San Francisco Chronicle: Amsterdam-Style Cannabis Cafes Coming To California
Your cannabis purchase may soon come with a side of fresh food and live music, after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Tuesday legalizing Amsterdam-style cannabis cafes. Under the new law, local jurisdictions can permit licensed cannabis retailers to prepare and serve food and drinks and host live performances on site. (Ellis, 10/1)

Fresno Bee: New California Law Requires Re-Evaluation Of Paraquat Pesticide 
A new law will require California pesticide regulators to reexamine the use of one of the most widely used weedkillers in agriculture. (Montalvo, 10/2)

Los Angeles Times: Honeywell To Clean Up Contaminated Groundwater In L.A.
Decades ago, chemicals from manufacturing plants seeped into the groundwater in the San Fernando Valley, contaminating the aquifer. As part of ongoing cleanup efforts, the federal Environmental Protection Agency has announced that the company Honeywell International Inc. has agreed to pay for building water treatment facilities in North Hollywood. The EPA said the facilities will treat groundwater in a portion of the San Fernando Valley Superfund site, enabling the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to use the water as part of its supplies. (James, 10/1)

The Oaklandside: Why Is There Lead In Oakland Schools In The First Place?
Ben Tapscott knew something was off at McClymonds in 2017 when he saw a coach bringing cases of water into the building. The coach was “rolling water in from his mother’s house,” Tapscott, a longtime volunteer at McClymonds and the school’s former basketball coach, recalled during a 2018 Oakland Unified School District board meeting. “And I said, ‘What are you doing?’ He said, ‘The water is bad out here.’ “The teachers don’t drink the water. The students are drinking the water. And the water is on today.” (McBride and Rhoades, 10/1)

Becker's Hospital Review: Tenet California Hospital Taps 4th CEO In 2 Years
Two Tenet Healthcare hospitals in California will have new leadership in November, local news outlets the Livermore Vine and the Turlock Journal reported. Murali Naidu, MD, CEO of Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock, will become CEO of San Ramon Regional Medical Center, and Michael "Mike" Klepin will become CEO of Emanuel Medical Center, according to the publications. The changes are effective Nov. 4. (Gooch, 10/2)

Becker's Hospital Review: California System Taps Acting CEO
Anthony Hilliard, MD, has been named acting CEO of Loma Linda (Calif.) University Health's hospitals. Dr. Hilliard is also chief of the division of cardiology and COO of the LLU Faculty Medical Group, according to an Oct. 1 news release from the health system. (Kuchno, 10/2)

Reuters: Health Insurers Unveil Medicare Advantage Plans For 2025 
Health insurers Cigna, CVS Health, Humana, Centene, and UnitedHealth on Tuesday released details on their government-backed health insurance plans for next year for people aged 65 and above. The announcements come ahead of the beginning of enrollment for Medicare Advantage plans on Oct. 15, which will continue through Dec. 7. (10/1)

Becker's Hospital Review: Health IT Inefficiencies Are Costing Hospitals Billions
In 2024, U.S. healthcare technology experts reported that inefficiencies, system downtimes and poor health IT integration have contributed to industry losses exceeding $8 billion annually, up from $1.7 billion in 2017, according to an Oct. 1 survey from Black Book Research. The survey, part of Black Book's "What's Hot and What's Not in Healthcare IT Investments" report, included feedback from 907 healthcare professionals, highlighting the systems that failed to meet return on investment expectations after deployment. (Diaz, 10/1)

Capital & Main: California Home Care Workers Seek Greater Bargaining Power
Jesus Saavedra, 71, began picking cotton in California’s Central Valley when he was just 16 years old. Now retired, he has difficulty both standing and lying down due to constant pain from nerve damage in his hands and head and fibrosis throughout his body. His wife Maria, 70, believes his decades in the fields caused his injuries. She cares for him around the clock, paid through California’s In-Home Supportive Services program (IHSS). The program provides funding for disabled, Medi-Cal qualified individuals to hire in home health providers, including family members. Maria Saavedra gets paid for 50 hours of caregiving each month — her limit set by the state — and earns $18 per hour, a rate negotiated by her union with Los Angeles County. Her hourly pay adds up to $900 each month. (Castle, 10/1)

AsAmNews: For-Profit Nursing Homes Blamed For Declining Care
Joyce Mayauchi Valenzuela makes a weekly 45-mile drive from Santa Clarita, California to Gardena to voluntarily bring bento box lunches to her parents and six other residents at Clearview Memory Care. Her 70-minute drive is one of two Japanese meal deliveries families make each week that the Japanese American seniors really appreciate. Culturally sensitive care was something her parents Takeyuki and Kazuko Miyauchi had gotten used to having lived at Sakura Gardens, a facility run by the Japanese American non-profit Keiro Senior Healthcare. (Yip, 9/27)

Los Angeles Times: Union And L.A. County Reach Agreement To Avert Strike
Los Angeles County and SEIU 721 officials announced Tuesday that they had averted a looming strike that could have affected county services. SEIU 721, which represents more than 55,000 people employed by Los Angeles County, including nurses and social workers, said it was putting a strike previously scheduled for Oct. 10 on hold after a “productive meeting” with county leaders. (Alpert Reyes and Ellis, 10/1)

Becker's Hospital Review: Nurses' Top 10 AI Concerns
Nearly a quarter of nurses are uncomfortable with artificial intelligence's use in healthcare, according to an Oct. 1 McKinsey & Co. report. Here are nurses' top 10 concerns about AI, per the management consultant's joint survey with the American Nurses Foundation of 7,200 nurses. (Bruce, 10/1)

Becker's Hospital Review: California Hospital Responds To Lawsuit Over Denied Emergency Abortion
Providence said it is taking action after the California attorney general filed a lawsuit against one of its hospitals that allegedly denied a woman an emergency abortion. In February, Anna Nusslock, a chiropractor pregnant with twins, went to Eureka, Calif.-based Providence St. Joseph Hospital after her water broke 15 weeks into pregnancy. She was diagnosed with previable preterm premature rupture of membranes, which can quickly lead to infection or hemorrhaging. However, they could not perform the abortion because the hospital's policy prohibited providing abortions unless the mother's life was at risk and while the fetuses have a pulse. (Taylor, 10/2)

Politico: Trump Vows To Veto Any Federal Abortion Ban — After Previously Refusing To Commit 
Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would veto a federal abortion ban after previously declining to say whether he would do so. “Everyone knows I would not support a federal abortion ban, under any circumstances, and would, in fact, veto it, because it is up to the states to decide based on the will of the their voters,” Trump wrote in an all-caps message he posted across social media platforms as his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), was pressed on the issue during the vice presidential debate. (Kashinsky and Messerly, 10/1)

Time: J.D. Vance Pretends He’s Moderate On Abortion
J.D. Vance attempted to distort his own position on abortion in the vice presidential debate on Oct. 1, suggesting that he “never supported a national ban.” In the past, he has said that he “certainly would like abortion to be illegal nationally” and was “sympathetic” to the view that a national ban was needed to stop women from going to another state to get an abortion. Vance appeared to understand the political unpopularity of the Republican position on abortion. “My party, we’ve got to do so much better of a job at earning the American people’s trust back on this issue where they frankly just don’t trust us," he said, while maintaining that he agrees with his running mate Donald Trump that abortion rights should be decided at a state level. (Alter, 10/2)

Axios: Vance: Republicans Must Earn U.S. Voters' Trust Back On Abortion
Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) said the Republican Party has to do a better job in "earning the American people's trust back" on the issue of abortion "where they frankly, just don't trust us." The big picture: The Republican vice presidential candidate sought to pivot to a more compassionate tone on the issue of abortion in the face of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's attacks, calling for public policy that would "give women more options," so they can afford to have and take care of children. (Habeshian and Reed, 10/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Walz Defends Minnesota Law Allowing Abortion Throughout Pregnancy
Tim Walz defended his record on abortion as Minnesota governor, seeking to capitalize on one of Democrats’ strongest issues heading into November. Antiabortion groups have sought to portray Walz as an extremist on abortion. As Minnesota governor, Walz signed legislation enshrining abortion access in the state throughout pregnancy, which Republicans said left virtually no limits on the procedure. Walz said the bill restored Roe v. Wade, which provided a right to abortion until a fetus was viable outside the womb, or about halfway through a typical pregnancy. (Kusisto, 10/1)

HuffPost: JD Vance Completely Rewrote History On Donald Trump And Obamacare
In the presidential debate three weeks ago, GOP nominee Donald Trump made a breathtaking claim about his record on health care: He said that he had tried to “save” the Affordable Care Act when he was president. During Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate, JD Vance repeated that claim and then took it one step further: that Trump had not only tried to save the health care law, but did so with help from Democrats. (Cohn, 10/2)

Arizona Republic: VP Debate: Tim Walz Credits John McCain For Saving Affordable Care Act. What To Know
After Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, made the misleading claim that Donald Trump saved the Affordable Care Act from destruction, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic nominee for vice president, responded by referring to a memorable vote by the late Sen. John McCain in July 2017. While McCain was not known as a health care champion, he cast a "thumbs down" vote that blocked the repeal of portions of the Affordable Care Act that is widely considered to be a pivotal moment in U.S. health care history. (Innes, 10/1)

The Hill: On Gun Violence, Vance Presses For School Security While Walz Emphasizes Commitment To Second Amendment
Asked about American gun violence at their vice presidential debate on Tuesday, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) backed increased security at schools while Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) emphasized that solutions need to respect Second Amendment rights. Vance first brought up school security after he was asked if parents should face charges for gun crimes committed by their children. He said it would depend on the situation if parents should be responsible, then added, “I don’t want my kids to go to school in a school that feels unsafe.”  ... Walz argued that there are clear solutions that work, as other countries, such as Finland, do not see the school shootings the U.S. experiences. He spoke about his personal experience as a gun owner, alluded to Vice President Harris’s gun ownership and said solutions aren’t about taking guns away from law-abiding citizens. (Cochran, 10/1)

Politico: Here's Which Topics Didn't Come Up At The Debate 
“Tampon Tim”: Republicans have tried to paint Democrats as too far left on transgender rights — and Walz, in particular, has become a target. But it didn't get any mention on stage. Another related topic that didn’t come up? Trans student athletes’ ability to compete on sports teams aligned with their gender identity. (Mutnick and Gramer, 10/1)

Fortune Well: Medicare, Prescription Drug Costs Most Important To Voters In 2024 Election, Finds Gallup Poll
With just five weeks remaining until the election of the 47th U.S. president, more than half of Americans say protecting Medicare and reducing health care costs are among the most important issues influencing their choices at the ballot box, a new survey finds. What’s more, two-thirds of respondents think health care isn’t receiving enough attention in the 2024 campaign. Analytics firm Gallup and West Health, a group of nonprofits focused on aging and health care, polled more than 3,600 U.S. adults 18 and older on health care issues. The results of the survey, given Sept. 9–16, were published Sept. 30. Roughly 1,300 people were surveyed after the Sept. 10 debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, but the polling methodology indicates little variation in respondents’ attitudes before and after the debate. (Leake, 10/1)

CBS News: Harris Courts Latinos With Health Care-Focused Ads Slamming Trump
Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign is ramping up its efforts to win over Latino voters across battleground states with a health care-focused ad blitz attacking former President Donald Trump, as recent polls show her advantage over him among these voters is significantly smaller than President Biden's was in 2020. Starting Tuesday, Harris will have ads up arguing Trump would "rip health care away" from millions of Latinos, and in the process take money out of their pockets. (Cavazos, 10/1)

The Hill: Trump Downplays Troop Injuries In 2020 Missile Strike: ‘You Mean Because They Had A Headache?'
Former President Trump on Tuesday dismissed injuries sustained by U.S. troops during a 2020 Iranian missile strike on an Iraqi base as he argued he has been tougher than the Biden administration on Tehran. Trump fielded questions from reporters during a campaign stop in Milwaukee and was asked by one journalist whether he should have responded more strongly to Iran after it launched missiles at U.S. forces stationed at a base in Iraq in 2020, leaving dozens with traumatic brain injuries. “So first of all, injured. What does injured mean? Injured means — you mean because they had a headache? Because the bombs never hit the fort,” Trump said. (Samuels, 10/1)

The Hill: Watchdog Cracking Down On Medical Debt Collectors
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Tuesday issued a consumer advisory to combat families being targeted by “illegal medical debt collection tactics.” The CFPB’s cited tactics violating federal law that debt collectors have employed when it comes to medical bills, including double billing for services covered by insurance; collecting amounts that exceed federal or state caps; falsifying or exaggerating charges; collecting on unsubstantiated bills; and misrepresenting payment obligations and consumers’ ability to contest bills. (Choi, 10/1)

Reuters: China, US Health Officials Agree On More Cooperation Following Rare Talks 
Chinese and U.S. health officials have agreed to strengthen communication, cooperation and coordination on global health affairs, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported late on Monday, following rare talks in Washington. China is willing to increase policy communication and coordination with the United States and collaborate in medical issues including cancer prevention and treatment, said Cao Xuetao, deputy head of the National Health Commission, after the recent talks. Strengthening health cooperation between China and the United States benefits both nations, Cao was cited as saying following the first ministerial-level visit by China's health authorities to the United States since 2017. (10/1)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego’s Safe Sleeping Sites Are Getting More Tents, Other Plans Remain In Flux
San Diego leaders are moving to add hundreds of tents to two designated camping areas and rent dozens of rooms from local hotels in a race to add beds to the city’s shrinking shelter system. (Nelson, 10/1)

Times of San Diego: City Council Addresses Urgent Homeless Shelter Needs, Expands Safe Sleeping Program
The San Diego City Council took action Tuesday to support implementation of a plan that will replace and expand shelter options for people experiencing homelessness, officials said. ... Among the approved measures is the expansion of the city’s Safe Sleeping and Safe Parking programs, which provide designated areas for individuals to sleep overnight, whether in tents or vehicles. (Ireland, 10/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Adopts New RV Parking Restrictions To Deal With Homeless
San Franciscans living out of large recreational vehicles could face towing if they don’t accept shelter, the latest move by Mayor London Breed to get more homeless people off the city’s streets. Beginning Nov. 1, large RVs and trailers parked between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. on city streets where signage is posted could be towed after a 6-1 vote Tuesday by the board of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. In instances where someone is living inside the vehicle, city officials must offer shelter to the occupants before towing the vehicle. (Angst, 10/1)

Los Angeles Times: The Threat Of Valley Fever Is Growing In Central California
When Nora Bruhn bought admission to the Lightning in a Bottle arts and music festival on the shores of Kern County’s Buena Vista Lake earlier this spring, her ticket never mentioned she might end up with a fungus growing in her lungs. After weeks of night sweats, “heaviness and a heat” in her left lung, a cough that wouldn’t quit and a painful rash on her legs, her physician brother said she might have valley fever, a potentially deadly disease caused by a dust-loving fungus that lives in the soils of the San Joaquin Valley. (Rust, 10/2)

Los Angeles Times: COVID Worsened Depression Among Southern California Youths
Children, teens and young adults in Southern California had been grappling with rising rates of depression and anxiety for years before the pandemic. Then COVID-19 came along and made their mental health struggles even worse. Among 1.7 million young patients who were part of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California health system, the prevalence of clinically diagnosed depression was 60% higher in 2021 than it had been five years earlier, according to a new study. The prevalence of anxiety among young patients who did not have depression also rose by 35% during that period, researchers found. (Kaplan, 10/1)

AP: Doctor Charged In Connection With Matthew Perry’s Death Is Expected To Plead Guilty
One of two doctors charged in the investigation of the death of Matthew Perry is expected to plead guilty Wednesday in a federal court in Los Angeles to conspiring to distribute the surgical anesthetic ketamine. Dr. Mark Chavez, 54, of San Diego, signed a plea agreement with prosecutors in August and would be the third person to plead guilty in the aftermath of the “Friends” star’s fatal overdose last year. (Dalton, 10/2)

The New York Times: This Pill Could Be The Next Tool To Help Smokers Quit 
The medication, called cytisine, is already used elsewhere in the world. There are efforts to bring it to the U.S. (Schmall, 10/2)

Politico: Control Smartphones Like Tobacco, Says Leading WHO Expert 
Countries should consider regulating digital devices like smartphones in a similar way to tobacco products, to combat social media's rising negative impact on young people's mental health, the World Health Organization’s Natasha Azzopardi Muscat said. With increasing evidence that problematic gaming and social media behavior is on the rise among adolescents in Europe, countries should take inspiration from other areas of public health where legislation has helped address potentially damaging habits — such as tobacco laws, she said. (Chiappa, 10/2)