The Desert Sun: Group Rallies Outside Eisenhower Hospital For Aid-In-Dying Care
About 60 people rallied outside Eisenhower Medical Center midday Thursday hoping to pressure the hospital to change its policy limiting doctors from helping terminally ill patients end their own lives. California's End of Life Option Act, which took effect last June, gives patients with less than six months to live the ability to request life-ending drugs after consulting with doctors. The law gives hospitals and individual doctors the ability to opt. Local hospitals are allowing doctors to help patients die under the circumstances defined in the law and adding some of their own rules. Rally organizers said Eisenhower's policy remains more restrictive than Desert Regional Medical Center or JFK Medical Center. (Newkirk, 3/2)

In other news —

East Bay Times: Stanford Outpatient Center To Open East Bay Facility
Stanford Health Care is preparing its latest addition to the East Bay — a new outpatient facility in Emeryville slated to open March 16. The four-story, 90,000-square-foot facility will offer primary care; heart care; women’s health services; ear, nose and throat care, along with other specialists; and x-rays and imaging...The Emeryville center is the only building in the East Bay Stanford Health Care network where patients will be able to get everything done in one visit. Two floors are dedicated to primary and specialty care, while the other floors will include surgery rooms, imaging services and a pharmacy. There is a centralized check-in system for all services. (Sciacca, 3/2)

The San Diego Union-Tribune: Overprescribed: Veterans And The Painkiller Problem
San Diego County is home to the country’s biggest cluster of post-9/11 veterans. Nationally, one in five of these vets has been prescribed an opioid, roughly twice the rate as for much older vets, according to a VA study. The San Diego VA has reduced the number of patients receiving prescriptions for habit-forming painkillers by roughly a third during what’s been a nearly four-year push, which mirrors the agency’s similar efforts nationwide. And the number of high-dose painkiller prescriptions — 100 mg per day or more — is down by half among San Diego VA patients, slightly beating the national VA average. (Steele, 3/2)

Los Angeles Times: Big Spenders In Measure S Battle Are Familiar Foes 
Real estate development company Crescent Heights has been at odds with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation over its plans to build two towers next to the foundation headquarters on Sunset Boulevard. So far, Crescent Heights has contributed more than $2.5 million to oppose Measure S. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, in turn, has chipped in more than $5.5 million to support it. The ballot measure would impose a moratorium on building projects that require zoning changes and other alterations to city rules. (Alpert Reyes, 3/3)

San Francisco Chronicle: State Kept Secret Guidelines On Safe Cell Phone Use
For years, state health officials kept secret a set of guidelines meant to inform the public about the risks associated with cell phone use and the best practices to avoid potential harm. On Thursday, the California Department of Public Health released the guidelines, which advise cell phone users to keep the devices away from their bodies, keep calls short and to use the speaker phone on lengthy calls. The guidelines were released only after a Sacramento Superior Court judge indicated she would order them to be disclosed, and after The Chronicle told the state it was publishing a news story about the case. (Gutierrez, 3/2)

Los Angeles Times: Pregnant Women With Zika Are 20 Times More Likely To Have A Baby With A Birth Defect, CDC Says
It’s been clear for a while now that pregnant women who become infected with the Zika virus are more likely to have babies with microcephaly, neural tube defects and other serious problems. Now experts can say just how much bigger that risk is for these babies: 20 times greater than if their mothers were Zika-free. That finding, reported Thursday by a team of epidemiologists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, answers a question that has flummoxed scientists since the Zika virus was first linked to a rash of birth defects in Brazil in the summer of 2015. (Healy, 3/2)

Sacramento Bee: CA State Worker Misconduct Detailed In New Audit
An executive at the Department of Health Care Services kept a “do not hire” list for almost two years that may have run afoul of anti-discrimination laws, according to an audit disclosing recent improper activities by state workers. The health care executive appeared to be the highest-ranking state worker to be investigated in State Auditor Elaine Howle’s latest report on public employee misconduct. (Ashton, 3/2)

In other news from across the state —

KPBS: Mission Bay Run-Walk Highlights Need For Colorectal Cancer Screenings 
A screening test for colorectal cancer could save your life. That's the theme of a special run-walk beginning at 8:30 a.m., Saturday, at De Anza Cove at Mission Bay. The event aims to raise awareness about colorectal cancer and raise money to cover screenings for the uninsured. (Goldberg, 3/3)

The San Diego Union-Tribune: Proton Therapy Center Files For Bankruptcy 
Just three years after opening its doors, San Diego’s only proton therapy center is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The investment group that owns the $220 million state-of-the-art facility on Summers Ridge Road filed Wednesday under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, stating in court papers that the center “has not operated on a profitable or even a break-even basis.” The facility is known throughout the region as the Scripps Proton Therapy Center and is operated under contract by the Scripps Clinic Medical Group, which has no ownership stake in the Mira Mesa operation. (Sisson, 3/2)

The Washington Post: Paul Ryan’s Feeling Confident About Repeal-And-Replace. McConnell Not So Much.
With each passing day, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan gets more confident that his troops are falling in line and that they will soon pass legislation repealing the Affordable Care Act. “I am perfectly confident that when it’s all said and done, we are going to unify,” Ryan (R-Wis.) told reporters Thursday. “Because we all — every Republican — ran on repealing and replacing [the ACA]. And we are going to keep our promises.” Yet over in the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is much more circumspect. “The goal is for the administration, the House and the Senate to be in the same place,” McConnell told reporters Tuesday. “We’re not there yet.” (Kane, 3/2)

In other national health care news —

The Washington Post: House Leaders Forge Ahead With Health Bills, Hoping To Bulldoze Internal Strife
Key House committees are set to take up legislation to repeal and begin replacing the Affordable Care Act next week, with Republican leaders intent on overcoming internal GOP debates to quickly deliver on a central campaign promise. Those intraparty struggles were highlighted Thursday when a Republican senator joined Democrats in calling for more transparency in the legislation’s drafting and suggested that House leaders were keeping details under wraps to sideline conservatives. (DeBonis, 3/2)

The New York Times: G.O.P. Accused Of Playing ‘Hide-And-Seek’ With Obamacare Replacement Bill
It was “find the Affordable Care Act replacement” day on Thursday as publicity-seeking Democrats — and one frustrated Republican — scampered through Capitol corridors, hunting for an elusive copy of a bill that Republican leaders have withheld from the public as they search for party unity. Just a week before two powerful House committees plan to vote on the measure, opponents spent hours making the point that almost no one has actually seen legislation that would affect the lives and pocketbooks of millions of Americans. (Pear, 3/2)

The Associated Press: GOP Health Bill: Less Government; But What About Coverage? 
Health insurance tax credits, mandates, taxation of employer coverage, essential benefits. Mind-numbing health care jargon is flying around again as Republicans move to repeal and replace the Obama-era Affordable Care Act. It’s time to start paying attention. The GOP plan emerging in the House would mean less government, and many fear that will translate to less coverage and a step backward as a nation. Still, there would be new options for middle-class people who buy their own policies but don’t now qualify for help under the ACA. Some popular provisions such as allowing young adults to stay on a parental plan remain untouched. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 3/3)

Bloomberg: GOP Governors Forming Plan To Keep Obama Medicaid Expansion
A group of Republican governors is preparing a compromise plan for their peers in Congress who want to roll back Obamacare’s Medicaid benefits, asking them to preserve the law’s expansion of coverage to millions of poor people. The compromise proposal has been initiated by a group including Ohio Governor John Kasich and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, and would hold on to parts of the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of the program. It’s meant to satisfy Republican goals of repealing Obamacare and giving more control of Medicaid to the states, while also maintaining coverage of people such as childless adults and those just above the poverty level. It would also open the door for states such as Wisconsin to broaden Medicaid eligibility. (Tracer and Edney, 3/2)

The Washington Post: CMS Nominee Moves On A Party-Line Vote Toward Confirmation
A sharply divided Senate Finance Committee on Thursday morning recommended the confirmation of Seema Verma, a health-care consultant who has reshaped Medicaid in several states, to run the nation’s Medicare and Medicaid programs. On a vote of 13 to 12, with every Democrat in opposition, Verma’s nomination now moves to the full Senate, where the Republican majority has been moving swiftly to give its seal of approval to each of President Trump’s nominees who have come to a floor vote. (Goldstein, 3/2)

The Washington Post Fact Checker: Trump’s Fishy Suggestion That Nearly 20 Million Are Paying An Obamacare Penalty
“It has gotten so bad that nearly 20 million Americans have chosen to pay the penalty or received an exemption rather than buy insurance. That’s something that nobody has ever heard of or thought could happen, and they’re actually doing that rather than being forced to buy insurance," President Trump remarks in a meeting with health insurance executives. This number struck us as a bit curious when President Trump launched into one of his standard attacks on the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, as he met with representatives of the health-insurance industry. Are 20 million Americans actually refusing to buy health insurance and instead pay a penalty? (Kessler, 3/2)

The Washington Post: Trump Calls The FDA ‘Slow And Burdensome,’ But It’s Faster Than Ever
Two days before Christmas, the Food and Drug Administration gave Thomas Crawford an unexpected gift: approval of the first treatment ever for a devastating genetic disease that causes muscle wasting in babies and often results in death at an early age. The drug “is nothing short of oh-my-God amazing” when given to infants who have not yet had symptoms, said Crawford, a Johns Hopkins pediatric neurologist who was involved in the clinical trials for the drug for spinal muscular atrophy. (McGinley, 3/2)

Los Angeles Times: Thanks To Trump And GOP, A California Single-Payer Healthcare System Is Now Possible 
Could California have its own single-payer health insurance system providing coverage for all residents? A bill has been introduced in the state Legislature that would do just that — and its chances of success could be vastly improved by President Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress. (David Lazarus, 3/3)

The Mercury News: Tell Patients About Their Doctors' Misdeeds
The California Medical Board has also placed Los Gatos internist Mary Hutchins on probation after she excessively prescribed narcotics and psychotropic drugs to multiple patients. If you are a patient of one of those doctors, wouldn’t you want to know their status? And what happened? You deserve to know. (2/28)

Sacramento Bee: Modernize California Laws Targeting People With HIV
When I met Pebbles, she was 15 and had been admitted to the emergency room with a pelvic infection. We diagnosed her on the spot with HIV. Pebbles had a life filled with trauma – she had spent most of her youth in foster care and in the juvenile justice system. When she was 17, her mother died. Despite her other problems, it was her HIV diagnosis that caused her the most shame and isolation. (Edward Machtinger, 2/28)

The Mercury News: Health Care Systems Are Worlds Apart
I just returned from New Zealand, where conversations with an American doctor who has worked in that country’s national health system gave me some anecdotal insight into the components that worked. He was also clear about where that system would fall short of an American’s expectations. Most national health care systems, however, are buttressed by private insurance that can be purchased by people who want to supplement what the state provides free for everyone. (Steve Butler, 3/3)

Los Angeles Times: Overregulation Is Forcing Women To Have Late-Term Abortions
In my experience as an OB-GYN, when women decide to end a pregnancy, they want to obtain an abortion quickly. One good reason is the simple fact that early abortion is associated with a lower risk of medical complications compared to later abortion. In many settings, however, women face barriers accessing early care, ranging from mandatory waiting periods to difficulty putting the money together to pay for the procedure. (Daniel Grossman, 2/28)

Los Angeles Times: Long-Term Opioid Addiction Can Start In The ER
There’s a common thread in many accounts of opioid addiction: It all started with a single prescription after a minor injury or other medical issue. There are plenty of culprits in the opioid epidemic raging across the country, including the pharmaceutical industry, drug traffickers and economic stagnation. But there is little doubt that many thousands of opioid users got their first introduction to an opioid from a physician who wanted to treat their pain. And we’ve found unsettling evidence that whether you are prescribed an opioid, and whether a first opioid prescription turns into many, could be just a matter of chance. (Michael Barnett and Anupam B. Jena, 2/27)

Los Angeles Times: Don't Reopen Aliso Canyon
I'm no longer surprised when my nose suddenly starts to bleed. As a resident of Porter Ranch, I’ve become accustomed to unexpected nosebleeds, nausea and headaches— near daily reminders of the area’s toxic environment. Porter Ranch sits below Aliso Canyon, the source of the largest gas leak and methane release in United States history. In October 2015, one of the facility’s 115 aging gas injection wells “blew out,” spewing methane (a potent greenhouse gas), benzene (a carcinogen) and many other toxic emissions. (Hibino, 3/1)

Los Angeles Times: An AIDS Advocacy Foundation Is Bankrolling L.A.'s Draconian Anti-Development Measure. How Is This Social Justice? 
The man is Michael Weinstein, who heads the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, an enormous, tax-exempt nonprofit that runs clinics and pharmacies that serve hundreds of thousands of patients worldwide. The foundation has helped prevent the spread of HIV. It has saved innumerable lives by providing care and medicine to people with HIV and AIDS. And Weinstein has been a fierce advocate for his clients for 30 years. (2/25)

Los Angeles Times: Why The AIDS Healthcare Foundation Is Behind Measure S 
Our government and its corporate allies are defending a self-benefiting system. We understand the arm-twisting that goes on, the effort to amass groups against Measure S who rely on City Hall for funding, contracts, letters of recommendation and other favors. Other organizations see this abominable track record and are standing with us. We must put a stop to the unmitigated greed and corruption that will forever change L.A. from a welcoming place to a city built only for the privileged. (Michael Weinstein, 3/2)

Sacramento Bee: However Much Trump Spends On Arms, We Can’t Bomb Ebola
Before he became defense secretary, Gen. Jim Mattis once pleaded with Congress to invest more in State Department diplomacy.“If you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition,” he explained. Alas, President Donald Trump took him literally but not seriously. The administration plans a $54 billion increase in military spending, financed in part by a 37 percent cut in the budgets of the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. (Nicholas Kristof, 3/2)