State Highlights: South Carolina Deputies Fired After Driving Van With Mentally Ill Patients Into Floodwaters; Children In Midwest States Hit Particularly Hard By Polio-Like Illness

The Associated Press: Deputies Fired After Driving Van Into Floodwaters, Killing 2
A South Carolina sheriff's office has fired two deputies who drove a transport van into floodwaters, resulting in the death of two mental-health patients. The Horry County Sheriff's Office announced the decision Wednesday as part of an investigation into the actions of deputies Stephen Flood and Joshua Bishop. (10/24)

KCUR: Forty Percent Of Rare 'Polio-Like' Cases Are In The Midwest
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn’t know why young children across the country are coming down with a rare condition called Acute Flaccid Myelitis. Many are calling AFM  a “polio-like” illness, because it causes weakness and paralysis in childrens’ arms and legs. Doctors say the disease starts off as a common cold but the virus attacks the spinal cord. There are reports that some patients have needed breathing assistance. State health departments have reported an increase in confirmed AFM cases in the past few months. This year the CDC has reported 62 cases in 22 states. Midwest states make up 40 percent of all confirmed cases including Illinois with 10 confirmed cases. Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky and Ohio each have one case. (Gomez-Aldana, 10/24)

The Star Tribune: Handful Of Cases Of Rare Polio-Like Illness Thrust Minnesota Into National Spotlight -
Six or seven Minnesota children have been diagnosed this year with AFM, a polio-like disorder that attacks the spongy core of the spinal cord. The local cluster has renewed national attention to the disorder, which federal officials started tracking in 2014 after outbreaks in California and Colorado, while forcing parents to confront the realities of prevention and treatment. (Olson, 10/24)

The Associated Press: Washington Voters Set To Decide Ban On New Local Soda Taxes
Soda industry giants including the Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo, Inc. are spending more than $20 million to convince voters in Washington state to pass an initiative that would block local governments from imposing taxes on soda, sugary beverages and some food items. The effort follows a tax on sugary beverages that went into effect in Seattle earlier this year. (10/24)

ProPublica: “We Will Keep On Fighting For Him.”
ProPublica Illinois reported in April that the UIC psychiatrist who oversaw several federally funded studies, Dr. Mani Pavuluri, violated research rules, failed to alert parents of risks and falsified data to cover up misconduct, and that UIC didn’t properly oversee her work. ...The decision to enroll in the UIC study would affect them all: Aline, a stay-at-home mom, and Thomas, an engineer who works in international sales, and their four children — twin daughters Tess and Page, then seniors in high school, and fifth-graders Wilson and Nash, both with mental illness and learning challenges. (Cohen and Jaffe, 10/25)

Sacramento Bee: 500 Pickets Vent Frustration At UC On Day 2 Of Strike
Buoyed by the mid-morning arrival of a busload of employees from University of California, Merced, roughly 500 pickets spilled out four astride onto city sidewalks Wednesday from the rotary at UC Davis Medical Center. It was the second day of a three-day strike against the University of California health systems. Roughly 39,000 workers in AFSCME Local 3299 and UPTE -CWA Local 9119 are on strike Tuesday through Thursday of this week at the UC’s five academic hospitals around the state. (Anderson, 10/24)

Miami Herald: Hurricane Michael Survivors Struggle To Access Healthcare
Patients like [Lorraine] DePriest were already struggling to access healthcare before Hurricane Michael, but the storm has exacerbated those hardships into impasses. ...What remains for them in Michael’s wake is dread, doubt and an uncertain timeline for a return to normal healthcare. (Koh, 10/25)

The Associated Press: Report: Doctor Borrows $300K; Diagnoses Loaner With Dementia
A report from Tennessee's health department says a doctor borrowed money from a patient then diagnosed her with dementia when asked to repay it. Suellen Lee was quoted by The Tennessean as saying that she voluntarily retired her medical license because her case was unwinnable. She maintains the accusations are "all lies." (10/24)

The Associated Press: Study Finds No Cancer Cluster At Auburn, Despite Reports
Alabama health officials announced Wednesday that a study did not find evidence of an eye cancer cluster at Auburn University, despite a rash of reported cases of the rare and deadly cancer that drew national attention earlier this year. The Alabama Department of Public Health said the study "based on the best available information" did not find higher than expected rates of uveal melanoma among former students and university employees. (10/24)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Ohio Encourages 'Kick Counting' And Free App To Pregnant Moms To Prevent Stillbirth
In an effort to prevent stillbirths, Ohio is encouraging pregnant women to track fetal movement in the third trimester of pregnancy by counting and tracking kicks and other in utero activity using a free app. With $50,000 and materials from Iowa-Based Count the Kicks, a non-profit started by mothers who lost babies to stillbirth, the Ohio Department of Health has started sending letters and emails about the program to more than 3,000 healthcare providers. (Zeltner, 10/24)

KQED: UC Davis Researchers Studying Health Effects Of Wildfires On Pregnant Women
Researchers are still recruiting women who were pregnant during and after the wildfires last year to participate in a study of the health effects of the polluted air on them and their babies. Studies of pregnant women exposed to traffic-related air pollution show an association with respiratory and developmental problems in their children, including autism. (Dembosky, 10/24)

The Star Tribune: Woman With Disabilities Impregnated At St. Anthony Group Home; Caregiver Charged With Abuse
A woman with intellectual disabilities resulting from a stroke was sexually abused and impregnated early this year at a St. Anthony group home for vulnerable adults by a male caregiver who worked there. The alleged assailant then threatened the woman and offered her $700 to abort the pregnancy in April, according to a state investigation and police records. (Serres, 10/24)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: County 2019 Budget Amendment Would Provide Free Tampons At Courthouse
Milwaukee County Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic wants the county to provide free menstrual hygiene products — pads and tampons — in restrooms at the courthouse and the Coggs Human Services Center as a step toward gender equity. Dimitrijevic will ask the County Board to approve spending up to $25,200 next year to buy dispensers and menstrual products so they can be available at no cost along with toilet paper, soap and paper towels in the bathrooms of the county's two busiest public buildings. (Behm, 10/24)

Austin American-Statesman: Austin Water Fails State Standards, Making Recovery Time Uncertain
Austin’s water officially failed state standards on Tuesday, and what began as a precautionary measure urging residents to boil their water is now required by state law. That means Austin Water will have to follow Texas Commission on Environmental Quality procedures to lift the boil notice, but officials remained vague about what that will entail or how it will affect the timeline for when water will be safe to drink. (Findell and Huber, 10/24)

Columbus Dispatch: Schottenstein-Backed, Columbus-Based Cannabis Company Set To Go Public In Canada
The Schottensteins are going to bring their experience running DSW and American Eagle to the marijuana trade.After failing to receive a marijuana cultivation license in Ohio, the central Ohio family has turned to building a number of brands around cannabis products, including health and beauty items, a chain of dispensaries — the retail spaces where people buy cannabis products — and what the company calls “lifestyle” brands. (Malone, 10/24)