Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Kentucky Invites Clinic To Reapply As Abortion Provider After Being 'Wrongly' Denied; In Texas Where Clinics Are Being Shuttered, Women More Likely To Attempt DIY Abortions
The Associated Press: Kentucky Clinic Given OK To Apply For Abortion License
Kentucky officials are inviting a Planned Parenthood clinic to apply for a license to perform abortions after it was denied by former Gov. Matt Bevin's administration. If a license is approved for the Louisville clinic, it would become only the second abortion provider in the state. (1/14)
Austin American-Statesman: Texas Women Three Times More Likely Than Women In Other States To Attempt DIY Abortion, Study Finds
Texas women are three times more likely than women across the country to report having attempted to end a pregnancy themselves, a recent study has found.6.9% of Texas women who sought an abortion at a clinic said they had attempted to end their pregnancy on their own before coming in, according to the study. Comparatively, a national survey found that only 2.2% of women across the country had ever tried to end a pregnancy on their own. (O'Donnell, 1/14)
Modern Healthcare: Is Upcoding Pushing Up Inpatient Acuity In Massachusetts?
While higher inpatient spending in Massachusetts has been linked to rising prices and acuity levels, the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission reinforced its findings that state residents may not actually be getting sicker. Despite a nearly 14% decline in commercial inpatient utilization from 2013 to 2018, inpatient spending grew about 11%, according to the commission's annual cost trends report. Higher prices and acuity inflated spending, the commission's analysis of quality metrics and coding frequency shows. Inpatient acuity grew more than 10% over that span while length of stay only inched up 1.5% and intensive and critical care days fell almost 10%. Commissioner David Cutler said this puzzled him during Tuesday's board meeting. (Kacik, 1/14)
The Oregonian: 11 Indicted In Alleged Multnomah County Inverness Jail Drug Ring After Inmate Dies From Overdose
Eleven people have been indicted on charges related to smuggling drugs and other illegal items into the Multnomah County Inverness Jail, which may have resulted in the drug overdose death of an inmate in July. The Portland Tribune first reported that an alleged drug ring, from which the indictments stem, hid ingestible meth and heroin packets under rail ties near an equipment shed outside Inverness. The shed is used by work crews, and the Multnomah County district attorney’s office alleges that the drugs smuggled in led to the death of Richard Jason Forrest. (Ramakrishnan , 1/14)
New Hampshire Public Radio: Lawsuit Over Breastfeeding Accommodation In The Workplace Heard In N.H. Supreme Court
A former state employee fired for what she alleges was hostility over a request for breastfeeding accommodation argued her case before the Supreme Court of New Hampshire on Tuesday. The case has been winding its way through both federal and state courts for more than six years. Kate Frederick, who now resides in Vermont, alleges she was fired from her position at the Department of Health and Human Services in September 2012. (Bookman, 1/14)
Austin American-Statesman: 8 Texas Children Died From Flu This Season, Health Officials Say
Eight Texas children have died from the flu so far this season, Austin health officials announced Tuesday.Flu season, which began in late September, has so far been severe in the United States. This season was the first time in nearly three decades that an influenza B strain — which is more likely to cause complications in children and young adults — has been the dominant circulating flu virus in the United States. (Hall, 1/14)
San Francisco Chronicle: Free Dental Care For All? SF Supervisor Wants City To Explore The Possibility
Over the past year, San Francisco lawmakers have called for universal mental health care and free Muni for all. The newest push? Free dental care for every San Franciscan. (Thadani, 1/14)
North Carolina Health News: NC Research Points To Possible PTSD Treatment
A procedure historically used to treat pain could also be used to help people with post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a recent clinical study by Research Triangle Park-based RTI International. Researchers found that a treatment called stellate ganglion block (SGB) improved symptoms of PTSD in their study participants. The treatment involves an injection of local anesthetic to the stellate ganglion, located in the neck. The stellate ganglion is part of the sympathetic nervous system which controls the body’s “fight or flight” response. “Nobody knows how it works, we now just know that it does,” said Kristine Rae Olmsted, behavioral epidemiologist at RTI and co-investigator on the study. (Knopf, 1/14)
The Oregonian: Family Of Former West Point Cadet Who Died By Suicide Alleges Death Resulted From Portland VA Medical Center’s Negligent Health Care
A 24-year-old woman who injured her ankle as a West Point Military Academy cadet ended her life due to medical negligence after she was treated at Portland’s Veterans Affairs Medical Center for chronic pain and associated anxiety, her family alleges in a federal lawsuit. Emylee Darneille was discovered dead in Spain on July 5, 2015, two months after she was prescribed an anti-depressant called fluoxetine, a generic form of Prozac, at the medical center. (Bernstein, 1/14)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: State Auditors Examine Georgia Hospitals’ Expenses On Lobbying
Georgia hospitals fund one big expense that most patients probably don’t think about as they’re handing over their co-pays: lobbying.A report released by state auditors as lawmakers started a new legislative session showed that in one recent year the state’s hospitals spent more than $7 million trying to influence legislation. (Bluestein and Hart, 1/14)
The Associated Press: Michigan Sues 3M, DuPont Over ‘Forever’ Chemicals In Water
Michigan on Tuesday sued 3M, DuPont and other companies for financial damages from contamination caused by potentially harmful “forever” chemicals that are turning up in drinking water across the industrial state. The lawsuitfiled in state court alleges that 17 defendants deliberately concealed the dangers of a class of substances known collectively as PFAS. (Eggert, 1/14)
