San Francisco Court Case Against Opioid Distributors Begins

San Francisco Chronicle: San Francisco Wants To Hold The Prescription Drug Industry Responsible For The Opioid Crisis. Here Are 3 Ways The Trial Underway Is Unique
With billions of dollars at stake, San Francisco opened a federal court trial Monday against Walgreens pharmacy and three companies that manufacture or distribute opioids. The companies regularly “overstated the benefits and trivialized the risks of the long-term use of opioids” to their customers, City Attorney David Chiu’s office said in a filing with U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer of San Francisco, who is presiding over the non-jury trial. (Egelko, 4/25)

In other health news from across the U.S. —

AP: US Military Drops Appeal Of Hawaii Order To Drain Fuel Tanks
The U.S. government on Friday dropped its appeals of a Hawaii order requiring it to remove fuel from a massive military fuel storage facility that leaked petroleum into the Navy's water system at Pearl Harbor last year. Attorneys for the U.S. Department of Defense notified the state and federal courts of its decision. The move comes more than a month after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the military would permanently shut down the tanks and drain all of their fuel. (McAvoy, 4/24)

AP: Hearing Set In Effort To Block Alabama Transgender Law
A federal judge will hear arguments next month on whether to block enforcement of an Alabama law outlawing the use of gender-affirming medications to treat transgender people under age 19.The May 5 hearing is scheduled just days before the law is set to take effect on May 8. U.S. District Judge Liles Burke set the evidentiary hearing, scheduled to last up to two days, on a request for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction to stop Alabama officials from enforcing the law while a court challenge goes forward. (4/25)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Advocates For The Elderly Want State Regulators To Take A Harder Look At Nursing Home Sales
In the most complete revision of its nursing home rules in at least 25 years, the Pennsylvania Department of Health last month proposed new regulations that would require more scrutiny of homes’ prospective owners. For the first time, regulators would analyze the financial strength and past performance of owners — including individuals, not just legal entities — and related companies that seek to take over nursing homes in the state. Historically, officials have effectively rubber-stamped license applications, critics said. (Brubaker, 4/26)

Detroit Free Press: Michigan Schools Missing Students' Signs Of Dyslexia
In first grade, Lynn Gaskell's daughter was behind in reading. When Rileigh, now 13, tried to read aloud, she added extra syllables to words and stumbled through pages. Rileigh’s school evaluated her and came back to her parents with a recommendation: Evaluate Rileigh for ADHD, which Rileigh did have. Her reading problems persisted all through elementary school, landing her extra time with reading teachers with little progress. Gaskell brought up dyslexia, but she said school officials brushed her off. "Not one single person approached me about dyslexia, not one time," Gaskell said. (Altavena, 4/25)

Anchorage Daily News: Private Donors Put $7M Toward Anchorage’s Homelessness Plan
A group of private organizations is donating $7 million toward Anchorage’s plan to fast-track several homelessness services projects as part of an effort to close the city’s pandemic-era emergency mass care operations by June 30. The Anchorage Assembly has already allocated $6 million toward the projects, bringing the total so far to $13 million. Private donors include the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, Calista Corp., Chugach Alaska Corp., Doyon Ltd., Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska, Providence Alaska, the Rasmuson Foundation and Weidner Apartment Homes. (Goodykoontz, 4/25)

AP: Indiana Town Sued By Government, Didn't Hire Man With HIV 
The federal government is accusing a southern Indiana town of discriminating against a man with HIV who applied to become a police officer. The Justice Department said it filed a lawsuit Monday against Clarksville, Indiana. Clarksville police had offered a job to a man who was already working as a volunteer reserve officer but then dropped the offer in 2015 based on his HIV status, the Justice Department said. (4/26)

KHN: Shopping For Space, Health Systems Make Over Malls
The hulking Hickory Hollow Mall — a full 1.1 million square feet of retail space in southeastern Nashville — was once the largest shopping center in Tennessee. But like many malls, it’s been in a downward death spiral for more than a decade. Now the mammoth complex surrounded by acres of parking is on track to join the ranks of malls making a transition into a booming economic sector: medicine. Vanderbilt University Medical Center has had such success reviving a different mall that its health system, Vanderbilt Health, plans to add medical clinics at the former Hickory Hollow Mall, rebranded a decade ago as the Global Mall at the Crossings. (Farmer, 4/26)

KHN: Tech Titans Want The Richest Californians To Pay For Pandemic Preparedness 
Gabe Bankman-Fried, a former Wall Street trader, has raised $12 million from a cryptocurrency trading firm founded by his brother, Sam Bankman-Fried. Dustin Moskovitz, a billionaire who roomed with Mark Zuckerberg in college and helped found Facebook in 2004, funds a nonprofit with his wife that has ponied up $6.5 million. And Max Henderson, a startup investor and former Google executive, is using that money to spearhead a campaign for a statewide ballot initiative that would tax California’s wealthiest residents and fund public health initiatives, with the ambitious goal of preventing another pandemic from ripping across the country. (Hart, 4/26)