LA Jails Scale Back Opioid Addiction Treatment

Here are the morning’s top stories on Tuesday, November 18, 2025…

• Los Angeles County’s jail system is in the middle of one of its deadliest years on record. According to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, there have been more than three dozen in-custody deaths so far this year, and many have involved overdoses. Now, new reporting from CalMatters reveals that access to critical opioid addiction treatment has been quietly scaled back. 
• The Trump administration is suing California over a new law that bars local and federal law enforcement from wearing masks while on duty. 
• Another lawsuit has been filed against Southern California Edison by victims of the Eaton Fire. But this time, the lawsuit also includes Genasys Inc., the company hired by Los Angeles County to provide evacuation warnings.

LA Jails Scale Back Opioid Addiction Treatment As Fatal Overdoses Continue

Los Angeles County jails pared back access to life-saving opioid addiction treatment this fall during one of the system’s deadliest years on record, according to records obtained by CalMatters and interviews with staff.

The policy change came one week after Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against the county over “inhumane” conditions across its jail system, citing a “shocking rate of deaths,” including overdoses. In interviews with CalMatters, two Correctional Health Services physicians expressed alarm over the reductions, saying that even the slightest delay in treatment is “wildly dangerous” and can lead to more fatal overdoses. “Patients are begging me for help,” said a physician who spoke with CalMatters on the condition of anonymity because of fear of professional retaliation. “I’m on edge, waiting to see if someone is going to die.”

The reduction in treatment also comes as the jails hold about 700 more people every day as a result of a tough-on-crime ballot measure voters approved last year. Proposition 36 increased sentences for certain drug and theft crimes, leading to a surge in jail populations and straining county resources, according to a Sept. 10 Correctional Health Services memo to the Board of Supervisors.

Los Angeles County allocates roughly $25 million annually for the treatment program. County supervisors this year gave the program an additional $8 million from opioid lawsuit settlements. That sum ultimately did not increase funding for treatment because the county shifted an equivalent amount of money to a different need, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. “The overall (medication-assisted treatment) program funding remained the same” despite the extra money the department received, the statement reads. In a Sept. 16 memo obtained by CalMatters, Chief Medical Officer Sean Henderson said Correctional Health Services “will be taking a pause on primary care in ordering buprenorphine.” The medication reduces cravings and prevents overdoses.

The new mandate restricts how quickly and broadly Correctional Health Services physicians can prescribe the medication. Priority will be given to people when they first enter the jail system — the largest in California — which houses roughly 13,000 people across nine main facilities. Everyone else who wants medication will be placed on a waitlist. “It’s misleading because we just put people on this list and then they stay on the list,” said a physician. That means that if someone does not accept treatment upon arrival, they won’t be able to access it during the remainder of their incarceration, even if they change their mind, said both physicians who spoke with CalMatters.

Trump Administration Sues California Over Law Banning Masked Federal Agents

The Trump administration filed a lawsuit Monday over California’s new laws banning federal agents from wearing masks and requiring them to have identification while conducting operations in the state.

The federal government has argued the laws threaten the safety of officers who are facing “unprecedented” harassment, doxing, and violence and said it will not comply with them.

California became the first state to ban most law enforcement officers, including federal immigration agents, from covering their faces while conducting official business under a bill that was signed in September by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The law prohibits neck gaiters, ski masks and other facial coverings for local and federal officers, including immigration enforcement agents, while they conduct official business. It makes exceptions for undercover agents, protective equipment like N95 respirators or tactical gear, and it does not apply to state police.

“California’s anti-law enforcement policies discriminate against the federal government and are designed to create risk for our agents. These laws cannot stand,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a press release.

Lawsuit Claims Company Behind Eaton Fire Evacuation Warnings Was Negligent

Attorneys representing Eaton Fire survivors filed a lawsuit Monday  against Southern California Edison and Genasys Inc. over the death of a woman who died in Altadena. The lawsuit accuses the utility of igniting the blaze and Genasys of failing to issue evacuation warnings in her neighborhood.

The family of Stacey Darden accuses Genasys, hired by L.A. County to provide evacuation warnings, of being negligent the night of the fire. Lawyers for the family said while the company provided warnings in enough time to the houses on the east of Lake Avenue, they came too late for those on the west. 18 of the 19 deaths in the fire were people who lived west of Lake Avenue in Altadena.

On the evening of January 7, and into the early morning hours of January 8, Darden and her sister Gerry consistently monitored the news for the evacuation zones for the Eaton Fire to confirm that Stacey and her home were safe for her to remain in.

Stacey Darden’s last cellphone activity is believed to have been around 3:30 a.m. Jan. 8. Attorneys alleged the one and only communication regarding an evacuation order she received was not until 5:43 a.m. that same day. This is the first lawsuit targeting the alerts system in Altadena.