State Highlights: Civil Trial Begins For Arizona Body Donation Facility Accused Of Fraud; Experts Link High Lung Cancer Rates In Missouri, Kentucky With Smoking

The Associated Press: Case Of Former Phoenix Body Donation Facility Goes To Jury
Jurors have started deliberations in the civil trial involving a now-closed body donation facility in Phoenix. The relatives of 23 people whose remains were donated to the Biological Resource Center contend in a lawsuit that the facility mishandled their deceased loved ones and misled them about how the remains would be used. The suit alleges the facility committed fraud by claiming the donated bodies would be used for medical research, when in at least two cases it knew the human remains would be sold for use in destructive military testing. (11/13)

Kansas City Star: American Lung Association: Missouri High In Lung Cancer Rate
Missouri has some of the highest lung cancer rates in the country, according to an American Lung Association report released Wednesday. The culprit? You can draw a straight line between lung cancer and smoking. The second “State of Lung Cancer” report reveals the toll, state by state. Nationwide, the incidence of lung cancer — the number of new cases — is 59.6 per 100,000 people. (Gutierrez, 11/12)

The Baltimore Sun: Flu Virus Widespread In Maryland: What You Need To Know About This Year’s Flu Season In The Baltimore Area 
With the beginning of fall comes the beginning of flu season. The contagious virus knocks millions of people off their feet every year. Maryland is one of two states in which the influenza virus has become geographically widespread, according to a Nov. 2 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But there is a way to prevent, or at least minimize, the nasty bug, said Dr. Theodore Bailey, chief of the Greater Baltimore Medical Center’s division of infectious disease and part of GBMC Health Partners. Get a flu shot, he said. (Cohn, 11/12)

North Carolina Health News: New Maternity Unit To Be Led By Family Docs 
Primary care physicians trained in obstetrics and surgery will provide the bulk of the care at the maternity ward, [Jeffrey] Strickler said. Staff at the unit will assist on “low-risk” deliveries — cesarean sections or vaginal births on women who are generally healthy. An obstetrician will be available to consult, according to Strickler, who said high-risk patients, such as women carrying twins and breech babies, will be transferred to UNC Medical Center in Chapel Hill, roughly 45 minutes away. (Engel-Smith, 11/13)

Sacramento Bee: Workers Strike Over Outsourcing At UC Hospitals, Campuses
Leaders of UC Davis Health said that they have not canceled any patient appointments in preparation for Wednesday’s strike by thousands of patient care and service workers, but they have alerted patients getting lab work whether they will have to go to a different facility. ...Roughly 25,000 University of California workers represented by AFSCME 3299 voted to authorize their leaders to call strikes, as needed. The union’s ranks include service workers such as custodians, gardeners, food service workers and facilities maintenance staff, as well as health care workers such as medical transcribers, phlebotomists, admitting clerks and respiratory therapists. (Anderson, 11/12)

Iowa Public Radio: AG's Office To Launch Tracking System For Rape Kits
The state attorney general's office has announced it will launch a tracking and reporting system for rape kits. The state office will work with software company STACS DNA to develop a system so victims can get status updates as their kits go through medical and law enforcement agencies. (Krebs, 11/12)

Boston Globe: City Health Commission Director Stepping Down
After nearly four years in the post, the head of the city’s health commission is stepping down, saying she wants to spend more time with her family. Monica Valdes Lupi, who took the job in early 2016, briefed her staff earlier this month and alerted the City Council in an e-mail last week. (Valencia, 11/12)

Health News Florida: State, Groups Wage Court Fights Over Solitary Confinement
The Southern Poverty Law Center, Florida Legal Services and the Florida Justice Institute this year sued the state Department of Corrections and the Department of Juvenile Justice in federal court in Tallahassee, contending the agencies’ practices on isolation are unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment. But the agencies are fighting back against the allegations, with the latest salvo coming last week as the Department of Juvenile Justice filed a motion to dismiss the juvenile detention case and questioned the motives behind the lawsuit. (Ceballos, 11/12)

The Associated Press: Residents Want Federal Probe Of Cancer Near Georgia Facility
Residents of an Atlanta suburb want the federal government to investigate cases of cancer near a medical sterilization plant that uses a gas linked to an increase cancer risk. WXIA-TV reports some Covington residents are asking the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to investigate cases near the plant, which has released leaked ethylene oxide into the surrounding air. (11/12)

Boston Globe: Conrad Roy’s Mother Urges Lawmakers To Pass Bill Punishing People Who Induce Others To Die By Suicide
The mother of Conrad Roy, the teenager who died by suicide in 2014 after another teen urged him to take his own life, testified on Tuesday in favor of a bill that would punish people who induce others to end their own lives. ...The legislation would make it a crime for anyone to encourage a person they know to be suicidal to take his or her own life, punishable by up to five years in prison. Supporters of the bill have dubbed it “Conrad’s Law.” (Greenberg and Anderson, 11/12)

KQED: SF Mayor Breed, Supervisors Agree On Plan To Overhaul City's Mental Health Program
San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Supervisors Matt Haney and Hillary Ronen announced a deal Tuesday reconciling their dueling plans to reform the city's fragmented mental health care system. The trio introduced the agreement outside of City Hall, following months of often tense negotiations on ways to overhaul the treatment of residents grappling with homelessness, mental health and substance abuse issues. (Wolffe, 11/12)

Houston Chronicle: Life Expectancy In Harris County Varies By 24 Years. A New Study Aims To Close That Gap. 
High rates of obesity, uninsured residents and a health care infrastructure failing to keep pace with population growth are among the greatest challenges to the well-being of Harris County residents, according to a comprehensive study released Tuesday by the county’s health department. The Harris County Public Health study, commissioned last January, aims to present a picture of the overall health of county residents and offer recommendations for improvement. The 263-page report examines many factors that influence health, including access to care, mental health, transportation, housing and environmental factors. (Despart, 11/12)

The Acadiana Advocate: St. Landry Officials Sell Old St. Luke Hospital In Arnaudville To Nonprofit To Become French Immersion Campus 
The St. Luke Community Hospital building in Arnaudville has been sold to the St. Luc French Immersion and Cultural Campus, officials announced Tuesday. Officials with St. Landry Parish government signed off on the $184,000 deal with the nonprofit, which will use the building along Guidroz Street as the first adult French immersion school in the United States. (Daigle, 11/12)

Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Cold Weather Shelter: Advocate Says Location Should Not Be In Old Jail
The city's emergency cold weather shelter should not be in a recently vacated jail, a leader of a homeless outreach organization in Nashville said. Open Table Nashville co-founder Lindsey Krinks said in an email sent early Monday to city officials that the new location of the shelter is causing people experiencing homelessness to choose the cold over spending the night in the Davidson County Sheriff's Office facility. (Meyer, 11/12)

New Hampshire Union Leader: New Horizons Shelter Likely To Be At Capacity Amid Tuesday Night Cold Snap 
With an early cold snap hitting the Granite State overnight Tuesday, organizations that serve the homeless were uncertain of what would happen when Manchester’s emergency shelter reaches capacity.A spokesman for Families in Transition stressed that the New Horizons shelter will abide by its capacity of 138. ...The National Weather Service has predicted an early cold snap for this week. The overnight low Tuesday will be about 13 degrees in Manchester with 15 mph winds gusting up to 25 mph. (Hayward, 11/12)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Medical Marijuana Board Appointed After Wait
Georgia’s top elected leaders moved forward Tuesday with a program to provide medical marijuana to the state’s 15,000 registered patients, nearly seven months after Gov. Brian Kemp signed it into law. Kemp, House Speaker David Ralston and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan appointed seven members to a commission that will issue licenses for companies to grow and sell medical marijuana oil. (Niesse, 11/12)

KCUR: Thousands In Missouri Already Have Medical Marijuana Cards With Nowhere To Legally Buy It 
Missouri has already approved more than 17,000 patients for its yet-to-be-launched medical marijuana program — a stark contrast to neighboring Illinois, which had fewer than 3,000 patients in the first 10 months. Licenses for Missouri’s dispensaries are expected to be awarded by January, and cannabis should be available for medical card holders by spring. At their core, Missouri and Illinois programs do the same thing: They allow doctors to certify patients to use cannabis if they have a qualifying condition. (Driscoll, 11/12)