State Highlights: More Former OSU Students Come Forward With Allegations Of Doctor’s Sexual Misconduct; Disabled Foster Children Being Denied Care In Texas

The New York Times: More Than 100 Former Ohio State Students Allege Sexual Misconduct
More than 100 former Ohio State University students have come forward with allegations that a team doctor and professor at the school committed some form of sexual misconduct with them, university officials announced Friday, as the university begins to grapple with the sheer scope of a scandal that continues to grow. It is the latest in a series of sex abuse scandals that have rattled prominent universities, including the University of Southern California, where more than 50 women have accused a former campus gynecologist of misconduct; Pennsylvania State University, where child sex abuse sent one football coach, Jerry Sandusky, to prison and felled a legend, Joe Paterno; and Michigan State University, which is still contending with the fallout from the predations of a team doctor, Lawrence G. Nassar. (Edmondson, 7/20)

Austin American-Statesman: Texas Foster Children Denied Requests For Medical Care
A private company that the state has tasked with providing Medicaid coverage to Texas foster children has repeatedly denied requests for critical care, many for children with disabilities. Between June 7 and July 13, Superior HealthPlan denied medical services to foster children 394 times, according to data the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services provided to the American-Statesman. (Chang, 7/20)

Boston Globe: Bargaining Talks In Newton To Focus On Health Costs
Reining in the cost of employee health insurance is high on the agenda as city officials prepare to negotiate new labor agreements with municipal and school workers later this summer. ...The city faces annual increases of 5 percent to 8 percent in health insurance costs for city and school employees, [Ruthanne] Fuller said. (Hilliard, 7/22)

The New York Times: Anti-Abortion Protesters At Queens Clinic Did Not Harass Patients, Judge Rules
On Saturdays since 2012, protesters have gathered outside the Choices Women’s Medical Center in Jamaica, Queens, starting at 7 a.m. to urge women arriving at the clinic not to have an abortion. For the next three hours, according to a lawsuit filed in June 2017 by Eric T. Schneiderman, the former New York attorney general, protesters violated federal, state and city laws guaranteeing access to reproductive health care by crowding women as they entered the clinic and ignoring their requests to be left alone. (Mays, 7/22)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Nancy Pelosi Pushes For National Health Care Plan During Milwaukee Visit
Defending the Affordable Care Act and saying that a Medicare for All program ought to be considered, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi campaigned for Democratic Congresswoman Gwen Moore in Milwaukee Saturday. Pelosi spoke to a group of about 75 people at Independence First, a resource center for people with disabilities located on the city's south side. (Barrett, 7/21)

Arizona Republic: Cities To Track Extra Mental Health Trauma Counseling For Police, Fire
For the first time, Arizona cities must now track and report to the state details about how many of their police officers and firefighters have used newly expanded taxpayer-funded trauma counseling resources. The move is part of a bill passed by the Arizona Legislature that prioritizes post-traumatic stress as a health issue among public safety personnel. (Pohl, 7/20)

Los Angeles Times: As L.A. Struggles To Reduce Traffic Deaths, Speed Limits Keep Going Up
Sheila Brown was shocked to learn, in the spring of 2009, that the Los Angeles City Council was planning to raise the speed limit on Zelzah Avenue, a few blocks from her home in Granada Hills. A few weeks before, a 60-year-old woman had been struck and killed in a crosswalk on Zelzah, Brown told the City Council in an impassioned letter. She said the frequent sounds of screeching tires as drivers narrowly avoided collisions were proof that allowing higher speeds would put residents and students in danger. (Nelson, 7/22)

Pioneer Press: Legionnaires’ Disease Sickens 2 Residents Of Southern Minnesota Senior Care Facility 
Health officials are investigating two cases of Legionnaires’ disease among residents at a southern Minnesota senior care facility. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, the cases were reported at the St. John’s Fountain Lake facility in Albert Lea. St. John’s provides assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing care and independent living services. The first resident’s symptoms began in early June, and the second resident’s symptoms were reported to the Health Department on Thursday. Both residents were hospitalized. (7/20)

Seattle Times: FEMA-Style Tents As Homeless Shelters? Maybe, Say Some King County Officials, Who Believe We Have A ‘Public Health Disaster’ 
Two and a half years after both Seattle and King County declared a state of emergency for homelessness, health professionals and some local officials on the King County Board of Health say not enough is being done. The three health officials on the public board are urging it to declare homelessness a “public health disaster” and advise local jurisdictions to respond accordingly — including potentially deploying large scale FEMA-style tents as emergency shelter before the winter. (Fields, 7/20)

San Francisco Chronicle: Data Privacy Rules Have Big Beneficiary
Data privacy, once a second-order subject in Silicon Valley, has rocketed to the fore thanks to a battery of new laws. Europe’s groundbreaking data-privacy rule, the General Data Protection Regulation, took effect in May and requires continuing vigilance. Last month, Sacramento lawmakers piled on with a hastily passed law called the California Consumer Privacy Act directed at companies pulling in at least $25 million in annual revenue. (Galbraith, 7/22)

The Star Tribune: 4 Years After E. Coli Kills Daughter, Minn. Mom Dies Of Same Infection 
E. coli outbreaks occur every year in Minnesota, mostly as a result of eating food contaminated with the bacteria. Nine confirmed outbreaks in 2015 were traced to restaurants, a day-care center and even a county fair, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. This year, 12 E. coli infections and two deaths in Minnesota have been traced to a national outbreak involving contaminated romaine lettuce grown in the southwestern United States. (Olson, 7/21)

Tampa Bay Times: Group Homes Brace For Radical Overhaul Of Federal Foster Care Funding
The Family First Prevention Services Act prioritizes keeping children out of foster care. It makes more money available for in-home counseling and parenting classes for families at risk of having children removed. And beginning late next year, the government will only pay for children to stay in group homes for up to two weeks. (O'Donnell, 7/23)

San Jose Mercury News: Food For The Heart In A New California Health Program
[Sharon] Quenton is one of those enrolled in a $6 million pilot project authorized last year by the Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown. Run by the state Department of Health Care Services, it was launched in seven counties for 1,000 congestive heart failure patients in Medi-Cal, the state’s version of federal Medicaid care for the needy. ...Patients recently home from the hospital get some nutrition counseling and 12 weeks of homemade, heart-healthy meals with lots of fresh ingredients delivered to their doorsteps. (Gorn, 7/22)

Kaiser Health News: Can A Community Hospital Stay True To Its Mission After Sale To Large Corporation?
Mission Health, the largest hospital system in western North Carolina, provided $100 million in free charity care last year. This year, it has partnered with 17 civic organizations to deliver substance abuse care to low-income people. Based in bucolic Asheville, the six-hospital system also screens residents for food insecurity; provides free dental care to children in rural areas via the “ToothBus” mobile clinic; helps the homeless find permanent housing, and encourages its 12,000 employees to volunteer at schools, churches and nonprofit groups. (Findlay, 7/23)

Columbus Dispatch: Hannah Neil Center Undergoing Top-To-Bottom Restructuring After Kids Removed
Numerous health and safety violations at Hannah Neil were revealed this week by Disability Rights Ohio. The legal advocacy group conducted a nine-month investigation that included on-site visits and interviews with children, most of whom are in the custody of a county child-protective agency. Disability Rights alerted state and county agencies to their findings. (Price, 7/20)

Miami Herald: Florida Company Resumes Medical Marijuana Processing
Surterra, one of the largest medical marijuana treatment centers in the state, resumed processing cannabis Friday after complying with a missed inspection deadline that had forced it to halt operations at its processing facilities last week. In a letter to the state Department of Health, Surterra submitted documentation of the required certification for two of its facilities and said it intended to restart processing at those sites. (Koh, 7/20)