shipment for arrival to Eritrea in May. A 2009 graduate of Santa Rosa’s Piner High School before attending UC Davis as an undergrad, [Tomas] Tesfasilassie credits UCSF’s program for including a social consciousness component in his medical training. During his first year, he helped organize a “white coat die-in” on campus where more than 150 members of the program peacefully laid on the sidewalk to highlight racial inequality in the nation’s health care system. (Fixler, 1/25)

Stateline: As Trump Attacks The Federal Health Law, Some States Try To Shore It Up
This year, a handful of Democratic-led states are gearing up to curb further rate hikes by enacting laws and adopting insurance regulations designed to shore up the traditional insurance industry and restore parts of the ACA, known as Obamacare. At the same time, at least one Republican-leaning state has moved to further unravel the federal health law by encouraging insurance companies to offer cheap policies with fewer benefits. Others are expected to follow. (Vestal, 1/26)

In other national health care news —

The Hill: Warren: Time To 'Go On Offense' On Health Care 
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Thursday said it was time to go on “offense” on health care after a year of defending ObamaCare against repeal efforts. In a speech to a conference hosted by Families USA, a leading liberal health-care advocacy group, Warren laid out a range of ways to build on the Affordable Care Act, and attacked health insurance companies for how they treat consumers. (Sullivan, 1/25)

Kaiser Health News: In Battleground Races, Health Care Lags As Hot-Button Issue, Poll Finds
As the midterm elections approach, health care ranks as the top issue, mentioned more frequently among voters nationwide than among those living in areas with competitive races, a new poll finds. In areas with competitive congressional or gubernatorial races, the economy and jobs ranked as the top issue for candidates to discuss, with 34 percent of registered voters listing it as No. 1, according to the poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation. (Rau, 1/26)

Kaiser Health News: Podcast: ‘What The Health?’ CHIP (Finally) Gets Funded
Three and a half months after funding expired for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, CHIP is finally refinanced, this time for six years. That was one of several health policies attached to the short-term spending bill Congress passed Monday, which reopened the federal government after a weekend shutdown. (1/25)

Stat: At Davos, Pharma Gets A Seat At The Table At Private Dinner With Trump
The leaders of drug makers Novartis and Bayer joined President Trump on Thursday evening at a private dinner in Davos, the snowy Swiss resort that’s playing host this week to a gathering of elites from around the globe. Vas Narasimhan, who officially becomes CEO of Novartis (NVS) next week, and Bayer (BAYN) CEO Werner Baumann were among the 15 European business executives invited to the event. The White House’s goal for the evening: to encourage the companies to make investments in the U.S. and to encourage others to join them, National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn told reporters earlier this week. (Robbins, 1/25)

The New York Times: Swatting At Mosquitoes May Help You Avoid Bites, Even If You Miss
If you keep swatting at a mosquito, will it leave you alone?Some scientists think so. But it depends. Some blood meals are worth a mosquito risking its life. But if there’s a more attractive or accepting alternative to feed from, a mosquito may move on to that someone or something instead. That’s because if you keep trying and missing, the mosquito may learn to associate your swatting vibrations with your scent, a study published Thursday in Current Biology suggests. And it just may remember: This is not a person who will tolerate me. (Klein, 1/25)

Stat: Brain Organoids As Repair Kits For Stroke Damage Inch Closer To Reality
The dream of using brain organoids to repair actual human brains has taken a baby step closer to reality: Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have coaxed their tiny, three-dimensional organoids to produce functional neurons with long axons and dendrites — the gray and white matter, respectively — plucked them out, and grew them into fat bundles that might be transplanted into a broken brain. The scientists, led by neurosurgeon Isaac Chen, have not taken that final step, according to the draft of their study posted on Thursday to bioRxiv, which publishes papers before they have been peer-reviewed, let alone appeared in a scientific journal. (Begley, 1/25)

Los Angeles Times: Young Rappers Are Getting Honest About Doing Battle With Depression, Drug Addiction And Suicide
Back in December, in front of a sold-out audience at the Forum awaiting Grammy front-runner Jay-Z, opening act and rapper Vic Mensa vaulted onstage. Dressed in punky red leather, he was boisterous and triumphant, the show a crowning achievement in his career.But underneath the bravado were lacerating lyrics about depression and drug addiction."In the cyclone of my own addiction," he rapped on his song "Wings." (Brown, 1/25)

The Washington Post: Flu Symptoms 2018: What To Know About The Flu This Year
This year's flu season is already the most widespread on record since health officials began keeping track 13 years ago, and has already caused the deaths of more children than what normally would be expected at this time of the year, federal health officials have said. During the second week of January, more people sought care for flulike illnesses than at any comparable period in nearly a decade, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's most recent weekly report shows. (Sun, 1/25)

The New York Times: F.D.A. Panel Rejects Philip Morris’ Claim That Tobacco Stick Is Safer Than Cigarettes
A federal advisory committee on Thursday recommended that the Food and Drug Administration reject a bid by Philip Morris International to market a smokeless tobacco stick in the United States as safer than traditional cigarettes. (Kaplan, 1/25)

The Associated Press: US Panel Rejects Marketing Plan For Heated Tobacco Device
The penlike device heats Marlboro-branded sticks of tobacco but stops short of burning them. It is already sold in more than 30 countries and Philip Morris aims to make it the first "reduced risk" tobacco product ever sanctioned by the U.S. The votes Thursday by the panel of Food and Drug Administration advisers on the marketing of the iQOS device are nonbinding. The FDA will make a separate decision on whether to allow the product on the market, and — if so — how it could be marketed to consumers. (1/25)

The Washington Post: FDA Panel Rejects Philip Morris's Claims That New Smokeless Cigarette Reduces Harm
The cigarette has triggered debate and worries among health experts about whether IQOS will help or hurt public health in this country. Health advocates worry that such products could be used to attract new smokers and lure people away from quitting altogether. IQOS represents a significant investment by Philip Morris as smoking in the United States drops to all-time lows. The company spent $3 billion to develop IQOS and other smokeless tobacco products and has begun selling them in other countries. The company’s stock was down 2.8 percent Thursday afternoon after tumbling by as much as 6 percent during the advisory panel’s meeting. (Wan, 1/25)

Los Angeles Times: Tobacco Giant Presses Its Case For A Better-For-You Cigarette
For the user, the IQOS system delivers nicotine like an e-cigarette, but with the taste and buzz of tobacco. A cigarette burns at 600 degrees, but at 350 degrees, the HeatStick tobacco never ignites. The user exhales a largely odorless vapor in which some of the most toxic byproducts of combustion — carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, formaldehyde, mercury and ammonia — are reduced by 69% to 99.9% compared to the average cigarette on the market. (Healy, 1/25)

Los Angeles Times: Right-To-Try Laws Are Hazardous To Your Health--And Now They're Backed By The Koch Brothers
Falling victim to a terminal disease is one of the ultimate human tragedies in its own terms. But congressional conservatives, egged on by libertarian ideologues and the Koch brothers, are working hard to burden these people with another layer of victimization in their last weeks or months of life. They're doing so by pushing what has aptly been termed "a cruel sham": a federal "right-to-try" law. State versions of such laws, which have been enacted in 38 states, purport to offer a last ounce of hope to the terminally ill, by allowing them to try drugs that have not fully been tested for safety and efficacy. (Michael Hiltzik, 1/22)

Sacramento Bee: Think You’re Healthy? You’re Risking Death By Not Doing This
Every year, public health officials urge Americans to get a flu shot. And every year, millions of Americans come up with excuses not to do it. I never get sick. The vaccine isn’t 100 percent effective. Since lots of others are getting a shot, I’m protected so I don’t need it, too. While not exactly wise, these excuses could fly in other years. But not this flu season – and certainly not in California. (1/19)

Sacramento Bee: Democrats Must Stand Up For Single-Payer Health Care
If the past year has taught us anything, it’s that too many voters have lost faith in key civic institutions such as the news media and political parties. If we are going to rebuild public trust, legislators need to become more partisan. You might be surprised to hear someone like me, who has spent most of his career with nonpartisan good government groups, advocating for more partisanship. But that’s precisely what America needs right now. (Derek Cressman, 1/25)

Los Angeles Times: Republicans Fund Children's Health Insurance Program, But Leave Their Local Health Centers In The Lurch
Congressional Democrats and Republicans alike are congratulating themselves for finally passing new funding for the Childrens Health Insurance Program — and for another six years yet! The funding, which was part of the continuing resolution to end the three-day government shutdown, brought to a close the despicable failure to restore the authorization of CHIP, which ran out last Sept. 30. (Michael Hiltzik, 1/23)

Los Angeles Times: Restricting Access To Abortion Makes Poor Women Poorer
On the 45th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, clinic abortion rates in the United States are plummeting, having decreased by an unprecedented 25% between 2008 and 2014. Some of this decline may be due to improvements in contraceptive use, but it is likely that the hundreds of state-level restrictions that have shuttered abortion clinics and increased the cost of getting an abortion have resulted in many women being unable to get one. (Diana Greene Foster, 1/22)

Los Angeles Times: The Trump Administration Just Found Another Way To Deny Women Their Right To An Abortion
Doctors who don't want to assist with abortions, sterilizations or suicides can now turn to a new office within the federal Department of Health and Human Services for help — a "Conscience and Religious Freedom Division," part of the HHS office tasked with stopping discrimination and privacy violations by federally funded agencies, hospitals and universities. But what about people who need one of those procedures but can't find a doctor willing to help? That particular bit of fallout appears to have escaped HHS' notice. (Jon Healey, 1/19)

Los Angeles Times: Anthem Expands Its Policy Of Punishing Patients For 'Inappropriate' ER Visits
Over the last few months, Anthem, the nation's biggest health insurer, has informed customers in several states that if they show up at the emergency room with a problem that later is deemed to have not been an emergency, their ER claim won't be paid. The policy has generated protests from numerous physician groups, including ER doctors, as well as pointed questions on Capitol Hill and among state regulators. So Anthem has taken the obvious next step: This year, it's rolling out the policy in three additional states. Prior to Jan. 1, the policy was in effect in Georgia, Missouri and Kentucky. This year, it's adding New Hampshire, Indiana and Ohio. More states may follow. (Michael Hiltzik, 1/24)

Los Angeles Times: We're Underfunding Research On Vaccines That May Be Able To Prevent Another Terrible Flu Season
Seasonal influenza — the flu — sickens and kills many Americans in a good year, and this is already a bad one. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, since 2010, flu has annually caused "between 9.2 million and 35.6 million illnesses, between 140,000 and 710,000 hospitalizations and between 12,000 and 56,000 deaths." In this season, which began in November and won't end until March, hospital emergency rooms are overflowing, deaths are running ahead of recent years and pharmacies are low on the anti-flu drug Tamiflu and intravenous solutions needed to keep patients hydrated. (Henry I. Miller, 1/19)

Sacramento Bee: It Takes Cash To Get Lead Out Of Schools
When will California make it a priority to protect our children from the toxic lead contamination in many schools’ water? From the looks of Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed budget, this threat to students’ health and academic potential remains dangerously underfunded. I’ve spent my career working to protect low-income communities from environmental toxins, but I was still shocked to receive a notice that several schools in my children’s school district in Oakland tested positive for dangerous levels of lead, which is linked to reduced IQ and attention span, learning disabilities, impaired growth and numerous other risks. Since then, districtwide testing has revealed that 20 schools and counting have water sources that exceed federal safety limits, often due to lead pipes or faucets. (Chione Flegal, 1/24)

Sacramento Bee: California: Don’t Punish All Home-Schoolers For One Abuse Case
Like the editorial board of The Sacramento Bee and the rest of the world, we at Home School Legal Defense Association are horrified and outraged by the events reported out of Riverside County. We love home schooling and believe it is an excellent educational and lifestyle choice for millions of families and children. So we are especially grieved when this freedom we love is exploited for evil. (James R. Mason, 1/24)

San Jose Mercury News: Poisoning Oakland Kids With Lead No Budget Solution
Since the school year began, 45 Oakland schools and day care centers have had at least one water tap where lead has been found in the water. That’s a problem because there is no safe level of lead for kids. (Emily Rusch and Vicki Alexander, 1/24)

Los Angeles Times: Fearing A Rebuff In Court, Lead Paint Companies Are Trying To Stick Taxpayers With Their Cleanup Bill
Three big paint companies must be terrified that they are going to be thrown for a big loss by the California Supreme Court — a loss worth hundreds of millions of dollars to them. We know this because the companies are spending millions to push a ballot measure that would nullify, as though by the back door, the judgment being considered by the court. You wouldn't know it by reading the text of the proposed initiative; you have to read between the lines. To grasp the true intent of the measure, you'd have to know that in 2014, in a lawsuit brought by 10 California cities and counties, a state judge ordered the three former manufacturers of lead paint — Conagra, NL Industries and Sherwin-Williams — to spend $1.15 billion to abate the dangers from that paint still in California homes. (Michael Hiltzik, 1/18)