State Highlights: More Allegations Of Sexual Abuse At Troubled Chicago Psychiatric Hospital Emerge; Air Ambulance Crash In North Dakota Kills All Three On Board

ProPublica: ACLU Of Illinois Demands Removal Of Children In DCFS Care
The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois on Friday took the state’s child welfare agency to federal court to attempt to force the removal of all children in its care from a troubled Chicago psychiatric hospital after additional claims of sexual abuse there. A sexual assault allegation involving a 19-year-old patient, cited in the ACLU’s emergency court filing, comes as Aurora Chicago Lakeshore Hospital faces intense scrutiny following a string of disturbing accusations of sexual and physical abuse. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services sends hundreds of children to the hospital each year, relying on Lakeshore to treat those with severe mental illness who are sometimes turned away by other hospitals. (Eldeib, 11/16)

The Associated Press: 3 Killed When Air Ambulance Crashes In North Dakota
An air ambulance on its way to pick up a patient crashed shortly after taking off in North Dakota, killing all three people on board, and military officials involved in the response said the plane may have broken up in midair. The twin-engine Bismarck Air Medical airplane took off about 10:30 p.m. Sunday and crashed shortly after in a field about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Bismarck. Air traffic control officials lost contact with the plane about 11 p.m., county spokeswoman Maxine Herr said. (11/19)

The CT Mirror: Conn. Lawmakers, Malloy Administration Wrangle Over Adding Telemedicine To HUSKY
Connecticut’s congressional delegation is at odds with the Malloy administration over its failure to apply for an expansion of the HUSKY program that would give low-income residents access to new telemedicine services, especially for psychiatric care and substance abuse treatment. The Malloy administration, however, says the process for applying for permission to add these services to the HUSKY program may not achieve the desired results, is lengthy, and is not currently a priority. (Radelat, 11/20)

The Associated Press: Trial Over Kentucky Abortion Law In Judge’s Hands
The fate of a Kentucky abortion law is in the hands of a federal judge after a trial wrapped up Monday over a lawsuit pitting Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration and the state’s only abortion clinic. The suit challenges a law aimed at a common second-trimester procedure to end pregnancies. An ACLU attorney representing the clinic says the law is unconstitutional because it would essentially end abortion access for women 15 weeks into their pregnancy. (11/19)

Georgia Health News: Georgians Have Voted To Help Homeless With Mental Illness
Beyond the debate around Georgia’s election outcome, one result is a clear victory for health care. Three of four Georgians voted to approve a referendum Nov. 6 that will help nonprofits provide permanent housing to homeless people with mental illness. (Miller, 11/19)

North Carolina Health News: State Health Officials Seek Input On Early Childhood Action Plan
The Department of Health and Human Services has a vision for all North Carolina children to be on track by 2025 for healthy, stable lives. DHHS needs public input for how to get there from here. Among other goals, they want to decrease the inequity in the high infant mortality rate between African-American and white infants, increase the percentage of eligible children enrolled in Medicaid, and lower the percentage of kids in food insecure households, which is now at more than 20 percent. (Duon, 11/19)

The Associated Press: Lawsuit Continues Against Novelist Sparks, School He Started
The former headmaster of a private Christian school founded by novelist Nicholas Sparks can continue to sue the school, the author and the foundation Sparks created to support the school, a federal judge said. U.S. District Judge James Dever III ruled last month that a jury should decide whether the author of "Message in a Bottle" and "The Notebook" defamed Saul Hillel Benjamin and violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. Sparks was described as telling parents, a job recruiter and others that the former Epiphany School of Global Studies headmaster suffered from mental health problems, the judge said. Benjamin was in the position for less than five months and said he was forced out. (11/20)

Health News Florida: Nursing Homes Seek More Time On Generator Requirements
More than 40 percent of Florida nursing homes are asking health-care regulators for more time to meet backup-power requirements pushed by Gov. Rick Scott after Hurricane Irma last year. But Justin Senior, the state’s top health-care regulator, said his agency won’t approve waiver requests for deadbeat facilities that haven’t worked over the past several months to carry out emergency backup-power plans. (Sexton, 11/19)

New Hampshire Public Radio: EPA: New 'GenX' PFAS Chemicals, In Use In Merrimack, May Still Be Toxic
The EPA says new types of nonstick industrial chemicals might not be much safer than their predecessors – raising alarm in parts of New Hampshire. For years, companies used fluorinated chemicals like PFOA and PFOS to make nonstick, waterproof or stain-resistant products. (Ropeik, 11/19)

San Francisco Chronicle: Court Overturns $1.6 Million Jury Award In Bay Area Asbestos Case
A state appeals court has overturned $1.6 million in damages awarded by an Alameda County jury against a pipe supply company last year in a suit by a former construction worker who was stricken with cancer after cutting pipes laden with asbestos. (Egelko, 11/19)

Iowa Public Radio: Changes To Sioux City's Firearms Code Would Make Carrying A BB Gun A Crime
Sioux City officials are in the process of changing the city’s weapons code to prohibit people from carrying toy firearms like BB guns in city limits. Local police say these guns look like real firearms, and banning them could curb crime. Sioux City council members passed a second reading of the ordinance on Monday. A first reading was passed in early November and the city council will revisit it for a third time next week. (Peikes, 11/20)

Boston Globe: First Recreational Pot Shops In Mass. Open Today
Thousands of marijuana customers are expected to be among the first in Massachusetts to buy recreational pot from one of two shops opening early Tuesday morning. The 8 a.m. opening of Cultivate in Leicester, and New England Treatment Access in Northampton, signals the start of legal cannabis sales after more than a century of pot prohibition in the state. (Adams, 11/20)