State Highlights: Lower N.J. Court Abused Its Discretion In Blocking Aid In Dying Law, Appeals Board Rules; Calif. Bill Forcing Kaiser Permanente To Disclose Profits Moves Forward

The Associated Press: New Jersey Court Ruling Lets Assisted Suicide Go Ahead
New Jersey can move ahead with a new law allowing terminally ill patients to seek life-ending drugs, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday, overturning a lower court's temporary hold on the law. Judges Carmen Messano and Arnold Natali ruled Tuesday that a state Superior Court "abused its discretion" in blocking the law earlier this month. (Catalini, 8/27)

Modern Healthcare: Transparency Bill Aimed At Kaiser Passes Calif. Legislature
Kaiser Permanente may face a new California transparency law targeted at its finances. The state Legislature passed a union-sponsored bill that would force each of the health system's facilities to disclose its profits. The state Legislature sent the bill to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk on Monday, where he has 12 days from receiving it to sign it into law. A spokesperson for Newsom said the governor is still evaluating the legislation. (Luthi, 8/27)

The Baltimore Sun: Patient With Terminal Cancer Sues University Of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center Over Her Care 
Katrina Dennis was a 36-year-old corporate lawyer in Baltimore in 2015 with lots of demands on her time from business and civic groups and a tight-knit group of family and friends. Today she lies in a hospital bed at Johns Hopkins Hospital with cancer in her organs, blood and bones that is certain to end her life. Several miles north in Towson, a jury will decide whether this outcome could have been prevented by her doctor, head of the Breast Center at the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center who diagnosed her with a curable form of the disease more than four years ago. (Cohn, 8/28)

The CT Mirror: Public Health Commissioner Won't Release School-By-School Vaccination Data
Renee Coleman-Mitchell, Connecticut’s public health commissioner, said Tuesday that she has no plans to release the most recent round of statewide school-by-school immunization data, despite calls this week from lawmakers who say parents should have access to the information as the school year begins. ...The commissioner said the department would disclose county-level immunization data, which has been common practice, in October. (Carlesso, 8/27)

The Washington Post: Florida Nursing Home Employees Charged With Manslaughter In Deaths Of 12 In Sweltering Facility
Four employees of a South Florida nursing home where a dozen people died amid sweltering heat in September 2017 were arrested and charged with manslaughter and tampering with evidence, police said Tuesday. In announcing the charges, police officials assailed the four employees — the facility’s administrator and three nurses — and said the deaths were all avoidable and due to their behavior. (Berman, 8/27)

The Oregonian: OHSU Announces It Could Start Heart Transplants Again 
OHSU Hospital has revealed the names of the three cardiologists it hired this summer to restart the hospital’s heart transplant program. The announcement comes with days left before a deadline that would require the hospital to go through a lengthy recertification process. Now the program must perform a transplant to retain its status with the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Harbarger, 8/27)

Stat: Patent Office Narrows The Battleground In CRISPR Case
The contours of the latest battle over patents on the CRISPR genome editing technology are becoming a little clearer: In a decision released Monday evening, the U.S. patent office told the Broad Institute, on one side, and the University of California and its allies, on the other, what they’ll be allowed to fight about. And in tennis terms, it’s advantage, Broad. (Begley, 8/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: SF General Relaxes Policy That Tries To Keep Psychiatric ER Patients Awake To Shorten Visits
San Francisco General Hospital recently changed a controversial policy at the psychiatric emergency room intended to keep patients awake and shorten their visits, so the unit could keep up with its overwhelming demand. For the past 18 months, the majority of people who entered the psychiatric emergency unit were only allowed to sit upright in armchairs that did not recline. (Thadani and Fracassa, 8/27)

Seattle Times: Massachusetts Health-Care System Conducting A Review Of US HealthVest After Seattle Times Investigation 
A health-care system in Massachusetts said it was conducting a review of US HealthVest, its partner in a proposed psychiatric hospital, two days after a Seattle Times investigation of the company’s operations in Washington and other states. “Our foremost priority is to assure that any partnership is consistent with both our mission and our core goals as an organization: quality care, increased access to critical health services, financial stability and investment in community health.” (Gilbert, 8/27)

NH Times Union: NH Towns On Mass. Border Wary Of EEE
After a Bay State woman infected with Eastern Equine Encephalitis died over the weekend, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced the disease killed a horse in Methuen, New Hampshire’s border towns are on alert. Jeff Emanuelson, assistant chief of the Salem Fire Department, said a contractor working for the town has been treating standing water with a chemical meant to kill mosquito larva since June. The contractor is also monitoring mosquito traps, and regularly testing batches of mosquitoes for EEE and West Nile Virus. (Albertson-Grove, 8/27)

Los Angeles Times: Audit Finds Deep Failures At LAHSA, L.A.'s Top Homeless Agency
The homeless outreach agency that was meant to move hundreds of people from the streets into housing, shelters or treatment for mental illness and substance abuse has failed dramatically to meet the goals of its contract with the city of Los Angeles, according to an audit set to be released Wednesday by Controller Ron Galperin. The audit found that, despite having more than doubled its staff of outreach workers in the last two years, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority missed seven of nine goals during the 2017-18 fiscal year and five of eight last fiscal year. (Smith, 8/27)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The Jolt: Governor Won’t Seek To Close Plants That Use Ethylene Oxide
Gov. Brian Kemp said Monday that his administration would not seek to close plants in Covington and Smyrna where cancer-causing gas emissions have sparked an uproar from worried residents. ...Though state law gives authorities leeway to shut down the plants, Kemp was seen as unlikely to do so, since it would trigger a legal battle with two companies. (Galloway, Bluestein and Hallerman, 8/27)

Georgia Health News: State Launches Probe Of Ethylene Oxide Leak At Smyrna Facility
The state’s Environmental Protection Division launched an immediate investigation Tuesday of a previously undisclosed leak of toxic gas at a Smyrna medical sterilizing facility. The amount of the ethylene oxide leaked last month was less than 6 pounds, said Sterigenics, the company that runs the sterilization plant. If it had been more than 10 pounds, the company would have been obligated to report the leak quickly to state regulators. (Goodman and Miller, 8/27)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Tony Evers Broadening Efforts To Regulate 'Forever' Chemicals
The Evers administration is broadening efforts to crack down on a group of harmful chemical compounds by taking steps to regulate “forever” chemicals in both drinking water and in lakes, streams and rivers. The state Department of Natural Resources said on Tuesday that the agency has been directed by Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, to take additional steps to address a spate of compounds coming under growing scrutiny because of their potential health consequences on humans. (Bergquist, 8/27)

Los Angeles Times: Homeless Man Burned To Death In Skid Row Area
A homeless man was burned to death on skid row on Monday night, and Los Angeles police have captured one suspect in connection with the gruesome killing, authorities said late Tuesday. The incident occurred near 6th and San Pedro streets about 11:30 p.m. Monday, according to Capt. Gisselle Espinoza, a Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman. (Queally, 8/27)

Los Angeles Times: Amid Scandals, USC Continues Reputation Reboot With New Provost Appointment
As it navigates a raft of high-profile scandals, the University of Southern California has selected a new provost and second-in-command: Charles F. Zukoski, an accomplished chemical engineer and the current provost of the University at Buffalo. President Carol L. Folt announced her choice on Tuesday, marking her most significant appointment since taking over the helm of USC this summer and pledging to rapidly address the university’s challenges. (Hamilton, 8/27)