San Francisco Chronicle: Pressure Mounts To Save East San Jose’s Regional Medical Trauma Center
Elected officials and residents in the Bay Area’s largest county are trying to stop the impending closure of a trauma center that treats thousands of people annually for severe heart attacks, major car accidents and strokes. Opponents of the closure say it could lead to delayed care and worse outcomes for patients, many of whom are lower-income or uninsured. (Ho, 4/15)

Becker's Hospital Review: Rite Aid To Shutter 53 Additional Locations
Multiple April bankruptcy court filings revealed that Camp Hill, Pa.-based Rite Aid has plans to shutter 53 additional locations across nine states after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and shared it will close 154 locations last October. The "notice of additional closing stores" filings, obtained by Becker's, revealed the stores are located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, California, Massachusetts, Michigan, Virginia and Maryland. (Ashley, 4/15)

Modern Healthcare: Cerebral Fined $7M By FTC Over Social Media Data Disclosure
Digital mental health company Cerebral of Walnut, California, has agreed to pay more than $7 million in fines, limit how it shares sensitive patient data and provide consumers an easier way to cancel its services. The Department of Justice, through a referral by the Federal Trade Commission, issued a proposed order on Monday that fined Cerebral more than $7 million for allegedly disclosing consumers' sensitive personal health information and failing to honor its easy cancellation promises. (Turner, 4/15)

Washington Post: Why Finding A Doctor Who Specializes In Senior Care Is Difficult 
“The vast majority of older people are getting care from people who have little to no training in the care of older adults,” said Louise Aronson, a professor of geriatric medicine at the University of California at San Francisco and the author of “Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life.” (Stern, 4/16)

Axios: Physician Assistants' Push For Title Change Gains Momentum
Physician assistants have won the first round in an unusual push to rebrand themselves as physician associates. And doctors aren't amused. The title change reflects PAs' growing prominence in the health care system amid a nationwide physician shortage, and dovetails with other efforts to increase PAs' autonomy. (Goldman, 4/16)

CalMatters: California Could Force Tortilla Makers To Add Folic Acid
Folic acid has long been used to prevent serious birth defects and help babies develop. Medical and public health experts advise daily consumption during pregnancy, but also in the months before becoming pregnant. This B vitamin is so important the federal government requires folic acid in certain foods such as enriched breads and cereals. Now a California lawmaker is carrying a bill that would require manufacturers of corn masa flour — used to make many classic Latino foods — to also add folic acid to their products. Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, a Fresno Democrat and physician, is carrying Assembly Bill 1830. The legislation would require that producers add 0.7 milligrams of folic acid to every pound of masa, and that this addition be reflected in the nutrition label. (Ibarra, 4/15)

Los Angeles Times: Mayor Karen Bass Urges Business, Philanthropic Leaders To Help Fund Homeless Housing
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass used her State of the City address to announce a fundraising campaign to bring homeless Angelenos indoors, calling on business leaders, charitable organizations and wealthy individuals to contribute to the effort. Bass told an audience gathered at City Hall on Monday evening that her administration has already made crucial strides in the fight against homelessness, in part by working more closely with county, state and federal agencies. Now, Bass is urging those with means to contribute financially to the purchase or lease of buildings that can be converted into homes for the city’s unhoused population. (Smith and Zahniser, 4/15)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego's Dubious Real Estate Track Record Slows Down Mayor's Proposed New 1,000-Bed Shelter
It is the biggest and most expensive effort yet aimed at tackling the persistent crisis in homelessness that has confronted San Diego for years: a $1 billion-plus shelter program at the cusp of downtown to serve all comers, no questions asked. (McDonald, 4/14)

The 19th: Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Regulations Include Time Off For Childbirth, Abortion
In what could be a groundbreaking shift in American workplaces, most employees across the country will now have access to unpaid time off to recover from childbirth or to access an abortion. These changes are part of new workplace protections made possible through the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. (Carrazana, 4/15)

Fox News: Senator Seeks To Expose Abortions At The Department Of Veterans Affairs
A prominent Republican senator from Alabama is aiming to increase transparency about abortions that take place within the Department of Veterans Affairs. On Tuesday, Sen. Tommy Tuberville plans to introduce the VA Abortion Transparency Act of 2024, a measure that would require the VA to provide quarterly reports as well as a variety of details surrounding its involvement in abortions performed. (Johnson, 4/16)

The Mercury News: California's COVID Deaths: How Who Is Dying Has Changed
Four years after the start of the COVID pandemic, the age and race of its victims in California have dramatically shifted: Now, a Bay Area News Group analysis finds, those who are dying from the virus are much older, and more often White than Latino, a notable switch. While COVID deaths in California have plunged across all race and age groups, a comparison of deaths from the first six months of the pandemic to the most recent six months of data compiled by the California Department of Public Health shows 70% of those dying nowadays are 75 or older. (Blair Rowan, 4/15)

CIDRAP: Nasal Cells Offer Clues About Why COVID-19 Is Typically Milder In Children 
Severe outcomes from COVID-19 infections are much less common in children than in older adults, and new research suggests that important differences in how the nasal cells of young and elderly people respond to the SARS-CoV-2 virus could explain why children typically experience milder COVID-19 symptoms. The cell-culture study is published in Nature Microbiology and is based on nasal epithelial cells (NECs) collected from healthy participants, including children (0 to 11 years), younger adults (30 to 50 years), and the elderly (over 70 years). (Soucheray, 4/15)

CIDRAP: US Measles Cases Top 120 As LA County Tracks Case With Multiple Exposures
Eight more measles cases have been reported, putting the nation's total at 121 so far this year, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its latest weekly update. The number of affected jurisdictions remained the same, at 18. ... Of the cases this year, 47% occurred in children younger than 5 years old. Young children also had the highest level of hospitalizations (65%). And. of people infected, 82% were unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status. (Schnirring, 4/15)

Los Angeles Times: Transgender Rights Vs. Parental Notification. California Goes To Court
Supporters of a proposed November ballot initiative wanted the all-important title of their measure to reflect their beliefs, a name like “Protect Kids of California Act.” But Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta saw things differently when his office chose the name signature gatherers must use: “Restricts Rights of Transgender Youth.” Among its provisions, the initiative in question — which has not yet qualified for the ballot — would require schools to notify parents if a child changed gender identification unofficially or in schools records, such as a roll sheet. With a May 28 deadline to submit signatures — and 25% of the way to the goal — initiative backers must use the state’s description, which they say is hindering their effort. They have sued the state, claiming the initiative was “branded with a misleading, false, and prejudicial title” A hearing is set for April 19. (Blume, 4/15)

The New York Times: Transgender Veterans Sue V.A. Over Gender-Affirming Surgeries 
An advocacy group for transgender veterans has filed a lawsuit over the failure of the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide or pay for gender-affirming surgeries. The federal lawsuit, filed on Monday by the Transgender American Veterans Association, said the decision “amounts to discrimination on the basis of sex and transgender status” and threatens the health of veterans. It also accused the V.A. of letting the issue “languish” in the three years since the department’s secretary, Denis McDonough, said the administration would work to provide the surgeries. (Kavi, 4/15)

Los Angeles Times: California Women's Prison Rocked By Rape Scandals To Be Closed
A women’s prison in California so plagued by sexual abuse that it was known among inmates and workers as the “rape club” will be closed, the head of the Federal Bureau of Prisons announced Monday. Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters said that the agency is closing the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, where more than a half-dozen correctional officers and the former warden have either been charged or convicted of sexually abusing the female inmates. (Winton and Blakinger, 4/15)

San Francisco Chronicle: SF Deputies Warned Of Dangerous Jail Conditions Months Before Attack
Five months before San Francisco jails were forced into lockdown this weekend after a rash of alleged inmate attacks on staff, nearly 100 deputies attempted to warn Sheriff Paul Miyamoto of increasingly dangerous conditions caused by what they described as “critical” levels of staffing shortages. Deputies at County Jail No. 3 were “mentally and physically exhausted,” said the Nov. 29 letter to Miyamoto, which was signed by 92 deputies. Jail officials, they continued, “have created an unsafe environment, one in which fights, drug use, assaults on staff and blatant disregard for rules and deputies’ orders have increased.” (Cassidy, 4/15)

Los Angeles Times: Latinos Underrepresented In Lauded Program For Disabled People
It was a yearlong battle, Maribel Ahumada said, to get her teenage son into the program that changed his life. The Gardena mother was dissatisfied with the traditional system that arranges supportive services for Californians with developmental disabilities like D’Angelo Ahumada, who has cerebral palsy, epilepsy and other conditions. It has long been plagued by inequities, including lower spending on Latinos. (Reyes, 4/15)

San Francisco Chronicle: $1.7 Million Toilet Saga: S.F.’s Celebrity Bathroom Finally Opens
When Leslie Crawford heard the Noe Valley Town Square bathroom was finally open, she responded how she normally does these days: with a bathroom pun. “What can I say?” she quipped. “It’s a great relief.” The San Francisco toilet that made international news when a Chronicle column revealed its $1.7 million price tag, opened quietly on Monday morning, after installation and an inspection were completed. (Hartlaub, 4/16)

Reuters: Eli Lilly's Nationwide Insulin Pricing Settlement Called Off 
A settlement between Eli Lilly and purchasers of its insulin drugs that would have capped prices and provided $13.5 million to resolve claims that the company inflated the drugs' cost has fallen apart, after an unfavorable ruling from the judge overseeing the case. Lawyers for a proposed nationwide class of individuals who paid for Lilly's Humalog and other insulin drugs said in a filing in Newark, New Jersey, federal court on Friday that they and Lilly had decided not to go forward seeking approval for the deal, which they first proposed last May. Steve Berman, one of the lawyers, called the demise of the settlement, which would have capped patients' out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35 per month for four years, a "potentially big loss for consumers." (Pierson, 4/15)

The New York Times: U.S. Scrutiny Of Chinese Company Could Disrupt U.S. Supply Chain For Key Drugs
A Chinese company targeted by members of Congress over potential ties to the Chinese government makes blockbuster drugs for the American market that have been hailed as advances in the treatment of cancers, obesity and debilitating illnesses like cystic fibrosis. WuXi AppTec is one of several companies that lawmakers have identified as potential threats to the security of individual Americans’ genetic information and U.S. intellectual property. A Senate committee approved a bill in March that aides say is intended to push U.S. companies away from doing business with them. (Jewett, 4/15)

NPR: U.S. Drugmakers Lower U.S. Taxes By Shifting Profits To Overseas Subsidiaries
Tax day is here. While Americans are scrambling to file last minute returns, things are somewhat more complicated for corporations. Corporations are supposed to pay a nominal tax rate of 21%. But in recent years, the biggest pharmaceutical companies had an average effective tax rate of less than 12%, according to an analysis by the Senate Finance Committee. (Lupkin, 4/15)

Stat: Thanks To CVS, A Humira Biosimilar Is Grabbing Huge Market Share 
The number of new prescriptions written for biosimilar versions of the Humira rheumatoid arthritis treatment, one of the best-selling medicines in the U.S., surged to 36% from just 5% during the first week of April, thanks to the expanding reach that CVS Health has over the prescription drug market. (Silverman, 4/15)

Bloomberg: Cancer, ALS Drugs That Don't Work Are Costing Americans Billions
One ALS drug made $400 million in sales for its maker. It doesn’t work. A cancer treatment brought in $500 million. That one turned out to have no effect on survival. A blood cancer medication made nearly $850 million before being withdrawn for two of its uses. That drug had been linked to patient deaths years prior. All of them were allowed to be sold to Americans because of the US Food and Drug Administration’s drive to get new drugs to patients quickly — sometimes even before they’re done testing. (Langreth, Rutherford, and Meghjani, 4/15)

Axios: Ransomware Gang Starts Leaking Change Healthcare Data
The RansomHub hacking group is starting to share snippets of the data stolen from Change Healthcare's networks during a recent attack. Initial screenshots published Monday and seen by Axios suggest that hackers have stolen a trove of sensitive information, including patients' hospital bills, financial documents and company contracts. (Sabin, 4/16)

Modern Healthcare: Health Sector Wary As Congress Starts Change Hearings
This week, Congress will begin considering longer-term strategies in response to the Change Healthcare ransomware attack, raising the question: What do healthcare industry stakeholders think legislators should do? Many of them simply are not sure. Numerous industry groups offered a common response when asked what they would like — and not like — from Congress: They are still weighing their options while UnitedHealth Group's Optum subsidiary keeps working to restore its Change Healthcare systems. (McAuliff, 4/15)