The Mercury News: Drugging Our Kids: Brown Passes Two Psych Med Bills, Vetoes Another
Capping years of efforts to stop California’s foster care system from overmedicating the state’s most vulnerable children, Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday signed a controversial bill that for the first time puts doctors who recklessly prescribe psychiatric drugs at risk of losing their medical license. The measure is part of a series of sweeping legislative reforms inspired by this news organization’s series “Drugging Our Kids” that disclosed the state’s dependence on psychotropic medications to control troubled children in the country’s largest child welfare system. (Seipel, 9/29)

San Francisco Chronicle: Brown Signs Two More Laws To Curb Overuse Of Meds On Foster Youth 
California Gov. Jerry Brown Thursday signed two more bills to protect traumatized foster children from psychiatric care that is overly reliant on risky medications — cementing what is now the most comprehensive set of laws in the nation. Following three laws passed last year, the additional legislation will subject overprescribing physicians to stepped-up investigations and ensure that counties offer mental health services for foster children that include non-drug treatments. Brown vetoed a bill that would have enhanced juvenile court oversight of prescribing. But the courts have already launched a sweeping set of new standards requiring doctors to justify their prescriptions before judges approve them, and ensuring that foster children have a say in whether they want to take the untested drugs. (De Sa, 9/29)

Reuters: California Shooting Shows Police Ill-Equipped To Handle Mentally Ill
The fatal shooting by police of a mentally unstable California man and the anguished response of his sister who had called 911 seeking help highlight the risks of a U.S. system that often relies on law enforcement to respond to mental health crises. Alfred Olango, 38, a Ugandan-born immigrant, was shot by one officer even as another, who had been trained to deal with mentally ill people, attempted to subdue him with a Taser, police said. (Bernstein, 9/29)

Mercury News: Menlo Park Couple Helping Fight Addiction
In 2012, with a small group that includes other recovering addicts, he [Clennan Williams] helped form Battlefield Ministry, a support network for addicts at Westside Church of Christ in San Mateo. The main group members all have experience working with people suffering from addictions. Battlefield, which meets at the church at 1 p.m. Sundays and 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays, also supports people with compulsive behavior and performs outreach to the homeless community and works with at-risk youth. Peggy helps by cooking for potlucks and fundraisers. (Kelly, 9/29)

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Twenty Years Later, Santa Rosa Breast Cancer Survivor Turns Advocate 
Nancy Witherell used to be something of a comic for cancer. Inside she was broken in pieces, a young mother with an aggressive breast cancer made all the more ominous by the fact that she was pregnant when it was discovered.  But humor, including antics like painting her bald head pumpkin orange for Halloween and topping it off with a green toilet paper stem — helped her survive a dark time when an early death seemed inevitable...Twenty years later, the Santa Rosa woman looks back on that traumatic time with a more sober perspective, while rejoicing in the rich midlife she never expected to have. (McConahey, 9/29)

The Desert Sun: Flying Doctors Return To Thermal On Oct. 1
Hundreds of people who struggle to obtain routine and sometimes lifesaving medical care are expected to get help soon when Flying Doctors returns for its annual free clinic in Thermal. The volunteer group, known as Los Médicos Voladores in Spanish, has been coming to the Coachella Valley at least once a year since 1995 to provide free doctor and dental checkups, plus preventative services like flu shots, breast exams, hearing checks and blood pressure monitoring. (Newkirk, 9/29)

In other news from across the state —

The Mercury News: Saratoga: Cuddly Friends Make Adult Care Center Feel Like Home 
Kathy Nickel has been coming to the Adult Day Care Center in Saratoga for 20 years, but recently she’s found some new reasons to look forward to her weekday visits. Those reasons are furry and have four legs: Tigger, a 10 month old orange tabby, and Tucker, a 3-year-old Lhasa-Chihuahua mix, have brought love and joy to the center’s participants.Nickel, who lives at Amberwood Gardens nursing home in San Jose, can’t wait to get dropped off at the center and spend time with the pair. (Baum, 9/29)

Capital Public Radio: UC Davis 'Tomato Lab' Transforms Local Bounty Into DIY Skills
Family Hui works closely with Yolo County families, most of whom face food insecurity in their daily lives. A previous survey found tomatoes to be a top food preference within the community. The next step involved staff from Yolo Food Bank... Participants were invited to develop nutritious, tomato-based recipes their families would enjoy eating. Four recipes were chosen to be tested in the lab. Professor De Moura Bell says the project looks at ways in which abundant, local produce can be used to make shelf-stable foods to feed communities in need. (Mitric, 9/29)

The New York Times: U.S. Paid Insurers Funds Meant For Treasury, Auditors Say
Federal auditors ruled on Thursday that the Obama administration had violated the law by paying health insurance companies more than allowed under the Affordable Care Act in an effort to hold down insurance premiums. Some of the money was supposed to be deposited in the Treasury, said auditors from the Government Accountability Office. (Pear, 9/29)

In other national health care news —

The Washington Post: Obama Administration May Use Obscure Fund To Pay Billions To ACA Insurers
The Obama administration is maneuvering to pay health insurers billions of dollars the government owes under the Affordable Care Act, through a move that could circumvent Congress and help shore up the president’s signature legislative achievement before he leaves office. Justice Department officials have privately told several health plans suing over the unpaid money that they are eager to negotiate a broad settlement, which could end up offering payments to about 175 health plans selling coverage on ACA marketplaces, according to insurance executives and lawyers familiar with the talks. (Goldstein, 9/29)

The Associated Press: Medicare Sets New Patient Safety Goals For Hospitals
Medicare is setting new goals for keeping hospitalized patients safe and reducing readmissions after patients are discharged. Hospitalization can be hazardous to your health, with risks like medication errors, falls and infections. And a lack of follow-through after patients are discharged can sometimes land them right back in the hospital. (9/29)

The Washington Post: CDC Officials Worry That New Flu Vaccine Recommendations Could Reduce Use
Flu season is about to start, and public health officials are worried that their recommendation earlier this year to avoid using the nasal spray version of the annual vaccine will result in fewer people getting protection. The CDC has recommended annual flu shots for everyone ages 6 months and older for the past six years. During the 2014-2015 season, federal health officials had recommended the nasal spray vaccine for young children. But an expert panel on vaccines said in June that the nasal spray, FluMist, used by millions, failed to protect children last year for the third year in a row and should not be used this coming flu season. (Sun, 9/29)

East Bay Times: Prop. 61 On Drug Prices Will Save Lives
The drug companies want you to believe Prop. 61 will hurt veterans. Don’t believe it. Federal law caps the amount the VA can spend for prescription drugs. Drug company scare tactics that they’ll raise other prices ignore the fact that they are already operating with virtually no limits on what they charge. When do we tell the racketeers enough is enough? (Malinda Markowitz, 9/27)

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: No On 61: False Promise On Drug Prices
Drug companies hate Proposition 61, and they’re on track to spend $100 million to defeat it. But respected consumer groups including Consumers Union and Health Access are neutral, despite their support for cost containment. And independent budget analysts can’t say if it would save money for taxpayers (9/28)

Los Angeles Times: This Drug Company Placed A Nearly $10,000 Price Tag On Drugs That May Not Even Work 
Profiteering in the drug business has been generating outrage for months now. Gilead Sciences and Mylan have been taking the heat for huge increases in the prices, respectively, for their hepatitis-C cures and injectors to fend off life-threatening allergic reactions. But at least we can say this about them: Their products work. That may not necessarily be true about some of the drugs for which Chicago-based Novum Pharma has raised prices as much as 40-fold. Two of the three topical gels for dermatological conditions distributed by Novum are listed by the Food and Drug Administration as only “possibly effective.” (Michael Hiltzik, 9/26)

Bakersfield Californian: Could California Lower Drug Prices For Us All?
Other countries don’t let drugmakers abuse their citizenry with rapacious pricing. But the U.S. Congress does the drug industry’s bidding, defending business practices that bilk patients, taxpayers and anyone who buys health coverage. That’s why Mylan got away with hiking the EpiPen price (for Americans) by 500 percent. It’s how Turing Pharmaceuticals could raise the price of a drug used by AIDS patients by some 5,000 percent. (Froma Harrop, 9/28)

Los Angeles Times: Heavy-Handed Proposition 60 Would Deputize Every Californian As A Condom Cop
Ideally, adult film performers would use condoms when they engage in on-screen intercourse. It’s the most reliable way to keep them safe from contracting or spreading sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. But the adult film industry has doggedly refused to adopt this simple protective measure, even though state labor code requires workers be protected from blood-borne pathogens. Even a 2004 outbreak of HIV among porn actors didn’t change that. (9/28)

Los Angeles Times: Don't Scapegoat Big Sugar. Lots Of Food Producers Profited From The Demonization Of Fat
The recent revelation that Harvard scientists were paid off to downplay sugar’s harms in the 1960s shows how the food industry shockingly manipulated nutrition science for decades. Yet the news media has given the sugar industry too much credit. The real story about how sugar got a pass — while dietary fat and cholesterol were blamed for heart disease — reveals that other industries played a role, as did, surprisingly, many of the country’s leading scientists. (Nina Teicholz, 9/26)

Los Angeles Times: Knott's Closes Attraction That Was Insensitive To People Who Care About Mental Health 
You remember Ron Thomas. He’s the guy who lost his son, Kelly, a little more than five years ago. The beating of the long-suffering 37-year-old by Fullerton police officers was sad testament to the critical shortage of services for those with debilitating mental illness, the lack of police training to deal with them, and the stigma around the disease... He is an advocate, and he is still Kelly’s father, and in both capacities he went to see what FearVR was all about, knowing it had originally been called FearVR: 5150, a reference to the code for a psychiatric commitment. But it was sold out. (Steve Lopez, 9/27)

Ventura County Star: Medical Bill Legislation Is Confusing
Pardon the pun, but this just puts a band-aid on what is a huge, gaping wound. I'm not saying the problem needn't be addressed legislatively. It does. But send this one back to the drawing board and make it clearer and more comprehensive. (Mary Edwards, 9/26)

Ventura County Star: How The Election May Affect Obamacare
The Accountable Care Organization, a construct of the ACA, theoretically could mitigate many of these issues by emphasizing primary care, wellness and prevention. But that effort is very immature with many kinks to work out. (Dr. Irving Kent Loh, 9/24)

The Desert Sun: A Decade Of Collaboration On Valley Health At HARC
This amazing organization directly supports a wide range of diverse local organizations and enables them to better serve their clients and enrich their lives. Now, as HARC celebrates its 10th anniversary, it is worth looking back on the many organizations we have partnered with over that last decade, and reflect on how we directly or indirectly continue to improve the lives of every Coachella Valley resident. (Bruce Purdy, 9/26)

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: No On Measure M: The Science Just Doesn’t Warrant It
First, there’s no evidence that GMO crops are actually being used in Sonoma County. It’s also unlikely that any farmer or dairy owner would suddenly start employing them given the high upfront cost of using such crops, which are usually employed on large-scale operations more common in the Midwest. (9/25)