Los Angeles Times: USC Physician Who Supervised Gynecologist Dr. George Tyndall Sues University For Defamation
A longtime doctor at USC’s student health clinic has sued the university, accusing administrators of falsely suggesting that he ignored or covered up misconduct complaints when he supervised the gynecologist Dr. George Tyndall. In his lawsuit filed Thursday, Dr. William A. Leavitt, the former lead physician at USC’s Engemann Student Health Center, said public statements by administrators about his supposed role in the Tyndall scandal destroyed his reputation and amounted to defamation. (Hamilton, 8/25)

CALmatters: A Deeper Dive Into California's Housing And Homelessness Crisis
Recent research conducted at UCLA found that there is a correlation between high cost of living and homelessness rates. As rents continue to rise, millions of low-income Californians struggle to [make] ends meet, and many live on the edge of homelessness. (Cabales, 8/24)

Los Angeles Times: Disputed Needle-Exchange Program Hears Frustration From Crowd At Town Hall Meeting
As representatives of the Orange County Needle Exchange Program wrapped up a town hall meeting Thursday evening, one thing became clear: They wished they had held the gathering earlier. ... The town hall was the first since the California Department of Public Health last month approved the program’s proposal for a mobile needle-exchange service to distribute clean needles and other supplies to try to prevent the spread of diseases among intravenous drug users. (Money, 8/24)

KQED: Childhood Trauma Can Mean Early Death. This California Mom Wants To Beat The Odds 
Emotional neglect, physical abuse, divorce, a household riven by addiction — science shows that traumas like these in childhood cause poorer health later in life, both mentally and physically. ... Doctors say there are several ways to intervene, and while it’s more effective to intervene when people are young, adults can still work to heal the wounds of their past. (Klivans and Wernikoff, 8/24)

In other public health news —

Orange County Register: DR1VEN Is What A Suicide Prevention Movement On Social Media Might Look Like
“I’ll talk to you soon.” Those were the last words Eric Zink of La Palma heard his father, Dr. Barrett Zink, utter over the phone from Charlotte, Mich., where he had served as a family physician for 30 years. On Aug. 5, 2017, Barrett Zink was found dead in his car, parked on a desolate road. (Bharath, 8/24)

The New York Times: John McCain, War Hero, Senator, Presidential Contender, Dies At 81
John S. McCain, the proud naval aviator who climbed from depths of despair as a prisoner of war in Vietnam to pinnacles of power as a Republican congressman and senator from Arizona and a two-time contender for the presidency, died on Saturday at his home in Arizona. He was 81. According to a statement from his office, Mr. McCain died at 4:28 p.m. local time. He had suffered from a malignant brain tumor, called a glioblastoma, for which he had been treated periodically with radiation and chemotherapy since its discovery in 2017. (McFadden, 8/25)

The Associated Press: For McCain, A Life Of Courage, Politics Came Down To 1 Vote
For John McCain, a lifetime of courage, contradictions and contrarianism came down to one vote, in the middle of the night, in the twilight of his career. The fate of President Donald Trump's long effort to repeal Barack Obama's health care law hung in the balance as a Senate roll call dragged on past 1 a.m. on a July night in 2017. (8/27)

Politico: McCain Remembered For Bipartisanship, Decisive Obamacare Vote
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) also voted against undoing the health care law, said on CNN that McCain “felt very strongly about virtually every issue that he tackled, but it was never based in partisanship.” Collins recalled the huddle among the three Republicans before McCain cast his vote. “Lisa and I crossed the Senate floor to where John was sitting, and we knew that he was struggling with the issue,” she said. “We sat down and started talking with him, and all of a sudden he pointed to the two of us and said, ‘You two are right.’ And that’s when I knew that he was going to vote no.” (Warmbrodt, 8/26)

California Healthline: McCain’s Complicated Health Care Legacy: He Hated The ACA. He Also Saved It. 
There are many lawmakers who made their names in health care, seeking to usher through historic changes to a broken system.John McCain was not one of them. And yet, the six-term senator from Arizona and decorated military veteran leaves behind his own health care legacy, seemingly driven less by his interest in health care policy than his disdain for bullies trampling the “little guy.” (Huetteman, 8/25)

The Wall Street Journal: Sen. John McCain Remembered As Principled Leader
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whose effort to repeal President Obama’s signature health-care legislature failed because Mr. McCain withdrew support in a striking, late-night vote, said: “In an era filled with cynicism about national unity and public service, John McCain’s life shone as a bright example. He showed us that boundless patriotism and self-sacrifice are not outdated concepts or clichés, but the building blocks of an extraordinary American life.” (Corse, 8/26)

The New York Times: Veteran, Maverick, Candidate: Key Moments Of John McCain’s Public Life
Mr. McCain was frequently referred to as a “maverick,” an image he cultivated to advance his political goals, including two failed presidential runs. After those defeats, he became known as a conservative lion of the Senate, who — despite his famous temper — believed that partisan disputes and civility could coexist in Washington. (Stack, 8/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Arizona Governor Faces Intense Pressure In Picking McCain Successor
Sen. John McCain’s death touches off a number of questions about who will succeed him, putting the spotlight on Arizona’s Republican governor, Doug Ducey, who will choose a replacement. A spokesman for Gov. Ducey said Sunday any appointment won’t be announced until after Mr. McCain has been laid to rest. “Now is a time for remembering and honoring a consequential life well lived,” the spokesman said. (Hughes, 8/26)

Stat: John McCain Has Died. For Cancers Like His, 'Research Is Our Only Hope' 
About 14,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with glioblastoma, the most common form of adult brain cancer, every year. It will kill all but 15 percent within five years. Barely half live 18 months. Of two dozen experimental drugs tested in clinical trials for newly diagnosed glioblastoma in the last decade, zero improved survival. The last drug to do so, by an average of about two months, was temozolomide, approved in 2005. The newest experimental treatment, based on electromagnetic waves, bought patients an average of five more months. (Begley, 8/25)

The New York Times: Thomas Frieden, Former Head Of C.D.C., Arrested On Groping Charge
Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, who ran the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for eight years under President Obama, was arrested in Brooklyn on Friday morning and charged with groping a woman in his apartment in October 2017, the police said. A 55-year-old woman came forward to the police in July and said that Dr. Frieden squeezed her buttocks against her will nine months earlier, on Oct. 20, the police said. She told investigators the incident happened as she was leaving a gathering at Dr. Frieden’s residence on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights. (Wilson, 8/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Ex-CDC Head Thomas Frieden Arrested On Sex-Crime Charges In New York
Dr. Frieden was hosting a get-together at his home when the incident occurred, according to a senior law-enforcement official. Dr. Frieden squeezed the unidentified woman’s buttocks “on the way out the door” as people were exiting, added the official, who didn’t know if there were any other witnesses. The woman is someone who has been known by Dr. Frieden and his family for a number of years, according to two people familiar with the matter. (Kanno-Youngs and Betsy McKay, 8/24)

The Associated Press: Ex-CDC Director Frieden Accused Of Groping Woman's Buttocks
Dr. Thomas Frieden, who for years informed the public about dangers to their health, sat stone-faced as a judge warned him not to approach the woman, who accused him of groping her on Oct. 20, 2017, in his Brooklyn home. Frieden, who also is a former New York City health commissioner, was arrested earlier Friday on three charges: forcible touching, sex abuse and harassment. His attorney, Laura Brevetti, entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. (8/24)

Stat: Former CDC Director Tom Frieden Arrested On Sexual Misconduct Charges
A spokesman for Frieden said: “This allegation does not reflect Dr. Frieden’s public or private behavior or his values over a lifetime of service to improve health around the world.” (Garde and Branswell, 8/24)

The Washington Post: Ex-CDC Director Tom Frieden Arrested In New York, Accused Of Groping
As New York’s health commissioner under then-Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (I), Frieden was the architect of controversial public health policies. Among them was a citywide ban on workplace smoking, including restaurants and bars. New York City also became the first place in the United States to eliminate trans fats from restaurants. Earlier, working in the health department’s tuberculosis branch, he realized that the city’s campaign against antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis would require going out and making sure that patients finished their course of medicine. He set up a program that did so, including locking up homeless people if he had to. The tuberculosis control program he led lowered the incidence of cases that were resident to multiple drug treatments. (Berman and Goldstein, 8/24)

Stat: Groping Arrest Imperils Thomas Frieden's Legacy And Global Health Campaign 
Dr. Thomas Frieden has been a giant in public health for decades. Now, sexual misconduct charges threaten not only his legacy but also his vision for leading a global effort to combat disease outbreaks and chronic diseases. Frieden, who led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for eight years, had plotted a third act in his long career with an organization called Resolve To Save Lives. Like a CDC in miniature, Resolve was built in Frieden’s image and focused its attention on two of his banner global health issues: heart disease and epidemics. Frieden raised $225 million from wealthy donors to get Resolve off the ground in 2017, chasing the oft-stated goal of saving 100 million lives over 30 years by working with countries around the world on public health initiatives. (Garde, 8/26)

The New York Times: Big Tobacco’s Global Reach On Social Media
It’s been years since the tobacco industry promised to stop luring young people to smoke cigarettes. Philip Morris International says it is “designing a smoke-free future.” British American Tobacco, likewise, claims to be “transforming tobacco” into a safer product. But while the Food and Drug Administration weighs plans to cut nicotine in cigarettes, making them less addictive, Big Tobacco has been making the most of the time it still has using social networks to promote its brands around the world. (Kaplan, 8/24)

The New York Times: Did Juul Lure Teenagers And Get ‘Customers For Life’?
The leaders of a small start-up, PAX Labs, gathered at a board meeting in early 2015 to review the marketing strategy for its sleek new electronic cigarette, called Juul. They watched video clips of hip young people, posed flirtatiously holding Juuls. And they talked about the name of the gadget, meant to suggest an object of beauty and to catch on as a verb — as in “to Juul.” While the campaign wasn’t targeted specifically at teenagers, a former senior manager said that he and others in the company were well aware it could appeal to them. After Juuls went on sale in June 2015, he said, the company quickly realized that teenagers were, in fact, using them because they posted images of themselves vaping Juuls on social media. (Richtel and Kaplan, 8/27)