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State officials last week started to collect the so-called "clawback" money from pharmacies -- money the state wants to recoup from payments made during the time a 10% rate reduction was held up in court. (Gorn, 9/3)

For years, Massachusetts has been out in front of other states, trying ideas to change the health system. It passed a state law extending health insurance coverage to almost all citizens four years ahead of the federal health law, and then the commonwealth tried to tackle rising health costs. But the latest numbers are disappointing: Massachusetts spent $632 million more on health care last year than it aimed to, according to a report from the state’s Center for Health Information and Analysis. (Bebinger, 9/4)

Six years ago, Children's Hospital outside Denver and dozens of clinics around the state began focusing on long-acting forms of contraception, such as IUDs and hormonal implants. Research shows they're much more reliable at preventing pregnancy than the pill or condoms. Liz Romer, who runs the clinic at Children's, where teenagers and young women can get free and confidential birth control, said that's in part because they're less subject to human error. (Horsley, 9/3)

In a medical-malpractice lawsuit stemming from the death of a woman who hanged herself, the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday weighed whether her doctor could be found negligent in the suicide. The case, brought by the husband of Sarasota County woman Jacqueline Granicz after her 2008 death, raises issues about physician Joseph Chirillo's "duty" of care. The 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled last year that the lawsuit against Chirillo could move forward, overturning a circuit judge's ruling in the doctor's favor. (Saunders, 9/3)

Attorney General Pam Bondi's office argued this week that a potential challenge at the U.S. Supreme Court should not prevent the state from carrying out a law aimed at restricting doctors from asking questions about patients' gun ownership. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in July upheld the controversial law --- dubbed the "docs vs. glocks" law. Opponents last month asked the full appeals court to hear the case. If that request is rejected, the opponents indicated they will take the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court. (9/3)

West Nile virus hit California harder than ever last year, with a record 561 cases of neuroinvasive disease–the most serious types of the illness–reported from the mosquito-borne virus, according to federal health data released Thursday. The number of these serious California cases was 83 percent higher than the previous record number reported in the state in 2005, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Feder Ostrov, 9/4)

Members of the four American Indian tribes with northeast Kansas reservations recently gathered to talk about health. They discussed continuing the fight against diseases, such as diabetes, that have plagued Indians for generations. But the talk didn’t stop there. “Native Americans are the most at risk for having diabetes. It’s just predispositioned that way. And so, because of that, I knew that that was going to be one of the most important things,” said Tiffany Buffalo, who heads the diabetes program for the Sac and Fox Tribe. (Thompson, 9/3)

In July 2015, emergency responders in Manatee County handled more than 200 heroin overdose calls. And the repeat overdose calls alone are nearly three times what the overall total was for July 2014. Chief Stephen Krivjanik with Manatee County Public Safety Department’s EMS Division called July 2015’s numbers “overwhelming.” (Watts, 9/3)

In fact, the woman from Beavercreek in suburban Dayton not only testified twice publicly for Senate Bill 43 — a law allowing judges to order out-patient treatment for the mentally ill — but also attended a bill-signing ceremony in Gov. John Kasich’s office on June 17, 2014. A photo shows Kasich with his left arm around Baker’s shoulder in the center of a group of lawmakers and advocates. How did things go so wrong? (Johnson, 9/4)

Erica Anderson, a health promotion specialist for the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, likes to tell a story about a woman who came to one of her workshops eager to talk about electronic cigarettes. The woman, who was pregnant, said she was in a restaurant when a man at the table next to her started puffing on an e-cigarette, which delivers nicotine to users in a vapor. As the white cloud of vapor wafted over to her, she got up and asked the restaurant owner to tell the man to stop. (Marso, 9/3)

For years, Crystal Davis battled an insurance company for workers' compensation benefits after her husband, Wayne, was killed on the job in 2012. As a result of her struggles, the Texas Department of Insurance has slapped that insurer with what is believed to be the highest fine ever issued for workers' compensation violations in the state — $250,000. None of the money goes to Davis — a stay-at-home mom from Tyler with two children — but the state is requiring that a large chunk of it be used to help children of injured or killed workers. (Satija, 9/3)

A doctor who has an office at New York’s Kennedy Airport is accused of selling oxycodone prescriptions to his patients, prosecutors said Thursday in announcing his arrest. (Balsamo, 9/3)