Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Fines Levied Against Kansas Nursing Homes Spike 9,000%; Therapy For Kids With Autism Hit Hard By Texas Budget Cuts
Kansas City Star: Fines Against Kansas Nursing Homes Up Nearly 9,000 Percent Since 2012
Residents in nearly a third of Kansas nursing homes face possible harm or are in immediate jeopardy, according to citations issued this year — the fourth highest percentage among all states. Nationwide, 13.4 percent of nursing homes have had such citations this year, according to data compiled by the state of Wisconsin. (Shorman, 11/29)
Houston Chronicle: Report: State Cuts Led To Drop In Therapy For Young Children On Gulf Coast
The number of young children enrolled in early intervention to cope with conditions like autism, speech delays and Down syndrome has dropped by 21 percent in the Texas Gulf Coast region as state funding for the program waned, according to a new report out Wednesday. Hardest hit over the last six years was the number of black children receiving services, according to Texans Care for Children, a non-profit advocacy and research group studying enrollment statistics in the Early Intervention Program. (Zelinski, 11/29)
Denver Post: Colorado Grapples With 80 Percent Jump In Newborns Going Through Opioid Withdrawal
The rise in Colorado newborns addicted to opioids has alarmed physicians and child advocates, jumping 83 percent from 2010 to 2015. The state’s rate, according to the Colorado health department, climbed from 2 births out of 1,000 to 3.6 births in that five-year period. In some parts of Colorado, the rate is much higher. At Parkview Medical Center in Pueblo, the city’s safety-net hospital that sees many Medicaid patients, the rate of newborns addicted to opioids skyrocketed from 0.7 per 1,000 in 2010 to 20.8 in 2012. The rate at Parkview now hovers around 10, and doctors have noted a shift from prescription drugs such as Oxycontin to street drugs, mainly heroin, in recent years. (Brown, 11/29)
State House News Service: Meningitis Outbreak Declared At UMass Amherst
With its Amherst campus filled with students who just returned from Thanksgiving break, University of Massachusetts officials on Tuesday said they are treating two cases of meningitis as an outbreak. (Norton, 11/29)
Arizona Republic: Phoenix Wants To Regulate Sober-Living Homes, But Can It?
There are hundreds of group homes across Phoenix, set up in single-family dwellings, that house anywhere from two to 10 people recovering from drug abuse. There are no licensing requirements to operate these facilities and virtually no government oversight. (Boehm, 11/29)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: EPA Finds Wisconsin Barrel Plants Violating Environmental Laws
The EPA determined the plants in St. Francis, Oak Creek and Milwaukee were breaking the law by transporting, storing and treating hazardous waste without required licenses, among other violations. ... The inspections were initiated following a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation, published in February, which uncovered a host of problems that endangered workers and residents living near the company's plants in the Milwaukee area and three other states — Tennessee, Indiana and Arkansas. (Diedrich, 11/29)
The Star Tribune: Cannabis Interruption Alarms Minnesota Patients
A distribution glitch at one of Minnesota's two medical marijuana providers has left some patients with little or no supply left for treatment of conditions such as chronic pain, epileptic seizures and Tourette syndrome. (Olson, 11/29)
KCUR: Concussions Don’t Discriminate, As Central Missouri’s Women’s Soccer Team Found Out
The undefeated Central Missouri Jennies women’s soccer team is hoping to earn its first NCAA Division II national championship. But this season, which continues Thursday with a semifinal matchup against Mercy College of New York, wasn’t without challenges: The team has been affected by an increasing national trend from high school athletics to the pros — concussions. (Echlin, 11/30)
Georgia Health News: Art For The Blind: A Serious Concept That’s Also A Lot Of Fun
The American Foundation for the Blind says there are 2,424 children under age 5 with some vision loss in Georgia. And there are 16,675 children from 5 through 17 years in the same situation. Hundreds of the parents of these young Georgians have turned to the Center for the Visually Impaired, an Atlanta nonprofit that helps children and adults adjust to — or improve — a life with limited or no sight. (Kanne, 11/29)
