State Highlights: 158 Districts Suffered Mass Shooting This Year; Calif. Governor Signs Worker’s Comp Law For First Responders

The Hill: Mass Shootings Have Hit 158 House Districts So Far This Year 
More than a third of all House lawmakers represent districts where a mass shooting has occurred this year, highlighting the bipartisan pressure on Congress to take action on gun legislation after a wave of killings in Texas and Ohio during August. An analysis by The Hill found that about two-thirds of those shootings have taken place in districts represented by Democrats, many of whom represent cities hard-hit by the scourge of gun violence, while a third occurred in Republican-held districts, from the suburbs to rural communities. (Lancaster, Jarvis, Dunwoodie and Hill, 10/2)

Sacramento Bee: Newsom Signs CA Workers’ Comp Law For First Responders
California firefighters and first responders now have a stronger chance at earning workers’ compensation when they are diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder from job-related injuries. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced he signed Senate Bill 542 on Tuesday to create a rebuttable presumption that a worker’s mental health struggles are an occupational injury, which could qualify them for paid time off to recover. (Wiley, 10/1)

The Associated Press: Judge: Treatment Of Tennessee Inmates With Hep C Improving
A federal judge in Nashville ruled this week that Tennessee’s treatment of prisoners with hepatitis C is not grossly inadequate but warned the state to make good on its promises to treat more patients more quickly. In a Monday ruling, U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw noted that Tennessee has made a number of changes to improve treatment of the sometimes deadly disease within the past few months. (Loller, 10/1)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: UGA Employee Says Settlement Is Step Forward For Transgender Rights
A transgender University of Georgia employee and his legal team are hailing a lawsuit settlement they hope will encourage employers to expand health care benefits to transgender workers statewide. The UGA worker, who goes by the name Skyler Jay, said he was denied reimbursement for a May 2017 surgery to treat gender dysphoria, described by medical organizations as a conflict between a person’s physical or assigned gender and the gender with which the person identifies. (Stirgus, 10/1)

Bloomberg: ‘Queer Eye’ Guest Gets School To End Ban On Transgender Coverage
The University System of Georgia has agreed to cover medical care related to gender transitions after an employee challenged policies that denied health-insurance coverage for sexual-reassignment surgery. Skyler Jay, a University of Georgia catering manager who is transgender, sued the public university system last year, alleging that its health plan was discriminatory. Jay, a graduate of the university, was a guest on season two of the Netflix series “Queer Eye.” (Tozzi, 10/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: Supervisors Unveil Revised Vision For Mental Health Care Overhaul
San Francisco Supervisors Hillary Ronen and Matt Haney will unveil a series of modifications Tuesday to their plan to overhaul the city’s mental health care system. The changes don’t move the measure — dubbed Mental Health SF — away from its ambitious central goal of providing free, efficient and round-the-clock access to psychiatrists and pharmacists for any San Franciscan 18 and older. (Fracassa, 10/1)

Columbus Dispatch: For 100 Years, State Program Has Been Safety Net For Children With Complex, Chronic Conditions
The Ohio Department of Health is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its Children with Medical Handicaps program. The program, which has sometimes fought to survive budget cuts, helps pay for treatment and care for children whose medical needs are not met by insurance. (Price, 10/1)

Georgia Health News: Deadlock: Anthem Patients Lose Network Status At Northeast Georgia
Thousands of Georgians with Anthem insurance are now out of network if they visit hospitals and other facilities run by a Gainesville-based health system. The contract between Anthem, the state’s largest health insurer, and Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) expired early Tuesday. (Miller, 10/1)

Detroit Free Press: UAW Tells Members That GM's Latest Offer 'Came Up Short'
The UAW's lead negotiator in talks with General Motors told striking union members Tuesday afternoon the two sides remain far from a tentative agreement on the 16th day of a nationwide strike. In a letter to members, Terry Dittes said that GM made a "comprehensive proposal" at 9:40 p.m. Monday. "This proposal that the company provided to us on day 15 of the strike did not satisfy your contract demands or needs. There were many areas that came up short like health care, wages, temporary employees, skilled trades and job security to name a few. (LaReau, 10/1)

WBUR: What To Know About The Mass. Paid Leave Tax — And How It Affects Your Paycheck
The estimated $800 million program will make it easier for workers to take care of personal medical needs or family members, or bond with a new child with less financial worry. The benefits will be available to every worker in the state and affect every employer. (Enwemeka, 10/1)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cleveland Awarded $9.7 Million, Cuyahoga $5.6 Million In Federal Grants For Lead Cleanup In Glenville, Suburbs
Cleveland is one of seven communities in the country that was awarded a new “High Impact Neighborhood” grant by the the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Cleveland’s $9.7 million award, announced Monday, will allow the city to mount an intense effort to cleanup lead paint hazards and improve the health of housing in a section of Glenville, a neighborhood with historically high rates of lead poisoning. (Dissell, 10/1)

NPR: Workers Are Falling Ill, Even Dying, After Making Kitchen Countertops
Artificial stone used to make kitchen and bathroom countertops has been linked to cases of death and irreversible lung injury in workers who cut, grind, and polish this increasingly popular material. The fear is that thousands of workers in the United States who create countertops out of what's known as "engineered stone" may be inhaling dangerous amounts of lung-damaging silica dust, because engineered stone is mostly made of the mineral silica. (Greenfieldboyce, 10/2)

Des Moines Register: A Michigan Man Was Infected With Tuberculosis While Deer Hunting. Should Iowa Hunters Worry?
Tests have shown a Michigan man was infected with pulmonary tuberculosis while hunting deer, but an Iowa wildlife expert says hunters here face no increased risk. Rachel Ruden, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources' wildlife veterinarian, said the outbreak of deer-transmitted bovine tuberculosis has been contained to four counties in Michigan's Lower Peninsula. "Bovine tuberculosis has not been detected in Iowa" deer herds, Ruden said. "This is a wildlife health issue specific to Michigan." (Eller, 10/1)

The Star Tribune: Minnesota Gets Federal Grant To Study Reach Of Sickle Cell Disease 
Minnesota is one of seven states receiving a federal grant to study the prevalence and treatment of sickle cell disease, an inherited blood disorder that causes extreme bouts of pain and can lead to early death. Every year Minnesota's newborn health screening program identifies about 30 children who are born with sickle cell disease, but the total number of children and adults who have the illness is a mystery because there is no central registry. Public health officials and advocates say getting more information will help them identify gaps in care so treatment and support services can be improved. (Howatt, 10/1)

Los Angeles Times: Campus Gynecologist Caused Spike In Sexual Crime Reports In 2018, USC Officials Say
Reports of sex offenses at the University of Southern California rose sharply last year, a spike that campus officials say results from a mass of allegations of sexual misconduct against former campus gynecologist George Tyndall. The annual security and fire safety report, released by the university Tuesday, shows 92 reports of rape and 25 reports of fondling last year, a combined increase of more than 200% from the prior year. In 2017, the university received 17 reports of rape and 17 reports of fondling, according to the document. (Fry, 10/1)

The Associated Press: Federal Lawsuit Targets West Virginia Foster Care System
The overwhelmed foster care system in opioid-ravaged West Virginia has failed to protect children, according to a federal lawsuit filed Monday. The lawsuit seeking class-action status was filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of a dozen children against Gov. Jim Justice, the state Department of Health and Human Resources and other state officials. (Raby, 10/2)

Sacramento Bee: UC, CA Company Sue Similac Maker Over Patent Infringement
Using patents licensed from the University of California, Davis’ tiny Evolve BioSystems funneled every dollar it could raise into figuring out how to correct dangerous imbalances in the guts of newborn infants and developing supplements to foster the growth of healthy bacteria. The company’s investment and intellectual property now stands at risk of being compromised because pharmaceutical industry giant Abbott Laboratories is introducing a product that would infringe upon UC and Evolve patents, leaders of the Davis company and UC alleged in a lawsuit they announced Monday. (Anderson, 10/1)