State Highlights: FDA Urges Against Cancer Labels On Coffee In Calif.; Assault On Nurse At Troubled Wash. Psychiatric Facility Highlights Staff Fears

Los Angeles Times: FDA To California: Cancer Warning Labels For Coffee Would Be 'Misleading'
There are still parts of the Trump administration that value science, and coffee drinkers in California can be thankful that the Food and Drug Administration is one of them. On Wednesday, the FDA sent a letter to Sacramento urging the state to put science ahead of the requirements of a controversial ballot initiative and end its war on coffee. (Kaplan, 8/29)

The Associated Press: Staff At Psychiatric Hospital Fear For Safety
A patient with a history of violence has been charged with the weekend assault of a nurse at a Washington state psychiatric hospital that recently lost accreditation and federal funding due to safety violations. He is accused of punching the nurse, knocking her to the floor and repeatedly stomping on her head. (Bellisle, 8/29)

The Baltimore Sun: Johns Hopkins Hospital Unit Trains To Respond To Infectious Disease Outbreaks, Bioterrorism
Two medics wearing head-to-toe protective gear carefully wheeled the man on a gurney out of an elevator at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The public health researcher recently returned from the Democratic Republic of Congo and had symptoms of Ebola — a cough, muscle pain and high fever. Dressed in a dark t-shirt and shorts, the man lay encased in a plastic, bubble-like pod. Doctors isolated him to prevent the spread of the highly infectious disease, transporting him from the emergency room to the hospital’s biocontainment unit for quarantine until tests could be completed. (McDaniels, 8/29)

Nashville Tennessean: BlueCross Inks Deal With Anesthesia Group To Avoid Surprise Bills
An eleventh-hour deal between Tennessee’s largest health insurance company and the biggest anesthesiologist group in the state will end a corporate tug of war that nearly led to patients facing surprise bills that could cost thousands. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee and Anesthesia Medical Group confirmed Wednesday they inked an agreement that will prevent BlueCross from booting AMG from its insurance network. The physicians group was set to leave the network if a compromise wasn’t reached by the start of September. (Kelman, 8/29)

Sacramento Bee: More Than $40 Million Raised For Fight Over California Dialysis Profits And Patients
Dialysis clinics and unions have reported collecting more than $40 million for a fight over Proposition 8, a statewide ballot measure that would limit profits for dialysis companies. The proposition cap dialysis clinic profits at 15 percent and would require the clinics who have higher profit margins to pay rebates to insurance companies or face fines. The clinics would also need to annually report financial information such as costs, revenue and patient charges to the state. (Chen, 8/30)

Reuters: California University Doctor Accused Of Sex Abuse Sees License Suspended
A former University of Southern California (USC) gynecologist, accused of sexually assaulting hundreds of students, has agreed to a suspension of his medical license, officials said on Wednesday. Dr. George Tyndall reached an agreement this week with the Medical Board of California temporarily prohibiting him from practicing medicine until it makes a final decision on the status of his license, board spokeswoman Susan Wolbarst said. (8/29)

Boston Globe: A New Role For Paramedics: Treating Patients At Home
Michaud is among a small number of paramedics in Massachusetts working in pilot programs that allow them to treat patients with urgent medical needs at home, a practice that soon will be more common through money included in the recently approved state budget. ...The goal is to avoid unnecessary and costly hospital visits while treating patients where they are most comfortable. (Dayal McCluskey, 8/29)

Kaiser Health News: Californians Living Longer With Cancer — Some Longer Than Others 
As he grew older, Dale Kunitomi paid closer attention to his health — and to his doctor’s advice. When he noticed rectal bleeding in 2010, he went to see his physician, who ordered a colonoscopy.The diagnosis: colon cancer. (Gorman, 8/30)

Los Angeles Times: California Lawmakers Vote To Raise The Age For Buying Long Guns From 18 To 21
Alarmed by a string of mass shootings by young people, California lawmakers on Wednesday sent the governor a bill that would raise the minimum age for buying long guns in the state from 18 to 21. Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) said his bill would address concerns raised by incidents including the February shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in which a 19-year-old is accused of using an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle to kill 17 students and school employees. (McGreevy, 8/30)

KQED: Amid Traumatizing Work, Firefighters Open Up — To Each Other
People tend to think of firefighters as calm under pressure, stoic about the risks they take and private about the devastation they witness. Many firefighters prefer to maintain that image. But as fire seasons intensify, more firefighters are realizing it’s better to open up -- at least to each other. (Hutson, 8/29)

Reuters: Florida Finds Atypical Mad Cow Case, No Human Threat Seen
A 6-year-old beef cow in Florida tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Wednesday. The animal tested positive for atypical H-type BSE on Aug. 26 at the Colorado State University's veterinary diagnostic laboratory, as part of routine surveillance of cattle that are found to be unfit for slaughter, the agency said. (Huffstutter, 8/29)

The Associated Press: Ex-Medical Examiner Gets 8 Years In Opioids-For-Sex Case
A highly regarded former Georgia medical examiner has been sentenced to serve eight years in prison for trading opioid prescriptions for sex in what former colleagues say is a sad and shocking turn for a man they knew as an ethical and dedicated public servant. A forensic pathologist and former medical examiner, Joseph Burton, 73, handled cases from seven metro Atlanta counties, including some of the region's most high-profile murders. (8/29)

Health News Florida: Pre-Birth Spina Bifida Surgery Now In Florida
A surgery performed to correct for spina bifida before a baby is even born is being offered for the first time in Florida. Surgeons at Winnie Palmer Hospital say by repositioning a child’s spine and closing an opening in their back, they’re able to avoid mobility and digestive problems. (Prieur, 8/30)

The CT Mirror: STDs Reach Record Levels In CT, Early Data Show
Connecticut experienced record-high cases last year of sexually transmitted diseases, including gonorrhea, which health officials fear may be becoming more resistant to antibiotic treatment. The state’s spike in gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia cases coincides with “steep and sustained” increases seen nationwide from 2013 through 2017, in an analysis released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Kara and Rigg, 8/30)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Doctor Who Promotes Chelation Therapy Accused Of Medicare Fraud
A Ringgold doctor falsely diagnosed patients as suffering from heavy metal poisoning and then billed Medicare for their treatment, federal prosecutors allege in a Medicare fraud lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. district court in Atlanta. Dr. Charles C. Adams perpetrated the scheme in Georgia for seven years, the government alleges, submitting some 4,500 claims and collecting about $1.5 million for what the lawsuit calls medically unnecessary chelation therapy. (Norder, 8/29)

The Associated Press: New Illinois Law Allows Medical Marijuana Pain Prescriptions
Doctors in Illinois can now prescribe marijuana as a painkiller thanks to a new law intended to counter a growing opioid abuse epidemic. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner signed the bill into law Tuesday allowing physicians to temporarily prescribe cannabis for pain relief, effective immediately. (8/29)

Kaiser Health News: The Pluses And Minuses Of Allowing Medical Marijuana At School 
Every school day at noon, Karina Garcia drives to her son’s South San Francisco high school to give him a dose of cannabis oil to prevent potentially life-threatening seizures. But she can’t do it on campus. She has to take Jojo, a 19-year-old with severe epilepsy, off school grounds to squirt the drug into his mouth, then bring him back for his special education classes. (Young, 8/30)