State Highlights: FDA Warning Prompts California Company To Stop Selling Stem-Cell Products; Dollar Stores In Oklahoma City Told To Also Sell Fresh Foods

The Washington Post: California Stem Cell Company, Liveyon, Halts Sales Of Product After Getting FDA Warning
A California stem cell company on Friday announced the immediate suspension of sales of umbilical cord blood-derived products, a week after federal regulators said the treatments were unapproved drugs and posed safety risks. In a letter to clients, Liveyon LLC Chief Executive Officer John Kosolcharoen said the company has halted distribution of its products, Pure and Pure Pro, to “focus its efforts” on getting the nod from the Food and Drug Administration to conduct a clinical trial and eventually apply for approval of the products. (McGinley, 12/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Facing A ‘Food Desert,’ Oklahoma City Wants Dollar Stores To Sell Fresh Food
In the nine square miles that cover the 73111 ZIP Code in northeast Oklahoma City, there isn’t a single grocery store. The last one closed over the summer. There are, however, four dollar stores in the area, where 32% of the 11,000 residents live below the poverty level—roughly three times the national average. “That ZIP Code is one of the unhealthiest in our city,” said Oklahoma City Councilwoman Nikki Nice. “Changing that starts with access to food.” (Ansari, 12/15)

Reveal: Dozens Of Senior Care Homes That Broke Labor Laws Continue To Get Medicaid Funds
Medicaid funding has continued to flow to dozens of senior care-home operators in four states cited for stealing workers’ wages or breaking other labor laws, an investigation by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting has found. Earlier this fall, Medicaid funding went to at least 45 care homes previously cited for labor violations in California, Florida, Oregon and Wisconsin. The bulk of those cases occurred in California, where at least 35 facilities continued to receive Medicaid reimbursements in October after being penalized by state or federal labor regulators. (Gollan, 12/14)

The Washington Post: New Jersey Bill To Restrict Vaccine Exemptions Faces Hundreds Of Anti-Vaccine Protesters
Hundreds of anti-vaccine activists arrived at the New Jersey legislature Thursday to protest a bill that would dramatically restrict exceptions for inoculations. Protesters, composed of parents and religious leaders, demonstrated outside the capitol in Trenton and flooded its halls, bearing signs with slogans such as “When there is forced medicine, there is no liberty,” and “We deserve an education." (Epstein, 12/13)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Autopsies: Cobb Inmates Died Of ‘Natural Causes’ While In Custody
The autopsies on Steven Davis and William John Kocour show the manner of death for both men to be natural causes. However, that’s where the similarities end. The Medical Examiner’s Office classified Davis’s cause of death to be undetermined while Kocour died from cirrhosis of the liver, according to the reports released by the office. The two men are among seven Cobb County Adult Detention Center inmates who have died after experiencing medical emergencies at the facility. The deaths have sparked criticism from residents, local activists and civil rights organizations, which are calling on Sheriff Neil Warren to address their concerns about medical care for inmates and jail staffing levels. (Dixon, 12/16)

San Francisco Chronicle: Oakland Councilwoman Wants To Put Homeless On Cruise Ship, But Port Not On Board
Oakland City Council President Rebecca Kaplan wants to bring a cruise ship to the city’s port to house up to 1,000 homeless people, an idea officials at the Port of Oakland called “untenable.” At Tuesday’s council meeting, Kaplan told council members she has been contacted by cruise ship companies about providing a ship for emergency housing. Homelessness has spiked in Oakland in the past two years with an increase in the number of unsheltered people from 1,902 to 3,210. (Ravani, 12/11)

The CT Mirror: Most OB-GYN Practices Fall Short In Caring For Women With Disabilities
An estimated 207,100 female residents of Connecticut have at least one disability, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The disabilities range from barely noticeable to those that render women unable to see, speak, move freely, or make sound decisions. But no matter the type of disability, all women need access to gynecological health care. (Heubeck, 12/15)

Des Moines Register: Cologuard Test Can Preclude Insurance Coverage For Follow-Up Colonoscopy
In the medical community, Cologuard has generally been considered a good thing: It detects genetic mutations commonly seen in colon cancer and detects blood in the stool. Medicare and many private insurance plans cover the test if it’s performed once every three years. But agreeing to that cheaper, easier DNA screening for colorectal cancer can cost consumers much more in the end. Because if that test comes back positive, as mine did, some insurers and Medicare will no longer cover as a preventive service the colonoscopy that your doctor will inevitably order next. (Rood, 12/14)

The Associated Press: Inmate's Suicide Shows Need For Reforms, Advocates Say
The final two months of Cachin Anderson’s life in New York’s prison system were filled with warnings he was a man in crisis. He climbed on a sink and dove headfirst at the floor, saying he “wanted to end it and go home.” He urinated on guards. He hurled a can at one corrections officer and punched another in the face, knocking him out. (12/15)

The Star Tribune: North Memorial Partners With Elder Care Provider To Screen Patients For Problems 
A new care coordination program to predict and address the health needs of North Memorial’s elderly patients is different from prior attempts, its leaders said, in one key way. ...Under the new program, a group of North Memorial’s elderly patients is screened for risks of chronic diseases and complications, and high medical spending. High-risk patients then receive home visits from LifeSprk nurses to identify solutions to maintain or improve their health, even if those solutions have nothing to do with medicine. (Olson, 12/14)

The Oregonian: Oregon’s Mental Health System Is Broken. This Reformer Thinks He Can Fix It. 
Oregon’s new mental health chief Steve Allen is used to harsh winters as a long-time resident of Wisconsin and Minnesota, but has yet to experience Oregon’s damp and dangerous cold. ...For the past several years, Oregon has had the highest rate of people with mental illness in the country – one in four. It is also one of the worst at providing access to treatment and keeping people in care. The system has been so troubled that the U.S. Department of Justice has been demanding reform for more than a decade. The Oregon Health Authority’s director has been open about some of the mental health system’s persistent failures. (Harbarger, 12/14)

KQED: In The Expensive Bay Area, Artists Navigate Unique Mental Health Challenges
Grueling tour schedules, financial ups and downs, performance anxiety, fear of failure—musicians face unique job pressures that can make them more prone to mental illness. A 2019 survey of nearly 1,500 independent musicians conducted by music distributor Record Union found that 73 percent of respondents struggled with anxiety and depression, and 33 percent grappled with panic attacks. (Fraga, 12/12)

North Carolina Health News: Fighting Childhood Obesity By Teaming Up 
The program is the brainchild of Sarah Armstrong, a pediatrician at Duke University Medical Center, and her colleagues. Armstrong, who has dedicated much of her professional life to the growing epidemic of child obesity, routinely sees young patients presenting with conditions that used to be reserved for later in life: 8-year-olds with Type 2 diabetes and in need of daily insulin shots, 10-year-olds on blood pressure medicine. (Ovaska-Few, 12/16)

KCUR: Report: Kansas Put Your Health At Risk By Trimming Environmental Agency's Budget 
An environmental watchdog group says most states aren’t stepping up to fill the gap left by budget and staff cuts at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which could put Kansans at greater risk of exposure to harmful pollutants. ...The Kansas Division of Environment is responsible for a wide range of tasks. It monitors public drinking water and enforces clean water standards. It’s also responsible for cleaning up spills, such as toxic plumes created by chemicals that leaked into the ground from dry cleaners, and issues permits for dumps and trash disposal sites. (Grimmett, 12/13)

CNN: Video Shows North Carolina School Resource Officer Slamming And Dragging 11-Year-Old Boy
Surveillance video of a school resource officer slamming and dragging an 11-year-old boy is sparking outrage in Vance County, North Carolina. The video shows the Vance County Middle School resource officer grabbing and slamming the child to the ground, then picking him up and doing it again before yanking the child up and continuing to walk down the hall. The school alerted the Sheriff's Office minutes after the incident on Thursday. (Vera and Chen, 12/16)