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This year Seattle, Philadelphia and Cook County, Illinois, slapped extra excise taxes on soda and other sweetened beverages in what they touted as an effort to reduce obesity, save public health dollars and raise revenue. But the devilish details in the levies are causing many shoppers and food sellers to scratch their heads. While they are known as “soda taxes,” in some places they also cover sugarless diet sodas, iced coffee and some bottled water. (Povich, 8/31)

Its survival on the line, Kentucky's last abortion clinic is bracing for a pivotal legal showdown with health regulators and the state's anti-abortion governor that could determine whether Kentucky becomes the first state in the nation without an abortion clinic. (9/4)

Wyoming will participate in a national initiative designed to improve how schools respond to the social and emotional needs of K-12 students. The state is one of nine awarded this opportunity, and Teton County will be the first district to participate. (Watson, 9/1)

Over the past decade, the DNA laboratory in the office of New York City’s chief medical examiner emerged as a pioneer in analyzing the most complicated evidence from crime scenes. It developed two techniques, which went beyond standard practice at the F.B.I. and other public labs, for making identifications from DNA samples that were tiny or that contained a mix of more than one person’s genetic material. (Kirchner, 9/4)

When neighbors learned a health clinic run by an Islamic nonprofit organization was coming to Northeast Philadelphia this fall, they had questions. Will the clinic be open to anyone, or only Muslims? (Answer: Anyone.) Will doctors impose their religious beliefs on patients? (No.) Is this a front for extremism? (No.) “We just so happen to be Muslim, but that shouldn’t deter people,” said Ammar Shahid, a doctor who works with ICNA Relief, the nonprofit opening the clinic in the Holmesburg neighborhood. Free blood-pressure screenings, dental work, and counseling for people who can’t afford basic health care will be offered. (Boren, 9/5)

Major breaches of medical privacy happened more often in Missouri than in any other state its size over the last two years. ... The lapses potentially exposed sensitive medical information, left patients at risk for identity theft and could lead to hefty fines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights. (Marso, 9/1)

An Ohio law requiring HIV-infected individuals to tell sexual partners of their status before having sex or risk criminal charges is unconstitutionally based on outmoded stigmas against the gay community and doesn’t take into consideration current survival rates for people with HIV, say lawyers challenging the law in a case before the state Supreme Court. (Welsh-Huggins, 9/4)

San Diego County declared a local health emergency Friday night, adding a new level of urgency to a hepatitis A outbreak that has hit hardest among the homeless population, killing 15 people and hospitalizing hundreds. The declaration by Dr. Wilma Wooten, the region’s public health officer, bolsters the county Health and Human Services Agency’s ability to request assistance from the state and provides legal protections for a slate of actions that began unfolding across the city earlier in the day. (Sisson, 9/2)

The public health declaration bolsters the county Health and Human Services Agency's ability to request state assistance to fund new sanitation measures. Areas with high concentrations of homeless people will receive dozens of portable hand-washing stations. (Johnston, 9/3)

Fruit sold by a Lancaster street vendor who was infected with hepatitis A might have exposed consumers to the virus, which can cause serious liver disease, Los Angeles County public health officials said Monday in a statement. The possibly contaminated produce was sold at a stand at West Avenue L and 20th Street West in mid-August, officials said. (Christensen, 9/4)

A large Carmichael nursing home that was targeted for years by government regulators for poor quality care has decided to voluntarily close after state inspectors determined that a female resident was sexually abused multiple times by another resident at the facility. (Lundstrom, 9/2)

With record heat beating down on the Bay Area this holiday weekend, advocates who work with homeless people are redoubling efforts to spread word about places that offer some escape from the heat. (Small, 9/2)

A new analysis backs up what many state officials suspected all along: Training doctors at the new medical school at Washington State University probably will cost taxpayers more than training those students at the top-ranked University of Washington School of Medicine. That news isn’t shocking to state lawmakers, who greenlighted the new medical school at WSU’s Spokane campus two years ago. (Santos, 9/3)

A state audit released in April found that most placard applications lacked proper descriptions of the recipients’ disabilities. It also found that tens of thousands are held by people who are dead or over 100 years old. (Cabanatuan, 9/3)

California health officials said Friday that three people have died of West Nile virus this summer, marking the first deaths in what could be a particularly dangerous season for the disease. The three people lived in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Kern counties, according to state health officials. L.A. County health officials said the local patient who died was from the San Fernando Valley area and was hospitalized in early August. (Karlamangla, 9/1)

Three Southern California residents are the first confirmed deaths of 2017 from West Nile virus, state public health officials said Friday. ... As of Friday, the state has reported 87 human cases of West Nile virus from 13 California counties this year. (Seipel, 9/1)

Georgia health officials on Friday confirmed the third West Nile virus death in Georgia this year and cautioned those looking to catch some sun this Labor Day weekend. (Habersham, 9/1)

Nonprofit and for-profit businesses such as Delaware County-based Creative Foundations, with sites now in five counties, are gradually providing more and more of the government-funded services and programs available to Ohio adults with disabilities. (Price, 9/2)

The most recent figures available from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District — a map based on 2010 data — show that air pollution runs along the city’s highways, and Interstate 80 cuts straight through SoMa, South Park, South Beach and the city’s new high-rise neighborhood, Rincon Hill. (Swan, 9/4)

School nurse Rhonda Valdez is on the front lines of student health at Wheat Ridge High School, treating myriad concerns — flu outbreaks, diabetes, severe allergies, body image issues, football-related concussions. The job is rewarding and keeps her busy, but the longtime registered nurse and 18-year veteran of Jefferson County Schools is taking on a new role this fall. Valdez is among a vanguard of state-certified school nurses, social workers and counselors hired this year to try to keep marijuana out of the hands of youths. (Whaley, 9/4)

Marijuana legalization opponents will outnumber supporters four to one on the new commission that will spearhead [Massachusetts'] efforts to get a legal marijuana industry up and running by next summer and then regulate the newly legal market. (Young, 9/1)