First Edition: October 14, 2019

Kaiser Health News: Patients Eligible For Charity Care Instead Get Big Bills
When Ashley Pintos went to the emergency room of St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, Wash., in 2016, with a sharp pain in her abdomen and no insurance, a representative demanded a $500 deposit before treating her. “She said, ‘Do you have $200?’ I said no,” recalled Pintos, who then earned less than $30,000 at a company that made holsters for police. “She said, ‘Do you have $100?’ They were not quiet about me not having money.” But Pintos, a single mom with two kids who is now 29, told state officials St. Joseph never gave her a financial aid application form, even after she asked. (Rau, 10/14)

California Healthline: California’s New Transparency Law Reveals Steep Rise In Wholesale Drug Prices
Drugmakers fought hard against California’s groundbreaking drug price transparency law, passed in 2017. Now, state health officials have released their first report on the price hikes those drug companies sought to shield. Pharmaceutical companies raised the “wholesale acquisition cost” of their drugs — the list price for wholesalers without discounts or rebates — by a median of 25.8% from 2017 through the first quarter of 2019, according to the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. (Feder Ostrov and Rowan, 10/11)

NPR: What's At Stake In The Current Court Challenge To Affordable Care Act?
A decision in the latest court case to threaten the future of the Affordable Care Act could come as soon as this month. The ruling will come from the panel of judges in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard oral arguments in the Texas v. Azar lawsuit. An estimated 24 million people get their health coverage through programs created under the law, which has faced countless court challenges since it passed. (Simmons-Duffin, 10/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Democrats Push Elizabeth Warren For Plan To Pay For Medicare For All
Sen. Elizabeth Warren has been dogged from the debate stage to town halls to late-night TV shows by questions about whether she plans to unveil a signature health-care proposal—and how she would pay for expanding government-run insurance. Health care consistently polls as the No. 1 issue Democratic voters are concerned about. But unlike her top rivals, Ms. Warren hasn’t detailed her preferred policies, instead saying she’s “with Bernie” Sanders in supporting a government-run Medicare for All system. (Jamerson and Parti, 10/13)

The Hill: Klobuchar Takes Shots At Health And Education Plans Supported By Sanders And Warren
White House hopeful Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) drew sharp contrasts with some of her progressive primary competitors Friday night as she sought to burnish her moderate bona fides. ... Klobuchar said single payer health care plans would kick millions of Americans off their insurance and that their plans for free public colleges and universities would allow rich families to exploit taxpayer dollars. (Axelrod, 10/12)

The New York Times: We Surveyed The 2020 Democrats On Gun Control. Here Are The New Dividing Lines.
The 2020 Democratic presidential candidates are far more forceful and united on gun control than their predecessors, endorsing a wide range of policies that past nominees sidestepped or rejected, according to a New York Times survey of the 19 campaigns. The political terrain on guns has been shifting for several years in response to a seemingly unending series of mass shootings and a newly emboldened network of advocacy groups. Policies that were dividing lines among Democrats have become baselines, and proposals that were politically untouchable are now firmly on the table. (Astor, 10/13)

The Associated Press: Pregnancy Discrimination Continues, 41 Years After US Ban
For 41 years, federal law has banned pregnancy discrimination in the workplace. But the stories tumbling out this week show it's far from eradicated. Prompted by presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren's claim that she was forced out of a teaching job in 1971 because she was pregnant, scores of women have shared similar experiences on social media. (Durbin, 10/12)

The Associated Press: US Appeals Court Skeptical Of Trump's Medicaid Work Rules
A federal appeals court on Friday sharply questioned the Trump administration's work requirements for Medicaid recipients, casting doubt on a key part of a governmentwide effort to place conditions on low-income people seeking taxpayer-financed assistance. All three judges on a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit lobbed hard questions at a Justice Department lawyer defending the policy at a hearing. The administration is appealing after losing the first round before a lower court. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 10/11)

The Washington Post: Medicaid Work Requirements In Arkansas And Kentucky Get Skeptical Hearing From Appeals Panel
During oral arguments in a pair of cases involving work requirements in Kentucky and Arkansas — with high stakes for other states — all members of a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit repeatedly said senior Trump health officials had neglected to consider that people would lose health insurance under the new rules. Noting that state Medicaid experiments must fulfill the basic purposes of the program, Judge Harry T. Edwards told a Justice Department attorney, “You are failing to address the critical statutory objective” of providing vulnerable residents with health coverage. (Goldstein, 10/11)

The Wall Street Journal: Medicaid And The Health-Care Policy Debate Ahead Of 2020 Elections
A Medicaid work requirement has emerged as a divisive policy issue in the 2020 presidential election. President Trump has called for adding a mandate nationwide, while some Democratic candidates are proposing a single federal health system that would subsume the program. The Trump administration has approved requests from nine states, including Arizona, Michigan and Utah, to impose a work mandate on Medicaid recipients. Applications from nine other states are pending. (Armour, 10/13)

The Wall Street Journal: The Medicaid Experiment In Arkansas: Thousands Lost Coverage, Few Gained Jobs
Mr. Ellis is one of more than 18,000 people who were cut from the Medicaid rolls after Arkansas embarked on a closely watched experiment in June 2018, when it became the only state to fully implement a work requirement for program recipients. The outcome in Arkansas could help shape the future of Medicaid, a state-federal program for low-income and disabled people that covers one in seven adults across the U.S. President Trump and Republicans promote the mandate as a way to rein in safety-net costs and increase employment. In a blow to the GOP, a federal judge in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in March blocked Arkansas’ Medicaid work requirement, saying federal officials didn’t adequately consider its potential to cause recipients to lose coverage. (Campo-Flores and Armour, 10/13)

The New York Times: Judges Strike Several Blows To Trump Immigration Policies
President Trump’s immigration agenda ran into legal blockades in courts around the country on Friday as judges in four states barred his administration from trying to withhold green cards from people who use public benefits and rejected his plan to divert funds to erect a border wall. In three rulings, federal judges in New York, California and Washington State issued injunctions temporarily blocking the “public charge” rule, which would impose serious impediments to legal residency for those who use benefits such as Medicaid or those deemed likely to use them in the future. (Jordan, 10/11)

The Associated Press: Judges Block Green Card Denials For Immigrants On Public Aid 
The rulings in California, New York and Washington came in quick succession four days before the new rules were set to take effect. The judges ruled in favor of 21 states and the District of Columbia, which challenged the policy almost immediately after it was announced in August. U.S. District Judge George Daniels in New York said the policy redefined longstanding immigration laws with a new framework that had "no logic." Allowing the policy to go into effect now, he said, would have a significant impact on "law-abiding residents who have come to this country to seek a better life." (10/11)

Reuters: Judge Blocks Trump Immigration Rule, Calls It 'Repugnant To American Dream'
In California, U.S. Judge Phyllis Hamilton found "the plaintiffs are likely to prevail on the merits, for numerous reasons." In New York, Judge Daniels called the rule a "policy of exclusion in search of a justification." "It is repugnant to the American Dream of the opportunity for prosperity and success through hard work and upward mobility," Daniels wrote. (10/13)

The Washington Post: Lower Federal Courts Side Against Trump On Border Fence Funding, ‘Public Charge’ Rule
Ken Cuccinelli, the acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which was preparing to implement the public charge rule this month, suggested the government would appeal. “An objective judiciary will see that this rule lies squarely within long-held existing law,” he said in a statement. “Long-standing federal law requires aliens to rely on their own capabilities and the resources of their families, sponsors, and private organizations in their communities to succeed. The public charge regulation defines this long-standing law to ensure those seeking to come or stay in the United States can support themselves financially and will not rely on public benefits.” (Miroff, 10/11)

The Wall Street Journal: Federal Judges Block Rule To Disqualify Legal Immigrants Over Public Assistance
Backers of the rule said they want to ensure that immigrants are self-sufficient and prevent them from becoming a drain on U.S. taxpayers. The rule has been a particular priority for top White House aide Stephen Miller. The rule’s critics argue it has already had a chilling effect on immigrants’ use of a range of social benefits, with some opting out of benefits that aren’t covered by the rule because they don’t fully understand it. (Hackman and Kendall, 10/11)

The New York Times: E-Cigarettes Went Unchecked In 10 Years Of F.D.A. Inaction
In 2009, not long after Dr. Margaret Hamburg became commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, a package arrived at her home. Inside was a clunky device called an e-cigarette. “It was my first exposure to this emerging, new technology,” Dr. Hamburg recalled. The package was sent by an antismoking activist as a warning about a product that was taking off in the United States. But over the next decade, the federal government — across the span of two presidential administrations — allowed the rise of a largely unregulated industry that may be addicting a new generation to nicotine. (Thomas and Kaplan, 10/14)

The Wall Street Journal: Congress Probes Bot-Generated Social-Media Messages About E-Cigarettes
A congressional committee and the Massachusetts attorney general are investigating whether millions of bot-generated social-media messages about e-cigarettes have been misleading consumers about safety and health issues. In information requests to five big manufacturers of vaping products in August, House investigators asked each of the firms whether it had used social media bots to market its products. The House Energy and Commerce Committee request also asked for lists of all the usernames involved, as well as whether the bots have disclosed their connection with the manufacturer. (McKinnon, 10/14)

The Washington Post: Relapses Are Reported In Vaping-Related Lung Injuries, CDC Says
Federal health officials investigating mysterious vaping-related lung injuries said Friday that some patients are being hospitalized for a second time, a disturbing new development in the ongoing national outbreak that has spread to every state except Alaska. “We are aware of a handful of patients who have been readmitted for clinical care after discharge for lung injury,” said Anne Schuchat, the principal deputy director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is heading the public health investigation. (Sun, 10/11)

The New York Times: He Tried E-Cigarettes To Quit Smoking. Doctors Say Vaping Led To His Death.
In the spring, Kathleen Fimple buried her husband, John, and by the fall, she had reluctantly settled into her new life as a widow. She accepted what the doctors told her: that he had died at 68 from respiratory failure and pulmonary disease after years of smoking cigarettes, coupled with a bout of pneumonia. She went back to work. She canceled a trip around Europe that the couple had planned to take this month. Then she got an unexpected call from a doctor at Nebraska’s health department. (Bosman, 10/14)

The New York Times: No Drop In Vaping Cases, C.D.C. Says
As illnesses and deaths linked to vaping continue to rise, health experts on Friday updated their advice to doctors on how best to recognize symptoms and treat patients, and warned that the start of the flu season would make it harder to arrive at the right diagnosis. “I can’t stress enough the seriousness of these lung injuries associated with e-cigarettes or vaping products,” Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a news briefing. “We are not seeing a meaningful drop-off in new cases, and unfortunately many more people have been hospitalized with lung injury each week.” (Grady, 10/11)

Reuters: U.S. Vaping-Related Deaths Rise To 29
Indiana on Thursday confirmed two more deaths from a mysterious lung illness linked to e-cigarettes, bringing the total number of fatalities to 29 across the country, as U.S. health officials investigate the outbreak that has shown no signs of easing. (10/12)

Reuters: Reynolds American Files For FDA Review Of E-Cigarette
British American Tobacco Plc unit Reynolds American Inc said on Friday it had filed for a review of its Vuse e-cigarettes by the U.S. Food and Drug administration, giving it a lead over its main rival Juul Labs Inc. The FDA has set a May 2020 deadline for e-cigarette makers to submit a formal application to keep their products on the market amid its efforts to curb the use of e-cigarette among teens. (10/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Reynolds Files For FDA Review Of Vuse E-Cigarettes
The Reynolds filing, which totals more than 150,000 pages, gives it a jump on its two main rivals, Juul Labs Inc. and NJOY Holdings Inc. The FDA, which regulates tobacco, has given companies until May 2020 to submit any products they want to keep on store shelves after that date. The reviews have taken on new importance as the FDA prepares to pull off the market all e-cigarettes other than those formulated to taste like tobacco in a move intended to curb a rise in teen vaping. (Maloney, 10/11)

Politico: The Hazy Science Around Vaping Safety
The conventional wisdom is that e-cigs are safer than traditional cigarettes for adult smokers, and federal regulators need to figure out how to help them quit while keeping vapes away from young people. But amid an outbreak of a vaping-related lung disease, independent scientists say they are not so sure about that. (Allen, 10/11)

The New York Times: Helping Teenagers Quit Vaping
For many years, my lead-in question with adolescents, after I asked the parent to leave the room at pediatric appointments, was whether the kid had ever tried smoking cigarettes. It made a reasonable lead-in because it felt less highly charged than asking about marijuana or other substances, and in recent decades, the answer was very often no. Youth tobacco smoking in the United States was on the decline. (Klass, 10/14)

The New York Times: Judge Orders Pause In Opioid Litigation Against Purdue Pharma And Sacklers
Citing mounting costs of litigation that are siphoning funds that could otherwise go to abate the opioid crisis, a bankruptcy judge on Friday ordered a pause in legal action by states against Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sacklers. The ruling was a setback for 25 states that have forcefully opposed a national opioid settlement negotiated last month among the company and the Sacklers and cities, counties and other states that have filed lawsuits against them. To raise money for the settlement, Purdue has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and asked that all litigation against it and the Sacklers be halted. (Walsh, 10/11)

The Wall Street Journal: Bankruptcy Judge Pushes Purdue Into Talks With States Over Sackler Family Legal Shield
A bankruptcy judge in White Plains, N.Y., on Friday granted a brief legal reprieve to the Sackler family, owners of Purdue Pharma LP, shielding them from answering in court for their alleged role in feeding the nationwide opioid crisis. Judge Robert Drain didn’t grant Purdue’s request for a six-month stay of litigation that would bar the pursuit of the Sacklers for allegedly profiting from misleading sales of the opioid OxyContin. He pushed the drugmaker and protesting states to agree to stand down from court fights until Nov. 6, and talk instead. (Brickley, 10/11)

The Associated Press: Who Says You Can't Eat Red Meat? Food Advice Questioned Anew
So is red meat good or bad for you? If the answer were only that simple. A team of international researchers recently rattled the nutrition world by saying there isn't enough evidence to tell people to cut back on red or processed meat, seemingly contradicting advice from prominent health experts and groups including the American Cancer Society and American Heart Association. But the researchers didn't say people should eat more meat, or that it's healthy. (Choi, 10/13)

The New York Times: Five Reasons The Diet Soda Myth Won’t Die
There’s a decent chance you’ll be reading about diet soda studies until the day you die. (The odds are exceedingly good it won’t be the soda that kills you.) The latest batch of news reports came last month, based on another study linking diet soda to an increased risk of death. As usual, the study (and some of the articles) lacked some important context and caused more worry than was warranted. There are specific reasons that this cycle is unlikely to end. (Carroll, 10/14)

NPR: Canada's Transparency With Clinical Trial Puts Pressure On U.S. FDA To Reveal More
Last March, Canada's department of health changed the way it handles the huge amount of data that companies submit when seeking approval for a new drug, biological treatment, or medical device — or a new use for an existing one. For the first time, Health Canada is making large chunks of this information publicly available after it approves or rejects applications. Within 120 days of a decision, Health Canada will post clinical study reports on a new government online portal, starting with drugs that contain novel active ingredients and adding devices and other drugs over a four-year phase-in period. (Mantel, 10/11)

ProPublica/BuzzFeed News: Amazon Cuts Contracts With Delivery Companies Linked To Deaths
Amazon has abruptly canceled its contracts with three major delivery firms, a move that will put more than 2,000 people out of work and may signal a shift in how the online retail giant plans to deliver millions of packages to homes across the country every day. Inpax Shipping Solutions, based in Atlanta, has told employment regulators in six states that it would lay off at least 925 employees beginning Oct. 2 and would cease all delivery services for Amazon by early December, according to government records. (Callahan, O'Donovan and Bensinger, 10/11)

The New York Times: Your Paycheck May Impact Your Heart Health
Fluctuations in earnings may affect your heart health. Previous research has found that higher income is associated with lower rates of cardiovascular disease. Now a new study reports that changes in income also have a significant effect. (Bakalar, 10/13)

The Wall Street Journal: AI Could Prevent Marital Arguments Before They Even Begin
Couples often find themselves in familiar arguments that escalate and repeat. Artificial intelligence may be able to help. A group of four engineers and psychologists are trying to develop AI systems that use speech patterns and physiological, acoustic and linguistic data from wearable devices and smartphones to detect conflict between couples. The researchers believe that algorithms trained to work with such data could eventually predict conflict and offer an intervention before a situation escalates. (McConnon, 10/11)

NPR: Type 1 Diabetes Risk: A Genetic Test Could Reduce Emergency Hospitalizations
Nearly half of all children who develop Type 1 diabetes don't know they have the disease until they end up in a coma in the hospital. Researchers in Virginia have set out to see if a genetic test for Type 1 diabetes can eliminate many of those emergencies. "The risk of Type 1 diabetes is about half genetic and half unknown," says Stephen Rich, director of the Center for Public Health Genomics at the University of Virginia. His team developed a test that can identify people who carry that genetic susceptibility. (Harris, 10/14)

The New York Times: Does Your Toothbrush Have An App Yet?
When Theresa Gucciardo-Perry discovered a cracked crown in her mouth in April, she dreaded the idea of going to a dentist to get it replaced. The Cortlandt Manor, N.Y., resident has undergone more than 18 root canal procedures; she also has five implants, with crowns on all but her front teeth. She hated the procedure in which trays of a gag-producing, putty-like substance were stuffed into her mouth to make impressions. (Morrissey, 10/11)

The Washington Post: She Began To Talk — Then Mysteriously Fell Silent. Months Later Her Parents Learned Why.
The July day wasn’t too steamy — a rarity in Madison, Ala. — and her toddler’s physical therapy session wasn’t scheduled for another hour, so Jeannette Vega thought she’d take 26-month-old Tiana outside to play in their yard. Immediately, she was struck by her younger daughter’s difficulty climbing up the sturdy low-slung plastic slide, something Tiana had been able to do with ease only a week earlier. To distract her, Jeannette opened the door of the family’s truck. “Come on, let’s get in and buckle up,” she remembers saying. Tiana took particular delight in clambering into her car seat and fastening her seat belt. Not this time. (Boodman, 10/12)

The Washington Post: Fear Of Flying Anxiety Disorder Can Be Overcome
Tami Augen Rhodes needed to fly to Washington. An invitation to a black-tie event at the Supreme Court was an opportunity the 49-year-old lawyer in Tampa did not want to miss. But Rhodes had not flown since she was 35, when an escalating dislike of flying grew into a firm phobia. Desperate to get to Washington without resorting to a long train ride, Rhodes called into a weekly group-telephone chat run by Tom Bunn, a former Air Force and commercial airline pilot and licensed clinical social worker who runs a program for fearful fliers. (Vander Schaaff, 10/12)

The Washington Post: New Research Makes It Harder To Define Death
If you’re reading this, you know what living looks like — movement, neurological activity, thought, action. But what exactly is death? The answer is complicated, suggests neuroscientist Christof Koch. In “Is Death Reversible?” a feature article in the most recent issue of Scientific American, Koch grapples with a death definition that is much more nuanced than you might think. (Blakemore, 10/12)

The Washington Post: Frequent Urination At Night Is More Common As We Age
We know that aging can affect us physically in a variety of ways — arthritis, neuropathy, joint pain, hair loss among them — but one condition is less discussed, perhaps because it involves the potentially embarrassing subject of urination. Not only may you have to urinate frequently, sometimes you don’t have a lot of time to make it to the bathroom before an accident. (Rosario-Santiago, 10/13)

Los Angeles Times: In The Rush To Harvest Body Parts, Death Investigations Have Been Upended
When 69-year-old Marietta Jinde died in September 2016, police had already been called to her home several times because of reports of possible abuse. A detective described conditions at the woman’s home in Gardena as “horrendous.” She was so emaciated and frail that the hospital asked Los Angeles County adult protective services officials to look into her death. Yet by the time a coroner’s investigator was able to examine Jinde’s 70-pound body, the bones from her legs and arms were gone. Also missing were large patches of skin from her back. (Petersen, 10/13)

Los Angeles Times: How Organ And Tissue Donation Companies Worked Their Way Into The Morgue
As the sun set over the Nevada desert, coroners from across the country mingled with business executives, sipping icy margaritas and Tanqueray and tonics by a pool. The private party, held on the terrace of Las Vegas’ Golden Nugget hotel on a summer night in 2017, was a gift from Cryolife, a biotech company that sells valves sliced from human hearts to be used as medical devices. The festivities reflected the cozy relationship that has grown in recent years between the nation’s coroners and the industry that trades in tissues from human cadavers. (Petersen, 10/13)

Los Angeles Times: Key Cases Where Death Probes Were Complicated By Harvesting Of Body Parts
The industry that trades in human tissue has said there has never been a case in which the harvesting of body parts complicated a death investigation by a medical examiner or coroner. The Times studied reports of autopsies performed by medical examiners in Los Angeles and San Diego, finding more than two dozen investigations that were upended or delayed by the procurement of tissues or organs. Several deaths under investigation by detectives went unsolved, a death after a fight with police remains unsettled, and families have been left without answers to why their loved ones died. (Petersen, 10/13)

Los Angeles Times: Executives Coached Coroners On How To Keep Body Parts Harvesting Records Secret
When the Los Angeles Times asked for details of the human tissue procurement industry’s operations inside five large California county morgues, public officials worked with corporate executives to keep the activities secret, according to internal government emails. At a convention of California county coroners in September 2017, the companies’ executives discussed filing a lawsuit to block the release of information that reporters had requested under California‘s public records law. The companies later decided against the lawsuit, according to an executive’s email, because of fears it would spark controversy. (Petersen, 10/13)

The Wall Street Journal: After Abuse Allegations, Oregon Brings Back Foster Kids Sent Out Of State
Foster children in Oregon who were sent to privately run group homes out of state are now being brought back following numerous allegations of abuse. Oregon is one of several states that in recent years began relying on faraway residential treatment centers to house children with severe behavioral and psychiatric issues for whom adequate care couldn’t be found nearby. But the state’s child welfare agency didn’t regularly monitor their treatment and now two of the largest companies in the field have closed down facilities in Utah and Montana after staff members were accused of physical abuse and frequent use of drug injections to control the children, according to state regulators. (Elinson, 10/14)

The Associated Press: To Save Rural Hospitals, Georgia Requires Classes For CEOs
Like many other rural hospitals across the country, Taylor Regional in the small town of Hawkinsville, Georgia, had gone through years of financial troubles. When it approached retired Dr. Skip McDannald for help in 2015, he said he quickly spotted problems. (10/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Major Blue Health Insurers Drop Deal To Combine
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina and Cambia Health Solutions said they were dropping plans to combine, after the resignation of the North Carolina insurer’s chief executive. Former Blue Cross of North Carolina CEO Patrick Conway had stepped down amid fallout over an allegedly alcohol-related traffic accident. The two insurers had said they were pausing their deal on Sept. 24, as details of the June incident emerged. (Wilde Mathews, Scism and Bauerlein, 10/11)

Reuters: Ohio Ban On Down Syndrome Abortion Blocked By U.S. Appeals Court
A divided federal appeals court on Friday said Ohio cannot enforce a 2017 law banning abortions when medical tests show that a fetus has Down syndrome. Upholding a preliminary injunction, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati said the law was invalid under Supreme Court precedents because it had the purpose and effect of preventing some women from obtaining pre-viability abortions. (10/12)

ProPublica: Doctor Who Advocated 'Unethical' Care Of Vegetative Patient Is Placed On Leave
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center placed the director of its heart transplant program on administrative leave Thursday while the hospital awaits the results of investigations into whether a vegetative patient was kept alive to boost the program’s survival statistics. “As the most prudent course of action to ensure the complete independence of these internal and external assessments, we have placed the program’s director, Dr. Mark Zucker, on administrative leave pending the conclusion of our review,” Barry Ostrowsky, chief executive of the hospital’s affiliated network, RWJBarnabas Health, and Newark Beth Israel CEO Darrell Terry wrote in an email to employees Thursday night. (Chen, 10/11)

The Associated Press: Increased Number Of STDs In Hawaii Linked To Online Dating
Hawaii officials say an increase in sexually transmitted diseases to the highest numbers reported in decades can be linked to the prevalence of online dating. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Sunday that cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis have increased significantly in the state. (10/13)

Los Angeles Times: Abortion Medication To Be Available At California's College Health Centers Under New Law
California will become the first state in the nation to require public universities to provide access to abortion pills on campus under a bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday. Senate Bill 24 by state Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino) will go into effect in 2023, with the University of California and California State University systems required to offer students medical abortions. (Gutierrez, 10/11)

The Hill: California Becomes First State In US Requiring Public Universities To Offer Abortion Pill On Campus 
The new law requires that “each student health care services clinic on a California State University or University of California campus to offer abortion by medication techniques.” The 34 University of California and California State University schools have until January 2023 to comply. In a medical abortion, which is nonsurgical and noninvasive, women within the first 10 weeks of their pregnancy can take two prescription pills to induce a miscarriage. It is different than the morning-after pill, which prevents pregnancy from occurring altogether. (Seipel, 10/11)

Los Angeles Times: Fertility Options For Cancer Patients Will Be Covered Under New California Law
California will require health insurance companies to cover the cost of fertility procedures for patients undergoing treatment that can make it difficult to have children, such as chemotherapy, under a bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday. Senate Bill 600 by state Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) declares that fertility preservation treatments are a basic healthcare service and requires coverage by insurance plans. Supporters say that health plans are already required to cover such services but that some companies have refused to comply, prompting a bill explicitly requiring it. (Gutierrez, 10/13)

Los Angeles Times: After Mass Shootings, California Sets New Limits On Gun Buyers And Expands Firearm Seizure
After a string of mass shootings across the country this year, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday toughened California’s already strict gun control laws, signing a raft of bills that broadly expand the state’s “red flag” law and limit the purchase of semiautomatic rifles by individuals to one per month. Newsom, who was elected last year on a campaign that promised strict limits on firearms, signed 15 bills passed in response to recent mass shootings. (McGreevy, 10/11)

Los Angeles Times: California Is First State To Push Back School Start Times
California will become the first state in the nation to mandate later start times at most public schools under legislation signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday, a proposal designed to improve educational outcomes by giving students more sleep. The new law is not without controversy, though, opposed by some school officials and rejected twice before by lawmakers and Newsom’s predecessor. (Luna, 10/13)

The Associated Press: California Governor Signs Measure Banning ‘Lunch Shaming’
California’s governor has signed into law a bill that guarantees all students a state-funded meal of their choice, even if their parent or guardian has unpaid meal fees. The measure bans the practice of “lunch shaming,” in which students who owe the school money for meals are denied food or given a cheaper alternative meal. Under the new law, a school can no longer give a student a cheaper alternative meal. (10/12)

Los Angeles Times: California Grants More Time For Filing Child Sexual Abuse Allegations Under New Law
Victims of childhood sexual abuse will have more time to report allegations and file a lawsuit under a California law signed Sunday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The legislation was introduced following widespread allegations of abuse of minors by Catholic priests as well as the 2018 conviction of Larry Nassar, a former U.S. Olympic gymnastics team doctor, for molesting young athletes. (McGreevy, 10/13)