KQED: Theranos: The Lawsuits Are Here
And now, the lawsuits. On the heels of Theranos voiding or correcting tens of thousands of blood tests it performed at its California lab, two suits seeking class action status have been filed in Northern California. The first suit was filed Wednesday on behalf of an unidentified Arizona man. The suit accuses the blood-testing company of fraud. (Brooks, 5/26)

Ventura County Star: Camarillo Anesthesiologist Placed On Medical Probation
A Camarillo anesthesiologist accused of stealing medications in 2013 from out-of-the-area hospitals where she worked has been given seven years medical probation. Medical Board of California documents show Dr. Mary Anne Vreeke agreed to probation that allows her to continue to practice. It includes random drug testing, monitoring and bans on prescribing or dispensing drugs outside of services as a hospital anesthesiologist. (Kisken, 5/26)

In other health care personnel news, a California doctor joins a blue ribbon panel that's part of Vice President Joe Biden's cancer moonshot and the head of the Desert Healthcare District has been voted out —

The San Jose Mercury News: Fremont-Based Epidemiologist Joins National Panel
Scarlett Lin Gomez, an epidemiologist at Fremont-based Cancer Prevention Institute of California and the Stanford University School of Medicine, has joined forces with a national cancer-fighting panel. (5/26)

The Desert Sun: Kathy Greco Out As Desert Healthcare District CEO
Kathy Greco is out as head of the Desert Healthcare District after five years, district leaders decided Thursday. During a special meeting to evaluate Greco's performance, the public district's five-member elected board voted unanimously against the renewal of Greco's contract. (Newkirk, 5/26)

The Modesto Bee: Video Sought In Modesto Planned Parenthood Arson Investigation
The Planned Parenthood Modesto Health Center on McHenry Avenue remains closed as multiple agencies investigate a suspicious fire there early Wednesday. “Currently, investigators have classified it as criminal, based on the type of fire encountered,” said Dustin Bruley, Stanislaus County Fire Investigation Unit coordinator and District Attorney’s Office criminal investigator. He had no estimate on the extent and cost of the damage, but indicated the damage was primarily caused by smoke. “The sprinkler system did what it was supposed to” and knocked down the fire quickly, he said. (Farrow, 5/26)

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Sonoma Developmental Center Losing Millions In Federal Funding
The Sonoma Developmental Center is losing millions more in federal funding that likely will have to be made up by California taxpayers after health officials discovered a disabled patient in February hooked up to an empty oxygen tank, triggering decertification of several units. The patient did not suffer lasting harm as a result of the snafu, according to officials. But the incident has profound implications for the Eldridge facility near Glen Ellen, including the loss of an estimated $26 million in federal funds that would have gone toward patient care. (Moore, 5/27)

In other news from across the state —

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: West Sonoma County Taxpayers Get Signatures For Palm Drive Health Care District Pullout
A petition drive spearheaded by a group of west county taxpayers who want to detach from the Palm Drive Health Care District has gathered enough signatures to trigger the next step in the detachment process. The group, Taxpayers Against Unfair Taxes, or TAUT, claims that over the years, residents along the Russian River corridor have received little benefit from the health care district, which collects about $4 million in annual taxes on nearly 25,000 taxed parcels in 200 square miles. (Espinoza, 5/26)

Fresno Bee: Valley Children’s Residency Program Accredited
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has granted accreditation to the Valley Children’s Pediatric Residency Program, affiliated with Stanford University School of Medicine. ACGME is a nonprofit council that oversees graduate medical training programs in hospitals throughout the country. (5/26)

The New York Times: Infection Raises Specter Of Superbugs Resistant To All Antibiotics
American military researchers have identified the first patient in the United States to be infected with bacteria that are resistant to an antibiotic that was the last resort against drug-resistant germs. The patient is well now, but the case raises the specter of superbugs that could cause untreatable infections, because the bacteria can easily transmit their resistance to other germs that are already resistant to additional antibiotics. The resistance can spread because it arises from loose genetic material that bacteria typically share with one another. (Tavernise and Grady, 5/26)

The Washington Post: The Superbug That Doctors Have Been Dreading Just Reached The U.S.
For the first time, researchers have found a person in the United States carrying bacteria resistant to antibiotic of last resort, an alarming development that the top U.S. public health official says could signal "the end of the road" for antibiotics. The antibiotic-resistant strain was found last month in the urine of a 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman. Defense Department researchers determined that she carried a strain of E. coli resistant to the antibiotic colistin, according to a study published Thursday in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a publication of the American Society for Microbiology. The authors wrote that the discovery "heralds the emergence of a truly pan-drug resistant bacteria." (Sun and Dennis, 5/26)

The Associated Press: FDA Approves First Drug-Oozing Implant To Control Addiction
Federal health officials on Thursday approved an innovative new option for Americans struggling with addiction to heroin and painkillers: a drug-oozing implant that curbs craving and withdrawal symptoms for six months at a time. The first-of-a-kind device, Probuphine, arrives as communities across the U.S. grapple with a wave of addiction tied to opioids, highly-addictive drugs that include legal pain medications like OxyContin and illegal narcotics like heroin. Roughly 2.5 million Americans suffer from addiction disorders related to the drugs, according to federal estimates. (5/26)

The Washington Post: FDA Approves New Way To Treat Opioid Addiction – Under The Skin
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved the first implantable drug to deliver long-lasting medication to people addicted to opioids such as OxyContin and heroin. "Opioid abuse and addiction have taken a devastating toll on American families," FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf said in a news release. "Today's approval provides the first-ever implantable option to support patients' efforts to maintain treatment as part of their overall recovery program." The implant, which has four matchstick-size rods that are inserted under the skin of the upper arm, administers the anti-addiction drug buprenorphine in a continuous dose for six months. That medication is available now only as a daily pill or a thin film that dissolves under the tongue. The implant, called Probuphine, is intended for people who are already stable on low doses of the drug. (McGinley, 5/26)

The Hill: CDC Director: 'We're Losing Time With Zika'
The nation’s top disease official warned Thursday that he is running out of time to prevent a Zika outbreak — the same day Congress left town without approving more funds to fight the virus. “We have a narrow window of opportunity to scale up effective Zika prevention measures, and that window of opportunity is closing,” Dr. Tom Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said during a speech at the National Press Club. (Ferris, 5/26)

Huffington Post: CDC Head Tom Frieden Delivers Emotional Plea For Zika Funding
Dr. Tom Frieden has dealt with a number of epidemics during his seven-year tenure as director of the Centers for Disease Control. But the rapidly spreading Zika virus, the terrifying birth defects it causes and Congress’ inexplicable foot-dragging on funding anti-Zika efforts has him feeling downright desperate. “Imagine that you’re standing by and you see someone drowning, and you have the ability to stop them from drowning, but you can’t,” Frieden told a packed room of reporters and potential donors at the National Press Club on Thursday. “Now multiply that by 1,000 or 100,000. That’s what it feels like to know how to change the course of an epidemic and not be able to do it.” (Bassett, 5/26)

The Los Angeles Times: 'The Patient Is Code 3 Critical. Her Frail, 90-Year-Old Body Is Failing. How Much Should I Do To Save Her Life?'
Awake, alert and intensely focused, every effort of her frail, 90-year-old body was concentrated on the simple act of breathing. Her weak heart and failed kidneys had caused her lungs to fill with fluid, every breath becoming a mixture of water and air. The analogy to drowning is inevitable. As her physician, I was going to have to make some big decisions quickly, including this one: How much should I do to save her life? (Eric Snoey, 5/22)

The San Jose Mercury News: Veterans' Wait For Health Care Is No Disneyland
Bob McDonald inherited a stink bomb when he was appointed Veterans Affairs secretary in July 2014. The agency was bloated with a backlog of nearly 350,000 unprocessed disability claims filed by veterans who put their life on the line for their country. Wait times ranged from months to years. Worst of all, it had come to light that VA employees were covering up average wait times to make the VA appear more efficient than it was. (Gary Peterson, 5/25)

The Orange County Register: Putting Cost Ahead Of Medical Outcomes
Unlike most markets, prices do not convey value in health care. In light of this problem, the Boston-based Institute for Clinical and Economic Review has been attempting to calculate the value of new medical technologies in order to assign a reasonable price to the latest innovations. (Wayne Winegarden, 5/22)

The Los Angeles Times: Congress Exploits Zika To Loosen Pesticide Regulations (But Won't Pay For An Anti-Zika Program)
Chronic dysfunction on Capitol Hill is often cause for amusement, but not when lives and public health are at stake. That's what's happening now, with the menace of the spread of the Zika virus to the United States becoming ever more concrete. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/25)

The Orange County Register: Naloxone Intervention, Clean-Needle Programs Should Expand To Reduce Harm To Drug Users
A recent report in the Register offered a worrisome statistic. At least 400 people died last year from drug overdoses in Orange County – a 6 percent increase from the previous year and a 63 percent increase from a decade ago. (5/22)

The Desert Sun: What To Do If You Think Your Doctor Has An Addiction
If you suspect, but aren’t certain, that a health care professional charged with your care is under the influence at work, start by taking steps to protect yourself. First, you can make an anonymous call to the medical board and report your concerns or suspicions. The board will take immediate and direct action. (Dr. Harry Haroutunian, 5/24)

Fresno Bee: Bill Seeks More Tools To Help The Mentally Ill
Nearly 30 percent of the California’s 128,000 prison inmates are diagnosed with some form of mental illness, and many are seriously ill. County jails house other mentally ill inmates. And while they have committed crimes for which they should be incarcerated, no expert seriously argues that jails or prison are ideal places to house and treat them. Alternatives are needed. (Editorial Board, 5/24)

Ventura County Star: Health Care Costs
It's easy to point out that insurance premiums have risen since the Affordable Care Act took effect, but how have they compared with premium increases before ACA? I run my corporation's health care (small business) plan and have been doing so for 14 years. Our yearly increase in premiums after the ACA are half of what they were in the decade before the ACA. (David McNamara, 5/24)

The Los Angeles Times: How Do We Pay For Homeless Housing? Here's One Idea: Tap State Mental Health Funds
There are nearly 47,000 homeless people living on the streets or in shelters in Los Angeles County. Their problems are all complex, but none are as challenging as those of the chronically homeless, who suffer from mental illness or substance abuse or a physical disability. Over the last few decades, experts have concluded that what this group needs most, generally speaking, is permanent supportive housing, the kind that comes girded with social services such as mental health care, primary care, drug treatment and case management by a professional. (5/21)

The San Jose Mercury News: CDC Won't Slow Palo Alto Youth Suicide Epidemic
For many years I was a Palo Alto high-school teacher, looking high and low for relief--and so, believe me, I'm loath to rob others of feelings I've sought myself. But serious matters call for realism. And the truth about the CDC study -- undergoing clearances now for a June release -- is not what you've been led to think. Incomplete, indeed slanted news and publicity have left unexplained what the study actually is and actually isn't. (Marc Vincenti, 5/20)