State Highlights: Inside A One-Star Massachusetts VA Nursing Home; Texas Doctor Says Female Physicians Make Less Money Because They ‘Don’t Work As Hard’

Boston Globe and USA Today: Bed Sores, Neglect, Alleged Abuse: Inside One Of The Lowest Rated Veterans’ Nursing Homes In The Country, The Bedford VA
Located at the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford, it is among just 11 nationwide to earn a one-star rating from the Department of Veterans Affairs based on both overall quality and the results of surprise inspections. Bedford’s rating reflected an array of problems caring for the more than 200 veterans who live there, including bed sores, high rates of medication, and general decline of veterans’ health, according to documents obtained by The Boston Globe and USA Today, which have been jointly investigating VA nursing homes. (Estes and Slack, 9/4)

The Washington Post: Gender Pay Gap: Plano Doctor Gary Tigges Says It's “Fair” Because Women In Medicine Don’t Work As Hard
A doctor in Plano, Tex., apologized Sunday after sparking outrage for saying that female physicians make less than men because they “don't work as hard” and prioritize “something else … family, social, whatever." Medical professionals had taken Gary Tigges to task on social media for views they say are discriminatory and disproved by most research. Some have criticized the Dallas Medical Journal for highlighting the remarks; others have praised the monthly magazine for exposing them. (Telford, 9/3)

The Hill: Texas Physician Tells Medical Journal Women 'Do Not Work As Hard' 
"Nothing needs to be 'done' about this unless female physicians actually want to work harder and put in the hours. If not, they should be paid less. That is fair,” his comments continued. The salaries of the female doctors’ salaries included in the report was equivalent to about two-thirds of the male doctors, the Journal noted. (Gstalter, 9/2)

The Associated Press: Detroit Is Latest Big School District To Turn Off Tap Water
Some 50,000 Detroit public school students will start the school year Tuesday by drinking water from coolers, not fountains, after the discovery of elevated levels of lead or copper — the latest setback in a state already dealing with the consequences of contaminated tap water in Flint and other communities. Detroit Public Schools Superintendent Nikolai Vitti expects the closure of water fountains and other drinking fixtures in all 106 schools to go smoothly because the district — Michigan's largest — had previously turned off the tap in 18 schools. (9/3)

The Associated Press: Amid Crisis, San Francisco Using Data To Track Homeless
San Francisco is turning to big data to help ease its homeless crisis. The city has been quietly crafting a system to closely track every homeless man, woman and child, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Saturday. The purpose is two-fold: to tailor housing, rehabilitation and other services to them, but also to eliminate wasteful duplication of those efforts. (9/1)

Dallas Morning News: Controversial 'Abortion Is Self-Care' Billboard Asks Dallas To Trust Black Women
Another roadside abortion message is stirring up controversy in North Texas. A billboard put up by the Dallas-based Afiya Center proclaims "abortion is self-care" and includes the hashtag #TrustBlackWomen. Posted at Interstate 35E and Illinois Avenue in Oak Cliff, the billboard follows another recent abortion message, the Black Pro Life Coalition's assertion that "abortion is not healthcare." The Afiya Center promotes abortion access, along with HIV programming and maternal mortality research, focusing on black women and girls in Texas. (Coello, 9/1)

Columbus Dispatch: Programs To Reduce Infant Deaths Visit Pregnant Women, New Mothers In Homes
[Kara] Terry visits about once a month as part of Columbus Public Health’s My Baby & Me program, through which trained community-health workers help Franklin County women get the information and resources they need for a healthy pregnancy, birth and first two years of their babies’ lives. It’s one of a number of programs in the county that use free, in-home visits in an effort to reduce the county’s abysmal infant-mortality rate and strengthen families. (Viviano, 9/2)

The Associated Press: Lawsuit: Surgeon Left Needle Inside Patient, Who Later Died
The family of a Tennessee man who died shortly after a surgeon left a needle inside his chest cavity has sued the hospital. The Tennessean reports 73-year-old John Burns Johnson had open heart surgery at TriStar Centennial Hospital on May 2017. After about nine hours of surgery, a surgeon closed his chest only to discover one of his needles was missing. An X-ray revealed it was inside Johnson. The surgeon then tried to retrieve the needle but was unsuccessful. (9/1)

The Oregonian: Premera Blue Cross Data Breach Victims Say Insurer Destroyed Evidence
Consumers suing health insurer Premera Blue Cross for negligence after it disclosed being victim to a huge data breach in 2015 now allege that the company intentionally destroyed a key computer that was compromised and data loss logs that likely held evidence for their case. The consumers want a federal judge to issue sanctions against the insurance company for destroying the evidence after lawsuits were filed. (Bernstein, 8/31)

The Associated Press: Synthetic Pot Exposure Sickened Pennsylvania Prison Workers
Pennsylvania officials say a substance that has sickened more than two dozen corrections employees in the past month and led to an ongoing statewide prison lockdown is believed to be a clear, odorless chemical known as synthetic marijuana. (8/31)

KCUR: Kansas City Daycare For Children With Weakened Immune Systems Could Be Nation's First 
Kansas City soon could be home to the nation's first daycare designed specifically for children with weakened immune systems. Children undergoing cancer treatment or with other health problems such as genetic disorders are sometimes stuck at home because pathogens at their schools or daycare centers are too dangerous, says Karen Anthony, president of the nonprofit overseeing the project. That isolation breeds loneliness and can stunt educational and social development, she says. (Haxel, 9/3)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: BP Disaster Victims Petition To Have Thousands Of Medical Claims Paid 
People who filed claims that they were harmed by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill hope a petition will revive efforts to settle thousands of medical claims that remain unpaid, more than eight years after the disaster. Cleanup workers, first responders and other coastal residents say they've gathered more than 94,000 signatures supporting compensation from BP. On Friday (Aug. 31), they took their petition to the New Orleans office of Herman, Herman and Katz, one of two law firms that led the massive BP oil spill litigation. (Baurick, 8/31)

Los Angeles Times: Invasive Mosquitoes Are Spreading Across Los Angeles County. Have You Been Bitten?
Have you experienced an unusual number of mosquito bites this summer? Have they landed mostly below the knee and especially around your ankles? And did the six-legged perpetrator fly off unnoticed, like a mosquito ninja, after feasting on your blood? (Netburn, 9/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: State Prison Officials Investigating Inmate Construction Project For San Quentin Executive
California prison officials are “investigating the circumstances” surrounding a construction project that used inmate labor to build a family playhouse for a high-level official on San Quentin State Prison grounds. The canary yellow, Victorian-styled structure sits next door to the on-site home of the prison’s health care chief, Stephen Harris. (Cassidy, 8/31)

The Oregonian: OHSU Sued By Former Cardiologist On Claims Of Sex Discrimination
A cardiac specialist has accused Oregon Health and Science University and the head of its cardiology department of forcing her out of a job in a civil rights lawsuit. Dr. Rupa Bala, a cardiac electrophysiologist who left the Portland hospital in 2017, contends she was subjected to sexual and racial discrimination by the hospital and two of its executives over her style of communication, which some "perceived as too strong and direct." Her suit also contends her complaints about the "substandard quality of care" in the electrophysiology/cardiology department opened her up to retaliation. (Harbarger, 8/31)

WBUR: Clergy Sex Abuse Survivors Face Lifelong Financial Burdens
Being sexually abused as a child can shape someone's entire life, including their health, relationships, spirituality and finances. The loss of income can be enormous. Yet, of the more than 1,000 victims documented in the Pennsylvania grand jury report on Catholic clergy sex abuse, just a handful can bring civil lawsuits which could lead to financial restitution. (Boden, 9/3)

The Star Tribune: HealthPartners To Study Community Health Interventions 
The HealthPartners Institute is embarking on a study to help determine whether health workers who encourage people to live healthier lives can drive down long-term emergency or hospitalization costs for heart ailments. Many health systems and public health agencies are employing community health workers who meet clients at home and coach them on improving their medication compliance and diets and exercising more, as well as pointing them to social services that deal with larger issues such as housing and employment. (Howatt, 8/31)

Nashville Tennessean: Program Shows The Power Of Music For Kids' Mental Health
That's the thought that motivates Music Takes You Places, a new Middle Tennessee nonprofit focused on engaging kids at an emotional level through music. Latavius Mulzac, the organization's founder, is a musician at heart. He has toured with the BB King All Star Band, Lady Antebellum, Silk, and more. But last year, he shifted focus and started this music camp — a place where he could help kids understand the role music can play in their mental health and well being. (Bliss, 9/2)

The CT Mirror: Worker Illness In Connecticut Declines, But Still Above National Average
The Occupational Disease in Connecticut 2018 report, which focuses on 2016 data, shows that on-the-job illnesses fell by 2 percent since the previous year. It found Connecticut had an overall illness rate of 17.4 cases per 10,000 workers. (Silber, 9/3)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Covington Pair Made Millions On Fraudulent Medical Reimbursement Scheme: Indictment
A federal grand jury has indicted a Covington couple on charges of operating a fraudulent medical reimbursement program that resulted in a $40 million loss to the Internal Revenue Service and participants in the program, authorities said Friday (Aug. 31). The 34-count indictment - which includes charges of wire fraud and money laundering - was leveled Thursday against Denis and Donna Joachim, both 52, and their company, The Total Financial Group Inc. (Rhoden, 8/31)

The Washington Post: To Fight Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Montgomery Co. Offers Condoms In Some High School Clinics
With sexually transmitted infections surging in Montgomery County, leaders in the Maryland suburb are for the first time offering condoms in several high school health clinics and considering expanding to more than 20 other schools. The move comes as Montgomery looks to reverse a spike in gonorrhea and chlamydia that the county’s health officer has called “a public health crisis,” with the jump in cases in the county outstripping statewide in­creases. (St. George, 9/3)