State Highlights: Grand Jury Indicts Doctors In Genital Mutilation Case; Doctors’ Salaries In Baltimore Some Of Lowest In Country

The Washington Post: Detroit-Area Doctors Indicted In ‘Brutal’ Genital Mutilation Case
In what is believed to be the first case of its kind in the United States, a grand jury issued a federal indictment Wednesday against two Detroit-area doctors and a medical officer manager for scheming to perform female genital mutilation. The doctors — Jumana Nagarwala and Fakhruddin Attar — along with Attar’s wife, Farida Attar, were charged with performing female genital mutilation on minor girls at Fakhruddin Attar’s medical office in Livonia, Mich. Until Wednesday, only Nagarwala, 44, was charged with performing the procedure; the others were merely charged as conspirators in the case. (Schmidt, 4/27)

The Baltimore Sun: New Survey Says Baltimore Doctors' Salaries Among Lowest In The Country 
Baltimore area doctors earn on average some of the lowest salaries in the country, according to a new survey by Doximity, a social network of health care professionals. The compensation report found that on average physicians earned $281,005 a year. Only doctors in two others metropolitan areas reported lower salaries. The the average salary was $267,598 in the Durham, NC area and $272,398 in Ann Arbor, MI and surrounding areas. (McDaniels, 4/26)

KCUR: A New Uber-Style App Helps Riders With Disabilities In Kansas City
The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority is launching an app next week to help people with disabilities get a ride. The launch follows a year of development and two months of trials in a partnership with the company Transdev. Anyone can use the RideKC Freedom app, but it’s specially designed for the more than 300,000 people with disabilities who use the KCATA’s subsidized paratransit services. CEO Robbie Makinen says the Uber-style app is an innovation for the public transit agency. (Wood, 4/27)

The Minneapolis Star Tribune: With 3 More Measles Cases, Minn. Health Officials Engage With Somali Community
State health officials reported three new measles cases Wednesday in an outbreak that has now sickened 24 children... All of the cases involve unvaccinated Somali children from the age of 10 months to 5 years. Fifty percent of the current cases have been hospitalized. (Howatt and Pheifer, 4/26)

St. Louis Public Radio: Cases Of Syphilis Transmitted In Pregnancy Rise In Missouri 
The St. Louis region has long grappled with high rates of sexually transmitted infections, but an uptick in syphilis among women of child-bearing age is drawing the concern of public health officials. In Missouri, 10 cases of congenital syphilis — when the infection is transmitted in the womb — were reported last year. (Bouscaren, 4/26)

Iowa Public Radio: Iowa's Gonorrhea Infection Rate Up 75 Percent Since 2013 
Reported cases of gonorrhea infections in Iowa are up 75 percent in the last three years, according to preliminary data from the Iowa Department of Public Health. The department says while Iowa's overall infection rate isn't unusual, the sudden increase in infections from 2013 is unique. IDPH STD program manager George Walton says part of the reason for this increase is that providers are conducting more comprehensive testing, which has identified cases that would have otherwise gone undetected. (Boden, 4/26)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Peoples Health To Cut 42 Positions In 'Organizational Changes'
Peoples Health, a Metairie-based Medicare Advantage Plan provider, is eliminating 42 positions as part of what it's calling "organizational changes." The company did not detail the types of employees who would be affected. Its reduction falls below the state labor department's threshold of 50 layoffs, which would require it to provide more details. The company reports having 60,000 beneficiaries in southeast Louisiana who receive Medicare-supported services from affiliated physicians and health care providers. The leadership of Peoples Health wasn't immediately available for an interview, but their communications director issued a statement in response to questions about the job cuts. (LaRose, 4/26)

Chicago Sun Times: Family Members Get Prison Time For Running Health Fraud Scheme 
A Wheeling chiropractor and two of his relatives have been sentenced to prison time for bilking insurance carriers out of more than $10.8 million. Dr. Vladimir Gordin Jr., 46; his father Vladimir Gordin Sr., 70; and his brother Alexsander Gordin, 34, pleaded guilty earlier this year to healthcare fraud, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office. The trio operated Gordin Medical Center S.C., a chiropractic group at 350 E. Dundee Rd. in Wheeling, according to prosecutors. They billed insurance carriers for services that were either never performed or were medically unnecessary. (4/26)

The Star Tribune: Chaska Nursing Home Ruled Negligent After Resident Fell Into 155-Degree Water, Died 
An elderly resident at a Chaska nursing home suffered severe burns and died after falling into a tub of scalding laundry water, according to a state Health Department report that faults the home’s staff for leaving a laundry door open and unattended... State Health Department investigators concluded that the operators of Auburn Manor were negligent when the 90-year-old resident, known to wander throughout the facility, ended up on her back in a few inches of 155-degree waste water on Dec. 31. (Walsh, 4/26)