State Highlights: Number Of Child Abuse-Related Killings Increase In Pa. Following Revisions In Protective Law; Kentucky’s Response To Hep A Outbreak Too Slow, Report Finds

The Associated Press: Study Finds Spike In Pennsylvania Child Abuse-Related Deaths
A state study released Thursday found the number of Pennsylvania children killed or nearly killed after abuse had occurred spiked recently, increases likely driven by a new definition of abuse and an uptick in its reporting in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky and Roman Catholic clergy child sexual abuse scandals. The state Human Services Department report into fatalities and near fatalities during 2015 and 2016 showed both types of reports were up sharply after being fairly level for the preceding six years. (2/21)

Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky's 'Too Low And Too Slow' Response To Hepatitis A Outbreak
Last spring, Kentucky's infectious disease chief was ringing the alarm. An outbreak of hepatitis A that already had infected nearly 400 people in Louisville was seeping into Appalachia, where rampant drug addiction provided fuel for the virus to explode across rural Kentucky. To contain it, the drug users and homeless largely spreading the disease had to be vaccinated – and quickly. (Ungar and Kenning, 2/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: SF Supervisors Ask City’s General Hospital Why Its Bills Are So Big
Flabbergasted by recent reports of San Francisco General Hospital sending huge bills to some privately insured patients, a Board of Supervisors committee held a hearing Thursday to determine how the city can treat insured patients more fairly. The Department of Public Health is working on ways it can add more transparency to its billing practices and presented some of those findings to the Government Audit and Oversight Committee. (Thadani, 2/21)

Dallas Morning News: Doctors Reject Feds' Claim They Lined Their Pockets At Patients' Expense In Big Dallas Medical Bribery Trial 
They're medical innovators and pioneers, their attorneys said, who saved some lives and improved many others. The surgeons brought patients to a "state-of-the-art" Dallas hospital called Forest Park Medical Center. But did they illegally put their own financial interests before everything else, including their patients? That's the basic question before jurors in the Forest Park Medical Center bribery case during opening statements Thursday in a packed Dallas federal courtroom. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Wirmani told jurors that the doctors acted out of pure greed, making medical decisions to "line their own pockets." (Krause, 2/21)

The Associated Press: North Dakota's 1st Medical Marijuana Dispensary Set To Open
North Dakota's first medical marijuana dispensary is set to open next week, the culmination of a nearly two-year effort by the state Health Department to establish a distribution system for the drug. New York City-based Acreage Holdings plans to open The Botanist in Fargo on Feb. 28, selling drugs produced by a manufacturing facility in Bismarck, the company and state announced Thursday. The dispensary first will need to undergo what amounts to a final state inspection to ensure it meets all security rules, according to state Medical Marijuana Division Director Jason Wahl. (2/21)

WBUR: To Reduce Chronic Homelessness, A Chicago Hospital Is Treating It As A Medical Condition
The University of Illinois Hospital is one of a few hospitals in the Chicago area that have started providing permanent housing for homeless patients that repeatedly show up in emergency rooms. The program, called Better Health Through Housing, in partnership with the Center for Housing and Health, treats chronic homelessness as a health issue. (Hobson, 2/21)

Seattle Times: Cost Of Washington’s Measles Outbreak Tops $1 Million; Expected To Climb Higher 
The cost of Washington’s measles outbreak has surpassed $1 million as more than 200 health-department staffers from the state and Clark County focus their efforts on the disease. As of Tuesday, there were 63 confirmed cases of measles in Clark County, 44 of which were in children under 10 years old, according to the county’s Public Health department, which is also investigating one suspected case. There is also a single case reported in King County, bringing the statewide total to 64, according to the state Department of Health (DOH). (Goldstein-Street, 2/21)

Sacramento Bee: CA To Offer Inmates Health Care Without Required Copayments
Starting in March, California inmates will no longer need to make copayments when they go in for medical help. The payments are no longer necessary, as they offer “minimal fiscal benefit” and “may hinder patients from seeking care,” according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Correctional Health Care Services department. (Anderson, 2/21)

The Oregonian: Nearly 70 People Diagnosed With Measles In Oregon, Washington Outbreak
The number of people with measles in Clark County continues to climb. Public health officials have identified 69 people between Oregon and Washington. A young child was diagnosed Thursday, bringing the Vancouver-area total to 64 cases. Four people in Oregon and one is the Seattle area have also been identified. Measles is a highly contagious virus that spreads through the air and can linger for up to two hours in an enclosed area. (Harbarger, 2/21)

Sacramento Bee: Dignity Health To Give $1 Million To Sacramento Nonprofits
Dignity Health announced Thursday it is distributing $1.05 million this year to dozens of community-based organizations in Nevada, Sacramento and Yolo counties to help meet community health needs outside its hospital walls. The grants are going toward assisting the most vulnerable residents of the region: at-risk children, survivors of human and labor trafficking, individuals living with mental illness and dementia, the homeless and ethnic groups with high rates of chronic disease. (Anderson, 2/21)

Houston Chronicle: Cracking The Code: How Facility Procedure Codes Can Become Weapons
The cause of [Sarah] Hirsch’s symptom was never determined, but the doctor who saw her the next day quickly discovered fluid in her ears, a common cause of dizziness that usually requires no immediate treatment. Yet, by the time she left the Montrose Emergency Center, a free-standing emergency room, Hirsch had accumulated more than $15,000 in charges that included two CAT scans, an electrocardiogram, two urine tests, blood work, and an IV of saline solution to prevent dehydration — even though she was told she was not dehydrated. (Deam, 2/22)

Boston Globe: Boston Firefighters Get Easier Access To Cancer Screenings
Twenty-seven Boston firefighters under the age of 70 died from cancer between 2012 and 2017, and 13 are currently on leave because of cancer, according to the Boston Fire Department Relief Fund.In response to those scary statistics, the Boston Fire Department Relief Fund has launched a new initiative to subsidize 50 percent of the costs of cancer screening and cardiovascular tests that are not covered by insurance. (Sweeney, 2/21)

Pioneer Press: Couple With Baby Born With Brain Injuries Sues Regions Hospital And HealthPartners Claiming Malpractice 
A Minnesota couple whose baby was born with significant brain damage is suing Regions Hospital and HealthPartners claiming that medical staff failed to provide adequate medical care and interventions to the mother and her son during labor and delivery. John Richardson and Leotha Pinkney filed the malpractice lawsuit in Ramsey County District Court Tuesday. The suit seeks monetary damages from both the St. Paul hospital and Health Partners, which operates the hospital, to cover what are expected to be the child’s ongoing medical and care costs. It also seeks damages to account for the emotional relationship the boy’s disabilities will deprive him of having with his parents. (Horner, 2/21)

The Star Tribune: Hennepin County Board, Hennepin Healthcare Meet To Discuss Hospital Merger With North Memorial 
The Hennepin County Board and top Hennepin Healthcare officials met Thursday to renew discussions about a possible merger between their Minneapolis hospital, HCMC, and the North Memorial health system. The talks are in a very preliminary stage, with no timeline for a decision, said County Board Chairwoman Marion Greene. Because “competitive” information was discussed at the meeting, Hennepin Healthcare Board Chairwoman Dr. Sheila Riggs declined to comment. (Chanen, 2/21)

Boston Globe: Newton Doctor Who Overbilled Medicare And MassHealth Agrees To Pay $680,000 Fine
A Newton doctor specializing in geriatric medicine has agreed to pay a $680,000 fine for overbilling government-run insurers Medicare and MassHealth for services rendered to nursing home patients, according to US Attorney Andrew E. Lelling’s office. Lelling’s office said that according to a settlement agreement, authorities contend that Dr. Hooshang Poor submitted inflated claims for care between June 1, 2011, and May 31, 2017. (Andersen 2/21)

USA Today: Haley Moss May Be The First Autistic Lawyer In Florida
Haley Moss is one month into her practice as a lawyer. So far, so good. She has laser focus, a photographic memory and an extreme eye for detail — invaluable assets for poring over endless briefs and reports at Miami-based firm Zumpano Patricios. And what's more, she just might be making history: In January, Moss raised her hand, took an oath and became known as Florida's first lawyer living openly with autism. (Hafner, 2/21)

The Daily Pilot: Challenge Success Helps O.C. Schools Monitor Students’ Mental Wellness
For the last several years the Newport-Mesa Unified School District has been steadily working to address the growing incidence of depression, anxiety, suicide and other mental health challenges among its students. Several districtwide training sessions were mandatory for teachers and staff and optional for parents. The elementary staff completed the avatar-based Kognito program, which teaches motivational interviewing to intervene in social and emotional concerns. Signs featuring suicide hotline numbers were posted in bathrooms. (Pearlman, 2/21)

Pioneer Press: Minn. Mom Who Fed Toddler Laxatives Says She Was Suffering From Postpartum Depression
A postpartum-induced delusion that doctors were failing her ailing toddler compelled a Winona mother to try to make him sicker so medical staff would pay closer attention to his case, she told a judge Thursday. That’s why Megan Lee Kafer periodically disconnected his feeding tube while he was hospitalized for about three weeks last July for “failure to thrive,” she said. And why she let him drink water from her water bottle without controlling how much he consumed. (Horner, 2/21)