State Highlights: Minnesota Medical Groups Say Judge’s Ruling Could Increase Malpractice Cases; Home Health Care Advocates File Lawsuit Over Administration’s Rule Change

The Star Tribune: Minnesota Supreme Court Ruling Causes Stir In Health Care
In a ruling that is causing a stir in Minnesota’s medical and legal communities, the state Supreme Court has said that a doctor can be sued for malpractice even in the absence of a traditional physician-patient relationship. Medical groups say the opinion could subject physicians to more lawsuits, even in cases when they are simply giving informal advice to colleagues. The expansion of liability, they say, could also increase malpractice insurance premiums and have a chilling effect on consultations. (Howatt, 5/27)

Stateline: Unions, States Confront Trump Home Care Worker Rule 
Public-sector unions, struck last year by a U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended their ability to charge non-members fees, suffered another blow this month when the Trump administration blocked hundreds of thousands of Medicaid-funded home health aides from deducting union dues from their paychecks. California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Oregon and Washington state and, separately, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) sued the Trump administration earlier this month over the new regulation, which they say also will stop the workers from making payroll deductions for health insurance premiums and training costs. (Quinton, 5/28)

The Associated Press: Federal Judge Releases USC Records In Gynecologist Lawsuit
University of Southern California records reveal medical experts hired to evaluate a campus gynecologist after years of complaints reported there was evidence he preyed on Asian students and had signs of "psychopathy," the Los Angeles Times reported. The confidential report was among USC records concerning Dr. George Tyndall that were made public Thursday by U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson at the newspaper's request. (5/24)

PBS NewsHour: The Fight To End Texas’ High Maternal Mortality Rate
Texas made headlines in 2016 after a study claimed the state had the worst maternal mortality rate in the developed world. The study's numbers turned out to be inflated, but Texas still has one of the most concerning maternal mortality rates in the U.S., particularly among black mothers, who die during childbirth at twice the rate white mothers do. (Johansen, Green and Feliciano, 5/25)

The Associated Press: Problems Persist At Wyoming's Largest Mental Health Facility
Serious problems persist at Wyoming's largest mental health facility four years after employees left an incapacitated woman on a couch without food, water or bathroom use for over 24 hours, according to two groups that provide legal and advocacy services to patients in need. (5/25)

Health News Florida: More Mental-Health Treatment Sought For Children
Florida has an estimated 400,000 children who need behavioral-health services, but 55 percent of them don’t get any treatment, members of a health-care panel were told Thursday. That translates to 220,000 children across the state, or about one child in every classroom, health official Jeffrey Brosco told members of the Florida Healthy Kids Corp. Board of Directors during a meeting in Orlando. (Sexton, 5/24)

Sacramento Bee/ProPublica: Cruel And Unusual: A Guide To California’s Broken Prisons And The Fight To Fix Them
A decade ago, so many inmates were crammed into California’s prisons that the sprawling system had reached a breaking point. Prisoners were sleeping in gyms, hallways and dayrooms. Mentally ill prisoners were jammed into tiny holding cells. There were dozens of riots and hundreds of attacks on guards every year. Suicide rates were 80% higher than in the rest of the nation’s prisons. The California prison population peaked at more than 165,000 in 2006 — in a system designed to house just 85,000. That dubious mountaintop came after years of tougher and tougher laws like mandatory sentences, juveniles prosecuted as adults and a “Three Strikes” initiative overwhelmingly approved by voters in 1994. (5/28)

The Advocate: Self-Harm Spikes In Louisiana Prisons In Hot Summer Months, Advocates Say; 'It's Unconscionable'
Researchers recently found that inmate self-harm in solitary confinement at Louisiana state prisons increases as the heat index rises, raising concern that high temperatures are affecting inmates' well-being in dorms without air-conditioning, especially those held in some of the most restrictive housing units. Though a years-long lawsuit over extremely hot conditions on Louisiana's death row — a unit that houses about 75 inmates — has neared a settlement that includes accommodations to help keep prisoners there cool, the unofficial start of summer this Memorial Day weekend marks what can be the most grueling, and dangerous, season for the thousands more in prison, including about 1,400 in other solitary confinement units. (Toohey, 5/27)

New Orleans Advocate: New Orleans To Renew Contract With Jail's Private Health Care Provider 
Despite some controversy over the firm's performance, New Orleans has decided to renew its contract with the company that provides health care services for inmates at the city's jail, potentially ending a year-long period when the company’s future at the facility was up in the air. Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s office said the city recently agreed to a 90-day contract extension with the health care contractor Wellpath, formerly known as Correct Care Solutions, with an eye toward signing a “long-term” deal. (Sledge, 5/26)

Modern Healthcare: Colo. Healthcare Collective Picks Health Insurance Partners
Peak Health Alliance, a Colorado collective of businesses and employers seeking to lower healthcare costs, announced Thursday it has chosen health insurance partners. The group will work with Rocky Mountain Health Plans and Bright Health to offer employer group and individual insurance for businesses and residents in Summit County, where Breckenridge is located. In a news release, Peak said the carriers will offer a broad range of benefits with innovative coverage features to improve access and lower the cost of care. (Bannow, 5/24)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Online Tool Can Help Pennsylvania Cancer Patients Decide Where To Have Surgery
Hospitals that have lots of experience performing cancer surgeries have superior outcomes. Because of that well-documented link between cancer surgery volume and patient results, the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) on Thursday posted updated online data showing hospital surgical volumes for 2018 for 11 types of cancer: bladder, brain, breast, colon, esophagus, liver, lung, pancreas, prostate, rectum, and stomach. (McCullough, 5/27)

KCUR: Thousands Call Missouri's Adult Abuse Hotline, But Only Some Get Through 
Last year, Missouri's hotline for reports about abuse of elderly adults, as well as abuse of residents with disabilities, answered only half of its calls. More than 17,000 callers heard the message, "All agents are busy, please call back," and the calls were disconnected. Another 10,000 callers hung up or otherwise dropped the call before anyone answered. (5/24)

Tampa Bay Times: Target Faces Possible Class Action Lawsuit Started By Tampa Bay Couple
A Palm Harbor couple is pursuing a class-action lawsuit against Target, accusing the retailer of breaking federal laws that regulate employee benefits. Shawn Rigney, 31, worked for Target until September of 2018. Rigney and his partner, Kyle Adams, 29, were covered by Target's health insurance. The notices Target sent to the men about the option to continue their health care following Rigney's termination lacked critical information that left them unable to retain coverage, according to the lawsuit. (DiNatale, 5/28)

Georgia Health News: Emory Says 2 Scientists Depart After Failing To Disclose China Ties
Two faculty members have left Emory after failing to disclose foreign sources of research funding and their work with institutions and universities in China, the university said Thursday. Emory did not identify the two scientists nor the circumstances surrounding their departure. (Miller, 5/23)

The CT Mirror: Union Backs Away From Nursing Home Strike
The state’s largest health care workers’ union has again called off a threat to strike, following a move by Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration to increase rates for nursing homes over the next two years. Lamont’s budget director said earlier this week that facilities serving Medicaid patients would receive a 2 percent rate increase in July 2019, a 1 percent hike in October 2020 and a final 1 percent bump in January 2021. (Carlesso, 5/24)

KQED: Who Do You Call For Help When Your Abuser Is A Cop?
The “poor policing” in Martinez’s case is not unique, according to some experts, who say it is part of a larger pattern of willful blindness, interference and even cover-ups that can occur when law enforcement is called to investigate one of its own for domestic violence. And when police fail to intervene in these cases, they place victims at an even greater risk. (Lewis, 5/27)

St. Louis Public Radio: As Summer Approaches, Water Safety Advocates Urge People To Prevent Drownings
Memorial Day marks the opening of many pools and lakes, and water safety advocates are urging Missourians to keep themselves and their children safe from drowning this season. Swim lessons can keep many people safe, but knowing how to swim is only one part of drowning prevention, said aid Karen Cohn, founder of the Zac Foundation, a water safety organization. (Fentem, 5/27)

The Hill: Oakland Could Become 2nd U.S. City To Decriminalize Hallucinogenic Mushrooms 
Oakland, California, could become the second city in the U.S. to decriminalize certain natural hallucinogenics, including "magic mushrooms," the San Francisco Chronicle reported Monday. A resolution that would instruct law enforcement to stop investigating and prosecuting people using the drugs will have its first public hearing before Oakland City Council’s public safety committee on Tuesday. (Rodrigo, 5/27)

Sacramento Bee: UC Davis Competition Awards Health, Agriculture Innovators
A Mountain View-based health technology company won first place and $20,000 in a UC Davis entrepreneurship competition Thursday evening for its innovations in treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Respira Labs, founded in 2018, won the top prize in the university’s 19th annual Big Bang! Business Competition out of a field of 105 businesses for developing a wearable device meant to predict and prevent COPD attacks using artificial intelligence and other data. (Moleski, 5/24)

San Jose Mercury News: Understanding Where California's Marijuana Tax Money Goes
Only an estimated one-third of communities allow sales — and most deposit their new tax revenues into a general fund, to be spent on everyday needs, rather than special projects. Two-thirds of California’s communities aren’t getting any direct revenues, at all, because they’ve rejected cannabis businesses. There are a few notable exceptions, according to a Bay Area News Group analysis, where governments are creating success by moving quickly to license businesses, listen to public concerns and target specific needs. (Krieger, 5/25)

KQED: Berkeley May Put Sidewalk Clearing On Hold Until Homeless Response System Is Developed
The city recently began enforcing the rule, which lets officials clear off the sidewalks during the day. People living on the streets are allowed to set up their camps between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., but must break them down during the day. Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín has said the new ordinance was meant to address the accumulation of personal items on walkways without criminalizing homelessness. But Councilmember Cheryl Davila said that the city first needs a robust homelessness response system in place to help before it can expect the unhoused — including seniors and the disabled — to break down their camps each day. (O'Mara and Hossaini, 5/27)