State Highlights: Federal Judge Rules San Francisco’s Health Warnings On Sugary Drinks Unconstitutional; NYC Required To Spend $2.2 Billion To Fix Public Housing

The Associated Press: Federal Court Again Blocks San Francisco Warning On Soda Ads
A federal appeals court on Thursday blocked for a second time a San Francisco law requiring health warnings on advertisements for soda and other sugary drinks in a victory for beverage and retail groups that sued to block the ordinance. The law violates constitutionally protected commercial speech, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a unanimous ruling. (1/31)

The Wall Street Journal: San Francisco’s Soda Health Warning Found Unconstitutional
The unanimous ruling by a full court of 11 judges on the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday affirms a decision by a three-judge panel of the court in 2017, which the city of San Francisco appealed. The court also determined the city’s warning that consumption of sugary drinks can lead to obesity and other diseases wasn’t based on established fact—citing statements by the Food and Drug Administration that sugars are “generally recognized as safe” when not consumed to excess. (Carlton, 1/31)

The Associated Press: Deal Announced To Fix NYC Public Housing Under Monitor’s Eye
New York City and U.S. housing officials announced a deal Thursday that will keep the city’s massive public housing system out of federal receivership, but require the city to spend $2.2 billion over the next few years fixing chronic problems with lousy living conditions, lead paint and lack of heat. The settlement, announced by U.S. Housing Secretary Ben Carson and Mayor Bill de Blasio, resolves a lawsuit in which federal authorities filed on behalf of the system’s 400,000 tenants. (1/31)

Los Angeles Times: Travel Agents Charged With Bringing Pregnant Chinese Women To Give Birth On U.S. Soil
When pregnant Chinese women called You Win USA Vacation Services, they didn’t receive information on visiting Disneyland or the Grand Canyon. Instead, they sought coveted advice on how to make a very different type of trip — one aimed at giving birth on U.S. soil so their children would be American citizens. You Win USA employees allegedly coached the women on the lies they should write on bogus applications for tourist visas and made sure the women traveled before their bellies swelled too much to conceal. (Mejia and Rubin, 1/31)

Chicago Tribune: Advocate Reaffirms Plan To Spend $250 Million On New Hospital And Offices In Wisconsin Despite Foxconn News
Advocate Aurora Health is moving forward with its $250 million plan to build a hospital and other facilities in southeastern Wisconsin, despite news that Foxconn Technology Group is reconsidering plans for its first U.S. plant in the same area. Foxconn, a Taiwanese electronics giant that supplies Apple, had initially promised a $10 billion investment and up to 13,000 jobs in the area. But on Wednesday, the company said in a statement that a changed global market environment has “necessitated the adjustment of plans for all projects, including Wisconsin.” (Schencker, 1/31)

Dallas Morning News: Texas Wants Court To Make Tobacco Companies Repay $125 Million In Missed Payments
Tobacco companies owe Texas more than $125 million as compensation for smoking-related health care costs, and the state is demanding they pay up. Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday asked a U.S. District Court to enforce the terms of a 1998 settlement that mandated annual payments in perpetuity from five major cigarette companies. The lapse in payment took place after two companies from the original settlement sold cigarette brands to a separate company in 2015, and none of the entities made the necessary payments in the following years, according to court filings. (Sarder, 1/31)

Politico Pro: Colorado Democrats, Embracing Full Control, Push Progressive Health Agenda
With full control of the state legislature for the first time since 2014 and a new progressive governor leading the charge, Colorado Democrats are eagerly looking to make the state a testing ground for some of the party’s boldest ideas on health care, from a public option to importing drugs from Canada. Colorado could chart a path for other blue states exploring ways to boost coverage and contain costs after an election cycle in which Democrats campaigned heavily on health care. (Goldberg, 1/31)

Sacramento Bee: Molina Switches Doctors For 19,000 Sacramento-Area Residents
Molina Healthcare has abruptly reassigned roughly 19,000 patients to new doctors, effective Friday following a contract dispute with Golden Shore Medical Group, said J. Mario Molina, Golden Shore’s CEO and owner, whose company cared for mostly Medi-Cal patients. Molina said that Golden Shore would complete the sale and transfer of its local clinics Thursday to Sacramento-based WellSpace Health. (Anderson, 1/31)

Texas Tribune: Will Texas Finally Address Intellectual Disability And The Death Penalty?
After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that executing people with intellectual disabilities is cruel and unusual punishment, states were left to come up with their own methods of defining the condition. But the Texas Legislature hasn’t done so, leaving that job to the courts — resulting in a hodgepodge system of deciding the crucial question of whether a person facing a death sentence should be spared from execution. (McCullough, 2/1)

Los Angeles Times: D.A. To Review Video Evidence In Case Of O.C. Surgeon Charged With Rapes
The Orange County district attorney has ordered an examination of all evidence, including numerous videos, in the case of a Newport Beach surgeon and his girlfriend charged with sexually assaulting seven women. Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer said that after the review, he will determine how to proceed in the case against Dr. Grant Robicheaux and his girlfriend, Cerissa Riley, whose high-profile prosecutions were launched by Spitzer’s predecessor, Tony Rackauckas. (Winton, 1/31)

Tampa Bay Times: The Flu Is Not That Bad This Year, Experts Say
The flu rocked Tampa Bay and the rest of the nation last year with record-breaking outbreaks and deaths. But as we near the peak of the flu season in February, local health officials are encouraged by only moderate reports of activity so far. (Griffin, 2/1)

St. Louis Public Radio: Drugs And Suicide Blamed For Unprecedented Decrease In Missouri Life Expectancy
For decades, the life expectancy in the United States steadily increased as medical breakthroughs helped people live longer. But in the past few years, life expectancy has started to decrease – an unprecedented step backward in the modern age. (Fentem, 1/31)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Confirmed Case Of Mumps Reported At Marquette University
A confirmed case of mumps was reported at Marquette University on Thursday. The illness was contracted by a student who lives in a campus residence hall and who is no longer contagious, a statement from the university said. (Garza, 1/31)

Georgia Health News: Report Flunks Georgia On Tobacco Policy, Urges Higher Cigarette Tax
The American Lung Association’s national report, released Wednesday, called on Georgia to increase its tax on a pack of cigarettes. At 37 cents, the levy is among the lowest in the country. …The only non-failing grade that Georgia received was for the strength of its smoke-free workplace laws, where the state got a “D.” (Miller, 1/31)

Los Angeles Times: Climate Change Should Tamp Down California’s Wildfire-Fanning Santa Ana Winds, Study Finds
Scientists have warned that California should brace for more wildfire as global warming drives longer bouts of hot and dry weather.Now researchers at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography have found a positive trend when it comes to Southern California’s battle against destructive blazes. Santa Ana winds — which routinely whip up walls of flame through brush-covered hillsides — are likely to be tempered in coming decades as a result of climate change, according to a paper published Wednesday in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. (Smith, 1/31)

Texas Tribune: Report: Unauthorized Air Pollution In Texas Up 27 Percent In 2017
Using state data obtained by the Environmental Integrity Project, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Austin-based environmental group found that 275 companies across the state reported emitting 63 million pounds of hazardous and climate-warming pollutants from their facilities in 2017, including sulfur dioxide, benzene, particulate matter and various volatile organic compounds. That’s a 27-percent jump from 2016 — an increase that can be attributed in part to an unprecedented oil boom in West Texas, where operators are burning off historic amounts of natural gas, and to pollution emitted by Houston-area facilities that shut down during Hurricane Harvey’s epic flooding. (Collier, 1/31)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cuyahoga County Discussing Potential Settlement For Lawsuit Filed Over Jail’s ‘Chaotic And Perilous Environment’
Cuyahoga County, along with the MetroHealth System and seven inmates at the county jail, are engaged in discussions on whether to settle a proposed class-action lawsuit filed over the living conditions for inmates. The revelation came as part of a motion Assistant County Prosecutor Brendan Healy filed Thursday, which said all parties “are engaged in discussions to determine whether a more expeditious resolution of this matter is possible short of costly and protracted litigation.” (Heisig, 1/31)

Boston Globe: State Offers Housing To Homeless College Students
State higher education officials hope that by providing vulnerable community college and university students a secure place to live, guaranteed meals at the campus dining halls, and more support, such as mental health counseling, they will boost academic success and, ultimately, ensure that these students graduate. Massachusetts initially plans to spend $120,000 to pilot the student housing program at Bridgewater State, Framingham State, and Worcester State universities and at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, with more funding expected in the next budget. (Fernandes, 2/1)

Houston Chronicle: Two Physicians Sentenced In Medicare Fraud Case
Approximately $29 million in fraudulent Medicare claims was billed by two Houston physicians, who were sentenced Tuesday to prison in the Southern District of Texas for their separate schemes. From December 2011 to August 2015 Dr. John Ramirez,65, along with co-defendants Ann Shepherd, 63, and Yvette Nwoko, 30, defrauded Medicare for unnecessary medical services, according to a Department of Justice news release. (1/31)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Critics Of N.H. Marijuana Legalization Rally Opposition
Opponents of legalizing recreational marijuana made a pre-emptive strike against a bill that would do just that in New Hampshire. Health advocates joined police chiefs at a news conference Thursday—ahead of the legalization bill’s first public hearing next week—to highlight what they say are dangers for young people and the public at large. (Tuohy, 1/31)