Stat: AbbVie Accused Of Paying Kickbacks, Using A Stealthy Network To Promote Humira
In a wide-ranging scheme, AbbVie (ABBV) used a combination of old-fashioned kickbacks to doctors and a stealthy network of nurses to illegally boost prescriptions of its best-selling Humira treatment, according to a lawsuit filed on Tuesday by the California insurance commissioner. Over a five-year period, the drug maker offered physicians a familiar menu of tempting items, from cash, meals and drinks, to gifts and trips, along with patient referrals, in hopes they would write more prescriptions for its Humira rheumatoid arthritis treatment, a $12.3 billion seller in the U.S. last year. (Silverman, 9/18)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Sues AbbVie, Alleging Kickbacks For Blockbuster Drug Humira 
The lawsuit, filed in Alameda County Superior Court, accuses AbbVie of illegally offering cash, meals, trips, drinks and patient referrals to physicians across California in order to ensure that they would continue prescribing Humira, a popular drug for Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis.(Ho, 9/18)

The Associated Press: California: Drugmaker Paid Doctors To Overprescribe Humira
"Ultimately, AbbVie gambled with the health and safety of thousands of Californians' lives, including children, by making sure patients continued to take Humira at any cost, all to protect their profits not the health and well-being of patients," Jones said. Humira is an injectable drug that is widely advertised as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory conditions and comes with a warning for cancer and serious infections that can turn deadly. It had sales of over $12 billion in 2017, according to the lawsuit. (Thanawala, 9/18)

Los Angeles Times: California Sues Maker Of Humira, Says Sales Of Blockbuster Drug Boosted Through Deceptive Practices
Adelle Infante, a spokeswoman for the North Chicago-based drugmaker, said Jones’ allegations “are without merit” and that the company obeys applicable state and federal laws. She also defended the company’s use of nurses to work with patients. “AbbVie provides a number of support services for patients, once they are prescribed Humira, that both educate and assist patients with their therapy, including nursing support, and these resources are beneficial to patients dealing with a chronic condition,” Infante said. “They in no way replace or interfere with interactions between patients and their healthcare providers.” (Koren, 9/18)

Stat: In Unlikely Alliance, PhRMA Sides With Landlords In Calif. Referendum On Rent Control
The pharmaceutical industry’s most powerful lobbying group is opening its war chest to try to sway a policy fight with no clear connection to medicine or health care, spending a half-million dollars here to oppose a California ballot measure that would expand rent control protections across the state. (Facher and Robbins, 9/19)

Reuters: Bayer's Monsanto Asks U.S. Court To Toss $289 Million Glyphosate Verdict
Bayer AG unit Monsanto on Tuesday asked a California judge to throw out a $289 million jury verdict awarded to a man who alleged the company's glyphosate-based weed-killers, including Roundup, gave him cancer. The company said in motions filed in San Francisco's Superior Court of California that the jury's decision was insufficiently supported by the evidence presented at trial by school groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson. (9/19)

The Wall Street Journal: Bayer Steps Up Legal Fight Over Weed Killer Blamed For Cancer
The jury in that case ruled unanimously in favor of a former groundskeeper who sought to hold the maker of Roundup liable for his non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The verdict came only two months after the German pharmaceutical and chemical conglomerate sealed its takeover of Monsanto, the U.S. agriculture giant that invented the herbicide. Bayer shares have dropped about 22% since the verdict to five-year lows. (Bunge and Bender, 9/18)

Stat: For CRISPR Patents, The Ugliest Phase May Be Still To Come
Last week, a federal appeals court ruled that foundational CRISPR-Cas9 patents awarded to the Broad Institute described a significantly different invention than does a patent application (in limbo since 2012) from the University of California. As a result, the Broad’s patents do not “interfere” with the one UC applied for. That allowed the Broad to keep its valuable intellectual property and left UC’s CRISPR hanging by a thread. The chances that UC can persuade the full appeals court to re-hear its case for interference, let alone get the Supreme Court to, are next to nil. If not that, what comes next? (Begley, 9/17)

Modesto Bee: Harder’s Abortion Stance, Seen In 2017 Video, Becomes An Issue In Congressional Campaign 
Abortion, among the most divisive issues in American politics, suddenly is making waves in the hotly contested congressional race between Democratic challenger Josh Harder and Republican Rep. Jeff Denham. More than a year ago, Harder told a small gathering in Turlock that he favors preserving women’s right to choose, and would work to have federal dollars pay for abortions. (Stapley, 9/18)

Ventura County Star: Here's A Look At The Latest Legislation Brown Has Signed And Vetoed
[Gov. Jerry Brown] also vetoed legislation that aimed to eliminate conflicts of interests by sheriffs who serve dually as county coroners. That bill, SB1303, was sparked after San Joaquin County's medical examiner alleged the sheriff interfered in death investigations. The medical examiner was Dr. Bennet Omalu, the pathologist made famous by the movie "Concussion." Omalu accused Sheriff Steve Moore of interfering with investigations to protect law enforcement. The sheriff serves as the coroner in most of California's 58 counties. (9/18)

San Diego Union-Tribune: 'Drug Llama' Accused Of Selling 50,000 Fentanyl Pills Over Dark Web Also Linked To Overdose Death Of Baby
San Diego woman known to her dark web customers as “The Drug Llama” has been arrested on accusations of shipping more than 50,000 fentanyl pills throughout the country, authorities said Tuesday. While the charges against Melissa Scanlan stem from a federal grand jury indictment in Illinois, the 31-year-old woman is also being investigated in connection with two overdose deaths closer to home. (Davis, 9/18)

The Wall Street Journal: To Help Alzheimer’s Patients, A Care Center Re-Creates The 1950s
The two men, high school buddies, sit in a turquoise and white booth at Rosie’s Diner, ribbing each other like they are teenagers at Sweetwater High School where they played baseball together so many years ago. A 1950s-era jukebox spits out tunes like “Peggy Sue” by Buddy Holly. Vinyl records and black-and-white pictures of celebrities like Elvis Presley and Audrey Hepburn line the walls. Now in their 70s, James Mann and Richard Eshbach are actually in Glenner Town Square, a new adult day-care center for dementia patients that is like entering a time warp. The 11 storefronts that surround an indoor park represent the time period from 1953 to 1961, when most of the patients were in the prime of their life. (Reddy, 9/18)

In other public health news —

San Francisco Chronicle: Amid Revenue Decline, Fitbit Introduces Health Feature For Diabetes, Hypertension 
Fitbit has struggled to keep up with competitors in the smartwatch business. Now the San Francisco fitness device maker is announcing a new health care service it hopes will help millions monitor chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension. (Ho, 9/19)

The San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego Approves Spending An Additional $1M For Large Tented Shelters
San Diego City Council members on Tuesday agreed to spend another $1 million on three large tents that serve as bridge shelters for homeless people. Meeting as the city’s Housing Authority, council members voted 8-1, with David Alvarez dissenting, to increase funding for the three shelters to $13.9 million in the 2018-19 fiscal year budget. Most of the funding increase will be for staffing changes that city officials hope will move more homeless people from the tents and into housing. (Warth, 9/18)

The Desert Sun: Desert Healthcare District Race: Candidates Talk Homelessness And New CEO
The Desert Healthcare District board has two seats up for election — the Zone 2 and the Zone 4 seats. Carole Rogers, an incumbent vying for Zone 2, is running unopposed, while Zone 4 has two newcomers vying for the spot. This is the first election in which zone elections, rather than at-large votes, will select board members. The candidates will compete to represent their communities following a year of change at the healthcare district, which is responsible for the allocation of $4 million in annual discretionary funds to help support primary care, behavioral health and homelessness initiatives throughout the Coachella Valley. The district doesn’t provide services but provides funds to support organizations that do. (Hayden, 9/18)

Fresno Bee: Olivier: 'Beware Of Political Grandstanders' On Cannabis Policy
Fresno City Councilman Clint Olivier, a longtime cannabis advocate on the council, warned people attending a public forum earlier this week not to believe everything they may hear about the city’s draft cannabis regulations. Olivier was responding to radio and television interviews Councilman Steve Brandau gave earlier that day. Brandau said in the interviews he was surprised by the draft cannabis regulations released last week, and that he doesn’t believe they reflect the original intent of the City Council. (Calix, 9/18)

Capital Public Radio: Yolo County Boosts CalFresh Enrollment Among UC Davis Students In Need 
In an attempt to turn the situation around, Yolo County hired Code For America to design a user-friendly CalFresh website for students.They also teamed up with the civic tech non-profit mRelief to create a text messaging platform. Students can use mRelief to get screened for food assistance benefits, submit documents and schedule CalFresh appointments using their mobile devices. (Mitric, 9/18)

Capital Public Radio: U.S. EPA, Sacramento Sanitation District Reach Settlement
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is fining a Sacramento area sanitation district for safety violations. The violations have to do with chemicals at the Sacramento Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant in Elk Grove. Employees, who use chlorine to disinfect the water, didn't immediately tell the National Response Center about three separate releases of chlorine in 2013 and 2014. (Milne, 9/18)

The Hill: Bipartisan Senators Unveil Proposal To Crack Down On Surprise Medical Bills
A bipartisan group of senators is unveiling a draft measure to crack down on surprise medical bills, which they say have plagued patients with massive unexpected charges for care. The measure would prevent a health care provider that is outside of a patient’s insurance network from charging additional costs for emergency services to patients beyond the amount usually allowed under their insurance plan. (Sullivan, 9/18)

And a look at why those bills are so high —

The Wall Street Journal: Behind Your Rising Health-Care Bills: Secret Hospital Deals That Squelch Competition
Last year, Cigna Corp. and the New York hospital system Northwell Health discussed developing an insurance plan that would offer low-cost coverage by excluding some other health-care providers, according to people with knowledge of the matter. It never happened. The problem was a separate contract between Cigna and NewYork-Presbyterian, the powerful hospital operator that is a Northwell rival. Cigna couldn’t find a way to work around restrictive language that blocked it from selling any plans that didn’t include NewYork-Presbyterian, according to the people. (Wilde Mathews, 9/18)

The Associated Press: Senate Backs Bill To Avert Shutdown, Boost Military Spending
The Senate on Tuesday approved a wide-ranging, $854 billion bill that funds the military and a host of civilian agencies for the next year and provides a short-term fix to keep the government open through early December. The measure includes $675 billion for the Defense Department and boosts military pay by 2.6 percent, the largest pay raise in nine years. The bill also approves spending for Health and Human Services, Education, Labor and other agencies, including a 5 percent boost for the National Institutes of Health. (9/18)

The Washington Post: Senate Passes Defense And Health Spending Bill, Tries To Delay Border-Wall Fight To After Midterms
Funding for the Labor, Education and Health and Human Services departments would total $178 billion, a $1 billion increase from 2018 and almost $11 billion more than Trump requested in his budget proposal for 2019. The Trump administration has objected to the increases in domestic budgets Congress is approving, but that is the price Democrats exacted for agreeing to big military spending increases sought by Republicans and Trump. Although Congress again finds itself nearing the end of the fiscal year without completing action on the 12 must-pass spending bills that fund all government agencies, the situation still represents a major improvement over recent years of budget dysfunction. (Werner, 9/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Senate Passes Broad Spending Bill
To combat the opioid epidemic, the bill appropriates $3.8 billion, an increase of $2.7 billion over 2017. Of that, $1.5 billion will go to states for grants. The Senate on Monday passed broad, bipartisan legislation aimed at combating the opioid epidemic through new research, treatment and help for families affected by addiction. (Andrews, 9/18)

The New York Times: Christine Blasey Ford Wants F.B.I. To Investigate Kavanaugh Before She Testifies
The woman who has accused President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee of sexual assault all but ruled out appearing at an extraordinary Senate hearing scheduled for next week to hear her allegations, insisting on Tuesday that the F.B.I. investigate first. Speaking through lawyers, Christine Blasey Ford said she would cooperate with the Senate Judiciary Committee and left open the possibility of testifying later about her allegations against Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh. But echoing Senate Democrats, she said an investigation should be “the first step” before she is put “on national television to relive this traumatic and harrowing incident.” (Baker, Stolberg and Fandos, 9/18)

In other national health care news —

Politico: Obamacare Lawsuit Boosts Democrats In State AG Races
Democrats believe they have their best chance in years to flip crucial state attorney general seats by trumpeting the same message that drew furious protesters to town halls and to the polls last year: Republicans are trying to take away your health care. These down-ballot races usually fly under the radar, but they are front and center in 2018 as many Democratic officeholders have turned the positions into the cornerstone of resistance to President Donald Trump, challenging dozens of his policies in court, from the separation of immigrant families at the border, to the ban on travel from several Muslim countries, to the crackdown on marijuana sales in states that legalized the drug. (Ollstein, 9/18)

The New York Times: U.S. Loses Track Of Another 1,500 Migrant Children, Investigators Find
The Trump administration is unable to account for the whereabouts of nearly 1,500 migrant children who illegally entered the United States alone this year and were placed with sponsors after leaving federal shelters, according to congressional findings released on Tuesday. The revelation echoes an admission in April by the Department of Health and Human Services that the government had similarly lost track of an additional 1,475 migrant children it had moved out of shelters last year. (Nixon, 9/18)

The Associated Press: White House Sets 'New Direction' In Biodefense Strategy
The Trump administration on Tuesday released a new biodefense strategy that it said takes a more comprehensive approach to preparing the nation for deliberate biological attacks and natural outbreaks of infectious disease. The goal of the strategy, which was required by Congress, is to more effectively prevent, prepare for and respond to biological threats, which the document said are "among the most serious threats" facing the U.S. and the world. (9/18)

The Hill: New Ads Pressure Lawmakers Against Easing Costs On Drug Companies
Drug-pricing advocates are launching a six-figure ad campaign to try to stop Congress from rolling back a move targeting drug companies. The ads from Patients for Affordable Drugs Now seek to counteract an aggressive lobbying push by drug companies to undo a change from February that shifted billions of dollars in new costs onto them. (Sullivan, 9/18)

Modern Healthcare: AHA Launches 340B Hospital Transparency Effort
The American Hospital Association has launched a new effort it hopes will bring more transparency to the 340B drug discount program. Under the so-called 340B stewardship principle initiative, the trade association plans to encourage hospitals to release information on their 340B savings and what they usually do with that money. (Dickson, 9/18)

Stat/ProPublica: Black Patients Are Being Left Out Of Clinical Trials For New Cancer Therapies
’s a promising new drug for multiple myeloma, one of the most savage blood cancers. Called Ninlaro, it can be taken as a pill, sparing patients painful injections or cumbersome IV treatments. In a video sponsored by the manufacturer, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., one patient even hailed Ninlaro as “my savior.” The Food and Drug Administration approved it in 2015 after patients in a clinical trial gained an average of six months without their cancer spreading. That trial, though, had a major shortcoming: its racial composition. One out of five people diagnosed with multiple myeloma in the U.S. is black, and African-Americans are more than twice as likely as white Americans to be diagnosed with the cancer. (Chen and Wong, 9/19)