Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Georgia's Doctors Have Pessimistic View Of Future; Right-To-Die Measure Nears Vote By D.C. Council
Georgia Health News: Many Georgia Doctors Are Dissatisfied, Survey Shows
Georgia’s physicians are slightly more pessimistic about the future of medicine than their counterparts nationally, a recent survey found. Two of three Georgia doctors — 66.8 percent — said they were somewhat negative/pessimistic or very negative/pessimistic about medicine’s future, versus 62.8 percent of doctors nationally, according to a survey of more than 17,000 physicians around the nation. (Miller, 10/18)
The Washington Post: D.C. Council Advances Right-To-Die Legislation; Will Debate And Vote Next Month
The D.C. Council will take up legislation to allow doctors to prescribe lethal drugs to terminally ill residents on Nov. 1, lawmakers decided Tuesday. The council opted to put the matter on its legislative agenda at the start of next month, when it will hold the first of two required votes on the bill. (Nirappil, 10/18)
New Hampshire Times Union: Manchester Aldermen Say Yes To Sex Change Coverage
City aldermen voted Tuesday to offer transgender-inclusive health-care benefits — such as sex change surgery — to municipal employees and their families covered under city health insurance plans. The vote was 10-2 in favor, with Alderman At Large Joseph Kelly Levasseur abstaining until he could receive more information...Aldermen took up the matter in response to a request from Human Resources Director Jane Gile asking the city to instruct health insurance provider Anthem to “remove all transgender exclusions or limitations of coverage for all health services related to gender transition from the templates of the city’s medical benefit plan.” (Feely, 10/18)
Chicago Tribune: Nearly 370 Waukegan Students Still Do Not Meet State Vaccine Requirements
Nearly 370 of Waukegan School District 60's 17,000 students were set to be excluded from the classroom Monday morning, a district spokesman said. That's because those students haven't gotten their state-mandated vaccines or haven't submitted the paperwork showing that they have a religious or medical exemption or that they didn't have an appointment scheduled by the state's Oct. 15 deadline, district spokesman Nick Alajakis said. Another 100 students have not received their vaccines but have appointments scheduled. (Coleman, 10/18)
Chicago Tribune: Abbott, St. Jude Medical To Divest Products In Bid To Appease Regulators
Abbott Laboratories and St. Jude Medical will divest several products in an attempt to satisfy regulators examining Abbott's acquisition of the medical device company. Abbott, based in north suburban Abbott Park, and Minnesota-based St. Jude will sell the products to Terumo Corp. for $1.12 billion. The Japanese company sells medical devices and pharmaceutical products. Abbott spokeswoman Darcy Ross said Abbott expects its $25 billion acquisition of St. Jude to close by the end of the year, though the deal still awaits regulatory approval. (Schencker, 10/18)
Los Angeles Times: UC Irvine Health Workers Picket Medical Center Over Layoffs
More than 100 UC Irvine Health workers used their work break or their day off Tuesday to picket at UCI Medical Center in Orange in response to 175 employee layoffs that began this month. UC Irvine Health's chief executive, Howard Federoff, informed staff of the layoffs through an email Oct. 3. Previous expense reductions and increased revenue through growth of the organization's clinical services have "not been enough to avoid reductions in staff," Federoff said in the email. (Chan, 10/18)
Houston Chronicle: Physical Therapy Executives Convicted In Houston Of Fraud, Money Laundering
Three top executives at a physical therapy company were convicted this week by a federal jury in Houston of conspiracy, health care fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. After a five-week trial and 14 hours of deliberation before U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein, Jr., the jury on Monday convicted three officials from Team Work Ready, which operates clinics in five states, including Texas and Louisiana, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Ken Magidson in Houston. (Banks, 10/18)
Houston Chronicle: Johnson & Johnson, Texas Medical Center Join Forces To Develop Medical Devices In Houston
Johnson & Johnson Innovation announced Tuesday that it has created the Center for Device Innovation at Texas Medical Center to speed up development of "breakthrough" medical devices. CDI will consist of a new medical device engineering studio with a staff of researchers and developers, and will have access to preclinical facilities at the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Methodist Research Institute and Texas Heart Institute, according to a statement from Johnson & Johnson. The goal is to more quickly move new medical technology development from concept to reality and commercialization. (Smith, 10/18)
California Healthline: New California Law Will More Finely Parse Health Data On Asians
For years, the state has used a limited number of categories to map out health trends among Asian ethnic groups. People of Taiwanese descent may have been folded into the Chinese demographic group in identifying death, disease and pregnancy rates. Fijian people were lumped into the category of “other Asian.” But thanks to a new law, the California Department of Public Health will add categories so that people of many more ancestries, such as Bangladeshi or Hmong, can self-report their ethnic group more specifically and accurately. (Bartolone, 10/19)
Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State Part Of Major Clinical Trial On Leukemia
When Judy Moyer was diagnosed in 2015 with the most lethal form of blood cancer, she underwent a treatment plan that has barely improved in 40 years. Less than 20 percent of patients older than 60 with acute myeloid leukemia — a disease of the blood and bone marrow — survive beyond five years. Yet the traditional regimen of toxic chemotherapies developed to combat it in 1973 has remained largely unchanged... But by the end of the year, the OSU center will help launch a massive, nationwide clinical trial that eventually could grow to encompass up to 20 medical sites and test as many as 10 experimental treatments for AML. (Renault, 10/19)
Orlando Sentinel/Tampa Bay Tribune: Orange County Implementing App To Increase Citizen CPR
Soon, Orange County residents with a PulsePoint app will also be able to rush to the help of nearby individuals in cardiac arrest. At a cost of $100,000 for five years, the county is integrating the app's software to its 911 dispatch system and expects to roll it out within the next six months." With people nearby and the AEDs out there, this really helps as a connection point," said Chief Otto Drozd of Orange County Fire Rescue Department. "It really has the potential to save lives. "When there's a cardiac arrest in a public area, the app is activated via the 911 system and sends an alert to nearby users who have the app on their phone and can perform CPR. It also shows the location of nearby automatic defibrillators. (Miller, 10/18)
The Associated Press: Mental Health Center Says It Wasn’t Contacted Before Crashes
A community mental health agency disputes a police account that someone contacted it before a man drove the wrong way on an interstate, causing crashes that killed five teenagers and injured several other people. Police said the man, Steven Bourgoin, visited a hospital three times hours before the crashes and was seen by a physician’s assistant and a mental health center was called but didn’t screen him. The account is in a statement from a state trooper who investigated the crashes. (Rathke, 10/18)
Boston Globe: Why Marijuana Opposition Is So Effective In Liberal Mass.
Massachusetts legalizers are facing the most organized and powerful cannabis opposition in the country, not to mention divisions within their own pro-marijuana ranks. What’s more, some say the Question 4 campaign’s responses to these challenges have at times made matters worse. So, will next year’s Freedom Rally be a victory lap — or a eulogy for a campaign that went up in smoke? (Warner, 10/18)
Boston Globe: Cardinal O’Malley Hosts Interfaith Strategy Session Against Marijuana Legalization Ballot Question
Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley met with more than 40 interfaith leaders Tuesday to discuss strategies to defeat a state ballot measure that would legalize recreational use of marijuana. The Roman Catholic archbishop of Boston warned that making marijuana legal would exacerbate the opioid epidemic, entice more children to use drugs, hurt poor neighborhoods, and threaten public safety. (Wangsness, 10/19)
Orlando Sentinel/Tampa Bay Tribune: Senior Enclaves Open In Family-Style Projects
Technology and home-delivery services have made aging in place more viable. The home-building industry has responded with new products they hope will entice aging buyers to leave their existing homes for communities that cater to them but still connect with a potential support system of family members and others. Stakes are high with demand from buyers age 55 and older expected to reach almost 250,000 homes a year by 2020, according to the National Association of Home Builders. (Shanklin, 10/18)
