Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Illinois Reports Its First West Nile Case This Year
Chicago Tribune: Illinois' 1st Human West Nile Case This Year Reported In Cook County
Illinois’ first human case of West Nile virus this year was identified in suburban Cook County, the state’s Department of Public Health announced Wednesday. The mosquito-borne illness typically causes fever, headaches, body aches, vomiting and diarrhea, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Atkins, 7/17)
AP: Massachusetts Lawmakers Reach Compromise Deal On Gun Bill
Massachusetts House and Senate negotiators have released a compromise version of a sweeping gun bill that supporters say builds on the state’s existing gun laws, including a crackdown on difficult to trace “ghost guns,” while safeguarding the rights of gun owners. The bill — which must be given final approval by both chambers before being sent to Gov. Maura Healey for her signature — is part of an effort by the state to respond to a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that citizens have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense. (LeBlanc, 7/17)
In other news from across the country —
The Baltimore Sun: Two People Die From Heat Causes In Baltimore City
In scorching Baltimore City last week two people died of heat-related causes. There have been nine heat-related deaths in Maryland in 2024, matching the total for 2023, according to the Maryland Department of Health. All nine victims were 45 or over, according to data from the department. (Mullan, 7/17)
The New York Times: See Extreme Surface Temperatures In Phoenix, Sacramento And Portland, Ore.
We usually talk about summertime heat in terms of how hot the air is, but there’s another metric that matters: the temperatures of roads, sidewalks, buildings, parking lots and other outdoor surfaces. Hot surfaces can make the places people live and work more dangerous, and can increase the risk of contact burns. (Zhong and Rojanasakul, 7/17)
Kansas City Star: Couple Sue Saint Luke’s Hospital Over ‘Dirty’ Infection
The infection Bill Berberich developed following his hip replacement surgery at Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City a couple years ago has cost him plenty. “It’s just been a long road trying to recover,” he said, reflecting with his wife Barb Berberich on the last two years of their lives. (Pilling, 7/17)
Kansas City Beacon: Missouri Medicaid Begins Covering Dental Exams For Adults
Missouri Medicaid began covering teeth cleanings, and almost no other routine dental work, for adults a few years ago. But the bill for the dentist actually peering in your mouth to check teeth and gums went to the patient. While some dentists wrote off the cost of the dental exam, many patients just stayed away from the dental chair and the potential bills it represented. That changed July 1, when routine dental exams for adults were added to the state’s Medicaid coverage. (King, 7/18)
Also —
Philadelphia Inquirer: Wistar To Open HIV Cure And Viral Diseases Center
Wistar Institute is investing $24 million to open a new center dedicated to researching how to equip the immune system to fight HIV by developing new treatment options, including potentially a vaccine. The HIV Cure and Viral Diseases Center will be located at 3675 Market St., marking the 130-year-old research institution’s first offices outside its Spruce Street headquarters in West Philadelphia. Wistar was founded in 1892 as the nation’s first independent biomedical research institution. It is designated by the National Cancer Institute as a cancer research institute, and also specializes in vaccine development and infectious disease. (Gantz, 7/17)
KFF Health News: Tennessee Agrees To Remove Sex Workers With HIV From Sex Offender Registry
The Tennessee government has agreed to begin scrubbing its sex offender registry of dozens of people who were convicted of prostitution while having HIV, reversing a practice that federal lawsuits have challenged as draconian and discriminatory. For more than three decades, Tennessee’s “aggravated prostitution” laws have made prostitution a misdemeanor for most sex workers but a felony for those who are HIV-positive. (Kelman, 7/17)
KFF Health News: Montana’s Plan To Curb Opioid Overdoses Includes Vending Machines
Before she stopped using drugs for good, Cierra Coon estimates that she overdosed eight times in a span of two weeks in the fall of 2022. One of those times, the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone helped save her life. She was riding in a car on the back roads of the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana when she lost consciousness. Someone in the car grabbed a small bottle of naloxone, sprayed it up her nose, and performed CPR until she came to. Coon said having quick access to the overdose reversal agent, also known by the brand name Narcan, was incredibly lucky. (Silvers, 7/18)
