CNBC: California Beach Smoking Ban Measure Faces Uncertainty With Governor
An effort to ban smoking from state beaches and parks went up in smoke last year when California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed the measure as "too broad." But the legislature last month passed several new bills with different approaches to tackling the issue of second-hand smoke —and now it's up to Brown whether to sign or reject them. One of the bills on Brown's desk, Assembly Bill 1097, would ban smoking or vaping only in designated picnic areas of state beaches and parks. The bill also slaps a fine of $25 for smoking in picnic areas or littering beaches in the Golden State with cigarette waste. (Daniels, 9/17)

The California Health Report: California Grapples With Growing Physician Shortage For Low-Income Patients
When Paul Lyons opened a primary-care practice in the Palm Springs area for low-income patients, the need was clear. “We went from zero patients to 30,000 within six months,” he said.The clinic, which opened in 2015, continues to swell with patients who now have coverage due to the Affordable Care Act. (Shinkman, 9/17)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Potential Breakthrough Drug For Huntington's To Enter Advanced Clinical Testing 
A potential breakthrough drug for treating Huntington’s disease from Carlsbad’s Ionis Pharmaceuticals will begin an advanced clinical trial early next year. If successful, the trial could lead to marketing approval. Ionis partner Roche, which is handling the clinical trials, made the announcement Sunday. The trial will take place globally. Huntington’s disease is an incurable and invariably fatal neurodegenerative disease caused by mutations in one gene. More than 30,000 Americans have the mutation, and either have the disease or will eventually develop it. (Fikes, 9/17)

The California Health Report: Armed With New Research, California Tries To Address HIV Disparities 
Treatment with antiretroviral drugs can suppress the HIV virus, but only if people who are infected can access and stay on treatment, a multi-state study has found. The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine and funded by the National Institutes of Health, found that rates of viral suppression improved from 32 percent in 1997 to 86 percent in 2015, among nearly 32,000 adults receiving treatment for HIV at eight U.S. medical centers, including two in California at UC San Francisco and UC San Diego. Reducing HIV to undetectable levels means a person can no longer transmit the virus to others, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. (Kritz, 9/18)

In other public health news —

KPCC: The Latest On Safe Injection Sites In Orange County, Plus A New Study That’s Challenging Their Efficacy 
A little over two years ago, Santa Ana saw the opening of the Orange County Needle Exchange program, which was backed by public health voices who pushed for it as an effective intervention method. But the program has been under fire since, from community members, as well as the Orange County Board of Supervisors. ...We look at the latest on the drug injection program in Orange County, as well as the recent developments in the public health research. (Mantle, 9/17)

The Associated Press: GOP, Dems Unite Behind Senate Bill Fighting Addictive Drugs
Republicans and Democrats joined forces to speed legislation combating the misuse of opioids and other addictive drugs through Senate passage Monday, a rare campaign-season show of unity against a growing and deadly health care crisis. The measure passed by a 99-1 vote Monday evening. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, voted against it. (9/17)

The Washington Post: Senate Passes Sweeping Opioids Package
The package of 70 Senate bills costs $8.4 billion and creates, expands and renews programs across multiple agencies. It’s ambitious in scope, aiming to prevent the deadly synthetic drug fentanyl from being shipped through the U.S. Postal Service as well as allowing doctors to prescribe more medication designed to wean addicts off opioids, such as buprenorphine. “It doesn’t include everything all of us want to see but it has important new initiatives and it’s a step in the right direction," said Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who has advocated several measures that are part of the package. (Itkowitz, 9/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Senate Passes Bipartisan Legislation To Combat Opioid Epidemic
The Senate legislation would give money to the National Institutes of Health to research a nonaddictive painkiller. It would also try to stop synthetic drugs from being shipped across the border by requiring foreign shippers to provide electronic data to help U.S. officials target illegal packages. Another provision would clarify that the Food and Drug Administration has the authority to require prescription opioids to be packaged in set amounts, for three or seven days, for example. Yet another provision aims to increase the detection and seizure of illegal drugs, such as fentanyl, by strengthening communications between the FDA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. (Andrews, 9/17)

Stat: Senate Passes Opioids Legislation: What’s In, What’s Out, And What’s Still On The Table
Here’s a look at what else was in the bill, what policy ideas didn’t make the cut, and what ideas might be added back in the coming weeks and months. (Facher, 9/17)

Politico: Congress' Latest Opioid Bill Won't Solve The Crisis
Congress’ latest efforts to address the opioid crisis won’t be enough to stop the unrelenting scourge of overdose deaths across the country. Public health experts and first responders say the massive bipartisan legislation, H.R. 6 (115), which the Senate approved 99-1 on Monday, takes some important steps toward better access to treatment but lacks the urgency, breadth and steady long-term funding required to quell the emergency that takes 115 lives in the United States a day. (Ehley, 9/17)

The New York Times: Hearing Set For Monday To Hear Kavanaugh And His Accuser
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, under mounting pressure from senators of his own party, will call President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, and the woman who has accused him of sexual assault before the committee on Monday for extraordinary public hearings only weeks before the midterm elections. In setting the hearing, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, backed down from a committee vote on Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination, planned for this Thursday, and pushed a confirmation once seen as inevitable into limbo. (Stolberg and Davis, 9/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Kavanaugh, His Accuser Will Testify Before Senate Committee
The hearing will pit his credibility against an explosive accusation made by Christine Blasey Ford, a California college professor, who said he sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers. Mrs. Ford told the Washington Post that when she and Judge Kavanaugh were teenagers at a party in the Washington, D.C., area, he and a friend pulled her into a bedroom. Judge Kavanaugh pinned her down on the bed, groped her and attempted to remove her clothing before she escaped, Mrs. Ford said in the article. Mrs. Ford, now a professor at Palo Alto University in California, described the episode as aggressive. “I thought he might inadvertently kill me,” she told the Post. She said that Mr. Kavanaugh appeared to be intoxicated during their encounter. Efforts to reach Mrs. Ford weren’t successful. (Tau, Andrews and Peterson, 9/17)

Los Angeles Times: Supreme Court Nominee Kavanaugh And Accuser To Testify Next Week About Sexual Assault Allegations
Republican leaders probably need nearly all of their 51 members to support the nomination, meaning any significant dissent would torpedo the confirmation. The votes of three moderate Democrats — Sens. Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota — are also in play, and all three said Ford needed to be heard. (Haberkorn, 9/17)

The Washington Post: Senate Committee To Hold Public Hearing With Kavanaugh, Accuser After Sexual Assault Allegation
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a crucial swing vote, indicated that if it emerged that Kavanaugh had been untruthful about the incident, he would not be fit to serve on the court. “Obviously, if Judge Kavanaugh has lied about what happened, that would be disqualifying,” Collins said, adding that “having the opportunity to observe her being questioned, read a transcript and a deposition and make that kind of assessment is so important.” (Sonmez, Kim, Sullivan and Wagner, 9/17)

The Washington Post: With Trump Muted, White House Leans On Kavanaugh To Defend Himself
President Trump’s routine reaction to allegations of sexual assault is to deny, retaliate and repeat. He has dismissed accusations against himself as “phony” and “false,” and when presented with claims against other men, the #MeToo-era president tends to side instinctually with the accused. But in the case of federal judge Brett M. Kavanaugh — whose Supreme Court nomination is suddenly endangered after a woman accused him of sexual assault when they were in high school — Trump on Monday was uncharacteristically muted. (Costa, Rucker, Parker and Dawsey, 9/17)

Politico: Trump Sticks With Kavanaugh As Scandal Escalates
When asked whether Kavanaugh had offered to withdraw from the confirmation process, the president snapped back that it was a “ridiculous question.” Kavanaugh himself has only doubled down on a strenuous denial of claims Christine Blasey Ford, now a professor living in California, first made anonymously in a letter to Congress and then by name in a Washington Post interview published on Sunday. Ford described in graphic detail being groped decades ago at a high-school party in suburban Washington D.C. by Kavanaugh, who held her down, tried to pull off her clothes, and covered her mouth when she tried to scream. (Cook, 9/17)

Politico: McConnell Works Feverishly Behind The Scenes To Save Kavanaugh
Mitch McConnell, preeminent cut-throat political tactician, is going with a softer touch to salvage Brett Kavanaugh’s suddenly endangered Supreme Court confirmation. With Kavanaugh’s seemingly slam-dunk elevation to the Supreme Court facing resistance from a handful of key GOP senators, McConnell convened a marathon meeting with Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans and his leadership team on Monday. (Everett and Bresnahan, 9/17)

The New York Times: Merger Of Cigna And Express Scripts Gets Approval From Justice Dept.
Federal officials on Monday gave the go-ahead to the proposed merger between Cigna, one of the nation’s largest health insurers, and Express Scripts, a major pharmacy benefit manager. The $52 billion deal, announced last March, is one of two proposed transactions involving pharmacy companies before the Justice Department. Last December, Aetna, another giant insurer, announced its plan to join forces with CVS Health, the drugstore chain that is the main independent rival to Express Scripts, in a $69 billion deal. (Abelson, 9/17)

In other national health care news —

The Wall Street Journal: Don’t Let Them Eat Cake: Bosses Sugar-Shame Office Treats
Most employees like the free doughnuts, cake and other confections that get parked “in the usual place” at work. But exploding rates of obesity and diabetes make sugar more like cigarettes to some employers. Tempting treats are the new secondhand smoke. The rules at Health IQ in Mountain View, Calif., sounded pretty sour when they went viral earlier this year: “There is no sugar, candy bars, soda (diet or otherwise) allowed in our office. If you bring some it will get thrown away.” Chief executive Munjal Shah said the rules, more flexible than they sounded, were relaxed after the social media outrage. The company, however, still wags a finger at secondhand sugar. (Winkler, 9/17)

The Associated Press: 2 Million US Teens Are Vaping Marijuana
A school-based survey shows nearly 1 in 11 U.S. students have used marijuana in electronic cigarettes, heightening health concerns about the new popularity of vaping among teens. E-cigarettes typically contain nicotine, but many of the battery-powered devices can vaporize other substances, including marijuana. Results published Monday mean 2.1 million middle and high school students have used them to get high. (9/17)

The Associated Press: Watchdog Slams Safeguards For Foster Kids On Psych Drugs
Thousands of foster children may be getting powerful psychiatric drugs prescribed to them without basic safeguards, says a federal watchdog agency that found a failure to care for youngsters whose lives have already been disrupted. A report released Monday by the Health and Human Services inspector general’s office found that about 1 in 3 foster kids from a sample of states were prescribed psychiatric drugs without treatment plans or follow-up, standard steps in sound medical care. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 9/17)

CNBC: Mark Zuckerberg Is Selling Up To $13 Billion Of Facebook Stock To Fund An Ambitious Project To End Disease: Here's An Early Look Inside
Zuckerberg has begun to use the fortune he earned from creating one of the world's most valuable companies to invest in [The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative]. In October, he revealed that he plans to sell up to 75 million shares, worth more than $12 billion at the time, by March 2019 to fund the project. ... CZI has been around now for about two and a half years, and has ballooned to 250 employees, with about half of them hailing from the technology sector. ... Zuckerberg shared a few more details onstage in a 2016 conference call, where he declared "we have a real shot at preventing, curing or managing" most diseases in the next 100 years, particularly heart disease, cancer, stroke, neurodegenerative and infectious diseases. (Farr, 9/15)

The New York Times: What 13,000 Patents Involving The DNA Of Sea Life Tell Us About The Future
Whether a single private entity should be able to set the direction of how the genes of so many living things are used was a piece of a broader debate at the United Nations this month. There, delegates from across the world were discussing the development of a global legal framework for genetic resources in the high seas, a vast realm outside any one nation’s control. For those interested in the future of innovation, inequality and even dairy alternatives, a closer look at what exactly is being patented offers intriguing hints. (Murphy, 9/17)