State Highlights: Calif. Blocks Short-Term Plans And Trump’s Drug Czar Pick Heads To Conn. After K2 Overdoses

San Francisco Chronicle: Defying Trump, California Legislature Bans Short-Term Health Insurance
The California Legislature has passed a bill banning the sale of short-term health insurance plans — a type of insurance the Trump administration is seeking to expand. The bill, SB910, authored by State Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina), was approved by the Senate on Monday and the Assembly last week. It will need the signature of Gov. Jerry Brown to become law. (Ho, 8/20)

The CT Mirror: Trump Drug Czar Nominee Meets With CT Officials After K2 Crisis
President Donald Trump’s nominee for “drug czar” visited New Haven on Monday, prompted by the massive medical emergency caused by the synthetic cannabinoid K2, to discuss the ongoing and deadly addiction epidemic that continues to grip Connecticut. Last week, dozen of people were taken to the hospital from New Haven’s Green after they became sickened from K2. (Rigg, 8/20)

The Associated Press: Trump Drug Czar Nominee Visits Connecticut After Overdoses
New Haven, Connecticut, became what officials called “ground zero” Monday for efforts to shine a light on the dangers of drugs, as President Donald Trump’s nominee for drug czar visited a city reeling from more than 100 recent overdoses on synthetic marijuana. Jim Carroll met with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Mayor Toni Harp and first responders to discuss the overdoses, as well as the country’s opioid crisis. (Collins, 8/20)

California Healthline: A Black Eye For Blue Shield: Consumers Lash Out Over Coverage Lapses
Around the state, consumers with individual Blue Shield policies, like Summers, say they have been subject to sudden, [Ashley] erroneous cancellations, especially in recent months, forcing them to go without heart medicine, skip vaccinations for their children and pay hundreds of dollars out-of-pocket for other medical care. On social media, customers have described frantic attempts to get their coverage reinstated. (Terhune, 8/20)

The New York Times: ‘I’m Focusing On Medicine’: A Parkland Survivor Returns To The Hospital That Saved Her
Maddy Wilford tied a surgical mask around her face and scraped the dirt from beneath her fingernails. She scrubbed her hands and arms, allowing frothy yellow iodine to wash over the thick scar on her right arm — a physical reminder that she had nearly died six months ago at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Ms. Wilford was shot multiple times that day, the bullets piercing her arm and torso, and arrived at Broward Health North in shock and need of surgery. Now she was volunteering as an intern at the same hospital, learning about medicine from the doctors who saved her life. (Bidgood, 8/21)

Tampa Bay Times: In Pinellas, Three Cases Of The Measles Revive Concerns About Those Who Don’t Vaccinate
Pinellas County hadn’t seen a case of measles in 20 years. Then suddenly last week it had three, all from unvaccinated people. While some local physicians were not surprised that the highly contagious virus made its way back into Tampa Bay, most are reiterating the safety and importance of routine vaccinations in an era when some parent groups claim immunizations do more harm than good. (Griffin, 8/21)

Kansas City Star: Count The Kicks Program For Stillbirths Comes To Kansas
It’s called Count the Kicks, and it’s about to get a boost from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The program teaches expectant mothers how to track the movement of their fetus every day during the third trimester of pregnancy. (Marso, 8/20)

Columbus Dispatch: Newark Council Adds E-Cigarette Vaping To Ban On Smoking In Public Places
Electronic-cigarette users will no longer be able to vape in public spaces in Newark. More than a decade after Ohio banned smoking in public places, Newark City Council expanded those rules to include e-cigarettes Monday night in a 10-0 decision. (Hendrix, 8/20)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Summit County Group Distributes 60,000 Disposal Pouches For Prescription Drugs
Summit County Community Partnership and its 60 partners have distributed more than 60,000 disposal pouches for prescription drugs in less than two years in the Deterra Project, an addiction-prevention initiative. The pouches deactivate drugs after water is added and render the mixture safe for normal disposal with residents' trash. (Conn, 8/20)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Children's Mental Health Clinic Opens In New Orleans East 
For the first time in its 15-year history, Metropolitan Human Services District is operating a children's clinic in New Orleans East. The new program, which opened last week, offers mental health and substance abuse services for people ages 5-21. The state health agency will be operating the clinic in partnership with Tulane University and Louisiana State University. (Webster, 8/20)

San Francisco Chronicle: Alameda County Inmate Gave Birth In Isolation Cell, Her Screams Ignored, Suit Says
A homeless inmate gave birth last year in Alameda County’s jail while she lay alone in a cold, dirty concrete solitary confinement cell after guards ignored her screams for hours, according to a federal lawsuit filed Monday. The mother was locked into the isolation cell after medical staff accused her of exaggerating complaints of pain and cramping, and deputies decided to punish her for the exaggeration, the suit says. (Fagan, 8/20)

Houston Chronicle: Individuals With Type 1 Diabetes In Houston Should Plan For Emergencies 
In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, JDRF Houston Gulf Coast Chapter members worked to deliver life-saving insulin and diabetic medical supplies to those in need in Houston and surrounding areas. Gulf Coast residents with Type 1 diabetes should take special precautions to make sure they are ready in the event of a hurricane, flood or other disaster, said Rick Byrd, JDRF Houston Gulf Coast Chapter executive director. (Maness, 8/20)

USA Today: 16 Nurses Are Pregnant At Arizona Hospital
An Arizona hospital is experiencing a baby boom. Sixteen nurses who work for the intensive care unit at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, Ariz., are pregnant. Most of the women are due between October and January. (Molina, 8/20)

NPR: Michigan Health Director To Stand Trial For Involuntary Manslaughter In Flint Deaths
Lyon and other state department officials were aware of a deadly Legionnaires Disease outbreak in Genesee County in January, 2015. But the department did not issue a public advisory about the outbreak until January 2016. The department did advise doctors and medical institutions in 2015. Between 2014 and 2015, at least a dozen people died from Legionnaires Disease in Genesee County, and dozens more were sickened. Evidence connecting the Legionella bacteria outbreak to Flint's ill-fated drinking water switch in 2014 is disputed. (Carmody, 8/20)

The Associated Press: Michigan Official Faces Manslaughter Trial Over Flint Deaths
A judge on Monday ordered Michigan’s health director to stand trial for involuntary manslaughter in two deaths linked to Legionnaires’ disease in the Flint area, the highest-ranking official to face criminal charges as a result of the city’s tainted water scandal. Nick Lyon is accused of failing to issue a timely alert about the outbreak. District Court Judge David Goggins said deaths likely could have been prevented if the outbreak had been publicly known. He said keeping the public in the dark was “corrupt.” (White, 8/21)