State Highlights: Student’s Suicide Not College’s Responsibility, Mass. Court Rules; Calif. Lawmakers Seek $250M For Undocumented Immigrants’ Health Care

The New York Times: M.I.T. Is Not Responsible For Student’s Suicide, Court Rules
In a legal case closely watched for its potential implications for universities nationwide, Massachusetts’s highest court ruled Monday that M.I.T. could not be held responsible for the 2009 suicide of one of its students. Broadly, the Supreme Judicial Court said in its 44-page ruling, “there is no duty to prevent another from committing suicide.” (Seelye, 5/7)

Sacramento Bee: CA Lawmakers Push Health Care For Undocumented Immigrants
More than 100,000 undocumented adult immigrants in California would be eligible for state-subsidized health coverage, under a major budget push announced by Assembly Democrats Monday. Lawmakers are asking Gov. Jerry Brown for $1 billion, a large portion of which would fund a major expansion of Medi-Cal, the state's low-income health care program. (Hart, 5/7)

The Associated Press: California Judge Affirms Ruling For Coffee Cancer Warnings
A court ruling that gave coffee drinkers a jolt earlier this year was finalized Monday when a Los Angeles judge said coffee sold in California must carry cancer warnings. Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle said Starbucks Corp. and other roasters and retailers failed to show that benefits from drinking coffee outweighed any risks from a carcinogen that is a byproduct of the roasting process. He had tentatively made the same written decision in March. (Melley, 5/7)

California Healthline: Gubernatorial Hopefuls Look To Health Care For Election Edge
California’s leading gubernatorial candidates agree that health care should work better for Golden State residents: Insurance should be more affordable, costs are unreasonably high, and robust competition among hospitals, doctors and other providers could help lower prices, they told California Healthline. What they don’t agree on is how to achieve those goals — not even the Democrats who represent the state’s dominant party. (Bartolone, 5/7)

The Associated Press: Court To Weigh Fallout Of Massachusetts Drug Lab Misconduct
Massachusetts’ highest court is set to consider whether to toss more convictions linked to a former chemist who authorities say was high almost every day she worked at a state drug lab for eight years. The Supreme Judicial Court will hear arguments on Tuesday in the case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and the state’s public defender agency. Prosecutors already have agreed to dismiss thousands of cases tainted by Sonja Farak, who pleaded guilty in 2014 to stealing cocaine from the lab. (5/8)

The CT Mirror: Aiming For Bipartisan Deal, Dems Add Funds For Seniors, Towns
Trying to avoid a repeat of last year when conservative Democrats defected to support a Republican state budget, Democratic legislative leaders unveiled several proposals Monday aimed at striking a bipartisan compromise. (Phaneuf, 5/7)

The Star Tribune: Employer Health Costs Rising Faster In Minnesota Than Nationwide 
Employer-health-plan costs increased at a faster rate in Minnesota last year than across the country, according to a new survey, with employers saying they hope new programs and competition will help put a lid on future cost jumps. The survey from the Bloomington-based Minnesota Health Action Group found that employer-health-plan costs in Minnesota increased by 5.7 percent, a faster rate of increase than the national average of 4.3 percent in 2017. (Snowbeck, 5/7)

The Baltimore Sun: Protest Planned At MedStar Franklin Square Hospital Over Closing Of Pediatric Services
Critics of a recent decision by MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center to close its inpatient pediatrics division and its separate children’s emergency room plan to protest at the hospital Tuesday afternoon. The hospital announced April 3 it was eliminating inpatient services for children. Pediatric emergency services will now be provided in the adult emergency room. (McDaniels, 5/7)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Illinois AG Files Suit Against EPA On Ozone Rules, Cites Foxconn
The Illinois attorney general said she intends to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for sharply limiting areas that will come under stricter ozone regulations in Wisconsin. (Bergquist, 5/7)

The Washington Post: Cleveland Clinic Doctor Treats Woman Having Allergic Reaction Midflight
Minutes into her flight, Ashley Spencer popped open a bag of chips and started to munch. For years, Spencer has been suffering from a rare autoimmune disorder, and she hoped new medication might be able to help. So the 28-year-old was traveling from Philadelphia to the renowned Cleveland Clinic on Saturday to see whether she might be a candidate. The aircraft was barely in the air when Spencer started to feel sick, she said. She told her mother she was going to the airplane bathroom to vomit. (Bever, 5/7)

Kansas City Star: Midwives And Moms Protest At Shawnee Mission Medical Center
A group of midwives and moms-to-be protested Sunday outside Shawnee Mission Medical Center after the hospital found itself without a doctor willing to enter into the formal partnership the midwives need to practice under Kansas law. An obstretrician/gynecologist in the hospital's network worked with midwives until recently. (Marso, 5/7)

Minnesota Public Radio: Minnesota's Landmark Tobacco Settlement Is 20 Years Old
Twenty years ago Tuesday, Minnesota reached a landmark settlement with tobacco companies. Under the deal, the tobacco industry agreed to pay the state and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota more than $6.5 billion, among other provisions. (Wurzer and Franz, 5/8)

KQED: California Kids' Football Ban Sacked Early, Despite Grim Brain Research
A bill that would have made California the first state to ban youth tackle football was shelved at the end of April, following major pushback from parents, coaches and football fans. Organizers collected more than 45,000 signatures opposing the ban, according to the Los Angeles Times. (Ahmed, 5/7)

Houston Chronicle: The Jung Center Opens The Mind, Body, Spirit Institute 
The Jung Center has launched The Mind, Body, Spirit Institute, a place that provides educational programs and experiences toward the goal of reducing stress.Under development since last year, the institute’s programming was created as a response to the toll many individuals feel being taken on their health and happiness due to stress in the workplace, constant interruptions by technology, and the ever-increasingly hectic pace of modern life. ...Dr. Chaoul, originally from Argentina, holds a doctoral degree in religious studies from Rice University. He is currently a faculty member in the Integrative Medicine Program of MD Anderson Cancer Center where he has been teaching mind, body and spirit practices since 1999. (Hazen, 5/9)

Kaiser Health News: Use Of Psychiatric Drugs Soars In California Jails
The number of jail inmates in California taking psychotropic drugs has jumped about 25 percent in five years, and they now account for about a fifth of the county jail population across the state, according to a new analysis of state data. The increase could reflect the growing number of inmates with mental illness, though it also might stem from better identification of people in need of treatment, say researchers from California Health Policy Strategies (CHPS), a Sacramento-based consulting firm. (Gorman, 5/8)