State Highlights: Va. Governor-Elect Selects Health Appointees; Flu Deaths In Texas, Arizona Signal Potentially Brutal Season

The Associated Press: Virginia Governor-Elect Names Health Appointments
Virginia Gov.-elect Ralph Northam has named Dr. Daniel Carey as his incoming secretary of health and human resources. Northam announced Wednesday that Carey, the Chief Medical Officer at Centra Health, will help Northam’s administration expand Medicaid, combat the opioid epidemic and improve mental health care. Northam also named Dr. Jennifer Lee, a senior advisor at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, as head of the Department of Medicaid Assistance Services, which administers Medicaid. (12/20)

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Northam Picks Lynchburg Cardiologist Dr. Daniel Carey To Lead Health Care Push
Gov.-elect Ralph Northam chose a Lynchburg cardiologist to lead his health and human resources team as Democrats prepare for an all-out attempt to expand Virginia’s Medicaid program after four years of futile efforts to extend health coverage to hundreds of thousands of uninsured Virginians. Dr. Daniel Carey, a cardiologist and chief medical officer at Centra Health in Lynchburg, will serve as secretary of health and human resources under Northam, a pediatric neurologist who made Medicaid expansion a top priority in his campaign for governor this year. (Martz, 12/20)

Dallas Morning News: 2 More Flu-Related Deaths In What Could Become 'One Of Our Worst Seasons' In Dallas County  
Two additional flu-related deaths were reported Wednesday in what could become one of Dallas County's worst flu seasons. A 73-year-old and an 80-year-old were the second and third people to die after complications from the seasonal flu. Last week, a 98-year-old died after contracting the illness. On a national scale, this season is on track to be one of the worst in years, and Dallas looks like it might be following suit, said Zachary Thompson, director of the Dallas County Health and Human Services Department. (Ballor, 12/21)

Arizona Republic: Seasonal Flu In Arizona Up 758 Percent From Last Year, Report Shows
It's official: The flu is widespread in Arizona two months before its typical peak. The Arizona Department of Health Services said there have been 2,976 reported cases between mid-October and Dec. 20. (Janetsky, 12/20)

Chicago Sun Times: Drink Water At Vets' Home Linked To Deaths? 'Absolutely,' Rauner Says 
Gov. Bruce Rauner on Wednesday defended his administration’s response to a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease at a state veterans’ home, saying he’d “absolutely” drink the water there .“Absolutely, absolutely,” Rauner said when asked by a reporter about drinking the tap water at the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy, where 13 residents have died from Legionnaires’ disease since July 2015. (Sfondeles, 12/20)

The Associated Press: Judge: Plastic Surgery Was Wrongly Denied For 3 HIV Patients
A cosmetic-surgery firm that denied breast reduction surgery to three men with HIV violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to consider the medical facts regarding each patient before deciding whether surgery could be safely performed, a judge said Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres issued the written opinion against Advanced Cosmetic Surgery of New York, which has offices in Manhattan and Long Island. (12/20)

St. Louis Public Radio: Proposed Missouri Law Relieves Firefighters From Proving They Got Cancer On The Job
Among the threats firefighters come in contact with are cancer-causing agents that can end careers and lives.Margie Griffin was one of three firefighters’ widows at a Wednesday press conference where Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens made a pitch for legislation that promises to make it easier for Missouri firefighters and paramedics to qualify for workers' compensation benefits if they get cancer. (Edgell, 12/20)

KQED: Another Gas Leak Reported At Aliso Canyon Facility
The Southern California Gas Co. says a gas leak occurred at the Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Storage Facility in Porter Ranch just before 5 p.m. Monday night. This comes just two years after one of the nation’s largest accidental gas leaks at the same facility. (McNary, 12/20)

Kansas City Star: Bartlett Grain Fines For Kansas Explosion Slashed By OSHA
The federal government sharply reduced fines and dropped the severity of citations in a pending settlement of labor complaints brought after a deadly explosion at an Atchison, Kan., grain elevator six years ago. Bartlett Grain Co., based in Kansas City, agreed to $182,000 in fines, safety audits and improvements at all of its 20 grain handling facilities in six states, said an announcement by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (Davis, 12/20)