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California consumers will have the strongest protections in the nation against getting blindsided by unexpected out-of-network medical bills as part of legislation signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown.AB72 was one of 10 consumer-protection measures — eight related to health care — signed Friday by the governor. They include a law that will require health insurers to notify their policyholders when regulators think their price hikes are too high, and one that will allow people to be informed of their rights to timely access to health care and to an interpreter. The surprise medical bill legislation is designed to prevent patients, many of whom checked in advance to make sure their doctor and hospital were in their insurer’s list of contracted providers, from getting hit with out-of-network charges after undergoing a procedure or agreeing to services. (Colliver, 9/23)

At a court hearing Friday for the Miami Herald’s lawsuit against Miami-Dade seeking the locations of traps in Miami Beach where mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus were captured, a county attorney said the Florida Department of Health had instructed local officials not to disclose the information — a statement the state agency strongly denied afterward. The suit seeks disclosure of the Zika-positive mosquito trap locations on grounds that the information would help the public make decisions about precautions to take if they live or work nearby, and also inform the community debate on the use of the controversial insecticide naled. (Chang, 9/23)

Summer is over in the Bay Area, but the West Nile virus season is sticking around. Adult mosquitoes recently collected in portions of the 95112, 95131 and 95133 ZIP codes have tested positive for the virus, which can sicken and in severe cases kill humans. In response, the Santa Clara County Vector Control District plans to fog the area. (Green, 9/23)

The Obama administration has proposed barring states and other recipients of federal family planning grants from placing their own eligibility restrictions on where the money can go, which would undermine the efforts of 13 Republican-led states to prevent such money from going to Planned Parenthood. (9/24)

Like Bill and Melinda Gates before them, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, as the couple’s philanthropic organization is known, will bolster the tens of billions of dollars spent each year by the federal government on life sciences, a field in which the Boston region’s universities, hospitals, research institutes, and biotech companies are second to none. There was a touch of envy that the new project, announced Wednesday, is being launched in the San Francisco Bay Area, where a $600 million research “Biohub” will link the University of California San Francisco, University of California Berkeley, and Stanford University. How could the Manhattan Project of medicine not be based here? But regional bragging rights aside, the effort will be a huge opportunity for Boston’s biomedical research complex. (Dayal McCluskey and Weisman, 9/25)

The medical school has hired a professional recruiting firm to help — something it does for senior positions, but never on such a large scale. It has already brought in four scientists from other institutions. Another 12 are at various stages of the recruiting process; some are to visit in October, and others are nearing decisions. (McDaniels, 9/25)

In the next four days, the California Department of Public Health will decide for the second time whether the state’s largest nursing home operator can stop accepting patients at three of his five skilled nursing facilities in Humboldt County and begin closing the homes. Rockport Healthcare Services, the management company for Los Angeles nursing-home magnate Shlomo Rechnitz, did not spell out in its notification letters why it wants to close the homes. However, Rockport spokesman Stefan Friedman told The Sacramento Bee on Friday that the company has experienced a “severe staffing shortage” in the region, and “we have been unable to recruit and retain sufficient numbers of permanent staff to meet our patients’ needs.” (Lundstrom, 9/24)

Cuyahoga County has frozen its regional health insurance program after discovering a $9.5 million budget shortfall -- plus the depletion of a $12 million health care reserve fund. The problems are in the county's health insurance programs for employees as well as in a regional program, in which municipal governments and other public agencies take advantage of the county's buying power to get low rates. Employee claims in the county employees program, which is self-insured, have been higher than anticipated, County Executive Armond Budish told cleveland.com Wednesday. (Farkas, 9/23)

As the outbreak of infections among children treated at an Anaheim pediatric dental clinic climbed to 20 cases Friday, a doctor at Children’s Hospital of Orange County said the affected children have not only undergone extensive surgeries and received powerful antibiotics, but many have also lost permanent teeth. Five doctors and a team of hospital staff have been caring for the 20 children, who remain hospitalized at CHOC for several days now, said Antonio Arrieta, the hospital’s Director of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. Doctors and staff have been taking X-rays of the children’s jaws and chest area to detect infected areas, and all children have required surgery to rid their bones of the infection, he said. (Bharath, 9/24)

Health officials in Riverside County confirmed Friday that an elementary schoolchild has Hansen’s disease, also known as leprosy. The child appears to have contracted the rare disease from “someone that had been diagnosed with Hansen’s disease who had prolonged, close contact with the child,” said Barbara Cole, director for disease control for the Riverside County Department of Public Health. (Karlamangla, 9/23)

Imagine an annual physical that includes a blood test and brain imaging that reveal whether you are predisposed to Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. Then, imagine that any prognosis does not terrify you, but instead empowers you to take simple measures to prevent illness. Physicians and researchers in central Ohio and around the world are working to make that a reality. Such discoveries would represent the Holy Grail of neurological research, said Dr. Brendan Kelley, associate professor of neurology and psychiatry at Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center. (Viviano, 9/25)

The project to build a suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge could escalate to as much as $198 million and continues to be delayed as officials seek more money for construction. The bridge board voted Friday to formally delay the project until Jan. 9 so a funding plan can be revised. Bridge officials were stunned in July when bids came in almost double the $76 million estimate. Now span officials are noting the project could be as much as $198 million, but caution that that figure is likely high. (Prado, 9/24)