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A California appeals court on Thursday rejected a lawsuit by three terminally ill patients that sought to clear the way for doctors to prescribe fatal medication to them and others like them who want the option of taking their lives. A state law that makes helping someone commit suicide a crime clearly applies to physicians who provide patients lethal drugs, a division of the Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled. (10/29)

More than a decade after Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment expanding access to records in medical-malpractice cases, an appeals court Wednesday sided with a Jacksonville hospital system in a battle about whether federal law shields some documents from disclosure. The ruling by the 1st District Court of Appeal centered on the interplay between a 2004 state constitutional amendment and a 2005 federal law. (10/29)

Gov. Steve Beshear stepped into the well-worn role of health reform defender earlier this week as he touted the launch of the next open enrollment for kynect, Kentucky’s celebrated health insurance exchange. But the program’s future – along with the state’s Medicaid expansion – face a fork in the road next Tuesday. The two-term Democratic governor won’t be on the ballot next week, but a centerpiece of his administration’s legacy is on the line as voters select his successor. An enthusiastic champion of President Obama’s signature healthcare law, Beshear could see that initiative undone if Republican Matt Bevin steps into the top office. (James, 10/29)

The new law requires students in the seventh and 12th grades to be vaccinated against meningitis beginning next year. More than 20 states already require the shot as part of standard immunizations that also vaccines against mumps, measles, polio and other deadly diseases. (10/29)

In a move to protect public health, the Minnesota Board of Dentistry earlier this year considered following the example of 11 other states and establishing a system of inspections of dentists' offices. The proposed random inspections were to make sure the dentists and their staffs were following proper sanitary procedures. (Scheck, 10/30)

No matter how well people take care of their teeth, things start to fall apart in old age. Eighty-year-old Betty Williams of Redmond found that out recently when she needed a crown, a bridge and an implant. The dental work set her back about $10,000. Like more than 70 percent of the population age 65 and older, she doesn't have private dental insurance. Medicare doesn't cover dental care, nor is it included in the retirement benefits her husband earned as a Washington firefighter. (McLaughlin, 10/29)

When treating patients with similar health problems, the amount of medical services used by physician groups affiliated with southeastern Wisconsin health systems can vary by as much as 10%, a new study shows. The study is the area's first to look at how physician practices vary in their use of health care resources — and dollars — when treating similar patients. (Boulton, 10/29)

Dave Achey has owned and operated Country Club Estates, an adult care facility in Paola, for 19 years. For most of that time he has purchased professional liability insurance for medical malpractice claims from a well-known insurer: Lloyd’s of London. But now that his facility is included under the Kansas Health Care Stabilization Fund, the state is telling him Lloyd’s is not an approved carrier and he must buy different insurance that comes with a fund surcharge. Achey is not happy about it. (Marso, 10/29)

There is a seven-county stretch in North Central Florida -- an area larger than Puerto Rico -- where every county health department has gotten out of prenatal care. Since then, the rate of women getting in to see a doctor in the first trimester has dropped in all seven counties. In Dixie County, state data show, the rate of women giving birth without ever seeing a doctor has more than doubled. It’s the worst rate in Florida. (Aboraya, 10/29)

Getting to a trauma center quickly can be critical, and in the Florida Keys, there are no trauma centers. That leaves you the option of being airlifted out. And that can cost you nothing -- or tens of thousands of dollars. But Monroe County is trying to make sure patients have the chance to choose that first financial option. (Klingener, 10/29)

One of the leaders of a family-run ring that tried to rip off more than $100 million in healthcare insurance payments by the city of Miami, Miami-Dade County public schools and numerous major companies was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday. Hendris Castillo Morales, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit healthcare fraud, sought a more lenient sentence from U.S. District Judge Robert Scola. The Castillo case is unusual because the family’s network of clinics targeted major private insurance companies that managed healthcare plans for self-insured public and private entities. The city of Miami, Miami-Dade County public schools and several companies lost millions of dollars in health insurance payments as a result of being scammed by the Castillo-run clinics that submitted bogus claims for pain injections, physical therapy and other purported services, according to two indictments. (Weaver, 10/29)

A subsidiary of pharmaceutical manufacturer Warner Chilcott PLC that was accused of offering kickbacks to doctors for drug prescriptions has agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge of health care fraud, prosecutors announced Thursday. A former company president was arrested. Warner Chilcott ex-president W. Carl Reichel was arrested in Boston. He was accused of conspiring to pay kickbacks to doctors. (10/29)

Glendale Adventist Medical Center and Dignity Health Glendale Memorial Hospital both received stroke certifications recently. Glendale Adventist is now certified as a Comprehensive Stroke Center by DNV GL Healthcare USA Inc., making it the first hospital in the state to be awarded that certification, according to Glendale Adventist officials. (Tchekmedyian, 10/29)