State Highlights: Florida Judge Rules 4-Year-Old Boy Stays With Grandparents After Parents Stop His Chemo; Former USC Doctor Charged With Sex Abuse Surrenders License

CNN: A Florida Judge Denies Parents Custody Of 4-Year-Old Son With Leukemia In Ongoing Medical Custody Battle
A Florida judge ruled Monday that the parents of a 4-year-old boy with leukemia lost their bid Monday to regain custody after their struggle with the state over giving him chemotherapy. Noah McAdams was removed from his parents' custody in April when they skipped a chemotherapy session and left the state in pursuit of alternative treatments. (Del Valle, 9/10)

Tampa Bay Times: Judge Rules 4-Year-Old Boy With Leukemia Will Stay With Grandparents To Ensure His Health
Joshua McAdams and Taylor Bland-Ball will be required to undergo a psychological evaluation with a parenting index after which point they may be able to be reunified with their child. If they don’t comply, the out-of-home placement could become permanent. They have 30 days to appeal the judge’s decision. (Kumar, 9/9)

The New York Times: Ex-USC Doctor Charged With Sex Abuse Surrenders License
George Tyndall, a former University of Southern California gynecologist charged with sexually assaulting patients, has surrendered his medical license, the state medical board announced Monday. Tyndall surrendered the license effective last Thursday, the board announced. His license would have expired next Jan. 31. (9/9)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: State Investigators Subpoena Cuyahoga County Jail Emails In Criminal Case Of Former Jail Director
State investigators subpoenaed Cuyahoga County for jail-related emails exchanged among top county and MetroHealth officials over four years. The subpoena was issued in the ongoing criminal case against former jail director Ken Mills and requires Cuyahoga County to provide the emails by Sept. 30 to state prosecutors and Mills’ defense attorney, Kevin Spellacy. (Astolfi, 9/9)

Kansas City Star: Rock Bottom Win Rates For Disability Benefit Appeals Concern Legal Aid
In 2017, 54 percent of the more than 1,145 people were successful in reversing a denial or re-evaluation of benefits by the Missouri Department of Social Services (DSS), according to data supplied to Legal Aid by DSS. In 2018, the percentage of those who won dipped to 42 percent.In the first four months of this year, the number dropped to less than 20 percent. (Thomas, 9/10)

KCUR: Sexually Transmitted Diseases Rise In Kansas, Especially In Rural Counties 
But while immigrants and refugees that man the region’s beefpacking plants often come from places that lack modern health care, it’s far from the only contributing factor. There’s drug abuse, sex trafficking, gaps in sex education classes for teens and a laundry list of cultural taboos all leading to an environment where gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia and, now, HIV spread quickly. ...Since 2015, sexually transmitted diseases have climbed in Kansas along with national rates. A 2017 study from the Centers for Disease Control noted a rise of syphilis, including among the newborns of infected mothers. (Boyer, 9/9)

San Francisco Chronicle: Family Files Claim Against Fremont, Alameda County In Death Of Man In Custody
The family of a 20-year-old man claims that law-enforcement officers with the city of Fremont and Alameda County ignored their son’s mental health needs and instead beat and left him unaccompanied in a restraint device, resulting in his death several days after being taken into custody. Christian Madrigal died on June 15, after his family sought medical assistance from the Fremont Police Department six days earlier, when he was suffering from a mental health crisis, according to a complaint the family’s attorneys filed Monday with the county and Fremont. (Ravani, 9/9)

Sacramento Bee: ACLU Again Takes On Mercy San Juan Over Transgender Rights
The American Civil Liberties Union will square off once again against Mercy San Juan Medical Center in a San Francisco courtroom on Tuesday, asking that an appeals court overturn a lower-court ruling allowing the Carmichael-based hospital to deny hysterectomies to transgender patients. (Anderson, 9/9)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Mother Charged In Death Of Disabled, 42-Pound Teen
A woman has been charged in the death of her severely disabled and malnourished teenage son, according to a criminal complaint released Monday. Hector J. Pizarro, 16, weighed only 42 pounds when his mother, Iraida M. Pizarro-Osorio, brought him to the Sixteenth Street Community Health Center, 1032 S. Cesar E. Chavez Drive, on Wednesday, according to the complaint and the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office. The boy's skeletal structure was visible through his skin and there was a pressure sore on the right side of his body. (Garza, 9/9)

San Francisco Chronicle: SF Mayor, Supes Announce Plan To Help Save Residential Treatment Homes For City’s Vulnerable
As San Francisco’s residential care facilities rapidly disappear, Mayor London Breed and three supervisors announced a plan Monday that they hope will stem the closures. The plan comes amid increasing political pressure for elected officials to deal with the skyrocketing numbers of homeless people — many suffering from mental illness and addiction — on the city’s streets. (Thadani, 9/9)

Arizona Republic: Arizona's Longest Running Organization For HIV/AIDS Patients To Close
Arizona's longest-running AIDS service organization is closing, officials announced Monday. The board of directors for the nonprofit Phoenix Shanti Group made the decision on Friday. The organization has 13 staff members, approximately 100 clients and will gradually wind down over the next nine months, leaders with the group said. (Innes, 9/9)

Modern Healthcare: Video Doctor Network CEO Pleads Guilty In Medicare Fraud
The owner of telemedicine company Video Doctor Network on Friday pleaded guilty for his role in what the Justice Department is calling one of the largest healthcare fraud schemes prosecuted to date in the U.S. Lester Stockett, 52, a resident of Colombia, agreed to pay $200 million in restitution to the U.S. as part of his plea agreement. The Justice Department in April brought charges against 24 defendants including Stockett for their role in a $424 million conspiracy to defraud Medicare and receive illegal kickbacks. (Cohen, 9/9)

Houston Chronicle: Harris Health Declares Systemwide Internal Disaster Following Water Pipe Burst At Ben Taub 
Harris Health System officials declared a systemwide internal disaster Monday as a result of a water pipe break overnight at Ben Taub Hospital. The break and resulting leakage forced the immediate relocation of nearly 100 patients, which has significantly affected patient capacity at not just Ben Taub but also Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, according to a Harris Health statement. LBJ is Harris Health's second major hospital. (Gil and Ackerman, 9/9)

Arizona Republic: Measure To Legalize Marijuana In Arizona Will Change After Review
The backers of a measure to legalize marijuana in Arizona will make several "minor" changes following a legal review of the proposal by staff members of the state Legislature. The 16-page "Smart and Safe Arizona Act" proposal was filed with the state in early August, and the backers opted for a review by the Legislative Council, a legislative committee that assists with the drafting of bills. The council responded with their review Friday. (Randazzo, 9/9)

Kaiser Health News: Hospital Giant Sutter Health Faces Legal Reckoning Over Medical Pricing
Economists and researchers long have blamed the high cost of health care in Northern California on the giant medical systems that have gobbled up hospitals and physician practices — most notably Sutter Health, a nonprofit chain with 24 hospitals, 34 surgery centers and 5,000 physicians across the region. Now, those arguments will have their day in court: A long-awaited class-action lawsuit against Sutter is set to open Sept. 23 in San Francisco Superior Court. (Gold, 9/10)

Boston Globe: State Regulators Suspend Six Licenses From Marijuana Company As One Of Its Owners Faces Drug Charge
Massachusetts marijuana regulators have suspended six licenses from a cannabis company after one of its owners was arrested last month for his alleged involvement in an illegal marijuana-growing operation. Nova Farms LLC, which has multiple licenses in Attleboro and Sheffield, was notified by the Cannabis Control Commission on Friday that all six of its licenses had been suspended — and all its cannabis operations halted — as regulators investigate the arrest of one of its owners, Mark Rioux. (Gans, 9/9)