State Highlights: Calif. Bill Would Allow Midwives To Practice Independently; A New Law Aims To Prevent Suicide At N.J. Colleges

Kaiser Health News: California Doctors And Hospitals Tussle Over Role Of Nurse-Midwives
A California bill that would allow certified nurse-midwives to practice independently is pitting the state’s doctors against its hospitals, even though both sides support the main goal of the legislation. The California Hospital Association and the California Medical Association, which represents doctors, agree that nurse-midwives have the training and qualifications to practice without physician supervision.But they differ sharply over whether hospitals should be able to employ midwives directly — a dispute the certified nurse-midwives fear could derail the proposed law. (Gorman, 8/8)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: N.J. Colleges Welcome New Law As They Work To Prevent Suicide
A new law to help prevent suicide by students at New Jersey colleges brings needed attention to an important campus issue, school administrators said, while also giving them support to expand services. Gov. Christie last week signed into law the Madison Holleran Suicide Prevention Act, named after a 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania student from Bergen County who killed herself in 2014 in Philadelphia. (Lai, 8/8)

The Tennessean: Investors Bet Big On Nashville's Young Health Care Firms
Young health care companies around Nashville received more than $940 million from 2005 to 2015, an explosion of venture capital investment that aligns with both the city’s rise to national prominence and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.Health care investments accounted for about 60 percent of the $1.6 billion in Nashville-area venture capital investments over 11 years, according to a report from the Nashville Capital Network and Nashville Health Care Council. (Fletcher, 8/7)

The Tennessean: A New Brand Of Doctor Targets The Unhealthy In Rural Tennessee
CCHI is an "accountable care organization," health care speak for an emerging model designed to let physicians efficiently manage care and engage with patients to get healthier outcomes. Physicians can work with insurance companies and Medicare in contracts that reward better savings....But what it is, is a band of primary care doctors in about 50 counties across Tennessee who want to collaborate as a way to sustain their independence in changing the health care system — and as a path to making their patients, and communities, healthier. (Fletcher, 8/6)

The Texas Tribune: In Fight Over Surprise Medical Bills, Some Lawmakers Target Insurance Regulators
Despite choosing an in-network hospital, the emergency room doctor who treated (Ed) Hagan wasn't in-network. Neither was the anesthesiologist who worked on Hagan’s bone marrow sampling. Combined, their bills totaled $2,000. ... State lawmakers have long sought a solution to surprise medical bills — also known as balance bills — as doctors, insurance companies and patients argue over who is responsible for the phenomenon. (Walters, 8/6)

Houston Chronicle: Clinic Gets Fresh Coat Of Support 
Three decades of wear have taken their toll on Harris County's only public psychiatric hospital, built in 1986 just east of the Texas Medical Center...Now, hospital officials are renovating the units. They're fixing the bathrooms, replacing portions of concrete walls with tempered glass and installing surfaces with wood finish to create a brighter atmosphere that they hope will improve patient outcomes and lift the spirits of staffers.  (Zaveri, 8/5)

Houston Chronicle: New Montgomery Co. Court To Focus On Mental Health Treatment 
Montgomery County is poised to become the latest Texas jurisdiction to launch a mental health court, joining a national trend aimed at sending nonviolent offenders with serious mental illnesses to treatment rather than prison...These courts help address a massive national problem: 1 in 5 people in local jails has a recent history of mental illness, according to a 2006 Bureau of Justice Statistics report, and mentally ill inmates with prior convictions were more likely to end up in jail again. (Kragie, 8/7)

USA Today/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Pharmacist Charged With $1 Million Fraud
A Janesville pharmacist billed the federal government about $1 million for fraudulent prescriptions over several years, a federal indictment charges. Mark Johnson, 55, was arrested at his office Friday morning without incident, according to U.S. Attorney John Vaudreuil of Wisconsin's Western District in Madison.  Johnson faces 46 felony counts, including fraud, identity theft and lying during a health care audit. (Vielmetti, 8/5)

San Francisco Chronicle: After Deaths, Alameda County Replaces Jail Inmate Health Provider
Alameda County will sever ties with its longtime jail health care contractor after grappling with allegations that the company provided inadequate care that may have led to inmate deaths.The Alameda County Board of Supervisors on Friday voted 4-0 to award the three-year, $135 million contract to California Forensic Medical Group instead of Corizon Health Inc., following a vigorous debate among nurses, former inmates and representatives from the two companies — both of which are giants in prison health care. Supervisor Keith Carson abstained from the vote. (Swan, 8/5)

The Washington Post: Doctors Group: UNC Using Live Animals In Emergency Training
A doctors group has filed a complaint against the emergency medicine training program at the UNC School of Medicine, saying the program violates federal law by using live animals. The complaint, filed by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, says the program instructs trainees to cut into various parts of a pig to insert needles and tubes, and to spread the ribs to access the heart. After the training session, the animals are killed. (8/5)

The Washington Post: Man Fatally Shot By Loudoun Deputy Was In Mental-Health Crisis, Family Says
A man fatally shot by a Loudoun County sheriff’s deputy Friday morning was experiencing a mental-health crisis, his family said Saturday. Johannes Melvin Wood, 58, was shot and killed by a deputy who had responded to a call at Wood’s residence in Aldie after Wood refused to drop two knives he was holding, police said. Deputies had visited the home a day earlier when Wood called 911 because he was hearing voices and felt afraid, Gary Byler, the family’s attorney, said in an interview Saturday. (Schmelzer, 8/6)

The Washington Post: A Dentist Lost A Barbed Tool During A Root Canal. It Was Later Found In Her Patient’s Stomach.
Janus Pawlowicz was having root canal surgery at an Illinois dental clinic when his dentist told him that she had dropped an instrument somewhere and couldn’t find it. A couple of days later, Pawlowicz’s stomach began hurting, and he started feeling nauseous. He went to his doctor, who ordered an X-ray. And there it was: The nearly 2-inch-long barbed broach, a razor-sharp metal file used during root canals, was lodged in the middle of Pawlowicz’s stomach. (Guerra, 8/5)