State Highlights: Minn. Nurses, Allina Reach Tentative Contract Agreement; Anti-Tobacco Measures Move Forward In D.C.
Outlets report on health news from Minnesota, the District of Columbia, Colorado, Georgia, Wyoming, New York, Wisconsin, Florida and Maryland.
The Pioneer Press:
Allina, Nurse Negotiators Agree On Contract, Union Votes Thursday
After a 17-hour negotiating session, the Minnesota Nurses Association labor union and Allina Health reached a tentative contract Tuesday that could soon end a month-long strike at five area health facilities. (Cooney, 10/11)
The Washington Post:
Anti-Tobacco Bills Advance In District, Would Raise Age To Buy Cigarettes To 21
The D.C. Council on Tuesday advanced a package of anti-tobacco bills that would increase the minimum age to buy cigarettes from 18 to 21 and restrict the public use of tobacco products. The bills would extend the same restrictions against cigarette smoking in restaurants, schools and public buildings to electronic cigarettes. It would also ban chewing tobacco at sport facilities, including Nationals Park. (Nirappil, 10/11)
NPR:
Colorado Ponders Ethics Of Vote To Legalize Aid-In-Dying
Last spring everything changed for Denver resident Matt Larson. "One day I was fine," says Larson. "The next I was being rushed by ambulance to Denver Health following two very massive and violent seizures. "The force of the seizures, from the sheer shaking, fractured and dislocated his shoulders and snapped two bones in his back. Soon his providers had life-altering test results. "They came back and shut the door and said 'you have mass on your brain,' which was tough to hear," says Larson. (Daley, 10/11)
Georgia Health News:
Return Of Patients After Hurricane Matthew Going At Measured Pace
The return of medical evacuees from Hurricane Matthew is expected to last through the week and even beyond, a state Public Health official said Tuesday. This effort included 26 buses carrying about 500 people with medical needs Monday night from Augusta to Savannah, said Dr. Patrick O’Neal, director of health protection for the state Department of Public Health. These are people who live in homes but require certain aids to everyday living such as wheelchairs or an oxygen supply, he said. Many were able to return to their homes but some went to a Savannah shelter, O’Neal said. (Miller, 10/11)
Wyoming Public Radio:
Chronic Illness Program Sets Out To Empower Rural Health Advocates
The Wyoming Center on Aging (WyCOA) at the University of Wyoming adopted Stanford University’s Chronic Disease Self-Management Program and called the program “Healthy U.” Wyoming will be the fiftieth state to offer the program. WyCOA Associate Director Catherine Carrico said the state has higher than average rates of many chronic conditions, including arthritis and diabetes. (Mullen, 10/11)
The Associated Press:
Abortion Doctor Charged With Manslaughter In Woman’s Death
A doctor accused of botching a woman’s abortion has been charged with manslaughter in her death, which came hours after she left his New York City office seeming disoriented, prosecutors said Tuesday. Dr. Robert Rho pleaded not guilty in the 30-year-old woman’s death. His lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, called the death tragic, but not criminal. (10/11)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
UW-Madison Confirms Both Students Have Same Type Meningitis
No new cases of meningococcal disease have been reported at the University of Wisconsin-Madison since last week, when two students were hospitalized with the rare, potentially deadly bacterial illness. But the university confirmed Tuesday that the two cases now being treated involve the same serogroup of bacteria that most students are not vaccinated against. University Health Services is still awaiting genetic testing to determine if the bacteria are closely related, which would form the basis for any new vaccination recommendations.Both students are currently recovering. (Herzog, 10/12)
Health News Florida:
State: 'Integrative Medicine' Doc Left Woman's Cancer Untreated
Stephanie Sofronsky was just 23, close to graduation from Florida Atlantic University, when she learned she had lymphoma.She didn’t want to believe it. So she sought a second opinion from Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa and a third opinion from Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, state records show... But she never got the chemo. And for that, state health officials blame Dr. Kenneth Woliner, an integrative medicine specialist in Boca Raton. (Gentry, 10/11)
The Star Tribune:
St. Jude Warns That Batteries In Up To 350K Heart Devices Could Fail
After studying the issue for nearly two years, St. Jude Medical alerted patients and doctors Tuesday that almost 350,000 of its implanted defibrillators have batteries that could fail with little warning. ... An implantable defibrillator can shock the heart back into rhythm if it stops beating normally, which means it needs a powerful battery. But doctors on Tuesday said the patients most affected by the alert are those who depend on their defibrillator to “pace” the heart to a normal rhythm. (Carlson, 10/11)
WABE:
Blue Bell Cookie Dough Ice Cream Recall Affects Ga.
Georgia is among the 16 states affected by a recall from Blue Bell Creameries. The company is voluntarily pulling all of its ice cream products that have cookie dough due to possible listeria contamination. Listeria can cause major and possibly fatal infections in children and elderly people as well as individuals with weak immune systems. (Lorinc, 10/11)
The Star Tribune:
Alzheimer's Researchers At University Of Minnesota Reverse Memory Loss In Mice
Dr. Karen Ashe, a world-renowned expert on Alzheimer’s disease, said the research shows that it may be possible for the brain to repair itself, even after the signs of memory loss have appeared. In a study published this week in the journal Nature Medicine, Ashe and her team found that a natural enzyme called caspase-2 plays a key role in dementia. By lowering the enzyme level, they were able to reverse the memory loss in mice that were genetically altered to mimic the disease. (Lerner, 10/11)
The Baltimore Sun:
With Little Money Or Oversight, Untrained Volunteers Set Up Maryland's Medical Marijuana Industry
When lawmakers first envisioned a medical marijuana commission, they created a panel of volunteers to look after what was supposed to be a limited program of academic centers dispensing the drug. Three years later, those same untrained volunteers have become closely watched regulators who have presided over the rocky launch of Maryland's multimillion-dollar medical marijuana industry. (Cox, 10/11)
