The Associated Press: California Lawmakers Vote To Raise Smoking, Vaping Age To 21
California lawmakers voted Thursday to raise the legal age for purchasing and using tobacco and e-cigarettes from 18 to 21, putting the nation's most populous state on the brink of becoming only the second after Hawaii to bar teenagers from lighting up, dipping or vaping. Before it can become law, Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown must sign the legislation, which has already passed the state Assembly. His spokesman said the governor generally does not comment on pending legislation. (3/10)

The Sacramento Bee: California Smoking Age Increase, Vaping Bills Move To Jerry Brown
California is one step away from enacting some of its most significant tobacco legislation in decades. The state Senate on Thursday approved a far-reaching package of bills that will raise the legal purchase age to 21 from 18 and regulate e-cigarettes like a traditional tobacco product. Six measures now head to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk, where their fate is uncertain. (Koseff, 3/10)

The San Francisco Chronicle: Senate Approves Tobacco Bills, Increasing Smoking Age To 21
California lawmakers sent Gov. Jerry Brown six bills Thursday to tighten restrictions on tobacco products in an effort to curb smoking in the state, including one that would raise the age to purchase cigarettes from 18 to 21. (Gutierrez, 3/10)

KPCC: Does Raising The Smoking Age To 21 Keep More Teens Away From Cigarettes?
As Gov. Jerry Brown ponders whether to sign into law a bill raising California's smoking age from 18 to 21, he will have little solid research on which to base his decision. But one large study predicts that making this change will lead to a significant decline in youth smoking rates and smoking-related illnesses. (Plevin, 3/10)

The Associated Press: Ill Californians May Take Life-Ending Drugs Starting In June
Terminally ill California residents will be able to legally end their lives with medication prescribed by a doctor beginning June 9. State lawmakers adjourned a special session on health care Thursday, starting the 90-day countdown to physician-assisted suicide. The law approved last year made California the fifth state to adopt the practice, but patients were left in limbo until the session ended. The bill passed following the heavily publicized case of Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old California woman with brain cancer who moved to Oregon to legally end her life in 2014. (3/10)

The San Francisco Chronicle: Terminally Ill Patients In California Can Seek Aid-In-Dying Beginning June 9
California’s law, which was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last year, is modeled after Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act, which was enacted in 1997 to give terminal patients the option of dying earlier. Before being prescribed a lethal dose of drugs, two California physicians would have to agree that a mentally competent person has six months or less to live. The patient would then decide whether and when to take the prescription. Those who do so would have to ingest the drugs on their own, without assistance from another person. (Gutierrez, 3/10)

Los Angeles Times: Aid-In-Dying Law To Take Effect June 9 In California
Senate leader Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) said on the Senate floor just before the adjournment vote Thursday that the law “ensures Californians have access to humane and compassionate options to limit suffering at the end of life.” The bill had failed to win needed support during the regular session, so supporters introduced it in special session, allowing it to bypass committees where opposition was strong. The approval of the law through “controversial legislative tactics” was denounced again Thursday by Tim Rosales of Californians Against Assisted Suicide. (McGreevy, 3/10)

The Sacramento Bee: Assisted Death Will Become Legal In California In June
The California Medical Association recently provided its members with a 15-page legal handbook for doctors who will have to decide whether to participate in the law, which is voluntary. But the issue isn’t completely beyond the Capitol just yet; Sen. Bill Monning, one of the authors of the bill, has another measure this session to establish an informational hotline on assisted death, and it will circle back around at some point before 2026, when the law is set to expire. Meanwhile, after failing to get a referendum on the November ballot, some opponents are now raising funds for a legal challenge. (Koseff, 3/10)

KQED: California To Permit Medically Assisted Suicide As Of June 9
Disability-rights advocates fought hard last year against passage of the legislative act, and they continue to voice concern. Marilyn Golden, senior policy analyst with the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, says it would be impossible to know, for example, if a depressed patient went to many doctors — who all denied the request for lethal medication — before finding one who agreed to write the prescription. (Aliferis, 3/10)

Los Angeles Times: Are You Pre-Diabetic? 46% Of California Adults Are, UCLA Study Finds
For decades, more and more Californians have put on weight and fallen sick with diabetes, prompting warnings that the disease was spiraling out of control. Now experts have data showing just how bleak the situation is. Researchers from UCLA determined that 55% of California adults have either diabetes or pre-diabetes, a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be considered diabetic, according to a study published Thursday. (Karlamangla, 3/10)

The San Jose Mercury News: Majority Of California Adults Have Pre-Diabetes Or Diabetes
The researchers said the report provides the first analysis and breakdown of California prediabetes rates by county, age and ethnicity, and offers alarming insights into the future of the nation's diabetes epidemic. It analyzed extensive data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the California Health Interview Survey. (Seipel, 3/10)

The Sacramento Bee: Nearly Half Of State’s Adults At Risk Of Getting Diabetes, Study Finds
Calling the results “astounding,” Dr. Harold Goldstein, the report’s co-author and executive director of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, based in Davis, said he didn’t expect such high numbers. “The numbers are so large that they stop you in your tracks. ... It’s hard to digest that the situation is as bad as it is.” (Buck, 3/9)

California Healthline: New Study Highlights Huge Diabetes Risk In California
The very concept of prediabetes as a medical condition is somewhat controversial: Medical experts are divided on how often it advances to actual diabetes, and some have raised fears of “medicalizing” large populations based on specific health indicators. Most people don’t know they have the condition. ... California spends less than any other state on diabetes prevention and relies on federal grants rather than state money for its programs, according to a 2015 state auditor’s report. A California Department of Public Health spokesman said the agency is continuing to work on those federal grants, and that it coordinates diabetes prevention activities through larger wellness programs aimed at preventing chronic disease. (Feder Ostrov, 3/11)

Capital Public Radio: A Look At Diabetes County-By-County
Nearly one out of three young adults, ages 18 to 39, are prediabetic in Sacramento County, according to a new study from UCLA. And nearly a third of these people will develop full-blown type 2 diabetes in just five years. (3/10)

The Sun: Prediabetes Numbers In Inland Empire, Los Angeles Underscore Coming Epidemic
In Los Angeles County, 33 percent of adults ages 18 to 39 are estimated to have prediabetes or diabetes, while the percentage increases to 35 percent in San Bernardino County. There are significant ethnic differences in prediabetes rates among Californians, the study shows. For example, 70 percent of American Indians, 55 percent of Pacific Islanders and 50 percent of African-Americans have prediabetes or undiagnosed diabetes. (Steinberg, 3/10)

The Los Angeles Times: What's Wrong With The American Diet? More Than Half Our Calories Come From 'Ultra-Processed' Foods
Researchers who have analyzed America’s eating habits say they can sum up what’s wrong with our diet in just two words: ultra-processed foods. (Kaplan, 3/9)

The San Diego Union-Tribune: 'Springing Forward' May Bring Crashes, Strokes
"Spring forward" works as a mnemonic and a public-relations push for daylight saving time, but it’s just another term for "losing an hour of sleep." At 2 a.m. Sunday, most of the country will set clocks forward one hour. For San Diegans, that means that the sun will rise at 6:59 a.m. on Monday, when the day before it rose a few minutes after six. (Wheaton, 3/11)

The Los Angeles Times: Kaiser Permanente's New Medical School Will Be In Pasadena
Kaiser Permanente is moving forward with its ambitious plan to open a medical school that's more in tune with new technologies and local communities. The Oakland-based healthcare provider said Thursday its institution will be located in Pasadena. And it talked about how it will try to attract a more diverse student body. (Masunaga, 3/10)

The Sacramento Business Journal: Kaiser Names Site For Its Groundbreaking Medical School
Kaiser Permanente said Thursday it has chosen a site in Pasadena to build a medical school. The nonprofit health system sent a shock wave through the health care world in December when it announced plans to train doctors. Scheduled to open in 2019, the school will take a nontraditional approach to medical education, Kaiser officials said. (3/10)

Payers & Providers: OPA Grading Medical Groups On Cost
California's Office of the Patient Advocate has released its annual report card for the state's physician groups, and has added an entirely new layer to the reporting by ranking the groups based on the cost of care. For this year, the report cards' four-star rating system includes what a year of care from each group would cost for both the insurer and the patient, the latter in terms of co-payments and deductibles. The costs range from below $3,158 to more than $4,774. Medical groups in 39 of the state's 58 counties are included. (Shinkman, 3/10)

The San Francisco Business Times: Biotech Zombie Xoma Plods Toward Its Target
Xoma Corp. over 30 years has lost more than $1 billion, tried out drugs in hepatitis, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and acne, and has yet to bring a drug to market. And now the Berkeley company, as part of a cost-cutting initiative that included shedding half its workforce, has killed its one-time savior program, the experimental drug gevokizumab. (Leuty, 3/10)

The Sacramento Bee: UC Davis Patient Donates Record $38.5 Million For Research, Treatment
A wealthy real estate investor and grateful patient of the UC Davis Health System has given a $38.5 million gift for eye research and treatment, marking the biggest individual donation in the university’s history, according to officials. Donor Ernest E. Tschannen, 91, underwent eye surgery at UC Davis after noticing in 2000 that his eyesight was failing due to glaucoma. The successful treatment prompted him to donate $25 at first to the university, he said. (Caiola, 3/10)

In other news from around the state —

The Ventura County Star: Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson Asks Medical Board To Investigate Medical Examiner Practices
State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson this week called on the California medical board to investigate past practices of the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office. Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, met with staff from the medical board earlier this week regarding what she called "serious concern" about allegations that postmortem exams were performed by an unlicensed assistant. (Carlson, 3/10)

Payers & Providers: CDPH Fines L.A. Nursing Home $100K
The California Department of Public Health has fined the Holiday Manor Care nursing home in Winnetka in connection with the death of a patient in 2014 records show. (3/10)

The New York Times: Senate Passes Broad Bill To Combat Drug Abuse

USA Today: Senate Passes Bipartisan Bill To Combat Painkiller Abuse, Heroin Addiction

The Washington Post: Senate Passes Bill To Combat Heroin, Painkiller Abuse

The Wall Street Journal: Senate Passes Bill To Fight U.S. Opioid Epidemic

The Los Angeles Times: GOP Plans To Repeal Obamacare Won't Bring The Change You're Hoping For
For the third time in eight years, the presidential campaign is doubling as a referendum on the U.S. healthcare system. And once again, the debate will revolve around the rising cost of health insurance and the number of people struggling to obtain or maintain coverage. The obvious difference this time, though, is that the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, is now fully in effect. (3/7)

The Los Angeles Times: Tell Me Again How Obamacare Is A 'Disaster'
Conservative attacks on the Affordable Care Act long ago took on the qualities of reflexive, empty rhetoric, of the "say it enough and people will believe it" variety. As it happens, a couple of statistical releases from the U.S. government give the lie to the most persistent attacks. More on those in a moment. (Michael Hiltzik, 3/4)

Los Angeles Times: Bernie Sanders Jokes About The 'Mental Health' Of Republicans
Did Bernie Sanders insult mentally ill people in Sunday’s debate with Hillary Clinton? The Ruderman Family Foundation thinks so. The foundation, which describes itself as “a national leader in disability inclusion,” condemned the senator from Vermont for saying during the debate in Flint, Mich.: “You know, we are, if elected president, going to invest a lot of money into mental health. And when you watch these Republican debates, you know why we need to invest in that.” (Michael McGough, 3/7)

The Ventura County Star: Laura's Law Could Help Mentally Ill But Is Not A Panacea
Ventura County this week joined the growing list of California counties finally getting around to implementing the state's 13-year-old Laura's Law, which gives officials more power to order severely mentally ill residents into outpatient treatment. (3/10)

The Sacramento Bee: Gov. Jerry Brown Should Sign Bump In Paid Family Leave
California has one of the nation’s few paid family-leave programs, but far too few Californians can take advantage of it. One reason is pay. People who need time off to care for a new child or sick relative only get reimbursed for 55 percent of their lost salary for a maximum of six weeks, which is simply a deal breaker for minimum-wage workers. Living on the minimum wage is hard enough, let alone 55 percent of it. So good for Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez, D-Los Angeles, who last week finally persuaded the Legislature to improve the payout, particularly for lower-wage workers. Under Gomez’s bill, private-sector workers earning up to about $108,000 will get at least a 60 percent reimbursement in weekly salary, and those earning the minimum wage or slightly more would get coverage for 70 percent of their paycheck. (3/8)

The Los Angeles Times: Two Months After A Heart Transplant, Airline Wants Him Back At Work -- Or Else
Now consider the situation of Oscar Munoz, chief executive of United Airlines. The carrier proudly announced this week that he'll be back on the job Monday, just two months after having a new heart sewn into his chest. United made it seem like Munoz's comeback is some kind of medical marvel, and maybe it is. But a regulatory filing submitted by the company the day after Munoz's surgery made clear that the airline may not be as magnanimous as all that. It said Munoz would be behind his desk — or else. (David Lazarus, 3/11)

Los Angeles Times: It's Time For All L.A. Farmers Markets To Accept Food Stamps
Los Angeles does love its farmers markets — but not all Angelenos can use them. Of the approximately 60 certified markets in Los Angeles, only about half accept the modern version of food stamps, Electronic Benefit Transfer cards. There's something terribly wrong when Jack in the Box and corner liquor stores eagerly accept EBT, but a farmers market does not. The Los Angeles City Council is trying to rectify that and has asked the public works staff and city attorney to figure out how to make that happen by the end of this month. Farmers markets serving the public, especially those operating on public land or in the public right of way, really should serve all of the public. And although it would be preferable for city leaders to persuade markets to accept EBT rather than coercing them to do so, a mandate along those lines would nevertheless seem to benefit everyone. (3/8)

The Oakland Tribune: Big Pharma Wants Death Sentence For Cancer Patients
The pharmaceutical industry is pushing for expanded monopoly rights over medicines in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. If they succeed and block the market competition that is needed to bring down medicine prices, the TPP could be a death sentence for cancer patients like me. (Hannah Lyon, 3/7)

The Oakland Tribune: Stricter Tobacco Bills Is Real Progress
It's no surprise why the tobacco industry fought so hard to keep California from raising the smoking age to 21 and treating electronic cigarettes the same as tobacco products. The courageous vote Thursday by the Assembly pushes California back toward the forefront of the anti-smoking movement and sets the stage for a dramatic showdown this November between Big Tobacco and the medical community. (3/5)