State Highlights: Hundreds Of Hospital Patients In Indiana At Risk Of Exposure To HIV, Other Viruses; Mass Shootings Nudge Some Texas Lawmakers Toward Gun Laws For First Time

CNN: More Than 1,000 Patients May Have Been Exposed To HIV And Other Viruses After Error In Sanitizing Procedure
More than a thousand surgical patients at Goshen Hospital in Indiana may have been exposed to HIV, hepatitis C and hepatitis B after an error in the sanitizing procedure for surgical equipment, according to a press release from Goshen Health. One step in a multistep cleaning process was missed by a technician, possibly contaminating the surgical equipment, said Liz Fisher, marketing specialist for Goshen Health. The hospital identified 1,182 surgical patients between April and September of 2019 who may have been impacted, Fisher said. (Simko-Bednarski and Alsharif, 11/25)

Texas Tribune: Why Texas Republicans Are Launching Trial Balloons On Gun Laws
Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have regularly positioned themselves with an eye on each other and another on primary voters, donors, and the state’s interest group universe, each trying to occupy the more conservative position. But in their responses to the recurring mass shootings in Texas, that has changed: The two have edged into conversations about red flag laws and increased background checks — positions that have been off limits for Second Amendment advocates housed mostly, if not exclusively, in the Republican Party. (Henson and Blank, 11/23)

Boston Globe: Double-Booked Surgery Cited In Death At Mass. General, Records Indicate
As early as 2010, Mass. General’s medical director of operating rooms mentioned double-booking as a factor to be examined in the bleeding death of a patient whose surgeon was juggling two operations. In another case, a patient suffered a dangerous complication while the attending surgeon was in another operating room, leaving surgeons in training to seek guidance from a vendor of surgical equipment. (Saltzman, 11/23)

The Associated Press: Pennsylvania To Fund Research Into Fracking Health Dangers
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said Friday his administration will spend $3 million on a pair of studies to explore the potential health effects of the natural gas industry, taking action after months of impassioned pleas by the families of pediatric cancer patients who live in the most heavily drilled region of the state. Dozens of children and young adults have been diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma and other forms of cancer in a four-county area outside Pittsburgh, where energy companies have drilled more than 3,500 wells since 2008. (11/22)

Kaiser Health News: Last-Minute Loophole Could Undermine Texas Law Against Surprise Medical Bills
Texas’ bipartisan effort to shield patients from surprise medical bills could be weaker than lawmakers intended when it takes effect Jan. 1. Earlier this year, lawmakers from both parties came together on legislation to protect people in state-regulated health plans from getting outrageous bills for out-of-network care. The new law, known as Senate Bill 1264, creates an arbitration process for insurers and providers to negotiate fair prices in those cases. The intention of the law is to establish those fair prices without ever involving patients. (Lopez, 11/25)

The Associated Press: Vaccination Required After Mumps Found At Arkansas School
All University of Arkansas students are being required to have up-to-date vaccinations in order to attend classes following a mumps outbreak on campus. The state Department of Health on Friday issued a notice telling students they need to be immunized with at least two doses of the mumps vaccine or sit out of class for 26 days. The agency says nine cases of the viral disease have been diagnosed at the Fayetteville school this fall and other possible cases are being investigated. (11/24)

San Francisco Chronicle: ‘When We Suffer, Our Patients Suffer’: SF General Workers Rally For More Staff
Health care workers at San Francisco General Hospital say they are overworked, understaffed — and quickly reaching their breaking point.Nearly every aspect of San Francisco’s behavioral health care system is being stretched past its capacity as the city faces a swelling homelessness crisis. The hospital’s residents and interns say they are working 80 to 100 hour weeks as they care for the city’s most vulnerable: the homeless, the mentally ill, the drug addicted. (Thadani, 11/23)

KCUR: Kansas Colleges See A Rise In Cost Of Mental Health Care For Students 
Thousands of students at Kansas’s public universities have sought out mental health treatment, to the point that the Kansas Board of Regents says schools are spending more money on such care — though it couldn’t provide an exact total. ...And it’s not just in Kansas: There’s a national trend of college students experiencing more anxiety and depression. Between 2007 and 2017, the rate of college students receiving mental health treatment rose from 19% to 34%. (Ujiyediin, 11/22)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Outcry Over Cobb County Jail Deaths, Conditions Grows Louder
The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia is wading into the fray surrounding several deaths and reports of understaffing at the Cobb County Jail.Sheriff Neil Warren and his department have come under fire after seven inmates died while in custody in the past 12 months. Activists and families of some inmates are calling attention to conditions they believe could threaten the health and safety of inmates, including what appeared to be a long-term lockdown of the jail making communication with inmates difficult. (Dixon, 11/22)

North Carolina Health News: Mountain Hospital Ends Its Maternity Services 
Just as the mountain roads start turning icy, women in Murphy or Andrews will have to travel more than an hour away to find a hospital with labor and delivery services. Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital in Murphy will discontinue labor and delivery services at the beginning of December, with obstetrics and gynecology services slated to end Dec. 31. The hospital is the only facility serving Cherokee County, the state’s southwesternmost county and home to more than 27,000 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. (Taylor and Martin, 11/25)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Flu Activity Reaches High Levels In Georgia
The flu season in Georgia is ramping up, with the number of cases already at a level considered high. Friday, the state Department of Public Health said 4.59% of patient visits to doctors were for the flu during the week ending Nov. 16, up from 4.03% the week before. (Oliviero, 11/22)

Kaiser Health News: UVA Doctors Decry Aggressive Billing Practices By Their Own Hospital
Prominent doctors at UVA Health System are expressing public outrage at their employer’s practices to collect unpaid medical debt from its patients. A Kaiser Health News report in September that showed UVA sued 36,000 patients over six years for more than $100 million, seizing wages and savings and even pushing families into bankruptcy. (Hancock, 11/23)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Says Some Children Got Overdose Of Drug
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center acknowledged Friday that an unspecified number of patients recently got a wrongly mixed batch of a blood pressure medication. One 11-month-old boy received 57 doses of a drug – each 10 times stronger than required. (Saker, 11/22)

New Hampshire Union Leader: State Wants To Test All Bottled Water For PFAS Contaminants 
As state and local officials adapt to new guidelines for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, bottled water is getting more attention. “We have some proposed rule changes that we are working on right now to include PFAS testing in all bottled water as part of our regulatory authority,” said Lisa Morris, director of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services’ division of public health services. In May, the Department of Environmental Services tested for PFAS in a random sampling of bottled water sold in the state and found PFAS in some store brands. (Houghton, 11/24)

The CT Mirror: Separated By Design: Why Affordable Housing Is Built In Areas With High Crime, Few Jobs And Struggling Schools
Since the mid-1980s, almost $2.2 billion in low-income housing tax credits have been awarded to construct 27,000 affordable housing units in the state. Just 10% were built in prosperous towns, an investigation by The Connecticut Mirror and ProPublica has found. About 80% were located in struggling communities, literally erecting pockets of poverty. The rest fall somewhere in between. (Thomas, 11/25)

Georgia Health News: Red Icon Warns Consumers Of Nursing Homes With Abuse Records
Five Georgia nursing homes have a small red icon attached to their listing on a website that rates quality of care. That mark is a new tool on the federal Nursing Home Compare site to warn consumers about facilities recently flagged for abuse or neglect. (Miller, 11/23)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: ‘It Made Me Feel Helpless’: Voucher Holders Share Stories Of Limited Options, Stigma — Closed Doors
She receives a housing choice voucher, a form of federal rental assistance for very low-income households, through the nonprofit Emerald Development & Economic Network, Inc. She has a disability that prevents her from working, and receives $933 per month from disability benefits. About one-third of her income goes to rent; her voucher covers the rest.Her lack of options had consequences. (Grzelewski, 11/24)

Miami Herald: Miami Uproots Sex Offender Camp, Reviving Debate About Harsh Law
Miami-Dade County’s Health Department posted signs giving them until Dec. 5 to leave, citing illegal camping and unsanitary conditions. Because most South Florida counties and cities have laws designed to keep them far from children, the options for moving are few and far between — especially when most of them don’t have the money or means to move into permanent housing. (Rabin, 11/22)

The Star Tribune: M Health Fairview To Cut Staff, Consider Trims To Hospitals 
Leaders of M Health Fairview disclosed Friday that the giant health care system will cut as much as 2% of its staff, the first of several potential changes for the newly branded organization that could include reduced operations at the Bethesda rehabilitation hospital and the potential closure of St. Joseph’s Hospital in downtown St. Paul. The workforce reduction, announced in internal memos by University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel and Fairview chief executive James Hereford, is one of several strategies to emerge from a five-week series of “war room” sessions convened to address looming budgetary pressures. (Olson, 11/23)

KCUR: Judge Denies Claim That Missouri's Religious Exemption Form For Vaccines Is Unconstitutional 
A federal judge has rejected a Kansas City charter school student's claim that Missouri's official religious exemption form for vaccines is an unconstitutional infringement of religious freedom. The child, identified as W.B., and his parents, Zach and Audrey Baker, sued the Crossroads Academy and Missouri’s health agency, the Department of Health and Senior Services, over the language in the official form. (Margolies, 11/23)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cleveland Foster Homes To Provide Up To 40 Beds For Migrant Children As Part Of Nonprofit’s Plan, Feds Confirm
A federal office overseeing the care of migrant children confirmed Friday that a Columbus-based nonprofit plans to provide foster care services and up to 40 beds for minors sent to Cleveland, but said the children are not ones separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. (Heisig, 11/22)