State Highlights: N.J. Joins Growing Group Of States Pushing For Doctor-Assisted-Deaths; Despite Leadership Change, Calif. Nurses Union Remains Pro Single-Payer

Stateline: Aid-In-Dying Gains Momentum As Erstwhile Opponents Change Their Minds
New Jersey is one of at least 25 states considering aid-in-dying bills this year according to the Denver-based advocacy group Compassion and Choices, and advocates think momentum is on their side. Support for aid-in-dying is increasing — a recent Gallup poll found two-thirds in favor, up from half four years earlier. Major medical groups have dropped or softened their opposition. And increasing life spans, while generally a positive development, mean that more Americans are watching their parents die drawn-out, agonizing deaths. (Ollove, 3/8)

Politico: California's Nurses Union Loses Longtime Leader, But Not Agenda
Don’t expect the retirement of the head of California’s politically powerful nurses union after 32 years to distract the labor organization from its long-standing focus on single-payer health care — or its efforts to push the state Democratic Party further to the left. RoseAnn DeMoro, who stepped down over the weekend, has long been grooming her second-in-command, Bonnie Castillo, to take the helm. The union’s supporters — as well as some detractors — say DeMoro has embedded her colorful antics and firebrand, rabble-rousing style in the DNA of the California Nurses Association. (Colliver, 3/8)

The Associated Press: 5 Infants Injured In Hospital Newborn Unit; Nurse Suspended
Five infants suffered serious injuries including a fractured skull, rib and arm in the newborn unit of a Wisconsin hospital and the nurse who cared for them has been suspended, a federal agency said in a report after it inspected the hospital. The Wisconsin State Journal reported that UnityPoint Health-Meriter hospital in Madison didn't respond to the suspected abuse until early last month, when staff noticed two babies with bruises. An internal investigation revealed two similar cases last year and one from January. The identity of the suspended nurse has not been released. (3/8)

Tampa Bay Times: Long-Running Drama Over Hospital Trauma Centers Ends With New Legislation
A bill that cleared the Senate on Tuesday would overhaul regulations overseeing the state's trauma system, which treats serious injuries like severe burns and gunshot wounds, by setting new standards for what can be designated as a trauma center while grandfathering in some that have been subject to lawsuits. The rare compromise between for-profit hospital chains like HCA and "safety net" hospitals like Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, brokered by lawmakers, calms a series of feuds over where trauma centers can be built and who should operate them. (Koh, 3/8)

Miami Herald: Florida Ends Long Feud Over Hospital Trauma Centers
A bill that cleared the Senate on Tuesday would overhaul regulations overseeing the state’s trauma system, which treats serious injuries like severe burns and gunshot wounds, by setting new standards for what can be designated as a trauma center while grandfathering in some that have been subject to lawsuits. (Koh, 3/8)

The Hill: Mississippi Lawmakers Pass Nation's Most Restrictive Abortion Law 
Mississippi lawmakers have passed a bill banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, a measure the governor is expected to sign. The Mississippi House on Thursday approved the measure in a 75-34 vote, according to The Associated Press. The bill, which if signed into law would be the nation's most restrictive abortion law, changes the state’s current law prohibiting abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy to 15 weeks. (Roubein, 3/8)

Minnesota Public Radio: Childbirth Risks Rise When Rural Hospitals End Delivery Services
University of Minnesota researchers report the risks to mothers and newborns rise in remote rural counties that have lost hospital labor and delivery services. The study said 179 rural U.S. counties lost hospital based obstetric service between 2004 and 2014. (Moylan, 3/8)

Tampa Bay Times: At Florida Home For The Disabled, Scathing Report Comes On Heels Of Bizarre Death
The investigation by Disability Rights Florida shed more light on the happenings in the complex, which for years has had state administrators scrambling to shut it down amid numerous abuse reports, and settlement agreements between the state and Carlton Palms. ...In the report released Monday, the advocacy group, which combed through 28 allegations of abuse or neglect that happened in the first nine months of 2016, says surveillance footage shows a resident being slapped by a staffer and residents being strapped into makeshift restraint chairs inappropriately. (Madan, 3/8)

Denver Post: Pueblo Hospital Downsizes, Cuts 34 Percent Of Staff, Or 272 Jobs, In Restructuring
Pueblo hospital St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center said Thursday it must restructure its business in order to stay viable. Part of the changes include laying off 272, or 34 percent, of its 800 workers, according to a notice filed with the state’s Labor Department. In a press conference Thursday, hospital officials said the company will close its medical and surgical floor though such services will be available on a smaller scale. The medical telemetry and intensive care unit also will be trimmed. (Chuang, 3/8)

Georgia Health News: Is Education Making A Difference On Infant Sleep Deaths?
A recently published study set out to test whether better education might help increase parents’ knowledge of safe sleep, change their behavior and reduce risk. Using a statewide survey sent to all Georgia parents of recently discharged infants over a three-month period in 2016, 90 percent of respondents knew proper sleep positions, and 85 percent knew the recommended location, according to the University of Georgia study. (Hensley, 3/8)

Modern Healthcare: Investors Watching For Rebound With R1 RCM's Friday Earnings Release
Chicago-based revenue-cycle management company R1 RCM has talked a big game in recent months, issuing news release after news release about its latest endeavors. But investors, and especially its biggest customer, Ascension, will pay close attention to the company's next earnings release, scheduled for March 9, to learn whether R1 RCM is truly recovering from its public downfall in 2012. Outside of small contracts, R1 RCM has not publicly announced major revenue-cycle clients it didn't already have ties with since its 2011 partnership with Intermountain Healthcare. (Bannow, 3/8)

Arizona Republic: STDs Such As Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Syphilis Surging Locally In Arizona
Cases of sexually-transmitted diseases in metro Phoenix continued to spike in 2017, mirroring a nationwide trend that has prompted public health officials to encourage prevention and more frequent testing. The total number of Maricopa County cases soared 14 percent in 2017, continuing a years-long trend. (Alltucker, 3/8)

Dallas Morning News: A North Texas Hospital Sees Spike In Twin, Triplet Deliveries— But Is It A Trend? | Health Care | Dallas News
Texas Health Fort Worth hospital has delivered seven sets of triplets already in 2018--the same amount it delivered total last year-- including the Hill's girls Lena and Gemma, and son Gregory III. And so far 23 sets of twins have been born this year at the facility, which is double the amount from the same two-month period ending in February 2017. (Rice, 3/8)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Froedtert, Medical College Symptom Checker Uses Artificial Intelligence
A new digital health tool that uses artificial intelligence is now another option to check symptoms for Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin health network. The tool, Buoy, is available at froedtert.com, the company announced in a news release Thursday. (Hauer, 3/8)

Boston Globe: Abiomed To Pay $3.1 Million To Settle Kickback Allegations
A Danvers medical device company has agreed to pay $3.1 million to the federal government to settle allegations that sales representatives violated an anti-kickback statute to get doctors and nurses to use the firm’s heart pumps on Medicare patients. The alleged kickbacks by Abiomed Inc. consisted of lavish meals, with plenty of alcohol, at some of the country’s swankiest restaurants, including Menton in Boston, Spago in Beverly Hills, Nobu in Los Angeles, and Eleven Madison Park in Manhattan, according to federal prosecutors. (Saltzman, 3/8)

San Jose Mercury News: Stanford Students Protest Apple Over Smartphone Addiction
Stanford students concerned about smartphone addiction decided to take advantage of their proximity to the world’s largest smartphone company to send it a message. Four Stanford students — Sanjay Kannan, Evan Sabri Eyuboglu, Divyahans Gupta, and Cameron Ramos — who formed a group called “Stanford Students Against Addictive Devices” (SSAAD) protested outside Infinite Loop headquarters in Cupertino and at the Apple Store in Palo Alto last week, holding picket signs and handing leaflets to Apple employees walking out after work. (Lee, 3/7)

Capital Public Radio: Are Most Sacramento Public Restrooms Closed At Night? The City And Homelessness Advocates Disagree.
The Sacramento Regional Coalition To End Homelessness says it recently visited about three dozen city parks at night — and found none of the restrooms were open. Executive director Bob Erlenbush says his group checked out a total of 38 city parks. "Seven never had bathrooms. Seven are closed — they're locked — which leaves 24 bathrooms that are open to the public, including people experiencing homelessness,” he said. But he added that “none of them are [open] 24-seven; they're just from sunrise to sunset,” and he claimed that the closed restrooms are in the areas with the highest populations of homeless. (Moffitt, 3/6)

Boston Globe: Skeptical Of LED Lights, Marijuana Growers Decry Lighting Efficiency Rule
On its face, the idea hardly seems objectionable: With the state obliged to reduce greenhouse gases by 2020, regulators should act now to address the large amounts of electricity consumed by major indoor pot-growing operations where energy-hungry high-pressure sodium lamps can burn 24 hours a day. But a new regulation set by the Cannabis Control Commission to do just that — by limiting the amount of electricity that can be used for lighting to an average of 36 watts per square foot of cultivation space — has the industry howling in protest as it prepares for the debut of recreational sales this summer. (Adams, 3/8)