Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Molina's Ousted CEO Swoops In To Save Calif. Clinics; Nursing Homes Challenge Fla. Governor's New Requirements
Modern Healthcare: Ousted Molina Healthcare CEO To Snap Up Insurer's Calif. Clinics
Health insurer Molina Healthcare is getting out of the primary care business to focus on insurance, and it's quietly shutting down medical clinics in underserved areas across the country, according to its former CEO. Dr. J. Mario Molina, who was unexpectedly ousted earlier this year from the company his father created, is in the process of buying 17 of those clinics in California that would have closed otherwise. The California clinics serve about 120,000 patients annually. (Livingston, 9/27)
News Service of Florida: Nursing Homes Call Florida’s Generator Deadline ‘Impossible’
Pointing to “impossible” timeframes, an industry group has filed a legal challenge to new requirements by Gov. Rick Scott’s administration that nursing homes and assisted-living facilities quickly install generators to power air-conditioning systems. (Saunders, 9/27)
The Associated Press: Prosecutors Seek $74M In Deadly Meningitis Outbreak
Federal prosecutors say a Massachusetts pharmacy owner who was sentenced to prison after a nationwide meningitis outbreak that killed 76 people and sickened hundreds more should pay nearly $74 million in restitution. In a filing on Tuesday, prosecutors said the money would compensate about half of the victims of the 2012 outbreak for their expenses and lost income. The outbreak was traced to contaminated injections of medical steroids made by the now-defunct New England Compounding Center in Framingham. (9/28)
Nashville Tennessean: 2012 Fungal Meningitis Outbreak: Prosecutors Seek $73.7M For Outbreak Victims
Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to approve a $73.7 million restitution order against the former president of a drug compounding firm, who already is serving a nine year prison sentence following his conviction on racketeering and fraud charges. The motion seeks to have the $73.7 million distributed to 349 of the victims of the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak who filed claims with the U.S. Attorney. It includes $1.9 million requested by insurance companies and medical facilities as reimbursement for drugs purchased from NECC. (Roche, 9/27)
Iowa Public Radio: Challenges To Providing Safe Drinking Water In The Midwest
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that levels of nitrate in drinking water at or above 10 parts per million are unsafe, particularly for infants, who could develop a potentially fatal blood disorder called "blue-baby" syndrome. The Interim Director for the Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination at the University of Iowa, Pete Weyer, says that the latest research shows negative health impacts—particularly cancer—for infants and even adults at a much lower limit. (Woodbury and Kieffer, 9/27)
Los Angeles Times: Death Toll From San Diego Hepatitis Outbreak Rises To 17, With No Signs Of Slowing
The death toll in San Diego’s hepatitis A outbreak increased Tuesday, and the region’s top public health official said she hasn’t seen any signs of a slowdown in the public health emergency that has now killed 17 people. Dr. Wilma Wooten said there are 49 suspected hepatitis cases and one death still under investigation. A week ago, there were 44 cases, and the number of investigations has bounced from roughly 30 to 50 at any given time for several months, public health officials said. (Sisson, 9/27)
Minnesota Public Radio: St. Cloud To Debate Raising Legal Tobacco Age To 21
St. Cloud could become the third Minnesota city to make it illegal to sell tobacco to anyone under age 21. The St. Cloud City Council set a public hearing for Nov. 6 on the proposed ordinance, following a study session in October. (Marohn, 9/27)
The Washington Post: A Woman Survived A Fall Into Hurricane Harvey’s Floodwaters — Only To Die Of A Flesh-Eating Infection
A Texas woman died earlier this month after contracting a flesh-eating infection from floodwaters brought by Hurricane Harvey, according to health officials in Houston. The Houston Chronicle reported that Nancy Reed, 77, of Houston, contracted a dangerous bacterial skin infection after she fell into dirty floodwater in her son’s home, breaking and cutting open her arm. (Bever, 9/27)
The New York Times: ‘Flesh-Eating Bacteria’ From Harvey’s Floodwaters Kill A Woman
From the moment the waters began rising in Texas last month, disease was on health officials’ minds. Floodwaters, after all, are filthy. When Hurricane Harvey finally moved north and the feet of flooding drained, hospitals saw a spike in skin and gastrointestinal infections, but Texans were spared some of the most serious illnesses that contaminated water can spread: cholera, for instance, and typhoid. On Tuesday, however, the Harris County medical examiner’s office announced that the death of a 77-year-old woman 11 days earlier had been caused by necrotizing fasciitis: a gruesome and often deadly infection commonly known as flesh-eating bacteria. (Astor, 9/28)
Denver Post: Anti-Vaccine Voices On Twitter Linked To Affluence, Recent Births
An online chorus voicing anti-vaccine views linking some immunizations to autism has gained momentum via Twitter, a five-year University of Colorado study shows, with most of the negative comments coming from California and several northeastern states — particularly in areas of high affluence and concentrations of new moms. The study used an algorithm to analyze more than a half-million tweets between 2009 and 2015 that mentioned both autism spectrum disorder and vaccines. Although anti-vaccine comments nationally became more common over time, the study notes that this does not measure prevailing attitudes on the subject — though it does suggest that the debate rages on. (Simpson, 9/27)
Detroit Free Press: Michigan Lawmakers Want Reprieve For Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
Medical marijuana dispensaries would be allowed to stay open while the state decides who will get a license for the lucrative cannabis business under a pair of bills to be introduced in the state Legislature. Sen. David Knezek, D-Dearborn Heights, and Rep. Yousef Rabhi, D-Ann Arbor, will introduce the bills in the Senate and House this week to counteract an advisory by the state to dispensaries that they should close before Dec. 15 or risk their chances at getting a license. (Gray, 9/27)
