San Francisco Chronicle: Physicians Sue Over California Law On Out-Of-Network Billing
A political advocacy group for physicians has filed a lawsuit against a new California law designed to protect consumers from unexpected out-of-network medical bills. The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, in the lawsuit filed late last week in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in Sacramento, asked the court to block the law. (Colliver, 10/17)

Capital Public Radio: 52 Local Measures Seek To Tax And Regulate Marijuana 
There are 52 local measures on the November ballot. They propose a range of taxes and regulation of pot-related sales and business in cities and counties including taxing grow operations and limiting dispensaries. Tim Cromartie is a lobbyist for the League of California Cities. The League had previously opposed legislation regulating medical marijuana. But now - as Cromartie puts it - they've pivoted. (Mitric, 10/17)

In other news —

KQED: Not Your Parents’ Dealer: Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Today 
The Green Door in San Francisco is one of the oldest medical marijuana dispensaries in the United States, having opened in 2003. Gone are the days of dark backrooms and transactions made in secret. Bright displays show off available products while daily menus offer unique-sounding flavors such as Bombay Cherry Doughnut and Platinum Cookies. (Hosea-Small, 10/18)

Sacramento Bee: Study: Sacramento Region’s Pot Economy Could Soar With Legalization 
Expanded legalization of marijuana could create a vast cannabis industry in the Sacramento region, accounting for an annual economic output ranging from hundreds of millions to potentially more than $4 billion if local governments endorse widespread marijuana production, according to a University of the Pacific study. The analysis, prepared by researchers for the university’s Center for Business and Policy Research, Eberhardt School of Business and McGeorge School of Law, was commissioned by a cannabis industry investment group co-founded by Daniel Conway, a former top aide to Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson. The study comes as California voters are contemplating Proposition 64, an initiative to legalize adult use and sales of recreational marijuana, and as Sacramento city officials are drafting regulations to govern commercial marijuana cultivations, pot deliveries and other local cannabis businesses. (Hecht, 10/17)

Orange County Register: Women Can Get Free Mammogram Exams From A Mobile Van Traveling Through OC This Month 
Amelia Cortes visited Northgate Gonzalez Market Monday morning to check one important item off her list – a much overdue mammogram. Cortes, 60, first underwent a breast exam in the grocery store’s employee lounge. Then she got a free mammogram inside a mobile clinic parked out front. In all, 30 uninsured women had the imaging procedure done in an event organized by Susan G. Komen Orange County. (10/17)

In other women's health news —

KPBS: Planned Parenthood Celebrates Its 100th Anniversary 
Planned Parenthood marked its 100th anniversary on Sunday. Today, it has more than 650 health centers nationwide. The organization is one of the nation's leading providers of reproductive health care. It's also a major advocate for women's health and comprehensive sex education. The local affiliate, Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, has 17 health centers in San Diego, Riverside, and Imperial counties. (Goldberg, 10/17)

Capital Public Radio: Stockton Pharmacy Students Help Seniors Understand Medicare's Part D Program
University of the Pacific pharmacy students are reaching out to seniors with Medicare in Northern California to help them understand and determine what medications to take along with the costs in Part D of the program. Almost 100 pharmacy students and more than 30 licensed pharmacists will assist attendees at this health fair in Stockton. (Ibarra, 10/17)

In other news from across the state —

Orange County Register: CSUF Researchers Tackling Substance Abuse With Federal Grant 
This August, a team of CSUF nursing, social work and human services faculty secured a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a federal agency in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to train students to screen for SUDs. The $258,823 grant for the program’s first year will fund a “SBIRT” training program. SBIRT, which stands for screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment, is a standardized procedure developed by SAMHSA to identify drug and alcohol abuse. (Ormseth, 10/17)

Orange County Register: South Orange County Students March Against Bullying 
Students from San Clemente High School and El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills mobilized Saturday in a rally to build awareness of bullying in schools. Two hundred marchers representing Cool 2 Be Kind clubs walked in the 5th annual People’s March Against Bullying. (Ritchie, 10/17)

Marin Independent Journal/The Mercury News: Golden Gate Bridge To Hire More Officers To Prevent Suicides
Five new officers will be hired to patrol the Golden Gate Bridge specifically to look for people who are suicidal. Between 2000 and 2005, bridge officers were able to stop an average of 52 people a year from jumping from the span. Between 2006 and 2010, the number increased to an average of 73 a year. (Prado, 10/17)

In other public health news —

St. Louis Public Radio: Seeking Treatments For Brain Illnesses, Wash U Tests How A Mouse's Brain Responds To Light 
In two separate grants from the White House's BRAIN Initiative, Bruchas and his colleagues at the University of Illinois and University of California-San Diego hope that by doing this they can find out which parts of the brain should be targeted for new drugs, and whether light could play a role in new treatments for conditions like anxiety, depression, or chronic pain. Application in humans, however, is very far off, Bruchas said. Many of the light-sensitive proteins they are studying in animals do not naturally occur in humans. (Bouscaren, 10/17)

The New York Times: HealthCare.Gov Will Add ‘Simple Choice’ Plans In Effort To Improve Value
When the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplace opens in two weeks, many consumers will have a new option for the law’s fourth open-enrollment period: standardized health plans that cover basic services without a deductible. With many health plans on the marketplace coming with deductibles in the thousands of dollars, consumers have complained that they were getting little benefit beyond coverage for catastrophic problems. The new standardized options are meant to address that concern — to ensure that “enrollees receive some upfront value for their premium dollars,” as the Obama administration said. (Pear, 10/17)

In other national health care news —

Stat: 3 Big Projects The White House Cancer Moonshot Is Pursuing
Liquid biopsies. A “groundbreaking” Defense Department study. Partnerships with Lyft and Uber for patient transportation. The White House’s cancer moonshot, the future of which Vice President Joe Biden outlined in a new report on Monday, has a lot of moving parts. The report details nearly 20 projects that are already underway or soon will be in the moonshot’s first year and another two dozen planned for its second year and beyond. Major themes include harnessing big data, sharing research among scientists, and expanding preventive measures like the HPV vaccine and colorectal cancer screening. (Scott, 10/17)

The Associated Press: Pfizer To Launch Cheaper Version Of J&J Immune Drug Remicade
Drugmaker Pfizer said Monday that it will launch a less-expensive version of rival Johnson & Johnson’s blockbuster immune disorder drug, Remicade. Pfizer Inc.’s version, called Inflectra, will hit pharmacies in late November. It will be only the second so-called biosimilar drug available in the U.S. (Johnson, 10/17)

The Washington Post: Pepsi Wants To Make Its Sodas Better For You — Eventually
PepsiCo says its going to lessen the sugar in its sugary drinks. PepsiCo chief executive Indra Nooyi said Monday that at least two-thirds of the company’s beverages will contain 100 calories or less per 12-ounce serving by 2025. Nooyi said the beverage giant will focus on selling more low- or zero-calorie products. Advances in technology and artificial sweeteners are creating soft drinks that better duplicate the taste of sugary drinks but with fewer calories. (Heath, 10/17)

Stat: Night Sweats, Bloody Cough — And A Diagnosis That Turned A Doctor Into An Activist
TB remains rare in the US: there are just three cases per 100,000 people. And the increase in 2015 is proportional to population growth. Still, experts are worried. The last time we saw such an uptick in the raw number of annual cases was in 1992, the worst year of a TB resurgence linked to big cuts in public health budgets and the spread of HIV, which destroys immune systems. Each case of TB creates a monumental amount of work. Public health officials have to track down and test everyone who may have been exposed. They also have to monitor each patient to make sure they’re swallowing their daily handful of toxic pills. If the patients don’t complete treatment, the bacteria that cause TB could become drug-resistant. But some experts worry that the public health infrastructure can no longer handle the caseload. (Boodman, 10/18)