Becker's Hospital Review: California Hospital Association Sues State Over ‘Unattainable’ Spending Caps
The California Hospital Association has filed a lawsuit against the state’s Office of Health Care Affordability, alleging the agency’s cost-control measures violate state law and threaten access to care. The 99-page lawsuit, filed Oct. 16, accuses OHCA of exceeding its authority by rushing to impose hospital spending caps without fully considering the effect on patients, providers or the healthcare workforce. CHA alleges the office has ignored legislative mandates to protect care access, health equity, quality and staffing. (Condon, 10/16)

The Modesto Bee: Big Wage Proposals At Stake In Kaiser Employee Strike. Not Much Action In Modesto
A strike involving Kaiser Permanente health care workers entered a third day Thursday with no agreement in the contract talks. At Northern California Kaiser facilities, the strike includes 2,800 physical therapists, nurse midwives, physician assistants, occupational therapists and other skilled employees represented by United Nurses Associations of California and the Union of Health Care Professionals. (Carlson, 10/16)

Bay Area News Group: Teen's Family Sues John Muir Health Walnut Creek
The family of a 17-year-old Lafayette resident believes he could’ve survived the catastrophic injuries he suffered four days before his death if not for the actions of the hospital where he was treated, according to a lawsuit they have filed in Contra Costa County Superior Court. (Hurd, 10/16)

Voice of OC: As More Orange County Cities Crack Down On Whippets, Irvine Sidesteps Ban
A growing list of Orange County cities is banning the sale of nitrous oxide — also known as whippets or laughing gas — for people looking to use the inhalant to get high. While cities like Stanton, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana voted earlier this year to prohibit the sale of the gas for recreational use, Irvine city officials voted down a similar proposal, saying state law already prohibits the inhalant for people who want to get high. (Hicks, 10/16)

The Guardian: Overdose In America: Analysis Reveals Deaths Rising In Some Regions Even As US Sees National Decline
Overdose deaths continued to rise in some communities across the US even as they declined nationally in 2024, according to an exclusive data analysis by the Guardian, which found wide geographical disparities in fatalities linked to the public health crisis. (Green and Kiefer, 10/17)

CalMatters: How A San Diego Preschool Serves Kids After Trauma
Almost 20 years ago a San Diego nonprofit created a preschool to focus on the “little guys” — children who experience domestic violence and other serious traumatic events before kindergarten. Today, Mi Escuelita is still going strong and it’s something of a model in showing other schools how to address childhood trauma. (Heldiz and Ashton, 10/16)

CBS News: Mental Health Distress Among The Nation's LGBTQ+ Youth Is Increasing, Study Finds
Mental health distress among LGBTQ+ youth in the United States has been increasing amid a surge in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, but strong support networks and access to health care were shown to ease symptoms for some, a study found. The findings were published Thursday by The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services. Researchers followed 1,689 LGBTQ+ young people between the ages of 13 and 24 between September 2023 and March 2025. (Cutrona, 10/16)

The Modesto Bee: Over $96,500 Raised At Modesto Graduation For Women's Wellness Program
“If someone would have told me 10 years ago that we would be here today, serving thousands of women across California, helping them move from lives surrounded by poverty and despair into lives full of hope, full of leadership and full of opportunity… I definitely wouldn’t have believed them, but here we are,” said Alana Scott Clayton, chief executive officer and founder of WELL. (Bisharyan, 10/16)

MedPage Today: Magnetic Cosmetics Fly Under The Radar As MRI Risks
A new challenge for MRI safety is linked to one particular beauty trend: ferromagnetic nail polish. Based on the available literature, magnetic nail polish is increasingly observed -- with reports rising 250-300% over the past decade -- and has been associated with worse image quality due to streak artifacts on 3T MRI, according to Melanie Hall, MD, of Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, reporting here at the annual meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). (Lou, 10/16)

The San Diego Union-Tribune: A New Homeless Shelter In East County Faces Delays After Feds Step In 
The 60 tiny homes, known as the Troy Street cabins, are to be on land owned by the California Department of Transportation, and Caltrans had agreed to lease the property to San Diego County. The project was at one time expected to open next year. Yet the Federal Highway Administration recently stepped in to block the lease, according to county records. (Nelson and Robinson, 10/16)

CNN: White House Announces IVF Drug Pricing Deal For ‘TrumpRx’ Site
President Donald Trump on Thursday announced an agreement to sell common fertility drugs at steeply reduced prices on TrumpRx, a direct-to-consumer drug platform the White House plans to launch in January 2026. Under the plan, cost to patients for three in vitro fertilization (IVF) drugs made by EMD Serono, the US arm of German company Merck KGaA, could be reduced by more than 70%, Trump and administration officials said. The drugs, sold under the brand names Gonal-F, Ovidrel and Cetrotide, currently typically cost $5,000 per IVF cycle, the president said. ... the EMD Serono deal would include a reprieve from certain tariffs in exchange for manufacturing and research investment in the US. (Owermohle and Tirrell, 10/16)

AP: FDA Unveils Drugs To Receive Expedited Review 
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday announced the first round of experimental drugs that will receive drastically expedited reviews at the agency, part of an effort to prioritize medicines the Trump administration deems as “supporting U.S. national interests.” The nine medicines announced by the FDA include potential treatments for vaping addiction, deafness, pancreatic cancer and other conditions. Several of the drugs would compete with higher-priced drugs already on the U.S. market. (Perrone, 10/16)

Stat: Former NIH Leaders Detail The 'Constant Chaos' They Left Behind 
Jeremy Berg walked on stage sporting a curious look: a red tie patterned with a word cloud drawn from the applications of 197 researchers who vied to be part of a National Institutes of Health initiative aimed at accelerating junior scientists’ academic careers. (Broderick, 10/16)

Roll Call: USDA's Rollins Says Food Stamp Funding To Dry Up In Two Weeks 
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Thursday that the food stamp program will run out of funds in two weeks because of the partial government shutdown, potentially leaving nearly 42 million people without monthly benefits. (Bridges, 10/16)

MedPage Today: 'Voice Of CDC' Goes Silent 
The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) isn't publishing during the federal government shutdown, a departure from the past, according to sources. CDC's flagship scientific publication "was published during every previous shutdown back into the 1990s, at least," Charlotte Kent, PhD, MPH, the most recent former editor of the journal, told MedPage Today. (Fiore, 10/16)

Politico: It’s ‘Too Late’ To Extend ACA Subsidies Without Major Disruptions, Some States And Lawmakers Say
Time is quickly running out to shield Obamacare customers from explosive sticker shock. State insurance officials are warning that the longer Congress waits to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, which help low- and middle-income people afford premiums, the more difficult it will be to update rates before consumers start shopping for 2026 coverage on Nov. 1. (King and Hooper, 10/16)

Times of San Diego: The Health Care Emergency Behind The Government Shutdown
Health care access in this country is in grave danger — and your wallet could be, too. Those facts are key to understanding the latest government shutdown. “My kids have health care through Medicaid — which is especially important for my daughter with autism,” Alexis Cortes, a mom of four, told me. But “the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ calls for massive cuts to Medicaid, food assistance, and early childhood education programs,” she warns. (Karen Dolan, 10/13)

Los Angeles Times: Cuts To Medicaid And To Insurance Subsidies Will Push ERs Past The Brink
Back in 2007, President Bush was being challenged on his opposition to the Children’s Health Insurance Program — which provides health coverage for children in families too poor to afford private insurance, yet too “wealthy” to qualify for Medicaid. His response was honest, if characteristically clumsy: “People have access to healthcare in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room.” In a way, he wasn’t wrong. By law, ERs must evaluate and stabilize every patient who walks through the door, regardless of complaint or ability to pay. But by saying the quiet part out loud, Bush laid bare an uncomfortable truth: Emergency departments are not just for emergencies, and never have been. (Eric Snoey, 10/16)

Capital & Main: ‘They Just Took You Away’
I’ve been reporting on how the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration raids have shaken Los Angeles communities. I’ve covered the toll they are taking on the physical and mental health of Latinos, including on U.S. citizens like me and others who may be safe from deportation. I’ve shared with readers how my own anxiety and fears of immigration sweeps propelled my run across South Los Angeles in the hood half marathon. During interviews with therapists, psychiatrists and community organizers that I conducted for columns over the last few months, I would mention my daughter’s nightmares and ask for advice. And I learned that Quetzal wasn’t alone in her fears. (George B. Sánchez-Tello, 10/14)

The Bay Area Reporter: How Los Angeles Hospital Failed Me, Other Trans Patients
I was 17 when I began my medical transition at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. It had taken over a year of fighting through referrals, canceled appointments, and “we don’t do that here” dismissals before CHLA became an avenue for freedom. CHLA gave me what other clinics had refused: the dignity of choice, and with it, the chance to feel at home in my own body. (Lu Lukah Orona, 10/15)

The Sacramento Bee: Veto Of AB 1064 Raises Questions About AI Safety In California
The harm caused by AI is felt by the family of Adam Raine, who was a 16-year-old from Rancho Santa Margarita when he committed suicide in April. His parents filed a wrongful death suit against OpenAI, in which the family claims Raine took his life after discussing his suicidal thoughts with the general purpose chatbot, ChatGPT. (LeBron Antonio Hill, 10/17)