Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Owner At Center Of Louisiana Nursing Home Storm Fiasco Sentenced
The New York Times: Nursing Home Owner Gets 3 Years’ Probation in Deadly Hurricane Evacuation
A Louisiana nursing home owner who sent more than 800 residents to a squalid warehouse with what the authorities called poor sanitation and inadequate food supplies while they braced for Hurricane Ida in 2021 was sentenced on Monday to three years’ probation, despite prosecutors’ calls for prison time. The man, Bob Glynn Dean Jr., 70, pleaded no contest to the 15 criminal charges he faced, including cruelty to persons with infirmity, Medicaid fraud and obstruction of justice on Monday at the Tangipahoa Parish Courthouse in Amite, La. (Petri, 7/22)
On LGBTQ+ health —
WLRN Public Media: Florida Seeks The Go-Ahead To Enforce Restrictions On Gender-Affirming Therapies
Florida has asked a federal appeals court to allow the state to restrict treatments for people diagnosed with gender dysphoria while a legal battle continues to play out. Attorneys for the state filed a 36-page motion at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking a stay of a ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle that blocked restrictions Florida imposed last year on puberty blockers and hormone therapy. (Saunders, 7/22)
The Hill: DOJ Asks Supreme Court To Partially Restore Biden Title IX Rule In Republican-Led States
The Department of Justice (DOJ) asked the Supreme Court to take emergency action Monday to restore parts of President Biden’s Title IX rule in a handful of Republican-led states where the new regulations are blocked, arguing that lower court injunctions pausing the rule in its entirety are “more burdensome” than necessary. In April, the Education Department unveiled a final set of sweeping changes to Title IX, the federal civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination in schools and education programs that receive government funding. The new rule, which covers discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity for the first time, drew swift criticism from Republicans who claimed the new regulations undermine the original intent of Title IX, triggering a flurry of multistate lawsuits. (Migdon, 7/22)
More health news from across the country —
CBS News: Patients At Pittsburgh Hospital Can Enter Opioid-Free Pain Management Program
For the first time in western Pennsylvania and possibly in the nation, patients at a local hospital can choose not to be given opioids before, during and after surgeries. Inside UPMC Shadyside Hospital, doctors are taking a unique route to managing surgical and post-op pain in some patients to help prevent opioid use disorder. (Guay, 7/22)
Bloomberg: NY’s CDPAP Home Health Aide Job Program Has Become A ‘Racket’: Hochul
“Get paid to care for your loved ones,” the subway ad for one of New York’s Medicaid-funded home health aide programs says. But the statewide benefit, which pays people to care for their family members and friends, is being exploited and becoming a “racket,” according to Governor Kathy Hochul. (Nahmias, 7/22)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: St. Louis County Executive Bypasses Council On Big Contract
St. Louis County Executive Sam Page’s administration is bypassing the St. Louis County Council to ink a major contract with a new health benefits administrator, arguing the move is necessary to ensure there was no disruption to employee health insurance. (Barker, 7/22)
ProPublica: Maryland Moves To Process A Nearly 50-Year-Old Backlog Of Rape Kits
One of the country’s oldest backlogs of untested evidence from rape exams is on track to be processed by the end of the year after new laws in Maryland put more than 1,400 cases dating back to 1977 on an expedited timetable. As detailed in ProPublica’s 2021 series “Cold Justice,” a doctor at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center began quietly preserving physical evidence obtained during exams of rape survivors in the 1970s, believing that one day the technology would exist to be able to connect specimens to perpetrators. (Rentz, 7/22)
Bay Area News Group: Newsom Signs New Bills To Reform Universities' Sex Harassment Policies
A year after a scathing report revealed widespread mishandling of sexual misconduct claims at San Jose State and across the California State University system, two new laws will require stronger sexual harassment policies at its 23 campuses. The new laws Gov. Gavin Newsom signed July 15 require Cal State University officials to expand current sexual assault prevention training, standardize investigation and reporting processes, track cases and address unprofessional conduct that doesn’t fall under sexual harassment. (Gibbs, 7/22)
Los Angeles Times: Deadly Drug Overdoses Plateaued In L.A. County In 2023
Deaths from drug overdoses and poisoning reached a plateau last year in Los Angeles County — the first time in a decade that such fatalities had not continued a year-over-year rise, public health officials said. Across L.A. County, 3,092 lives were lost to drug overdoses or poisoning in 2023, a slight decline from 3,220 deaths the year before, according to a newly updated report. County officials welcomed the change after years of devastating increases in overdose deaths but said much work remains to be done to save lives. (Alpert Reyes, 7/22)
