Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: D.C.'s Aid-In-Dying Law Takes Effect, Setting Up Showdown With Congress; N.H.'s Mental Health Services Still Found Lacking
The Washington Post: Assisted Suicide Is Legal And Available In D.C. — For Now
District officials say doctors in the city may now begin the process of prescribing life-ending drugs to terminally ill patients, setting up a showdown with Republicans in Congress who are trying to void the city’s assisted-suicide law. City officials say the rules and regulations to implement the law took effect Monday, adding the District to six states that authorize the practice. (Nirappil, 7/17)
San Jose Mercury News: End Of Life: Family Sues UCSF For Refusing To Help Woman Die
In what may be the first-of-its-kind lawsuit related to California’s End of Life Option Act, the family of a San Francisco terminally ill cancer patient is suing the UC San Francisco Medical Center alleging that her physician and the system misrepresented that they would help the dying woman use California’s right-to-die law when her time came. Instead, according to the July 7 civil lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court, Judy Dale’s wish for a peaceful death was denied to her by the defendants’ “conscious choice to suppress and conceal’’ their decision that they would not participate in the law, despite Dale’s repeated indications to doctors and social workers that she intended to use its provisions. (Seipel, 7/17)
New Hampshire Public Radio: Outside Review Says State Lagging In Some Key Areas Of Mental Health Reform
Three years after the state reached a major legal settlement meant to reform its mental health system, both the outside reviewer hired to monitor the state’s progress and the advocacy organization that sued on patients’ behalf say there’s still significant work to be done. The state is required to submit to regular outside reviews of its mental health offerings as part of a multi-million dollar settlement reached three years ago, as a result of a class action lawsuit brought by the Disability Rights Center of New Hampshire. (McDermott, 7/17)
The Associated Press: Kansas Board Revokes Doctor's License Again In Abortion Case
Kansas' medical board for the third time has revoked the license of a doctor whose second opinions allowed the late Dr. George Tiller to perform late-term abortions more than a decade ago. The State Board of Healing Arts acted against Dr. Ann Kristin Neuhaus over what it previously concluded were her inadequate records for 11 patients aged 10 to 18 who sought abortions in 2003. Kansas law at the time required a second doctor to conclude that continuing a pregnancy would permanently harm a patient's physical or mental health. (7/17)
Iowa Public Radio: First Day Of Testimony In Abortion Restrictions Trial
The medical director of Iowa’s largest abortion provider took the witness stand today in Polk County District Court. Dr. Jill Meadows of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and the ACLU of Iowa are suing the state, saying that new restrictions on abortion create an undue burden for women. There’s currently an injunction on the new law which requires a woman to have an ultrasound three days before terminating her pregnancy. (Boden, 7/17)
State House News Service: Baker Vetoes $320 Million, Returns Assessments With MassHealth Reforms
Baker signed a budget for fiscal 2018 on Monday afternoon that includes $39.4 billion in spending after he vetoed $320 million from the plan, and went even further than House and Senate budget negotiators to revise tax revenue projections downward for this year by $749 million. The governor also returned to the Legislature a new assessment on employers that he initially proposed to help pay for growing MassHealth expenses, calling on lawmakers to act quickly to package the $200 million in new employer fees with MassHealth reforms that lawmakers laid aside during budget deliberations. (Murphy, 7/17)
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cleveland Clinic And CareSource Could Terminate Contract Sept. 1; Many Medicaid Patients Could Lose Access To The Clinic
People on the state's largest Medicaid managed care plan may no longer be able to access care from the Cleveland Clinic starting Sept. 1. Dayton-based CareSource, which serves roughly 1.3 million Medicaid members in Ohio, is notifying its members that it could terminate its contract with the Cleveland-based health system. (Christ, 7/17)
Concord Monitor: Person With Measles May Have Infected Others At Hampton Beach On July 9
People who visited Hampton Beach on the afternoon of Sunday, July 9, may have been exposed to the measles. The New Hampshire Division of Public Health Services said Monday that a person who was at Hampton Beach from about noon to 6 p.m. that day “was subsequently found to be infected with the measles virus” and is considered contagious. (7/17)
Denver Post: Boulder-Based Techstars And Foundry Invest In "Airbnb Of Health Care"
Armed with Boulder money, a California health insurance startup is trying to make it big. But not by selling plans — just by telling people about them. Impact Health is sort of like a dating service, or maybe an Airbnb. First, put in your preferences and history, then the algorithms find you a match: a health insurance plan. The company serves about 59,000 people, according to chief executive and co-founder Christine Carrillo, but they have lofty goals — and that’s where Techstars Venture Capital Fund and Foundry Group can help. (Douglas, 7/17)
Detroit Free Press: Doctor Claims Mike Morse Demanded Kickbacks
Southfield attorney Mike Morse demanded kickbacks and fudged test results in return for patient referrals, according to claims made by a Clarkston doctor who plead guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Dr. Ram Gunabalan swore to the accusations in a 49-page affidavit filed in federal court last week. The document lays out a series of allegations of questionable dealings Gunabalan said he had with Morse and others related to the treatment of auto accident patients in lawsuits. (Wisely and Reindl, 7/17)
California Healthline: Has California Hit The Brakes In Regulating Breath-Robbing Big Rigs?
James Lockett sits on his bed and opens the drawer of his nightstand, revealing a stash of asthma inhalers: purple disc-shaped ones he uses twice a day to manage his symptoms and others for full-blown attacks. Lockett, 70, says he never leaves home without an emergency inhaler. (Nguyen, 7/17)
San Francisco Chronicle: Sonoma County Challenges For Pot Supremacy As Others Turn Away
Craft cannabis is becoming a cousin to craft beer in Sonoma County, and the venture by the founder of the San Francisco Patient and Resource Center, or SPARC, is among several operations awaiting permits to grow and manufacture medical marijuana — and, presumably, recreational pot in the future. Around the state, the mainstreaming and legalization of marijuana is prompting many cities, even liberal ones, to fear trouble and shun the exploding industry. (Fimrite, 7/17)
