Reuters: U.S. Opens Inquiry Into Gynecologist Scandal At University Of Southern California
The U.S. Education Department has opened an investigation into how the University of Southern California handled complaints that a longtime campus health clinic gynecologist sexually harassed or abused his patients during pelvic examinations. The agency's Office for Civil Rights will examine USC's response to reports of such misconduct by Dr. George Tyndall that date back to 1990 but were not fully investigated by the university until the spring of 2016, the department said in a statement. (Gorman, 6/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Education Department Launches Investigation Into University Of Southern California
USC has been dealing with fallout from allegations that the doctor, George Tyndall, had abused students as far back as the 1990s by conducting improper pelvic exams and making sexually inappropriate comments to patients during exams. By the end of May USC had received more than 410 complaints against Dr. Tyndall, via telephone and online forms, while at least a dozen women have filed lawsuits against Dr. Tyndall and the school. The Los Angeles Police Department is conducting a criminal probe, though Dr. Tyndall hasn’t been charged with any crime. (Korn, 6/11)

Los Angeles Times: USC's Handling Of Complaints About Campus Gynecologist Is Being Investigated By Federal Government
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who has been criticized for taking a less vigorous approach to examining sexual misconduct than predecessors, called for a “systemic” examination of USC and urged administrators to fully cooperate. “No student should ever endure sexual harassment or abuse while trying to pursue their education,” DeVos said in a statement. The Education Department’s action is the second high-profile investigation of a university’s handling of sexual misconduct complaints this year. The agency launched an investigation in January into Michigan State’s response to Dr. Larry Nassar, the USA Gymnastics doctor convicted of sexual misconduct toward young patients. (Hamilton and Ryan, 6/11)

The Washington Post: American Medical Association To Keep Reviewing Its Opposition To Assisted Death
A recommendation that the American Medical Association maintain its opposition to medically assisted death was rejected Monday, with delegates at the AMA's annual meeting in Chicago instead voting for the organization to continue reviewing its guidance on the issue. Following a debate on whether the nation’s most prominent doctors’ group should revise its Code of Medical Ethics, the House of Delegates voted by a margin of 56 to 44 percent to have the AMA’s Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs keep studying the current guidance. That position, adopted a quarter-century ago, labels the practice “physician-assisted suicide” and calls it “fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer.” (Bever, 6/11)

Modern Healthcare: AMA Could Be Reconsidering Stance On Physician-Assisted Suicide
The issue was one of the more contentious items discussed during the first day of voting for the AMA's governing body. The nation's leading physician organization was considering adopting recommendations from the AMA's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs that concluded the current definition of physician-assisted suicide within the body's Code of Medical Ethics should not be changed. The AMA's current policy on physician-assisted suicide is that it is "incompatible with the physician's role as healer." A study two years in the making looked at two resolutions that requested the AMA replace the term "physician-assisted suicide" with "aid in dying", and that the group should take a neutral stance on the practice of aid in dying. (Johnson, 6/11)

KQED: Will San Francisco's Ban On Flavored Tobacco Spark A National Trend?
Despite a multimillion dollar campaign by tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds, San Francisco will soon implement the most comprehensive restrictions on e-cigarettes in the country. The move is already sparking other cities to follow. This week's vote on San Francisco's Proposition E was expected to be close, but the measure is passing with nearly 70 percent of the vote. That's an insurmountable lead even though mail-in ballots are still being counted. The ban includes all flavored tobacco products from vaping liquids to menthol cigarettes to flavored hookah. (McClurg, 6/11)

Orange County Register: Whooping Cough Cases Rise And Fall Cyclically In Southern California; Here’s What Parents Need To Know 
Four years ago, California was in the grips of an outbreak of pertussis, the contagious disease also known as whooping cough because of the “whoop” sound characterizing the deep breathing that follows violent coughing attacks. Given the cyclical nature of the disease — outbreaks tend to occur every three to five years — epidemiologists in the Southern California region have anticipated another surge right about now. (Walker, 6/11)

In other news from across the state —

The Modesto Bee: Work Continues On Valley Children's Modesto Specialty Care Center
The Valley Children's Specialty Care Center is the latest investment the Madera-based regional hospital has made in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. It will offer specialty health services, including cardiology, neurosurgery and orthopedics. (Lee, 6/11)

American Homefront: In LA, Homeless Vets Now Can Sleep In Their Cars At The VA 
For a little under a year, Army veteran Adam John Halvorsen and his girlfriend, Angela Del Castillo, have been living in her minivan on the streets of Southern California. The vehicle is crammed with all the clothes and personal items the couple needs, alongside space to stretch out and sleep. But from the outside, the white Toyota doesn't stand out in the rush of Los Angeles traffic. "We know how to blend in," Halvorsen said. "Just don't look homeless, you know?" (Denkmann, 6/12)

The Hill: CMS Releases Guidance To States On Using Medicaid To Address Opioid Crisis
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Monday released guidance aimed at helping states leverage Medicaid to combat the opioid epidemic. Specifically, the guidance focused on information related to covering services for infants born exposed to opioids and how to enhance federal funding for telemedicine and programs that keep tabs on patients’ prescriptions. (Roubein, 6/11)

Reuters: House Panel Questions FDA's Track Record Combating Illegal Opioids
U.S. lawmakers fear the Food and Drug Administration is not doing enough to stop the flow of illegal drugs into the United States as the country works to combat the opioid epidemic. Republican and Democratic members on the House Energy and Commerce Committee questioned whether the FDA's criminal investigators are effective at blocking illegal drugs at U.S. ports of entry, in a letter seen by Reuters. (Lynch, 6/11)

In other national health care news —

Stat: Drug Pricing Advocates Take Aim At Democrats For Supporting Pharma
Fifty congressional Democrats signed on to a letter advancing the pharmaceutical industry’s talking points — and now a drug pricing advocacy group is calling them out. Patients for Affordable Drugs sent a letter this morning to Speaker Paul Ryan and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, along with the 50 Democrats, condemning the members who signed on to a separate May 24 missive that supports one of the drug industry’s chief lobbying priorities: a change to their financial liability in the so-called “donut hole.” (Mershon, 6/11)

The Hill: Trump Officials Meet With Drug Companies To Push For Voluntary Price Cuts
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials have been meeting with pharmaceutical companies to seek voluntary cuts in drug prices, according to sources familiar with the meetings. Voluntary cuts in prices would allow the administration to immediately tout benefits of President Trump's drug pricing plan, which was announced last month, rather than having to wait for any regulatory actions to be put forward and take effect. (Sullivan, 6/11)

Modern Healthcare: White Houses Taps The Brakes On HHS Religious Rule 
The White House has urged HHS not to finalize a rule that will require hospitals and physician practices to create standards and procedures to protect their employees' religious and moral beliefs until it can elaborate how the policy will affect the industry. HHS received more than 72,000 comments on the rulemaking before the March deadline. The agency is still drafting a final version of the rule, but proactively asked the Office of Management and Budget to allow it to confirm that providers were both complying with the rule and notifying staff and patients of their rights. (Dickson, 6/11)

Stat: Alcohol Study Failed To Seek FDA Approval, Possibly Violating Federal Rules
The controversy surrounding a study of whether moderate drinking might prevent cardiovascular disease isn’t over: If one interpretation of federal regulations is correct, the study may be in violation of Food and Drug Administration requirements meant to protect the health of research volunteers. STAT has learned that the study’s leaders failed to seek a form of regulatory approval intended to protect study participants and ensure they understand the possible health risks of the research. By not seeking approval from the FDA, said public health researcher Dr. Michael Siegel of Boston University, the study “is in violation of federal law.” (Begley, 6/12)

Stat: CRISPR-Edited Cells Might Cause Cancer, Two Studies Find
Editing cells’ genomes with CRISPR-Cas9 might increase the risk that the altered cells, intended to treat disease, will trigger cancer, two studies published on Monday warn — a potential game-changer for the companies developing CRISPR-based therapies. In the studies, published in Nature Medicine, scientists found that cells whose genomes are successfully edited by CRISPR-Cas9 have the potential to seed tumors inside a patient. That could make some CRISPR’d cells ticking time bombs, according to researchers from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and, separately, Novartis. (Begley, 6/11)

The New York Times: Lasik’s Risks Are Coming Into Sharper Focus
Ever since he had Lasik surgery two years ago, Geobanni Ramirez sees everything in triplicate. The surgery he hoped would improve his vision left the 33-year-old graphic artist struggling with extreme light sensitivity, double vision and visual distortions that create halos around bright objects and turn headlights into blinding starbursts. His eyes are so dry and sore that he puts drops in every half-hour; sometimes they burn “like when you’re chopping onions.” His night vision is so poor that going out after dark is treacherous. (Rabin, 6/11)

The New York Times: As An H.I.V. Prevention Drug Surged In Australia, Condom Use Fell
The rollout of a drug that prevents H.I.V. infection was followed by a reduction in condom use among gay and bisexual men in Australia, according to a study published in the journal Lancet H.I.V. But so effective was the drug that H.I.V. infection rates in the study region declined anyway, the researchers concluded. During the rapid distribution of a drug that prevents infection — a strategy called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP — among gay and bisexual men in Australia, researchers found that unprotected sex increased even among those not on PrEP, suggesting that perceptions of risk had declined in communities where the drug was widely available. (Baumgaertner, 6/11)