State Highlights: Calif. Takes Steps To Speed Approval Of Stem Cell Therapies; Following The Money In Mass. Marijuana Vote

Sacramento Bee: California Stem Cell Agency Approves $30 Million To Fast-Track Clinical Trials
The California stem cell agency on Wednesday completed creation of a $30 million effort to dramatically speed approval of stem cell therapies and establish the Golden State globally in the much-heralded regenerative medicine field. Dubbed the “pitching machine,” the two-part program is designed to pick up where basic stem cell research leaves off and to accelerate it through the all-important clinical trials involving humans. Such trials are required prior to widespread use of a therapy by the public and generally take years. (Jensen, 10/19)

WBUR: A Look At The Money For And Against Legalized Marijuana In Mass.
As Massachusetts voters get set to decide if recreational marijuana should be legalized, millions of dollars have been flowing into the state seeking to sway the result. And as Nov. 8 approaches, look for the commercial airwaves, and your social media feed, to contain more and more advertisements for and against Question 4. For the last two years, proponents of Question 4 have been amassing nearly $4 million advocating for legalization. Last month, more than 80 percent of expenditures went straight into television ads. (Brown, 10/20)

Georgia Health News: State Fares Poorly Again In Infant, Maternal Health
Georgia still ranks low among states in rates of premature births, low-birthweight babies, and infant mortality. The rankings in those categories are 43rd, 47th and 45th, respectively, based on the latest data, according to the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Georgia’s 2016 report on maternal and infant health. The recently released report also notes that the state suffers from an absence of key information. A federal publication of 2013 birth data identifies Georgia as having the highest rate of missing prenatal care data from its birth certificates, with about 16 percent not having that measure. (Miller, 10/19)

The Associated Press: Agency Says It Erred In Requiring Husband's OK For Abortion
A South Carolina agency said Wednesday it erred in suggesting married women get their husband's permission to get an abortion. That is among proposed changes to abortion clinic regulations that the state's health agency put out last month for public comment, following a unanimous vote by the agency's board. Abortion rights advocates called them extreme and politically driven. (10/19)

Dallas Morning News: A Cut Above: Austin's Luxury Surgical Hospital Features Gourmet Food,  'Unusually Spacious' Rooms 
An upscale surgical hospital touting robotic technology, unusually spacious patient rooms, high-end furnishings, and gourmet food choices opened Wednesday in North Austin. The St. David’s Surgical Hospital is a 146,381-square-foot “destination hospital” that will specialize in orthopedic, neurological, bariatric, gynecological and urological surgery. The hospital was purchased in May for $115 million by Austin-based St. David's HealthCare, which spent an additional $20 million to update the furniture and technology, reports the Austin Business Journal.  It had previously been owned by the Forest Park Medical Center, a Dallas-based chain that operated luxury hospitals in five Texas cities before going bankrupt. (Rice, 10/19)

Boston Globe: New Legislation Requires Evidence From Sexual Assault And Rape Cases Be Kept For At Least 15 Years
Governor Charlie Baker signed legislation Wednesday requiring forensic evidence from sexual assault and rape cases to be preserved for at least 15 years. The bill requires police to keep forensic evidence for a minimum of 15 years, which is the statute of limitations for crimes of sexual assault and rape, the governor’s office said. In the past, police only had to keep the forensic evidence for six months, unless a victim petitioned to have it preserved every six months, officials said. (Quintana, 10/19)

Chicago Sun Times: Nearly Half Of City 911 Call Takers On Leave, Sparking OT Problem 
Chicago’s 911 emergency center is still struggling to get a handle on runaway overtime because 49 percent of call takers are on “some type of” absence tied to the Family and Medical Leave Act, aldermen were told Wednesday. Testifying at City Council budget hearings, Alicia Tate-Nadeau, executive director of the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications, said the hiring of 48 additional call takers has reduced overtime by 28,000 hours over the same period last year. That should reduce overtime spending to $9.9 million, down $1 million from a year ago, she said. (Spielman, 10/19)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Philly Heart Patient Claims Contaminated Device Caused Stroke
Surgeons at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center cut into Kenneth Piechowski's chest in December 2014 to replace a faulty aortic valve, and all seemed fine afterward.But a few months later, he began to feel weak and lethargic. Suddenly, in May, his right knee buckled, and he couldn't move the leg. Piechowski had suffered a stroke, which he says was caused by slow-growing bacteria that he had picked up from a device used during his surgery months earlier. He is now suing the hospital and the device-maker in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia. (Avril, 10/19)

California Healthline: California’s RN Wages Now Highest In The Nation, Federal Data Show
Deborah Burger, co-president of the California Nurses Association, says that when she started her career as an intensive care unit nurse in the 1970s, a grocery clerk made more money than she did. Things have changed quite a bit since then, especially in California. Registered nurses in the Golden State earn $100,000 a year on average, more than their counterparts anywhere else in the country, according to recently-released data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average hourly wage for registered nurses in California is $48.68 an hour, the 2015 data shows. (Ibarra, 10/20)

New Hampshire Times Union: State Board Reprimands Two Seacoast Doctors 
A Portsmouth Regional Hospital emergency room physician was reprimanded for professional misconduct after he misdiagnosed a life-threatening sepsis infection resulting in a patient having both feet partially amputated. Dr. William P. Carter III signed a settlement agreement Sept. 8 with the New Hampshire Board of Medicine "to avoid the delay and expense of further proceedings and to settle allegations of professional misconduct." Under it, he is required to take 16 hours of continuing medical education in diabetic patient management, sepsis recognition, emergency room standards of care and infectious disease recognition. He also was fined $1,000, and must furnish a copy of the settlement agreement to his employer. (Grossmith, 10/19)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: New Orleans Business Owner And Doctor Sentenced For Medicare Fraud 
The owner and director of the New Orleans medical service company Christian Home Health, Inc. were sentenced to prison on Wednesday (Oct. 19) for their roles in a $34 million Medicare fraud scheme. Chief U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt sentenced owner Elaine Davis of New Orleans to 96 months in jail, and gave medical director Dr. Pramela Ganji of Harahan 72 months. In March 2016, a jury convicted both Davis, 60, and Ganji, 67, of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of health care fraud. Engelhardt has scheduled a hearing to determine what restitution the defendants owe on Dec. 7 of this year. (Lipinski, 10/19)

The Washington Post: App Helps Save Seattle Cardiac Patient
If your heart is going to stop, right outside a hospital is not a bad place for it. And if 41 people within a 330-yard radius have a cellphone app alerting them to your distress, so much the better. That’s what happened in Seattle last week when Stephen DeMont collapsed at a bus stop in front of University of Washington Medical Center. (Johnson, 10/20)

The Mercury News: Investigation Continues Into Pipe-Bomb Suicide At Clinic
A day after a wheelchair-bound man blew himself up with a pipe bomb in the lobby of an East Oakland health clinic, after waiting for everyone to leave, authorities were trying to find out what prompted the suicide. The man, whose name has not been released, was the only one injured in the blast at about 6:26 p.m. Tuesday at the San Antonio Neighborhood Health Center, 1030 International Blvd. Authorities said that in addition to the pipe bomb, some illegal fireworks were also found on the man after the explosion. (Harris, 10/19)

Macon Telegraph: Mom Sues After Autistic Son Is Arrested Over Bomb Threat At Upson County School
The mother of an autistic boy has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that he was illegally arrested after writing a bomb threat in an Upson County school restroom. She’s seeking more than $1 million in compensation and damages stemming from the incident, according to the suit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia... The 9-year-old boy saw students being escorted out of school Dec. 3, 2014, after a bomb threat was found written on the wall of a bathroom stall, according to the complaint (Womack, 10/19)