Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: N.H. Wants To Roll Out Welcome Mat For Companies Growing Human Organs; After Safety Issue Review, Mass. Psych Unit To Close
New Hampshire Public Radio: Bill Offers Tax Break To N.H. Companies Trying To Grow Human Organs
New Hampshire lawmakers are considering a bill that would give targeted tax breaks to businesses that focus on generating human organs. The measure comes after the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute, a Manchester-based non-profit entity led by noted inventor Dean Kamen, was chosen by the U.S. Department of Defense for an $80 million grant focused on manufacturing tissues and organs. (Bookman, 2/7)
Boston Globe: Lowell Psychiatric Hospital With A History Of Citations Will Close
Arbour Health System, the state’s largest psychiatric hospital company, plans to permanently close Lowell Treatment Center, a hospital with a history of citations for providing poor care. This is the second Arbour hospital that has been shut down in six months. (Kowalczyk, 2/7)
Minnesota Public Radio: Health Dept.: No Unusual Changes In Rates Of Cancer In East Metro From 3M Chemicals
Two state agencies are at odds over whether 3M's dumping of chemicals in the east Twin Cities metro area harmed the health of residents. The Minnesota Department of Health released an analysis Wednesday claiming that data doesn't show unusual changes in rates of specific conditions — some cancers and birth defects. (Cox, 2/7)
Kansas City Star: Kansas Nursing Home Drug Sedation Spotlighted In Human Rights Watch Report
The report compiled by Human Rights Watch notes Kansas’ status as one of the states with the highest percentage of nursing home residents on the drugs, which are not approved to treat dementia and can have dangerous side effects. (Marso and Ryan, 2/7)
Boston Globe: Sanofi Genzyme Lays Off 130 At Allston Landing Plant
Sanofi Genzyme’s manufacturing facility at Allston Landing in Boston is laying off 130 employees this week to reduce costs and “simplify our operations,” the company said Wednesday. ...Koss would not say how many workers remain at the facility but said Sanofi has about 5,000 employees in Massachusetts — in Allston, Cambridge, Framingham, Northborough, Waltham, and Westborough. (Saltzman, 2/7)
The Associated Press: Report Says Oversight Lacking At Violent NY Psych Hospital
A newspaper is reporting that a New York psychiatric hospital for inmates operated without legally required oversight while two inmate deaths, 40 assaults and 25 sex offenses triggered police responses between 2012 and 2016. The Journal News reports that there were 210 criminal incidents at the Central New York Psychiatric Center in rural Marcy, New York during that time. (2/7)
The Star Tribune: First Days In Child Care Are Riskiest For Babies, Minn. Records Show
Two grave incidents in Minnesota day cares — the 2016 hanging of an infant who barely survived, and the alleged recent shaking of a baby who died — reflect a troubling but little-known trend: A child's first month in care often can be the most dangerous. Although day-care deaths are rare in Minnesota — and have declined in the past decade — state records show a pattern of tragedies occurring during an infant's first weeks at a new provider. (Olson, 2/7)
WBUR: Florida Bill Seeks To Stop Arrests Of Injured Immigrant Workers
A new bill under consideration by Florida lawmakers would stop insurance companies from dodging workers compensation payouts by aiding in the arrest and deportation of unauthorized immigrants who are injured on the job. Legislators and advocates have been pushing for the measure since last summer, when ProPublica and NPR documented more than 130 cases in which immigrants who had suffered legitimate workplace injuries were flagged to law enforcement agencies by their employers' insurers. (Grabell and Berkes, 2/7)
San Francisco Chronicle: UCSF Gets $500 Million Gift To Help Build New Hospital By 2030
UCSF will use a $500 million donation from a longtime benefactor to build a new hospital at its medical campus in Parnassus Heights — the first new hospital construction on the site in 35 years. The commitment from San Francisco’s Helen Diller Family Foundation, to be announced Thursday, brings the foundation’s total giving to UCSF to $1.15 billion. (Ho, 2/7)
Arizona Republic: Arizona Bill Would Give Unlimited Free Pads, Tampons To Female Inmates
The Arizona Legislature is considering a bill that would provide incarcerated women with an unlimited supply of feminine hygiene products, including tampons, pads, cups and sponges. Currently, incarcerated women get 12 free pads each month. (White, 2/7)
Los Angeles Times: Portantino Introduces Bill To Require Suicide Prevention Hotline Numbers Be Provided In Schools
State Sen. Anthony J. Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) introduced legislation this week that would require all public, charter and private schools to print a suicide prevention hotline number on the back of their students' identification cards. The measure, SB 972, would be for seventh through 12th grades and all higher education institutions. Adolescent suicide and self-inflicted injury are a serious social and public health concern, Portantino said. (Kellam, 2/7)
Miami Herald: Foster Kids Lived In Cars At Tampa Wawa Parking Lot
A Tampa television station’s monthlong investigation of foster care in Florida’s Hillsborough County has reported as many as a dozen hard-to-place foster teens were forced to spend their days confined to cars in the Tampa parking lot while their caseworkers tried to find them beds to sleep in at night. The site was chosen because of its easy access to free Wi-Fi and bathroom facilities. (Cohen, 2/7)
Cincinnati Enquirer: African-Americans Left Behind In "Green Rush'' For Legal Weed Profits
Ohio's fledgling medical marijuana industry promises vast riches for investors fortunate enough to land one of the state's coveted marijuana business licenses. But income inequality and a legacy of racism tied to marijuana prohibition has stunted participation among African-Americans and other racial minorities in Ohio's new "green rush.'' (Tucker, 2/7)
