Los Angeles Times: California Supreme Court Lets Stand Controversial Law Allowing DNA Collection Upon Arrest
For years civil libertarians hoped to end California's practice of taking DNA from people arrested on suspicion of a felony and storing that genetic information in an offender database — regardless of whether the suspects were later acquitted or had their charges dropped. That fight for more protective rules in the government's DNA collection suffered a major setback Monday when the California Supreme Court let stand a provision of a 2004 voter initiative that said any adult arrested or charged with a felony must give up his or her DNA. (Dolan, 4/2)

Orange County Register: California Supreme Court Upholds Collection Of DNA From Suspected Felons Not Yet Convicted Of A Crime 
In its 4-3 ruling, the state’s high court cited a U.S. Supreme Court decision that found collecting DNA is a legitimate police booking procedure comparable to fingerprinting or taking a suspect’s photograph. The court’s majority wrote that they have a duty to uphold the will of the state’s voters, who approved the collection of DNA for arrestees, unless it is clearly unconstitutional. They also noted that people who are arrested can expunge the DNA samples from law enforcement databases if they aren’t convicted. (Emery, 4/2)

Sacramento Bee: CA Governor Candidate Pushes Institutions For Homeless
Republican gubernatorial candidate Travis Allen says he'd build state-run institutions and force homeless people to live in them against their will, if necessary. ...Allen, currently in the state Assembly, is pushing the idea as part of his platform in public debates, interviews and newspaper editorial board meetings. (Hart, 4/3)

Orange County Register: With River Trail Cleared Of Homeless, Orange County Shifts Focus To Santa Ana Civic Center Camp 
Following the same template they used along the Santa Ana River Trail, Orange County officials on Monday began preparations to clear homeless encampments from the Civic Center in Santa Ana. The county health care agency dispatched social workers to connect with those in need of housing and determine where a bed might be available to them and what other help they require. (Robinson, 4/2)

And in more news —

San Francisco Chronicle: Beds For Mentally Ill Homeless That SF Mayor Farrell Promised Still Not Ready
Still waiting: Earlier this month, Mayor Mark Farrell announced the opening of 54 new psychiatric beds at St. Mary’s Medical Center on Stanyan Street to help mentally ill homeless people. But the beds aren’t ready yet, according to the Department of Public Health. (Swan, 4/2)

Los Angeles Times: Gay Dating App Grindr Changes Its Policy Of Sharing Users' HIV Status With Outside Vendors
Grindr, a gay dating app, will stop sharing users' HIV statuses with third parties after a report disclosed that the company passed the information on to two vendors. The West Hollywood company's policy change came after a BuzzFeed report Monday that said personal data was being passed to two outside vendors hired by Grindr to test the performance of its app. (Pierson, 4/2)

Los Angeles Times: Bringing Meals To People With Food Insecurity May Deliver Savings To The Healthcare System
Imagine you are the tightfisted potentate of a small republic, plotting the least expensive way to care for subjects in fragile health who depend on your beneficence. You could watch while your subjects who are elderly or disabled (or both) scramble to find and pay for healthy meals. And you could open your checkbook each time one of these subjects lapses into a health crisis that calls for a trip to a hospital's emergency department in an ambulance. But you might just try feeding these needy subjects instead. (Healy, 4/2)

The San Diego Union-Tribune: Scientist Who Sparked Boom In Health Sciences At UC San Diego To Become Chief Strategist
David Brenner, the researcher who presided over a $1.6 billion expansion of the health sciences at the University of California San Diego, is shedding his role as dean of the medical school. Brenner will focus more on strategy, including making the campus more of a force internationally. Brenner will keep his position as vice chancellor of health sciences, which means he’s still ultimately responsible for about 16,000 employees and maintaining UC San Diego’s position as one of the top academic health science systems in the U.S. (Robbins, 4/2)

Ventura County Star: Jane Rozanski Settles Camarillo Health Care District Claims For $173,000
Retired CEO Jane Rozanski has agreed to pay the Camarillo Health Care District $173,000 to settle claims the public agency brought against her in a lawsuit alleging fraud and breach of duty.Neither party accepted liability. But the deal resolves issues raised in the 2016 lawsuit and subsequent arbitration, according to the settlement released Monday. The district's case centered on whether Rozanski collaborated with an attorney with whom she was romantically involved to bilk the agency. The district sought more than $425,000 in damages and fees over what it called "false, inflated and unnecessary" legal bills. (Wilson, 4/2)

Stat: 'The Code': The Roots Of Today’s Most Promising Genetic Technologies
The $1.455 billion “All of Us” project that the National Institutes of Health is launching this spring stands on the shoulders of the $3 billion Human Genome Project, which was (mostly) completed in 2003. All of Us will collect DNA, health, lifestyle, and other data from 1 million Americans to, among other things, identify the genetic and environmental roots of disease and understand why different people respond differently to the same drug. The genome project, which determined the sequence of most of the 3 billion biochemical “letters” that spell out human DNA, had similar goals. Some have been realized, others not. (Begley, 4/2)

In other national health care news —

Stat: White House Is Urged To Sidestep Patents On Opioid Overdose Treatment
The White House is being urged to sidestep patents on a high-priced opioid overdose antidote as one way to stem the rising cost of combating the opioid crisis. In a letter sent last Thursday, an advocacy group argues the White House should use a little-known federal law that would permit the government to take title to patents on Evzio. This is a decades-old version of naloxone, which is widely used to reverse the effect of opioid and heroin overdoses. (Silverman, 4/2)

The Associated Press: Studies Link Legal Marijuana With Fewer Opioid Prescriptions
Can legalizing marijuana fight the problem of opioid addiction and fatal overdoses? Two new studies in the debate suggest it may. Pot can relieve chronic pain in adults, so advocates for liberalizing marijuana laws have proposed it as a lower-risk alternative to opioids. But some research suggests marijuana may encourage opioid use, and so might make the epidemic worse. (4/2)

Stat: Medicare Puts Off Decision On Lowering Drug Prices Patients Pay
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services laid out a bevy of initiatives Monday that officials said would reduce drug prices for patients covered by the Medicare Part D prescription drug program — but they have made no decisions yet on an issue that has confounded lawmakers and patients alike. That issue is whether the discounts that pharmacy benefit managers negotiate for drugs — the “rebates” that lawmakers have been raising questions about in recent months — as well as other fees, should go toward lowering the price that a patient pays at the pharmacy. (Swetlitz, 4/2)

The New York Times: ‘I Can’t Stop’: Schools Struggle With Vaping Explosion
The student had been caught vaping in school three times before he sat in the vice principal’s office at Cape Elizabeth High School in Maine this winter and shamefacedly admitted what by then was obvious. “I can’t stop,” he told the vice principal, Nate Carpenter. So Mr. Carpenter asked the school nurse about getting the teenager nicotine gum or a patch, to help him get through the school day without violating the rules prohibiting vaping. (Zernike, 4/2)

The Washington Post: How Do You Make A Destination Autism-Friendly?
Myrtle Beach , South Carolina, has a busy boardwalk and all kinds of attractions, from mini-golf courses and water parks to a zip line and a Ferris wheel. So it might not be an obvious destination for families with kids on the autism spectrum who may be easily overwhelmed by noise and commotion. But an organization called Champion Autism Network is working with hotels, restaurants and other venues to make the area autism-friendly. (Harpaz, 4/2)

The Associated Press: Vegas Hospital Advisory After Mass Shooting Draws Scrutiny
A review of medical responses after the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history in Las Vegas found confusion led to a fire department broadcast that the only top-tier regional trauma center was too full to accept any more victims of the attack, a newspaper reported Monday. The problem began when University Medical Center called an "internal disaster" alert following the Oct. 1 shooting at an open-air concert venue on the Las Vegas Strip, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.