Capital Public Radio: California Lawmakers Want To Crack Down On Fraud At Drug Rehab Centers. Will It Work?
Some lawmakers are aiming to cut down on corruption at addiction-recovery facilities by changing the way insurance companies reimburse providers. There are a whole host of problems with the drug rehab industry, according to a major investigation by the Southern California News Group: No degree, medical or otherwise, is required to get a facility license; and some centers are administering subpar, and even unnecessary, care and then billing insurance companies for it in the hopes of earning high reimbursements. (Caiola, 6/25)

In other public health news —

KPCC: How California's Doctor Assisted Suicide Law Works 
Doctor assisted suicide has been legal in California for just over two years. It was overturned by a Riverside judge in May. As the law is hashed out in appeals courts, we take a look at how it's worked over the past two years. (Faust, 6/25)

Los Angeles Times: The Surprising Thing The 'Marshmallow Test' Reveals About Kids In An Instant-Gratification World
Here’s a psychological challenge for anyone over 30 who thinks “kids these days” can’t delay their personal gratification: Before you judge, wait a minute. It turns out that a generation of Americans now working their way through middle school, high school and college are quite able to resist the prospect of an immediate reward in order to get a bigger one later. Not only that, they can wait a minute longer than their parents’ generation, and two minutes longer than their grandparents’ generation could. (Healy, 6/26)

Los Angeles Times: USC Scandal Sparks A Reckoning In Gynecology: How To Better Protect Patients?
For some USC students who visited campus gynecologist George Tyndall, it was obvious right away that something was wrong. They said he touched them in inappropriate ways, made bizarre comments and acted unprofessionally. Others said they left feeling uneasy but weren’t sure what to make of Tyndall’s behavior. It wasn’t until the Los Angeles Times revealed years of misconduct allegations against the doctor that these patients said they began to come to terms with those exams. (Karlamangla, 6/25)

KPCC: Is There A Better Way To Treat Seriously Ill Californians?
A new report shows about half of seriously ill Californians have access to palliative care. The number is an improvement over 4 years ago, but some doctors say the state could still do a better job of caring for these patients. (Faust, 6/25)

Sacramento Bee: This Type Of Care Can Sharply Reduce Medical Costs, So Why Aren't Doctors Ordering It?
Doctors can improve the quality of life for their seriously ill patients while also reducing the patients' medical expenses if they make use of one particular care model, so why aren't they using it? The biggest hurdle might well be the words used to describe it, said Dr. Jeanine Ellinwood, who leads a team in the specialized field. People hear them, she said, and think immediately of hospice care. It's not. It's palliative care, she said, and yes, there is a difference. (Anderson, 6/25)

Capital Public Radio: Business-Labor Deal Would Ban California Cities, Counties From Enacting New Soda Taxes 
An eleventh-hour deal between business and labor groups could ban new local taxes on sodas — while avoiding a ballot showdown that could make it harder for cities, counties and school districts to raise other taxes. The agreement involves an initiative that’s close to qualifying for the November ballot that would raise the voter approval threshold for general sales tax increases and extensions from a majority to two-thirds. (Adler, 6/26)

In other news from across the state —

Capital Public Radio: California Prison’s New Hospice Garden Offers Dying Inmates Rare Chance To Reflect
The garden opened earlier this month to give patients in the prison’s hospice ward a place to rest and reflect during their final days. Inmates come here to sunbathe, pray, or speak with family. It’s part of a new approach to helping prisoners find peace while dying behind bars. (Caiola, 6/25)

The Cannifornian: Bay Area Cannabis Dispensaries Dump Treatwell Tinctures As #PermitPatty Backlash Spreads
At least three Bay Area marijuana dispensaries have announced they will no longer carry TreatWellHealth products after TreatWell founder Alison Ettel appeared in a viral video threatening to call the police on an 8-year-old black girl selling water in San Francisco, earning Ettel the nickname “Permit Patty” on social media. (Lam, 6/25)

Oakland Tribune: Lawsuit Alleges Neglect At Alameda Facility Led To Death
Negligent care at a skilled nursing facility that included an unreported fall led to the death of a 61-year-old Stockton woman, according to a lawsuit. Cathy Campbell, who suffered from hypertension and chronic kidney failure, was being treated at the Alameda Healthcare & Wellness Center, 430 Willow St., in 2017 when she developed a severe bedsore and urinary tract infections that worsened because the facility was understaffed and could not properly care for her, the lawsuit filed June 12 in Superior Court in Los Angeles County alleges. Campbell died Dec. 7, 2017, while being treated at Golden LivingCenter – Chateau in Stockton. (Hegarty, 6/25)

Modesto Bee: Same Homeless People Keep Getting Arrested. What City, County Want To Do To Fix It. 
A proposed initiative would combine the resources of Stanislaus County and Modesto in providing assistance to severely distressed homeless people. More than 50 leaders from the public and private sector came up with the Community Assessment Response and Engagement, or CARE, team to focus on homeless people with persistent mental illness and substance abuse disorders that cause distress to themselves and the community. (Carlson, 6/25)

In other news —

San Francisco Chronicle: SF’s Homeless Navigation Centers Seem To Be Working. Here’s How They Save Lives
People like Jones were exactly whom city planners had in mind in 2015 when they created the nation’s first Navigation Center — the longtime, hardest-core homeless folks who have failed out of, or resisted, every other aid meant to get them off the streets. ...According to figures from the city Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, 57 percent of the nearly 3,000 people who have come through the system got housed. (Fagan, 6/26)

Reuters: Where Are The Beds? Questions Surround Trump's Plan To Hold Families In Detention
One child stopped eating and fell into a depression. Another who could previously walk on his own now asks his mother to carry him everywhere. A third child started biting other children. These are the experiences of children who have spent just three weeks at a temporary family immigration detention at the South Texas Family Detention Center in Dilley, Texas, attorneys and volunteers who work at the center told Reuters. (Levinson, Torbati and Cooke, 6/25)

Reveal: Migrant Children At Risk Of Disease Outbreaks, Doctors Say
Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and a Baylor College of Medicine professor of pediatrics and molecular virology and microbiology, said he would expect the same types and abundance of illnesses in the detention centers as surfaced in evacuation shelters after hurricanes or other disasters, where infections spread quickly. The biggest concerns are viral respiratory diseases, noroviruses, which cause severe vomiting and diarrhea, and enteroviruses, which can cause meningitis, Hotez said. (Gross, 6/25)

The Associated Press: Authorities Abandon ‘Zero-Tolerance’ For Immigrant Families
The Trump administration has scaled back a key element of its zero-tolerance immigration policy amid a global uproar over the separation of more than 2,300 migrant families, halting the practice of turning over parents to prosecutors for charges of illegally entering the country. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said Monday that President Donald Trump’s order last week to stop splitting immigrant families at the border required a temporary halt to prosecuting parents and guardians, unless they had criminal history or the child’s welfare was in question. He insisted the White House’s zero tolerance policy toward illegal entry remained intact. (Spagat and Lee, 6/26)

The Washington Post: Republicans Press Ahead With Narrow Fix To Migrant Crisis Created By Trump
Republicans pressed ahead Monday with a narrow fix to the migrant crisis created by President Trump, all but abandoning efforts for a far-reaching immigration overhaul that would fund a border wall and deal with the fate of young undocumented immigrants. With Trump proving to be an unpredictable ally, deeply divided Republicans say they have little hope of rallying support for a broad package of reforms. However, GOP leaders are eager to adopt legislation that would make sure migrant children can remain with their parents at the border. (DeBonis and Sullivan, 6/25)

Capital Public Radio: UC Davis Pediatric Psychologist On Trauma For Children Separated From Parents At The Border
The Trump administration's controversial, short-lived policy of separating and detaining children from their immigrant parents at the U.S.-Mexico border raised lots of questions. Experts say parent-child separations can cause long-lasting trauma for young people. UC Davis pediatric psychologist Dr. Brandi Liles is joining Insight to explain this and discuss childrens' psychological responses to trauma. (Ruyak, 6/25)

Bloomberg: Immigrant Children Forcibly Medicated While In U.S. Custody, Lawyers Say 
Children who allege they’re being detained for crossing the U.S. border without any court oversight and forcibly medicated will have to wait another month for a judge to consider whether the government’s practices violate a 1997 agreement. A federal judge in Los Angeles on Monday postponed to July 27 a hearing that had been scheduled for this week. U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee gave human rights’ lawyers representing immigrant children two days to respond to a separate U.S. Justice Department request to modify the 1997 settlement that restricts the use of detainment so that children caught crossing the border illegally can be held together with their families. (Pettersson, 6/25)

The Associated Press: Migrant Kids Could End Up In Already Strained Foster System
Foster care advocates say the government won't likely be able to reunite thousands of children separated from parents who crossed the border illegally, and some will end up in an American foster care system that is stacked against Latinos and other minorities. With few Spanish-speaking caseworkers, it's a challenge tracking down family members of the children who live south of the U.S.-Mexico border, and other relatives living in the states might be afraid to step forward to claim them because of fears of being detained or deported themselves. (6/26)

Los Angeles Times: At The Border, Mothers Prepare To Make An Agonizing Choice
Two weeks ago, Dalila Pojoy stopped breastfeeding her baby girl. The 33-year-old Guatemalan immigrant decided it was the sensible thing to do in case the U.S. government took custody of her 6-month-old. Little Bernardethe wailed for three days and clawed at her mother’s breast. (Carcamo, 6/25)

The Associated Press: A Day With Border Patrol: Imperiled Infant, Distraught Dad
The 4-month-old Honduran had just entered the United States illegally with a man who first claimed to be her father, then said he was her uncle, and presented what appeared to be a false birth certificate. The girl, wrapped in white bedding, was placed in a white crib under close watch of U.S. investigators, who waited for a Honduran consular official to arrive Monday. She was among about 1,100 people in a former warehouse that tripled in size last year, largely to accommodate people — many from Central America — traveling as families, and children traveling alone. (6/25)

The Associated Press: Medical Milestone: US OKs Marijuana-Based Drug For Seizures
U.S. health regulators on Monday approved the first prescription drug made from marijuana, a milestone that could spur more research into a drug that remains illegal under federal law, despite growing legalization for recreational and medical use. The Food and Drug Administration approved the medication, called Epidiolex, to treat two rare forms of epilepsy in patients 2 years and older. But it's not quite medical marijuana. (6/25)

The Washington Post: First Marijuana-Derived Drug Approved, Will Target Severe Epilepsy
The drug, called Epidiolex, is an oral solution containing highly purified cannabidiol (CBD), which is one of scores of chemicals in the cannabis sativa plant, commonly known as marijuana. The drug contains only trace amounts of the psychoactive element THC and does not induce euphoria. Epidiolex was approved for patients age 2 and older who suffer from Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet syndromes. Both cause uncontrolled daily seizures and put patients at high risk for other physical and intellectual disabilities, injury and early death. The disorders afflict fewer than 45,000 people in the United States, but experts expect Epidiolex to be prescribed for other types of epilepsy as well. The drug is the first treatment approved for Dravet syndrome. (McGinley, 6/25)

The Wall Street Journal: FDA Approves First Drug Derived From Marijuana Plant
The FDA said Monday that the drug doesn’t cause the high that comes from the chemical tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which is the main psychoactive component of marijuana. FDA officials also said the drug doesn’t appear to have abuse potential, citing minimal reports of euphoria in patients who took the drug in clinical studies. (Loftus, 6/25)

Bloomberg: Sky-High Deductibles Broke The U.S. Health Insurance System 
Today, 39 percent of large employers offer only high-deductible plans, up from 7 percent in 2009, according to a survey by the National Business Group on Health. Half of all workers now have health insurance with a deductible of at least $1,000 for an individual, up from 22 percent in 2009, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. About 41 percent say they can’t pay a $400 emergency expense without borrowing or selling something, according to the Federal Reserve. The bottom line: People like the Jordans simply can’t afford to get sick. (Tozzi and Tracer, 6/26)

In other national health care news —

The Hill: Defying Predictions, ObamaCare Insurers See Boom Times Ahead 
Health insurers are finding success in ObamaCare this year and are planning to expand their offerings in many states, defying expert’s predictions. Insurance startup Oscar Health filed to sell ObamaCare plans in Florida, Arizona and Michigan for the first time, and will enter new markets in Ohio, Tennessee and Texas. (Weixel, 6/26)

The Wall Street Journal: New CDC Director Targets Opioids, Suicide And Pandemics
The nation’s rapidly rising suicide rate is a tragedy, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is doing more to address two of the most common ways people take their lives: substance abuse and firearms, the agency’s new director said in his first interview in the role. “It should bring people to have pause,” Robert Redfield said of the suicide rate, in an interview that also touched on his goals for ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S., improving immunization rates and strengthening public-health systems in countries where epidemics are a risk. (McKay, 6/25)

The Wall Street Journal: GE To Spin Off Health-Care Business In Latest Revamp
General Electric Co. plans to spin off its health-care business and unload its ownership in oil-services company Baker Hughes, people familiar with the matter said, betting that the once-sprawling conglomerate can reverse a painful slump by further shrinking. The moves are the conclusion of a yearlong strategic review by CEO John Flannery that has been tumultuous for GE employees and investors. The onetime industrial bellwether has slashed its dividend and has already set plans to shed numerous businesses. Its shares have tumbled by half in the past year, erasing more than $100 billion in wealth. (Gryta, 6/26)

California Healthline: Unlocked And Loaded: Families Confront Dementia And Guns
With a bullet in her gut, her voice choked with pain, Dee Hill pleaded with the 911 dispatcher for help. “My husband accidentally shot me,” Hill, 75, of The Dalles, Ore., groaned on the May 16, 2015, call. “In the stomach, and he can’t talk, please …” Less than four feet away, Hill’s husband, Darrell Hill, a former local police chief and two-term county sheriff, sat in his wheelchair with a discharged Glock handgun on the table in front of him, unaware that he’d nearly killed his wife of almost 57 years. (Aleccia and Bailey, 6/26)

Stat: How Scientists Want To Use Sewers To Track The Spread Of Opioids
Today, science has made possible what [Victor] Hugo could not have fathomed in his day: water-sampling robots placed at strategic points in a sewer system and capable of delivering ever-more precise information about a community’s health.As the country confronts an opioid crisis that kills more than 60,000 American each year, one Cambridge, Mass.-based company is hoping that it can use that kind of technology to measure traces of the drugs in sewers. Doing so, according to the firm, Biobot Analytics, could help to reveal remarkably detailed patterns of drug use — and give communities a powerful tool to detect emerging public health threats. (Chen, 6/26)