Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: California's AG Suggests Filing Lawsuit To Defend Abortion Services; Elder Care Advocates Cite 'Train Wreck' As Minnesota Reforms Come Up Short
Sacramento Bee: California's Top Cop Moves To Defend Planned Parenthood
California's top cop hinted last week that the state will file another lawsuit against the federal government, potentially taking on the Trump administration over its plan to strip funding for Planned Parenthood and other clinics that provide abortions. At issue is funding for family planning and abortion services through the Title X program, expected to cost $260 million. (Hart, 5/21)
The Star Tribune: Effort To Reform Elder Care System Falls Short At Capitol
In a blow to Gov. Mark Dayton and families of elder abuse victims, the 2018 Legislature adjourned without adopting a series of broad-based reforms to Minnesota’s flawed system for protecting vulnerable seniors from maltreatment. Weeks of intense negotiation involving the Dayton administration, Republican legislators and a coalition of senior organizations over a bipartisan deal collapsed over the weekend, leaving few new protections for the estimated 85,000 Minnesotans who live in senior care facilities across the state. (Serres, 5/22)
ProPublica: A Death In Slow Motion
As detailed in an investigation by ProPublica and the Houston Chronicle, St. Luke’s has performed an outsized number of heart transplants resulting in deaths or unusual complications, has lost several top physicians and has scaled back its ambition for treating high-risk patients, all the while marketing itself based on its storied past. ... Taken together, excerpts from their social media feeds show how loved ones coped after Lee’s transplant — his shot at deliverance — went seriously wrong. (Hixenbaugh and Ornstein, 5/22)
Iowa Public Radio: Iowa Officials Approve Hiring Of Conservative Law Firm To Defend Abortion Law
Iowa’s Executive Council voted Monday to approve the hiring of a Chicago-based conservative law firm to represent the state in a lawsuit challenging the fetal heartbeat abortion law. Planned Parenthood, the ACLU of Iowa and the Emma Goldman Clinic sued the state last week, and Iowa’s attorney general refused to defend the law that bans most abortions after about six weeks into pregnancy. (Sostaric, 5/21)
The Star Tribune: Lawmakers Approve Expansion Compromise At Regions Hospital
Lawmakers approved an expansion plan at Regions Hospital in St. Paul that would provide licenses for 55 more inpatient beds, a relatively rare example of new hospital capacity in Minnesota for patients with medical and surgical needs. Late last year, Regions put forward a plan for 100 additional beds, saying it was straining with capacity limits and needed more room to handle growth in the east metro area. (Snowbeck, 5/21)
St. Louis Public Radio: FDA Approves A UTI Test From A St. Louis Startup That Could Help Reduce Antibiotic Resistance
A St. Louis biotech startup has secured approval from the Food and Drug Administration to sell a device that helps doctors quickly diagnose urinary tract infections. ...A faster diagnosis can help doctors avoid over-prescribing medications that contribute to antibiotic resistance, said Dana Marshall, president and CEO of Bacterioscan. (Chen, 5/21)
Richmond Times-Dispatch: VCU Receives $21.5 Million Grant To Bring Research To Patients
The National Institutes of Health has awarded a $21.5 million grant to Virginia Commonwealth University in an effort to advance research and deliver new discoveries to patients as quickly as possible. VCU’s C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research will use the money to improve access to treatments for diseases such as cardiac and pulmonary conditions and addiction. (O'Connor, 5/21)
Denver Post: Federal Inspectors Fault National Jewish Health For Treatment Of Guinea Pigs During Smoking Study
The study was supposed to expose guinea pigs to cigarette smoke a few hours a day, five days a week inside a specially designed “smoking machine.” But, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture conducted a routine inspection of the lab at National Jewish Health in Denver earlier this year, it discovered research that had gone off the rails. One group of guinea pigs had been exposed to more smoke — five hours a day for six days — than the study’s approved guidelines called for. Two guinea pigs were described in research records that an inspector reviewed as having bloody discharge from the nose. One of those had to be euthanized after also being observed with labored breathing and displaying “vocalization.” And medicine that was supposed to be administered to the guinea pigs during the study had been given after the animals’ exposure to smoke ended because the researcher didn’t obtain it in time. (Ingold, 5/21)
