State Highlights: Maryland Bill Would Allow Minors To Get Preventive HIV Care Without Adult Consent; Facility Where Incapacitated Woman Was Raped Has History Of Self-Dealing, Nepotism

The Associated Press: Maryland May Give Minors Consent For Preventative HIV Care
State legislation could allow minors to consent to preventative treatment for human immunodeficiency virus or HIV. Pre-exposure prophylaxis - commonly referred to as “PrEP”- consists of a single pill of a medicine called Truvada taken every day. This can reduce the risk of becoming infected with HIV from sex by 90 percent and among intravenous drug users by 70 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control. (Youngmann, 2/19)

Arizona Republic: Hacienda HealthCare Board Has History Of Questionable Deals, Nepotism
An investigation by The Arizona Republic found Hacienda HealthCare board members and their relatives benefited financially from their positions. Some board members do business directly with Hacienda, and some board members have business dealings with each other. Some of their children were hired at Hacienda. (Anglen, 2/19)

The Wall Street Journal: NYU To Open New Medical School On Long Island
New York University will open a three-year medical school on Long Island next fall, aimed at increasing the number of primary care physicians in the region. The new NYU Long Island School of Medicine will be based at NYU Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, with the first crop of students beginning this summer. They will be selected based in part on their commitment to training and practicing as primary care clinicians in the New York metropolitan area, and will receive full-tuition scholarships to pursue those careers regardless of financial need. (Korn, 2/19)

Chicago Tribune: The State Can't Stop The New Owners Of Westlake Hospital From Closing It. That Wasn't Always The Case. 
Despite community outrage over plans to close Westlake Hospital in Melrose Park, there’s little the state can do to stop it, because of a change in the law several years ago. The mayor of Melrose Park and area lawmakers revealed Friday night that the new owner of Westlake planned to close the hospital. Los Angeles-based Pipeline Health, which bought Westlake late last month, confirmed those plans Saturday, saying it intends to shutter the 230-bed hospital in the second quarter of this year. (Schencker, 2/19)

Iowa Public Radio: Advocates At Statehouse Disagree On Path To Prevent Female Genital Cutting
A Senate panel advanced a proposal Monday to make female genital cutting a crime in Iowa. The bill would also make it a felony to transport a minor out of the state for the procedure, which is performed in Africa and some parts of the Middle East and Asia. A House panel advanced the proposal last week.Everyone at Monday’s meeting agreed female genital cutting should be stopped, but advocates are divided on whether it should be criminalized. (Sostaric, 2/19)

Arizona Republic: Arizona Bill Would Create Massive Statewide DNA Database
Under Senate Bill 1475, which Sen. David Livingston, R-Peoria, introduced, DNA must be collected from anyone who has to be fingerprinted by the state for a job, to volunteer in certain positions or for a myriad of other reasons. The bill would even authorize the medical examiner's office in each county to take DNA from any bodies that come into their possession. (Burkitt, 2/19)

Arizona Republic: Controversial DNA Database Bill Scaled Back
A controversial bill that would have created a massive statewide database of DNA from a myriad of professionals, volunteers and even dead people has been scaled back. Sen. David Livingston, R-Peoria, the bill sponsor, has introduced an amendment to Senate Bill 1475 that would require DNA only from professionals who care for patients with intellectual disabilities in an intermediate care facility. (Burkitt, 2/19)

Denver Post: Denver Police Program To Help Addicts, Prostitutes Find Services Rather Than Arrest Them
Denver has launched a new program that aims to connect people accused of low-level drug possession and prostitution crimes with support services, rather than arrest them. Officials introduced the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion pilot program at a news conference Tuesday morning and they expect to serve 200 people over the next two years. It started on Jan. 22. (Hindi, 2/19)

Tampa Bay Times: Bill To Allow Overnight Ambulatory Surgical Center Stays Moves Forward In The Senate
A proposal to allow patients at ambulatory surgical centers to stay overnight was approved by the Senate Health Policy committee Tuesday, with a promise from its sponsor that she would not seek to further extend how long patients can remain at those facilities. Patients at ambulatory surgical centers can currently only stay for the duration of the day but SB 434, which was passed unanimously, would allow patients to stay at such centers up to 24 hours, enabling them to remain overnight. (Koh, 2/19)

Texas Tribune: Texas Prison Officials Contest Report That Says Heat Killed An Inmate Last Year
Last summer, Texas officials repeatedly asserted that sweltering temperatures inside uncooled prisons were being handled adequately and that all heat-related illnesses were minor. A recent state report on one inmate's death, however, says that he died from the heat. The prison system is contesting that report, claiming the cause of death is based on a preliminary autopsy finding by the medical examiner and that the inmate was housed in an air-conditioned cell. (McCullough, 2/19)

Boston Globe: Cambridge Health Alliance CEO Will Retire
The chief executive of Cambridge Health Alliance, Patrick Wardell, said Tuesday that he will retire this summer after more than 40 years of working in health care. Wardell announced his departure as Cambridge Health Alliance investigates the tragic death of Laura Levis, a 34-year-old woman who had an asthma attack and collapsed outside its hospital in Somerville in 2016. (Dayal McCluskey, 2/19)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: After Years Of Finding Cuyahoga County Jail In Compliance, State Inspectors Suddenly Find Jail Mostly Out Of Compliance
State inspectors, whose laudatory inspection reports of the Cuyahoga County Jail were called into question when a U.S. Marshals investigation uncovered “inhumane” conditions in December, suddenly found the jail out of compliance with numerous state regulations in the latest report this month. In the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections report, completed Feb. 11, state Jail Inspector Joel Commins found the jail non-compliant in 84 different aspects examined in the downtown facility, including 35 of the standards considered to be the most serious and another 49 that are rated as “important.” (Ferrise, 2/20)

Arizona Republic: Inmate Accused Prison Of Poor Treatment A Month Before Dying
Inmate Richard Washington, 64, sent a letter to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit a month before he died, claiming he wasn't getting adequate medical treatment and worrying that it may kill him. The state’s Department of Corrections has faced criticism for more than a decade after being hit with a lawsuit over the health-care treatment of inmates. (Castle, 2/19)

New Hampshire Public Radio: N.H. Death Penalty Repeal Advocates Aim To Overcome Sununu’s Promised Veto
New Hampshire is again debating whether to repeal its death penalty. Dozens of people spoke in favor of the change at a lengthy legislative hearing Tuesday. The Granite State’s is the only death penalty left in New England. (Ropeik, 2/19)

The Baltimore Sun: AFL-CIO Opposes Johns Hopkins Bayview Expansion 
The AFL-CIO is opposing an expansion of the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center that would add another building to its campus and renovate existing structures. In a 25-page letter, the union organization called on the Maryland Health Care Commission to reject a Certificate of Need for the expansion for the project, which is required under state law to move forward. The group cited a number of problems it claims Bayview has, including a failure to comply with charity care requirements for low-income patients, proposed rate hikes to support the project, and quality of care issues. The AFL-CIO said Hopkins brought thousands of lawsuits against patients to collect medical debts. (Meehan, 2/19)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Marijuana: Most Top Ohio Officials Say They Haven't Tried It, Don't Want It Legalized For Personal Use
Four of Ohio’s six statewide officeholders say they’ve never smoked marijuana and all have concerns about legalizing marijuana here for recreational use. New Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague, Auditor Keith Faber and Secretary of State Frank LaRose said they have never used marijuana in response to a question at a Tuesday event sponsored by the Associated Press. Gov. Mike DeWine said last year he had never smoked marijuana. (Borchardt, 2/19)