State Highlights: In Ohio, A Move To Reduce The Number Of Medical Boards; Iowa’s Branstad Says No More Plans To Close Mental Health Facilities

Columbus Dispatch: Kasich, Lawmakers Want To Reduce Medical Licensing Boards 
Working with Republican Gov. John Kasich, majority GOP lawmakers say they are responding to antitrust concerns raised by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2014 while seeking to reduce bureaucracy and overhead. Companion legislation in the House and Senate would reduce the number of medical-licensure boards from 16 to eight — and cut the number of board members by 88 — by redistributing the oversight of 545,000 professionals. (Ludlow, 11/25)

Des Moines Register: Branstad Doesn't Plan To Close More State Facilities
Gov. Terry Branstad said Monday that he does not intend to shutter more state mental hospitals or other state institutions next year....The Republican governor sparked controversy in 2015, when he ordered the closures of two of the state’s four mental hospitals. Branstad contended private mental-health agencies could provide more efficient, effective care, but critics said those agencies were not prepared to take on the complicated cases the state institutions in Clarinda and Mount Pleasant had handled. (Leys, 11/21)

Boston Globe: Mental Health And Prisons, The New Asylums
Despite the vast need — and the potential payoff in reduced recidivism — mental health and substance abuse treatment for many Massachusetts inmates is chronically undermined by clinician shortages, shrinking access to medication, and the widespread use of segregation as discipline ... And when their incarcerations end, many mentally ill and drug-addicted prisoners are sent back into the world without basic tools they need to succeed, such as ready access to medication, addiction counseling, or adequate support and oversight. Such omissions can be critical: The Harvard-led Boston Reentry Study found in 2014 that inmates with a mix of mental illness and addiction are significantly less likely than others to find stable housing, work income, and family support in the critical initial period after leaving prison, leaving them insecure, isolated, and at risk of falling into “diminished mental health, drug use and relapse.” (Russell, Cramer, Spotlight team, 11/25)

Chicago Tribune: Agencies Band Together To Get Man Mental Help
A 24-year-old Lake County man was able to receive help for mental health issues rather than jail due to a number of agencies working together across state lines, officials said. Lake County sheriff deputies had a history of responding to the man's home, more than 20 times in the past few years largely for issues of domestic disturbance and suicidal threats, according to Sgt. Christopher Covelli...The man had previously been in mental health court, he said, which is where a judge and prosecutors recognize that a defendant may have mental health issues. In a recent call to the man's home, the man attempted to disarm a sheriff's deputy, Covelli said. (Gallagher, 11/23)

Pioneer Press: Traces Of Lead In Water Corrected In South Washington County Schools 
Traces of lead were found in the water of South Washington County schools, district officials reported this week. The lead was discovered in 95 of the district’s 1,737 sources of water, including sinks and drinking fountains. The outlets for the lead-bearing water have been shut off or replaced, according to Damien Nelson, district safety and security manager. Officials sent letters to parents of the school district’s children, listing the lead content in water sources in individual schools and what has been done to eliminate any health threats. (Shaw, 11/25)

Gainseville Times: State Law Change Expedites Process For Sexual Assault Exam Kits
After a change in Georgia law, Gainesville police have taken possession of more sexual assault examination kits performed at Northeast Georgia Medical Center, even those involving cases almost an hour outside of the city’s jurisdiction... After Senate Bill 304 became effective July 1, law enforcement was required to take possession of sexual assault examination kits “no later than 96 hours of being notified.” With the Medical Center drawing patients from across the region, local law enforcement has taken possession of the evidence from the hospital regardless of the assault’s origin. (Watson, 11/27)

Sacramento Bee: Stem Cell Clinics Offer Unproven Treatments Around California 
In the last few years, more than 570 stem cell clinics have popped up nationwide, advertising treatment for a range of maladies, from autism and Alzheimer’s to neuropathy and Parkinson’s disease, according to a recent UC Davis study. About 113 of those are operating in California.But do they really work? According to most stem cell experts and the federal government, there’s no way to know yet. (Buck, 11/26)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ascension Plans Mobile Dental Clinic
A parade of pint-sized patients made their way to a dental clinic set up on the stage in the cafeteria of St. Anthony School 5th St. campus last week. The makeshift dental clinic — staffed by two hygienists and two assistants employed by Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s — is providing basic preventive dental care to about 250 first- and second-graders at the school over a three-week period. The students are among the roughly 10,000 children who will receive preventive care this year through Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Smart Smiles program. (Boulton, 11/27)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Once Swimming In Surpluses, Disabilities Group Now Making Steep Cuts 
The St. Louis Office of Developmental Disabilities Resources, also known as DDR, is in the midst of a deep financial crisis. The tax-funded agency burned through $17 million in reserves in just four years, sometimes mixing up those reserve dollars with regular operating funds and spending both at unsustainable levels. The end result is a financial mess that is causing DDR to start cutting funding to its partner agencies. Ironically, it was lobbying for more funding by some of those partner agencies that led the DDR to distribute the millions in reserves. (Addo, 11/26)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Home Visits Help Immigrants In St. Louis Fight Diabetes 
On a recent lunch break from his construction job, [Hector] Flores sat at the end of the table, bottles of medication lined up in front of him. On this day, the room also was serving as a health clinic of sorts, a place for Flores to see how he is faring in an effort to control his diabetes...Flores is one of the clinic’s patients in a home-visit program targeting those with diabetes or at risk for the disease. About one-third of Casa de Salud’s clients are in that category, clinic president Jorge Riopedre said. Prior to the program, which has now served 50 patients over 18 months, Casa held diabetes education and nutrition classes at the clinic in midtown. (Moore, 11/28)

NH Union Leader: Lawsuit Alleges Hair Perm Led To Elderly Woman's Death 
A new wrongful death suit filed against a Hampton nursing facility offers a more detailed account of an elderly woman’s declining health after getting a hair perm that her family’s lawyer claims led to her death. The suit filed earlier this month in Rockingham County Superior Court outlines the alleged injuries suffered by 89-year-old Betty Pettigrew of Portsmouth in the months before she died in 2015...The suit names as defendants 22 Tuck Road Operations, which operates Oceanside Center and Oceanside Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center; Generations Haircare LLC, which is located in the Oceanside building; and Linda Seguin of Hampton, who is believed to be an employee of Generations Haircare. (Schreiber, 11/24)

Des Moines Register: Medical Cannabis Could See Movement In Iowa
With Iowa’s limited medical cannabis laws set to expire in July, state legislators and medical marijuana advocates say they see an opportunity to rewrite a more comprehensive set of rules when the Legislature reconvenes in January. Rep. Clel Baudler, R-Greenfield, said he plans to propose a bill that would allow for the production and distribution of medical cannabis oil in Iowa — something many other Republicans previously have opposed. (Pfannenstiel, 11/27)

Health News Florida: Lawmakers, Regulators Face Short Timeline To Roll Out Medical Marijuana 
A strong majority of Florida’s voters came together behind a constitutional amendment allowing medical marijuana. Now Florida’s lawmakers have to come together to roll out the changes. Florida’s legislative efforts in the realm of medical marijuana have been a slow motion train wreck. (Evans, 11/27)