Los Angeles Times: L.A. Sues 9 Drug Companies, Alleging Unethical Practices That Worsened The Opioid Crisis
The city of Los Angeles accused top drugmakers and distributors Thursday of fueling the nation's opioid epidemic by engaging in deceptive marketing aimed at boosting sales of powerful, addictive painkillers such as OxyContin, methadone and fentanyl. In a 165-page lawsuit filed in federal court, the city sued six of the largest manufacturers and the top three distributors of prescription painkillers, alleging violations of federal laws in creating a public nuisance, negligence and misrepresentation. (Jennings, 5/3)

KPCC: LA Sues Opioid Drug Makers And Sellers, Joining Hundreds Of Others 
Los Angeles Thursday joined hundreds of other municipalities in suing opioid manufacturers for their alleged roles in contributing to the nationwide addiction crisis. City Attorney Mike Feuer filed a federal suit, adding L.A. to the list of local governments that have gone to court against the industry in the Northern District of Ohio. (Faust, 5/3)

inewsource: Big Name In Medicine Touted Trina Diabetes Treatment Before Founder’s Indictment
Sacramento lawyer G. Ford Gilbert, the recently indicted founder of the national diabetes network Trina Health, hitched his clinic’s expansion plans to a big national name in organized medicine and health policy: Dr. Jack Lewin. ... He took on a job as chief medical and science advisor for a New York investor group that had contracted with Gilbert to open one of the largest Trina clinics in the country, the Trina Diabetes Relief Center South Bronx. ... But dozens of diabetes experts call Gilbert’s treatment a “scam” or “a fraud,” saying it lacks scientific evidence of benefit. (Clark, 5/3)

The Hill: VA Hospital Cancels Dozens Of Surgeries Due To Insect Infestation: Report 
A Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in Los Angeles was forced to close operating rooms for 22 days between 2016 and 2018 due to a persistent infestation of insects. A local CBS News investigation found that the VA West Los Angeles Medical Center has installed at least 200 flytraps to deal with an infestation of Phorid flies in operating rooms that has plagued the building since at least November of 2016. (Bowden, 5/2)

CBS Los Angeles: CBS2 Investigation: Flies In Operating Rooms Force VA Hospital To Postpone More Than 80 Surgeries
Here is a full script of [reporter David] Goldstein’s investigation. (Goldstein, 5/1)

In other hospital news —

The San Diego Union-Tribune: Strike Looms At UCSD, Hospital Delays Surgeries 
A threatened strike involving three different unions could impact everything from surgeries to trash collection at University of California campuses across the state. Members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) have notified university leadership that they intend to strike from Monday, May 7, through Wednesday, May 9, over wages and other labor practices. Sympathy strikes by the California Nurses Association and the University Professional and Technical Employees Union are planned for Tuesday and Wednesday. (Sisson, 5/2)

Ventura County Star: Ventura County Leaders Say Income, Race, Address Affect Health
Latinos in Ventura County are less likely than white non-Hispanics to graduate from high school, own their home or earn enough money to live outside of poverty. They are also less likely to breastfeed their children and may be more likely to struggle with obesity and behavioral health issues, according to data presented Wednesday. The trends are linked, said health officials and experts in a forum aimed at defeating inequities that jeopardize people’s health and are linked to income, race, home address and a long list of other factors and prejudices. (Kisken, 5/3)

In other public health news —

Los Angeles Times: Looking For Clues About The Dangerous Breast Cancers That Turn Up Between Mammograms
With any luck, a screening mammogram that shows no sign of breast cancer means you won't have to think about the disease until it's time for your next exam. But about 15% of breast cancers turn up in that interval between regular screenings. These cases are troubling — and not just because the mammogram failed to catch the tumor before it had grown large enough to cause symptoms. (Kaplan, 5/3)

McClatchy: Congress Is A Decade Behind In Oversight Of DNA Testing Companies
Wall Street has plowed billions of dollars into DNA testing companies, one of the world's fastest-growing consumer services. By contrast, lawmakers in Washington have invested little oversight in to this brave new marketplace, leaving it to U.S. consumers to navigate it alone. (Leavenworth, 5/3)

In other news —

San Jose Mercury News: Golden State Killer Case: Why Is California Fighting Over Collecting Criminals' DNA?
Last week’s dramatic revelation that investigators used DNA to track down the suspected Golden State Killer in one of California’s most notorious cold cases highlighted its value in modern crime fighting. But it also exposed a simmering debate over whether DNA should be collected for non-violent offenses and frustration over DNA analysis backlogs in rape cases. (Woolfolk, 5/3)

The Associated Press: DNA Match Sought To Zodiac Killer After Break In Golden State Killer Case
Northern California detectives still trying to identify the infamous Zodiac Killer, who targeted victims in the late 1960s and taunted investigators with letters, say they hope to try the same DNA tracing technology recently used to arrest a suspect in another string of cold-case serial slayings — those blamed on the Golden State Killer.But first they have to get a better DNA profile. (5/3)

KPCC: Brown Water Is Flowing From Compton Faucets 
Lately, when Martha Barajas turns on her kitchen faucet, she braces herself for what's about to come out. ...The verdict? It looks unpleasant, but the State Water Resources Control Board said there is no risk from the foggy discoloration. (Denkmann, 5/3)

In other news from across the state —

Los Angeles Times: Catholic Leaders Take Up Mental Health Mantle
A grassroots effort that began in Orange County following the 2013 suicide of Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren's son has yielded a spirited call to action for Roman Catholics throughout California to help addicts and the mentally ill. In a nearly 6,000-word pastoral letter made public Wednesday, the California Catholic Bishops, an advocacy group that serves as the official voice of the state's estimated 10 million Catholics — including some 1.2 million in Orange County — urged the faithful to move beyond stigmatization of the mentally ill toward ministry and care. (Hardesty, 5/3)

Sacramento Bee: Kaiser Permanente To Open New Medical Offices In Downtown Sacramento
Kaiser Permanente is opening a new medical office building in downtown Sacramento on June 4, offering services in primary care, pediatrics, women's health, oncology and a pharmacy. ...The new medical offices will house dozens of doctors and add new physicians to the Kaiser Permanente network, a spokesman said. (Sullivan, 5/3)

Bloomberg: Health Insurers Had Their Best Quarter In Years, Despite The Flu
U.S. health insurers just posted their best financial results in years, shrugging off worries that the worst flu season in recent history would hurt profits. Aetna Inc., for instance, posted its widest profit margin since 2004. Centene Corp. had its most profitable quarter since 2008. And Cigna Corp., which reported on Thursday, had its biggest margin in about seven years. (Tracer, 5/3)

In other national health care news —

The New York Times: Women With Breast Cancer Delay Care When Faced With High Deductibles
When Pam Leonard felt a lump in her breast last November, she hesitated, debating whether to get testing to see if she had cancer. She thought of her insurance policy, which carries a deductible of $2,600. She knew she would also have to spend as much as $5,700 on medical bills that would not be covered by an individual policy she bought under the Affordable Care Act. “I went back and forth for a couple of weeks,” Ms. Leonard recalled. “I had to do something,” she said. “It didn’t go away.” (Abelson, 5/4)

The Washington Post: ‘I Will Sign Immediately,’ Trump Promises On Proposal To Expand Private Health Care For Veterans
President Trump on Thursday promised he would “immediately” sign revamped legislation expanding veterans’ access to private medical care at taxpayer expense, if Congress passes a new plan being considered just weeks before the “Choice Program” runs out of money. In a tweet Thursday, the president noted that it has been four years since the wait-times scandal at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Phoenix. That controversy showed that hospital employees were lying about the amount of time veterans waited for urgent health care, including cancer treatment and mental-health counseling. (Wax-Thibodeaux, 5/3)

The Hill: Trump Urges Congress To 'Fix' Veterans Health-Care Program 
The Veterans Choice Program allows some veterans to see private doctors. It was created in the wake of the 2014 wait-time scandal that started with the Phoenix Veterans Affairs health-care system. Earlier Thursday, House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) reintroduced a bill that would overhaul private-care options for veterans enrolled in the Veterans Affairs health-care system, as well as expand caregiver benefits for older veterans and create a process for closing excesses facilities. The bill would expand which veterans are eligible to see private-sector health specialists, as well as entitle veterans enrolled in the system to see a private doctor without a co-pay twice a year. (Kheel, 5/3)

Bloomberg: FDA Chief Floats Rethinking Of Laws Allowing Drug-Plan Rebates 
Days ahead of the expected rollout of a White House plan to tackle soaring drug prices, a top U.S. health official asked whether the legal status of drug-plan rebates should get another look. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb asked in a speech what would happen if the U.S. government re-examined the safe harbor that drug rebates have under federal antikickback laws. (Edney, 5/3)

Stat: Can Trump Use The Bully Pulpit To Lower Drug Prices? Don't Bet On It 
President Trump has not yet made his much-ballyhooed speech on drug prices, and a rumored executive order never came to pass. And yet in Washington there are already suggestions among some administration officials that the political climate created by the president — to say nothing of his comments about drug makers “getting away with murder” — has helped keep prices in check. ...But experts argue that the slowdown has been driven by a series of factors unconnected to the White House. There have been relatively few (expensive) blockbuster drugs released over the past year. Fewer people are using some of the blockbuster drugs of years past. Pharmacy benefit managers continue to negotiate rebates to help bring down the prices people actually pay at the pharmacy counter. And generic prices are decreasing, too. (Mershon, 5/4)

Sacramento Bee: Health Price Regulations Are Misguided
A case in point is Assembly Bill 3087, which would regulate the prices that hospitals, physicians and prescription drug makers charge commercial insurers. In turn, insurers would be told how much they could charge policyholders. ...But imposing uniform payment rates is dangerous and misguided. (Erin Trish and Dana Goldman, 5/2)

San Jose Mercury News: Why State Should Fund Disabled Housing Program
As director of Santa Clara County’s Social Services Agency, I’ve seen first-hand the commitment of our social workers in Adult Protective Services (APS) to intervene and protect seniors and adults with disabilities from abuse and neglect. However, when the California Elder and Dependent Adult Civil Protection act was passed in 1982, the county and state could not have envisioned the current shortage of affordable housing coupled with the increasing aging population, or the impacts it would have on these vulnerable populations. (Robert Menicocci, 5/2)

Sacramento Bee: California Insurance Commissioner: Poizner With An Asterisk
Steve Poizner was California’s insurance commissioner from 2007 to 2011, and he was a very good one. In a critical statewide job that balances consumer protection against the solvency of insurers, he stood up to big health and auto insurance companies that tried to gouge policyholders while making sure the industry stayed in the state and made enough profit to pay its claims. (4/29)

Los Angeles Times: Defending California's Right To Clean Air
World leaders may negotiate their climate change accords in foreign capitals, but the efforts to stem global warming may succeed or fail based on what happens in United States courtrooms, where the state of California is leading the charge to block the Trump administration's anti-environment, anti-science agenda. On Tuesday, Gov. Jerry Brown and state Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra announced that they have filed the state's 10th, and potentially most consequential, lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Joined by 16 other states and the District of Columbia, California is trying to preserve a planned increase in vehicle fuel-economy standards, which were designed to make passenger cars more fuel efficient and less polluting. (5/2)

Sacramento Bee: CARB Should Extend Low Carbon Fuel Standard
Jaxin Woodward of Vacaville loves running track and field and cross country, but pollution from cars and trucks can trigger vicious asthma attacks, making it challenging for her to compete. She is one of millions of Californians who benefit every day from the state’s leading policies to clean up vehicles and fuels, including the low carbon fuel standard. On Friday, the California Air Resources Board will consider a proposal to strengthen and extend the standard beyond its current 2020 deadline to 2030. This policy is often overlooked but is critically important in reducing pollution and slowing climate change. (Will Barrett, 4/26)

Los Angeles Times: Trumpcare Continues To Suck Healthcare Coverage From Americans
The Commonwealth Fund reported Tuesday that the administration's concerted attack on the ACA has driven the uninsured rate among working-age people (those aged 19 to 64) to 15.5%, up from 12.7% in 2016. That translates into lost coverage for 4 million Americans. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/1)

Sacramento Bee: Amazon And Facebook Have Fake Parental Consent
Like every father, I think my daughter is the most amazing child in the world. Brilliant, funny and insightful, she will surpass me in every way.But she is still a child, my responsibility. She doesn’t go to the mall or to a sleepover without permission from me or her mom. (Ed Howard, 4/27)