KPCC: Doctors Open Up About How They'll Counsel Patients Once Aid In Dying Becomes CA Law Next Month
Starting on June 9, doctors in California will be allowed to prescribe lethal medication to terminally ill patients with six months or less to live. The End of Life Option Act will make California the fifth U.S. state to allow doctors to prescribe these kinds of drugs, though it is not a requirement. Doctors are allowed to opt out of the law if they wish, and though some doctors will, those who opt out do not have to refer patients to a doctor who will write the prescription. (5/19)

Meanwhile, the state Senate turns its attention to gun laws —

The Daily Democrat and The Associated Press: Senate Approves Sweeping Gun-Control Measures
Democrats in the California Senate made another attempt Thursday to outlaw the sale of assault weapons with easily detachable ammunition magazines as part of a wide-ranging slate of gun control bills that were approved. Lawmakers also voted to require that people turn in magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds as they approved nearly a dozen measures that would significantly reshape California’s gun laws, already among the strictest in the U.S. The move follows last year’s terrorist attack in San Bernardino. (Cooper, 5/19)

Los Angeles Times: Most Obamacare Enrollees Are Satisfied With Coverage, But Worries Over Costs Are Rising
Most Americans enrolled in health plans through the Affordable Care Act are happy with their coverage, despite persistent attacks on the health law by Republicans, including presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump. But consumers are increasingly concerned about their monthly premiums and deductibles, reflecting rising anxiety among all Americans about their medical and insurance bills, a new national survey found. Nearly 6 in 10 working-age Americans who have a health plan through one of the marketplaces created by the law said they are satisfied with their monthly premiums, and just over half say they are satisfied with their deductibles. (Levey, 5/19)

KQED: Law Allows Women To Obtain Birth Control Without Prescription, But Few Pharmacies Offer Service
It’s been more than 18 months since California’s governor signed a law allowing pharmacists to distribute birth control without a prescription. Now, legally, women can simply walk into their local pharmacy and pick up contraceptive pills, the patch or the ring — much like getting a flu shot or buying over-the-counter medication. But good luck finding a pharmacy that will actually do it. (O'Mara, 5/19)

Meanwhile, women are being marketed products made with THC to ease period cramps —

The San Jose Mercury News: Pot For Periods? Medical Marijuana Marketed As Monthly Pain Relief
For many years, Katie, who asked that her last name not be used, only got marginal relief from loading up on high-dose ibuprofen over the course of her seven-day cycle. Recently, she's found what she considers to be a more natural and much more effective remedy: cannabis-infused tinctures and balms designed to relieve menstrual pain and discomfort. (Ross, 5/19)

The San Francisco Business Times: It’s Splitsville For Health Care Workers As CNA And NUHW Go Separate Ways
​The erstwhile marriage between the California Nurses Association and the National Union of Healthcare Workers is over. (Rauber, 5/20)

The Modesto Bee: Sutter Health Ranked In Top Five Large Health Care Systems
Sacramento’s Sutter Health and its Valley Area division have been named among the top-performing health systems in the country by Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Truven Health Analytics. The systems were named in Truven’s latest “15 Top Health Systems” study, with Sutter Health and its Valley division ranked among the nation’s top five large health care systems. Truven gathered data from 338 health systems and nearly 3,000 hospitals. (5/19)

The San Francisco Business Times: Politics, Drug Development Merge As Patent Protections Fall And Biosimilars Gain Ground
In opposing corners of the biopharmaceutical world, two very different companies are pursuing a strikingly similar goal: pioneering a new class of complex copycat drugs known as biosimilars. (Heppler, 5/20)

The San Francisco Business Times: The Killer Disease That Everyone Wants To Kill: How The Battle Against IPF Is Heating Up
The race for a next-generation drug to attack a killer lung-scarring disease could be won in the Bay Area. (Procter, 5/19)

The Los Angeles Times: Americans Could Prevent Roughly Half Of All Cancer Deaths By Doing These Four Things
Roughly half of cancer deaths in the United States could be prevented or forestalled if all Americans quit smoking, cut back on drinking, maintained a healthful weight and got at least 150 minutes of exercise each week. These same measures would also reduce the number of new cancer diagnoses by 40% to 70%, according to a new report. (Healy, 5/20)

Los Angeles Times: Nearly 8 In 10 Public Swimming Pools In CDC Study Failed Routine Safety Inspections
Summer’s right around the corner, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are here to remind you that there’s nothing like a dip in a public pool — a place where you might encounter tiny bits of fecal matter, parasites like Cryptosporidium and volatile chemicals that can irritate your eyes or respiratory tract. A report published Thursday warns that nearly 8 in 10 routine inspections of public pools turned up at least one violation of safety rules. In addition, about 1 in 8 of these inspections found problems so serious that the pool had to be closed immediately. These disheartening statistics are based on 84,187 routine inspections of 48,632 public pools and other “aquatic venues” in Arizona, California, Florida, New York and Texas. (Kaplan, 5/19)

In other public health news —

KPCC: Mosquitoes Carrying West Nile Virus Found In Orange County For The First Time In 2016
Last month, the first West Nile virus positive mosquitoes were found in Los Angeles County — and now they've been found in Orange County. The first positive mosquito samples for West Nile virus in the county were identified earlier this month. The two samples are from Seal Beach and La Habra, said Jared Dever from the county’s vector control district. (5/19)

The Los Angeles Daily News: Health Officials Push SoCalGas To Professionally Clean Porter Ranch Homes
Los Angeles County health officials plan to ask a judge on Friday to once again modify the relocation program for Porter Ranch residents so Southern California Gas Co. can pay to professionally clean all their homes of dust particles found to contain some contaminants. (Abram, 5/19)

The Associated Press: Senate Vote Sets Up Tricky Talks Ahead On Anti-Zika Bills
The Senate on Thursday approved its $1.1 billion plan to combat the Zika virus, setting the stage for difficult negotiations with House Republicans over how much money to devote to fighting the virus and whether to cut Ebola funding to help pay for it. The 68-30 vote added the Zika measure to an unrelated spending bill and follows party-line passage of a separate $622 million House bill on Wednesday. The White House has signaled that President Barack Obama would accept the Senate compromise measure but has issued a veto threat on the House bill, saying it doesn’t provide enough money. (Taylor, 5/19)

The Washington Post: Congress Is Overhauling An Outdated Law That Affects Nearly Every Product You Own
Congress has reached agreement on the most sweeping overhaul of U.S. chemical safety laws in 40 years, a rare bipartisan accord that has won the backing of both industry officials and some of the Hill’s most liberal lawmakers. The compromise, which lawmakers unveiled Thursday, will provide the industry with greater certainty while empowering the Environmental Protection Agency to obtain more information about a chemical before approving its use. And because the laws involved regulate thousands of chemicals in products as diverse as detergents, paint thinners and permanent-press clothing, the result also will have a profound effect on Americans’ everyday lives. (Eilperin and Fears, 5/19)

The Associated Press: EPA Suggests Tighter Limits For Industrial Chemical In Water
Federal regulators announced tighter guidelines Thursday for human exposure to an industrial chemical used for decades in such consumer products as non-stick pans, stain-resistant carpets and microwave popcorn bags. The cancer-causing chemical perfluorooctanoic acid, known as PFOA, has been found in the tap water of dozens of factory towns near industrial sites where it was manufactured. DuPont, 3M and other U.S. chemical companies voluntarily phased out the use of PFOA in recent years. (Biesecker, 5/19)

The Los Angeles Times: Your Drug Lobby At Work: How Did Two Witnesses Come To Submit Identical Testimony To Congress?
The internal mechanisms of the Washington lobbying game were inadvertently placed on public display Tuesday during a House committee hearing on an Obama Administration move to reduce prescription drug costs. Two witnesses opposing the proposal, ostensibly from two different interest groups, somehow submitted statements that contained identical passages. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/18)

The Los Angeles Times: Rubio's Legacy: How The GOP Aimed Its Guns At Obamacare And Hit Innocent Consumers Instead
There are few more wasteful and counterproductive endeavors on Capitol Hill than the Republican bloc's efforts to undermine the Affordable Care Act. Two lawsuits point to how the cost of these efforts is destined to trickle down to innocent consumers. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/18)

The San Jose Mercury News: Cancer Patient Explains End-Of-Life Decision
Death doesn't scare me because we're spiritual beings. It's just that I'm quite fond of my life and don't want it to end. My biggest fear is losing my ability to care for myself during my last days or weeks with colon cancer. It is good that I have the support of my husband, children and family to soon have the legal option to complete the official paperwork required to obtain aid-in-dying medication. I recently spoke to my oncologist, who is also fully supportive of my end-of-life decision. (Kristy Allan, 5/19)

The Los Angeles Times: Why Insurers Oppose A Fantastic Proposal To Let California Women Have A Year's Supply Of Birth Control
On Monday, the California Senate is expected to approve a bill that would allow women to pick up a year’s worth of birth control pills at a time, instead of forcing them, as their health insurance companies so often do, to return to the pharmacy every month or every three months for refills. (Robin Abcarian, 5/20)

The Orange County Register: No End In Sight For Higher Obamacare Premiums
Weren’t health insurance premiums supposed to go down under Obamacare and its California exchange, Covered California? During his 2008 campaign for president, Barack Obama predicted that, in his administration, “we’ll lower premiums by up to $2,500 for a typical family per year.” (5/18)

The Modesto Bee: Will Modesto Fire Dept. Join Others By Charging For Paramedic/EMT Services?
Earlier this week, Modesto Fire Chief Sean Slamon proposed billing insurance companies for the emergency medical calls handled by city fire paramedics and EMTs. By emergency medical calls, we’re talking about responses to strokes, heart attacks, heat prostration, broken bones from falls or anything else that might require stabilization before an ambulance crew arrives to transport. (Jeff Jardine, 5/18)

The Sacramento Business Journal: Disclosure Bill Could Benefit Health Care
Senate Bill 1033, offered by Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, would require doctors to disclose probationary sanctions by the Medical Board for gross negligence, sexual misconduct or substance abuse that put patients at risk. New patients would receive the disclosures in the paperwork they receive from their doctor’s office, and they would be required to sign acknowledgment that they have received the disclosures. (Adam Steinhauer, 5/17)

The Modesto Bee: Modesto Physician Building A Local Specialty Care Empire
Gurpreet Singh, a Modesto physician and investor in long-term care facilities, has not rested since revamping the former City Hospital on 17th Street to create Central Valley Specialty Hospital three years ago. (Ken Carlson, 5/19)

The Runner: Legal Age To Purchase Cigarettes Should Not Increase
At the age of 18, Americans are finally seen as adults. They are now free to serve in the military, walk into strip clubs, buy a lottery ticket and serve jury duty. Another privilege of turning 18 is the legal right to purchase cigarettes. However, this privilege will now be given only to those 21 years of age and up, at least in California. (Annie Russell, 5/17)

The Los Angeles Times: Industry Spending To Beat A Pharmaceutical Initiative Could Set A New Standard For 'Drug Money'
Due to California’s penchant for legislating at the ballot box, the state has reigned as the top destination for industry campaign spending since even before the Supreme Court widened the door to corporate political donations with its 2010 Citizens United decision. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/14)

The Sun: Successful Aging: More Issues That Need Addressing At Election Time
Given that it is election time, this week’s column is a little different. It is a call to action for our presidential candidates to address a compelling 21st century age agenda and for good reasons. America is aging. One out of eight Americans is 65 and older; in 2030, that will be one out of five. Additionally, 11,000 individuals celebrate their 65th birthday each day. (Helen Dennis, 5/16)

The Los Angeles Times: I Use Pain Medication, But I'm Not An Addict
Not all pain medication users are addicts. That sentence had to be my first because it is a truth that is not well represented. The media have chosen to tell you ever more frightening tales about prescription pill abuse without letting you know about us — the responsible users. Opioids, narcotics, barbiturates, muscle relaxers, corticosteroids, or tricyclics are a part of our daily medication regimen, but we aren’t looking to get high. (Nicole Hussey, 5/16)

The Los Angeles Times: A Trump Presidency Would Threaten Programs Like Social Security. Here's How We Know.
Donald Trump's supposed commitment to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid is one of the positions said to set him apart from Republican orthodoxy, which has the knives out for all such programs. ... But as Zaid Jilani of the Intercept points out, the staff appointments of the presumptive GOP presidential nominee point in exactly the opposite direction. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/16)

Bay Area News Group: Elizabeth Holmes And Theranos, In The Chasm
When I see "Theranos" in a headline, I brace myself. What now? The blood diagnostic company based in Palo Alto has been under intense scrutiny over its lab practices, its technology and most recently, how it represented itself to investors. (Michelle Quinn, 5/13)

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Fixing ‘Biggest Mistake' In Modern Medicine
This week, two major health care players — Kaiser Permanente of Southern California and Blue Shield of California — announced efforts to get physicians to prescribe opioids in smaller amounts, which is among the CDC guidelines. That’s a good first step. Others would include physician groups dropping their opposition to mandatory training for doctors who prescribe opioids and a requirement that doctors and pharmacies check a state database of existing prescriptions as a safeguard against abuse. (5/13)