Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Controversy Over Rules For 'Prison-Like' NY Facility For Autistic Children
AP: Parents Against 'Prison-Like' Facility For Autistic Clients
Parents of adults with severe autism and other disabilities say New York officials are threatening to revoke funding for their children’s long-term care at out-of-state care centers unless they agree to send their children to a secure, in-state facility. Some parents believe they have no alternative but to send their adult children to the Sunmount Developmental Center in Franklin County in the Adirondacks, the Times Union of Albany reported Sunday. They describe the facility as remote and prison-like. (9/12)
California and New York take a closer look at covid data —
Bay Area News Group: California Senate Passes Bill Allowing State To Keep Details Of COVID Outbreaks Secret
The California State Senate approved a bill late Friday evening that upholds the state’s ability to keep the details of workplace COVID-19 outbreaks secret, a win for business groups after key transparency clauses were slashed at the last minute. AB 654 was revised days before the end of the legislative session Friday to erase a requirement that the California Department of Public Health publicize COVID outbreaks by location, contradicting the author’s stated purpose in drafting the bill and dealing a blow to employees, advocates and epidemiologists who have long argued that such information is essential to protecting workers. (Kelliher, 9/12)
Politico: Covid Data Dearth At New York Public Housing Continues A Pattern Of Neglect
Norma Saunders doesn’t know exactly how many neighbors at her public housing development in the Bronx have died from Covid-19 — she just knows there have been many. She’s lived at Bronx River Houses, run by the New York City Housing Authority, her entire life and serves as the tenant association president. But since the start of the pandemic last year, she’s had to rely mostly on word of mouth to track Covid cases in the nine-building public housing complex. In one instance, a woman alerted Saunders in April 2020 that she hadn’t heard from her 81-year-old neighbor in a week. When NYCHA didn’t have a spare key they called the police, who broke down the door to find the man had died. (Kvetenadze, 9/12)
In other news from Michigan, Oklahoma, Iowa, California and Georgia —
Detroit Free Press: Records: Unlawful Flint Use Of X-Ray Scanners Began In 2019, Not 2020
A New York law firm may have used unregistered portable X-ray scanners on Flint residents for one year longer than state officials were told, records show. A sworn affidavit from a Flint resident, along with emails showing when the Napoli Shkolnik law firm sought to lease the devices, suggest the use of scanners, which are tools in the scrap metal and mining industries but are not designed for use on human beings, began around September 2019. That is about 18 months before either of the two devices was registered with the state of Michigan, as required by law. (Egan, 9/12)
Oklahoman: Oklahoma Has No Regulations For Oilfield Radiation Management, Cleanup
When Patrick Keegan set out to clean up some old oilfield land he owned in Lincoln County, he wanted the site tested for radiation. An Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality technician found increased levels of gamma radiation near one old wellhead, 30 to 90 times greater than normal background radiation. The state's response to the presence of radiation at the site has been, in Keegan's eyes, unsatisfactory. The dangers of this type and level of radiation are unclear, but there is some research indicating it could expose humans and the rest of the environment. (Denwalt, 9/12)
CIDRAP: CDC Confirms 2 New Variant Flu Cases In Iowa
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today confirmed two new variant flu cases in Iowa, according to its weekly Fluview update. One case involves the influenza A H3N2 variant (H3N2v) and the other the influenza A H1N2 variant (H1N2v). Both infections are in children. Neither was hospitalized, and both have fully recovered, the CDC said. Household members of one of the patients kept or cared for swine, while the other child had direct contact with swine. No human-to-human transmission has been associated with either case. (9/10)
San Francisco Chronicle: A New S.F. Program For People Struggling With Drugs Promotes Total Abstinence
San Francisco is beginning a program that will provide housing, therapy and drug and alcohol counseling for men instead of sending them to jail, or as a place to land when they get out. What’s noteworthy is that it uses a rare and sometimes controversial model in San Francisco to help participants who struggle with addiction. The program isn’t a licensed drug treatment facility, and its organizers stress it promotes overall lifestyle changes, “not simply abstinence from drug use.” One goal, though, is for participants to stop using drugs without the help of medication to stave off the cravings, standard in most programs in San Francisco and supported by evidence as effective. (Moench, 9/10)
KHN: Georgia Eyes New Medicaid Contract. But How Is The State Managing Managed Care?
Just before Frank Berry left his job as head of Georgia’s Medicaid agency this summer, he said the state “will be looking for the best bang for the buck” in its upcoming contract with private insurers to cover the state’s most vulnerable. But whether the state — and Medicaid patients — are getting an optimal deal on Medicaid is up for debate. (Grapevine and Miller, 9/13)
