Sacramento Bee: CA Bill Forces Teachers To Out Transgender Students To Parents 
California teachers, counselors and other school employees who learn that a student is publicly identifying as transgender would be forced to inform that student’s parents, under a bill proposed by Assemblyman Bill Essayli, R-Riverside. Assembly Bill 1314 gives school employees three days to notify parents in writing if they learn that a student is publicly identifying as transgender, such as by participating in gender-segregated sports programs or using bathroom facilities for a gender other than the one appearing on their birth certificate. (Sheeler, 3/13)

Los Angeles Blade: Republican Leader Gallagher Introduces 'Outing' Bill In Sacramento
Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (Yuba City) alongside Assemblymember Bill Essayli (Riverside) introduced legislation that would require that any teacher, counselor, or employee of a school notifies the parents of any student that identifies at school as a gender that does not align with their assigned birth gender. (Levesque, 3/13)

Politico: Newsom’s Former Chief Is Repping Walgreens In Abortion Pill Fight 
When California Gov. Gavin Newsom threatened to cut off Walgreens over its plan to scale back access to abortion pills, panicked representatives for the company raced to call his aides for clarity about the state’s retaliatory policy. As the standoff unfolded, the governor’s senior staff heard a familiar voice come over the phone as a lead representative for Walgreens: Ann O’Leary. An attorney and crisis manager who served as senior policy adviser to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, O’Leary is viewed in Washington’s Democratic circles as a policy powerhouse with a golden Rolodex to match. (Cadeloago, 3/13)

CNBC: Federal Judge Shares Date Of Abortion Pill Hearing After Media Outlets Criticize Him For Secrecy
A federal judge in Texas publicly disclosed Monday afternoon that he scheduled a hearing in a case seeking to overturn the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, after media outlets criticized him for attempting to keep the proceedings secret until the last minute. Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the U.S. Northern District of Texas ordered oral arguments in the case to take place on Wednesday at 9 a.m. CT, according to a court filing. The hearing will take place in Amarillo, Texas. (Kimball, 3/13)

CBS News: Ahead Of Ruling That Could Disrupt Access To Medication Abortion, Providers Line Up Alternatives 
If Kacsmaryk orders the FDA to rescind its approval of mifepristone, the process could take months, and it would not mark the end of medication abortion in the U.S. Instead, patients could use misoprostol alone, which studies show is between 80% to 100% effective and is recommended by the World Health Organization as a safe and effective alternative. To use misoprostol only, a total of 12 pills are taken in three doses every three hours. (Quinn, 3/14)

Houston Chronicle: VP Kamala Harris Warns Abortion Pill Ban Would Embolden 'Extremists'
Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday warned that if anti-abortion advocates are successful in banning a key abortion pill, "extremists and politicians" could go after any medication they do not like. "Think about what this means if extremists and politicians can override an FDA approval," Harris said. "The implications in terms of public health policy are profound." (Wermund, 3/13)

Stat: Planned Parenthood CEO: Reproductive Rights Are "Nonpartisan"
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the news has been full of stories about patients crossing state lines in order to access reproductive care. What often gets left out is the accompanying confusion created by abortion restrictions. (Boodman, 3/14)

Fresno Bee: Community Health System Was A Suitor For Madera Hospital 
Fresno-area health care giant Community Health System was one of two hospital operators that sought to acquire the financially distressed and now-closed Madera hospital, The Bee has learned. (Amaro, 3/14)

Bay Area Reporter:  22 AGs Ask CDC To Make New PrEP Billing Code To Avoid Erroneous Copays 
Attorneys general from 21 states, including California, and the District of Columbia, signed on to a letter to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention committee asking it to create a new diagnostic code for PrEP to ensure clear billing. The attorneys general want to make sure that people who take the HIV prevention medication are not improperly charged copays, the letter states. Under federal law, insurers must fully cover PrEP. (Ferrannini, 3/14)

Sacramento Business Journal: RxGuardian Is New Name For Gatekeeper Innovation After The Maker Of Locking Pill Bottles Restructures
The Sacramento-based maker of the Safer Lock, a tamper-resistant line of locks and containers for prescription drugs, has changed its name and restructured its operations with a Bay Area technology veteran buying a controlling interest. (Anderson, 3/13)

Stat: Veterans Health Administration Will Cover Newest Alzheimer's Drug
In an unexpected move, the Veterans Health Administration decided that it will widely cover a new Alzheimer’s treatment, even as Medicare has decided to wait for additional data about the medicine before taking the same step. (Silverman, 3/13)

Axios: Veterans To Get Coverage Of Alzheimer's Drug Medicare Won't Pay For
The Veterans Health Administration said Monday that it intends to pay for a $26,500-a-year experimental Alzheimer's drug that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has to date declined to cover. ... CMS currently limits its coverage to patients enrolled in clinical trials or CMS-approved comparative studies. (Gonzalez, 3/13)

NPR: Benefits Of Lecanemab, A New Alzheimer's Drug, Unclear For Patients Of Color
A new drug for Alzheimer's disease, called lecanemab, got a lot of attention earlier this year for getting fast-tracked approval based on a clinical trial that included nearly 1,800 people. While some saw it as undeniable progress for a disease with no other proven treatment, others urged caution because of severe side effects and the finding of only a "modest" effect. Dr. Jonathan Jackson, Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, has another concern: the racial and ethnic makeup of the trial. (Metzger, Kwong, Oza and Spitzer, 3/13)

San Francisco Chronicle: Most Overdose Deaths In SF Involve Multiple Drugs, Involve Fentanyl
Fentanyl is driving much of San Francisco’s drug overdose epidemic. But the deadly synthetic opioid isn’t doing it alone, as data show the vast majority of deaths involve multiple drugs. About three-quarters of accidental overdose deaths in San Francisco last year involved more than one drug, according to preliminary data from the city’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. This data set includes details beyond the agency’s monthly reports, including which drugs contributed to the deaths. (Leonard, 3/13)

San Francisco Chronicle: Opioid Pain Meds Hard To Get Prescribed Due To Strict New Rules
Words bubble out of Lori Long, evincing her natural exuberance. But the 51-year-old Salinas resident’s joie de vivre has been put to the test by debilitating pain. An autoimmune disease inflames her joints and ligaments, forcing her body to curve forward. Since age 15 she’s had about 20 major surgeries on her spine and other affected organs. (Said, 3/14)

CBS News: Rite Aid Lawsuit: Justice Department Alleges Pharmacy Ignored Red Flags In Filling Opioid Prescriptions
One of the country's largest pharmacy chains knowingly filled unlawful prescriptions and ignored internal red flags on its practices, the Justice Department alleged in a complaint filed Monday. The complaint against Rite Aid was part of a whistleblower lawsuit brought against the company under the False Claims Act and the Controlled Substances Act, the Justice Department said in a news release. (Ruiz, 3/13)

The Wall Street Journal: McKinsey Consulted VA While Advising Opioid Makers To Target Agency For Sales
Since at least 2009, McKinsey & Co. has been a consultant to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the federal agency that oversees healthcare for millions of retired military service members. During part of that time, the consulting giant also advised some of the world’s biggest opioid producers to target the agency for sales of their products, according to newly released documents. The firm advised opioid companies including Purdue Pharma LP and Endo International PLC on how to increase sales to the VA through both new and existing channels, the documents show. Meanwhile, McKinsey earned at least $117 million consulting for the VA, primarily on matters related to healthcare services for veterans, according to government records. (Gladstone, 3/13)

U.S. News & World Report: Study: Disabled People Less Likely To Be Prescribed Medication For Opioid Disorder
New research finds people living with disabling conditions are less likely to be prescribed medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder than individuals without disabilities, raising concerns over whether those individuals are experiencing added stigma that is making it harder for them to access treatment. (Ross Johnson, 3/13)

VC Star: State Mask Mandate For Ventura County Hospitals Ends In April
The California Department of Public Health announced it will lift mandatory mask requirements in hospitals, nursing homes, jails and other settings previously identified as high-risk for COVID-19. The change comes April 3 and Saul, a Thousand Oaks pediatrician, is ready after three years of covering up. (Kisken, 3/13)

CNN: Poor Sleep Decreases Vaccine Effectiveness, Especially For Men 
If you’re scheduling an appointment for a vaccination — whether for Covid-19, the flu or for travel to another country — make sure you’re getting a long, restful night’s slumber before you head to the doctor. Sleeping less than six hours the night before you get the shot may limit your body’s response to the vaccine, reducing protection against the virus or bacteria, according to a new study. (LaMotte, 3/13)

CIDRAP: 4 COVID Vaccine Doses Best Prevent Critical Omicron BA.5, Even After BA.1/BA.2 Infection
Four COVID-19 booster doses were the most effective way to prevent critical Omicron BA.5, regardless of previous infection status, according to a nationwide study published late last week in JAMA Network Open. (Van Beusekom, 3/13)

USA Today: What Is Prosopagnosia? Long COVID May Cause Face Blindness: Study
Early in the pandemic, a 28-year-old customer service representative and portrait painter caught COVID-19. She had a high fever for a few days and trouble breathing. Her sense of smell and taste disappeared. But by mid-April 2020, she had recovered enough to start working from home. It wasn't until June, when she saw her family for the first time since her illness, that she realized she'd lost something else. She could no longer recognize her own father or distinguish him from her uncle. (Weintraub, 3/13)

The Wall Street Journal: What Do We Actually Know About Covid-19? Not Enough 
Covid-19 vaccines are widely available, but researchers don’t yet know enough about how the virus might change or how long immunity lasts to be certain who should get future boosters or how often. The unknowns could have public-health consequences in the years ahead, virus experts said. “A big question is how will that play out over time?” Bronwyn MacInnis said of the virus’s mutations. She is director of pathogen genomic surveillance at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, a biomedical research center in Cambridge, Mass. “Are there other tricks we have yet to see?” she said. (Toy and Abbott, 3/13)

Bloomberg: Zuckerberg Was Warned On Social Media Addiction, Filing Says
Employees at Meta Platforms and ByteDance were aware of the harmful effects of their platforms on young children and teenagers but disregarded the information or in some cases sought to undermine it, according to claims in a court filing. The allegations were disclosed in a lawsuit over social media addiction that had been filed previously but with key portions sealed from public view. (Rosenblatt, 3/13)

Los Angeles Times: Deaths, Burns, Brain Injuries, Broken Limbs: The Human Cost Of Distracted Driving Is Mounting
“This is an epidemic,” said Bruce Landsberg, vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. And it’s not just deaths. “Everybody talks about fatalities, but there are hundreds of thousands or more life-altering injuries — broken limbs, brain injuries, horrible burns. This doesn’t have to happen. These crashes are not accidents. They are completely preventable.” (Mitchell, 3/14)

Berkeleyside: At This Berkeley Cafe, People In Need Dine For Free
Every generation, the gap between the Bay Area’s haves and have nots seems to increase. It’s an inequality illustrated in the regions’ restaurants, where in every boom time, exclusionary and gentrifying dining takes center stage. The East Bay, however, is home to a number of chefs and restauranteurs who look at things differently. Take, for example, Collin Doran, chef-owner of comfort food favorite Homemade Café. Over the last few years, Doran has engaged in the nearly unheard of act offering free meals to anyone hungry. He recently made that kindness an official effort, branding it “Everybody Eats” and soliciting support from his restaurants most loyal diners. It’s been a hit. (Keeling, 3/13)